1641. Massachusetts became the first American colony to recognize slavery.
1774. The Continental Congress voted to end the importation of Africans for slavery as a means of hurting the British merchants involved in the slave trade.
1933. Louis Allen Rawls (Lou) Rawls was born in Chicago, IL.
1958. Ubangi–Shari became a self-governing state within the French Community under the new name Central African Republic.
1960. Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba of the Congo was arrested by traitor Joseph Mobutu's troops and flown to Leopoldville in handcuffs.
1964. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. met with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover at the Justice Department "to clear up the misunderstanding" two months after Hoover called King "the most notorious liar in the country."
1967. The Republics of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania came together to form the East African Community. They were late joined by the Republic of Rwanda and Republic of Burundi.
1985 The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) was founded.
1987. Writer and activist James Baldwin died in St. Paul-de-Vence, France.
1989. Alvin Ailey, dancer, choreographer and founder of the world-famous Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, died of blood dyscrasia in New York City.
1990. US-backed Chadian dictator Hissene Habré of Chad was deposed by rebel forces under the leadership of General Idris Deby. Habré fled to Senegal.
