1493. Christopher Columbus stumbles across the Arawak island of "Svalugia" or "The Land of Salt". With complete disregard for the people who had inhabited the island for over a thousand years, the European sailor renames the island St. Martin, for the day on which he claimed it for Spain, the feast of St. Martin of Tours.
1831. Revolutionary freedom fighter Nat Turner hanged in Jerusalem, Virginia for leading a slave rebellion the past August.
1901. Alabama adopted a new constitution with "grandfather clauses" based on the Louisiana model. Designed to disenfranchise black voters, the clauses stipulated that men could only vote if they were literate property owners, or if they could have voted in 1867 (before African Americans were allowed to vote in the South) or were descended from an 1867 voter (if your grandfather voted).
Read about Grandfather clauses
1969. Dr. George Carruthers received a U.S. patent for his invention, the "Image Converter for Detecting Electromagnetic Radiation specifically in Short Wave Lengths."
1975. Angola becomes an independent country.
1979. The Bethune Museum & Archives was established on the site of the first headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women, founded by Mary McLeod Bethune and her last residence in Washington. Both the museum and archives actively collect artifacts, clothing, artwork, and other materials which document the history of black women and the black community.
Visit the site
1984. Rev. Martin Luther King Sr., father of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., died in Atlanta at age 54.
1985. The city of Yonkers, NY, was found guilty of illegally segregation in schools and public housing.
1989. Civil Rights Memorial was dedicated in Montgomery, Al.
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