1784. James Armistead was cited by French General Lafayette for his valuable service to the American forces in the Revolutionary War. Armistead, who had been born into slavery, had worked as a double agent for the Americans while employed as a servant of British General Cornwallis.
1865 - Shaw University is founded in Raleigh, North Carolina.
1893 - Granville T. Woods, inventor, received a patent for the "Electric Railway Conduit."
1904. Coleman “Hawk” Hawkins, the jazz legend regarded as "the father of the tenor saxophone," was born in St. Joseph, MO.
1944 - Vernon Earl "the Pearl" Monroe, NBA Guard (New York Knicks, Baltimore Bullets), was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Among Monroe's nicknames: "Black Jesus," "Black Magic," and "Magic." (This was before some other player came along and usurped the name.)
1984 - Randall Robinson of Trans Africa; Walter E. Fauntroy, D.C. Congressional delegate; and Mary Frances Berry, U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner, were arrested at an anti-apartheid protest in front of the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C. This event sparked other marches and demonstrations throughout the U.S., and involved such notables as National Council of Negro Women President Dorothy Height, Arthur Ashe, Harry Belafonte, and Stevie Wonder. Their efforts played a large part in the passage of the Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, which imposed economic sanctions against South Africa.
1990. After two years of debates, vetoes, and threatened vetoes, President George H.W. Bush backed down and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1991, strengthening existing civil rights laws and providing for damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination.
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