BLACK HISTORY MONTH LITTLE KNOWN FACTS

Fact #101
Politician and educator Shirley Chisholm survived three assassination attempts during her campaign for the 1972 U.S. presidential election.

Fact #102
Rap artist Chuck D has a bachelor's degree in graphic design.

Fact #103
Mayme Clayton, a Los Angeles librarian and historian, amassed an extensive and valuable collection of black Americana, which houses an estimated 3.5 million items,
including a signed copy of the first book published by an African-American.

Fact #104
Before lawyer Johnnie Cochran achieved nationwide fame for his role in the O.J. Simpson trial, actor Denzel Washington interviewed Cochran as part of his research for the award-winning film Philadelphia (1993).

Fact #105
Revenue from musician Nat 'King' Cole's record sales financed a majority of Capitol Records' success during the 1950's so much so, that the distinctive Capitol Records building on in Los Angeles became known as 'the house that Nat built.'

Fact #106
The St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church in San Francisco uses jazz musician John Coltrane's music and philosophy as sources for religious discovery.

Fact #107
Actor and comedian Bill Cosby is also an avid musician. The jazz drummer has served as master of ceremonies for the Los Angeles Playboy Jazz Festival off and on since 1979.

Fact #108
Paul Cuffee an African-American, philanthropist, ship captain, and devout Quaker transported 38 free African-Americans to Sierra Leone, Africa in 1815 in the hopes of establishing Western Africa. He also founded the first integrated school in Massachusetts in 1797.

Fact #109
Tice Davids, a runaway slave from Kentucky, was the inspiration for the first usage of the term "Underground Railroad." Davids' owner assumed the slave had drowned when he attempted his swim across the Ohio River. He told the local paper that if Davids had escaped, he must have traveled on "an underground railroad." Davids, however, did live, giving the Underground Railroad its now-famous name.

Fact #110
At a time when universities did not typically offer financial assistance to black athletes, African-American football star Ernie Davis was offered more than 50 scholarships.

Fact #111
Musician Bo Diddly reportedly got his name from the diddley bow, an African instrument with one string.

Fact #112
Thomas Andrew Dorsey was considered the "Father of Gospel Music" for combining sacred words with secular rhythms. His most famous composition, "Take My Hand Precious Lord" was recorded by the likes of Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson and many others.

Fact #113
W.E.B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter started The Niagara Movement, a black civil rights organization which got its name from the group's first meeting location, Niagara Falls. This collective later became the N.A.A.C.P.

Fact #114
W.E.B. Du Bois died one day before Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his 'I Have a Dream' speech at the 1963 March on Washington.

Fact #115
Before he wrote the acclaimed novel, Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison served as cook in the Merchant Marines during World War II.

Fact #116
Shortly before his mysterious disappearance in 1934, W.D. Fard founded the Nation of Islam.

Fact #117
Ella Fitzgerald had a three-octave range - a range greater than most professional Opera singers.

Fact #118
After friend and musical partner Tammi Terrell died of a brain tumor, Marvin Gaye left the music industry for two years. During this time, he tried out for the Detroit Lions football team, but didn't make the cut. Instead, he returned to the studio to record his hit single, "What's Goin' On."

Fact #119
As a young girl in Harlem, Althea Gibson was a local table tennis champion. Her skills were eventually noticed by musician Buddy Walker, who invited her to play tennis on local courts.

Fact #120
Nancy Green a former slave, was employed in 1893 to promote the Aunt Jemima brand by demonstrating the pancake mix at expositions and fairs. She was a popular attraction because of her friendly personality, great story-telling, and warmth. Green signed a lifetime contract with the pancake company and her image was used for packaging and billboards.

Fact #121
Famed guitarist Jimi Hendrix was known by close friends and family members simply as "Buster."

Fact #122
Josiah Henson fled slavery in Maryland in 1830 and founded a settlement in Ontario, Canada for fugitive slaves. His autobiography "The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself" (1849) is believed to have been Harriet Beecher Stowe's inspiration for the main character in Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Fact #123
African-American Matthew A. Henson accompanied Robert E. Peary on the first successful U.S. expedition to the North Pole on April 6, 1909. In 2000, he was posthumously awarded the National Geographic Society's Hubbard Medal.

Fact #124
"Strange Fruit", the song about black lynching in the south made famous by blues singer Billie Holiday, was originally a poem written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher from the Bronx.

Fact #125
Langston Hughes' father discouraged his son from writing, agreeing to pay for his college education only if he studied engineering.

Fact #126
Jesse Jackson successfully negotiated the release of Lieutenant Robert O. Goodman, Jr., an African-American pilot who had been shot down over Syria and taken hostage in 1983.

Fact #127
The "King of Pop," Michael Jackson, co-wrote the single "We Are the World" with Motown legend Lionel Richie. The single became one of the best-selling singles of all time, with nearly 20 million copies sold and millions of dollars donated to famine relief in Africa.

Be a blessing and be blessed,
Epiphany Essentials