Black History Month: Did You Know?

Black History Month:

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, organized a two week period in February,in 1926, to highlight contributions of African Americans. In 1976, the month of February was established as Black History Month.
The month of February was selected as it was the month in which both Frederick Douglass(abolitionist) and Abraham Lincoln (Emancipation Proclamation)were born.  Black History Month is also celebrated in Canada in February and in October in Great Britain.

Did You Know?
Dr. Carter G. Woodson once said,” It is never too late to learn.”  Personally, I love this quote!

The first African American invited to the White House(by President Theodore Roosevelt) was Booker T. Washington. The educator was also the first African American to be honored on a U.S. postage stamp.

Dr. Mae C. Jemison, was the first African American female astronaut. She went into space in 1992.

Guion Bluford, was the first American American to travel into space.

In 1821,Thomas L. Jennings, was the first African American to receive a patent for an invention.(dry cleaning process)

George Washington Carver found developed 300 products from the peanut, 118 from the sweet potato and 75 for the pecan!

The first American American to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court was Thurgood Marshall in 1967.

The first African American elected to the U.S. Senate was Hiram Rhodes Revels.( 1870-1871)

Bessie Coleman was the first American American woman to get a pilot’s license and the first American to hold an international pilot’s license.

Olympian Jesse Owns broke 4 world records for track and field, at the 1936 Berlin.

In 1909, Mathew A. Henson and Robert E. Peary made the first successful expedition to the North Pole.(for the USA).

In 1940,Dr. Charles Drew found a way to preserve blood and started the first blood bank.

Garrett Morgan invented a traffic light and a gas mask.

Ralph J. Bunche, in 1950, was the first African American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, for his efforts to mediate an  Arab-Israeli truce.

Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play for a Major League Baseball team.

In the 18th century, astronomer and inventor, Benjamin Banneker, helped design Washington, DC.

During WW 2, the first African American pilot group were the Tuskegee Airmen.

Basketball great, Bill Russell, was the first black coach for a NBA team.

Links:
Play the "Find the Face" game: http://pbskids.org/aaworld/face.html
Learn about the Tuskegee Airman: http://www.timeforkids.com/news/flying-high/26571

Check out my twelve fact-packed Black History Month Webquest/Extension Activities: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Black-History-Month-Webquest...

Read my Reader’s Theater Script on Bessie Coleman: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Bessie-Coleman-AviatorReader...

Check out my fact-packed Webquest on Martin Luther King/Extension Activities: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Martin-Luther-King-A-Webques...

Illustration from Appleseed Magazine

Gail