Little Known Black History Facts

Little Known Black History Facts A place to high light some of the little known black history fact of African Americans.

The facts collected here quite often come from Blackamericaweb's Little Known Black History Facts

05/23/2024

Over 60 years after Edward Dwight was chosen as the first Black astronaut, only to be sidelined for decades due to discrimination, he finally went to space on Sunday, March 19.

On a Blue Origin flight, Dwight spent 9 minutes and 53 seconds in space, becoming the oldest person ever to do so at age 90. Post-flight, he described the experience as "life-changing." Dwight has been working as a successful artist since he left the Air Force in 1966.

05/23/2024

The first all-Black professional basketball team was organized on Feb. 13, 1923.
The New York Renaissance, commonly called the Rens, become one of the dominant teams of the 1920s and 1930s. The team's founder was Robert L. Douglas, whose primary objective was to give New York City's male, Black athletes opportunities to better themselves. In February 1923, Douglas struck an agreement with William Roach, a Harlem-based real estate developer who owned the New Renaissance Ballroom and Casino, and the Rens were born.
With Black players barred from professional basketball leagues, the Rens barnstormed throughout the country, often competing against all-white teams.

05/23/2024

Mary Fields, also known as Stagecoach Mary and "Black Mary" born enslaved in Hickman County, Tennessee, around 1832, (no exact date known), was the first Black woman star route mail carrier in the U.S.
Fields was a respected public figure who started driving a stage coach regularly at the age of 60 and her stage coach was never held up or robbed. She was not an employee of the United States Post Office. The Post Office Department did not hire or employ mail carriers for star routes; it awarded star route contracts to persons who proposed the lowest qualified bids, and who in accordance with the Department’s application process posted bonds and sureties to substantiate their ability to finance the route. Once a contract was obtained, the contractor could then drive the route themselves, sublet the route, or hire an experienced driver.
She died in 1914 after living a long and fruitful life in Cascade, Montana. Stagecoach Mary Fields was a pioneer in many ways. She was unwilling to allow the prejudices of the time to hold her back. She is an inspiration to not only Black women but women in general

05/23/2024

"In 1875, Oliver Lewis became the first jockey to win the Kentucky Derby, America's longest continuous sporting event. Lewis was born in 1856 in Fayette Country, Kentucky, to his parents Goodson and Eleanor Lewis. Lewis was born free, but there is little known about his parents or family. Lewis was only 19 years old when he entered the first Kentucky Derby. The race was held at what was then the Louisville Jockey Club on May 17, 1875, but is now known as Churchill Downs.

Ten thousand spectators watched this first race. Lewis rode a horse named Aristide, which was one of two colts entered by their owner, H. Price McGrath of Jessamine, Kentucky. The other horse, Chesapeake, was ridden by William Henry. Although the same owner entered both horses, Chesapeake was favored to win the $2,850 purse, and Lewis was told that his job was to lead most of the race to tire out the other horses. Out of the fifteen jockeys in the field, at this first Kentucky Derby, thirteen of them were African American. Aristide's trainer, Ansel Williamson, was also an African American.

Oliver Lewis followed his instructions and was pushing most of the field while trailing a horse named Volcano for most of the race. However, in the last stretch, Chesapeake was unexpectedly far back in the pack while Aristide and Volcano were running neck and neck for first place. Lewis and Aristide pulled away near the finish line and won the race by two lengths. With that victory Lewis became the first jockey to win the Kentucky Derby. Later that season, Lewis came in second in the Belmont Stakes in New York and won three more races at the Louisville Jockey Club, riding Aristide in all of them. He would never ride in the Kentucky Derby again, however, and would retire after that racing season for unknown reasons.

After retiring, Lewis worked for a short time as a day laborer, but then began providing handicapping tables and racing forms to bookies. He later became a bookie himself which was legal in Kentucky at that time. Lewis married although his wife's name is unknown. The couple had six children including James who inherited his lucrative bookmaking business. Oliver Lewis died in Lexington, Kentucky in 1924 at the age of 68.

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05/23/2024

MLK Was 15 Years Old When He Finished High School, and 19 When He Graduated College 🙌🏾

05/20/2024

Black History: Paul Revere did not Ride Alone.
Teach the truth!

Wentworth Cheswell (1746-1817): Few people have ever heard of Wentworth Cheswell, yet in 1775 he rode alongside Paul Revere to alert everyone that the British were coming.

As the story goes, the two men eventually split off -- Cheswell rode north and Revere rode west. In addition to being a patriot, Cheswell was a respected schoolteacher, church leader, and historian. He also became America’s first black judge in 1768. That’s seven years before America won her independence

05/19/2024

Shout out to who became a citizen of Ghana on his 74th birthday! We'll be heading to Ghana with next month...

05/19/2024

"Turning my back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes that I regret most in my life. I wish I'd been able to tell Malcolm I was sorry, that he was right about so many things. But he was killed before I got the chance. He was a visionary ahead of us all. Malcolm was the first to discover the truth, that color doesn't make you a devil. It is the heart, soul, and mind that define a person. Malcolm was a great thinker and an even greater friend. I might never have become a Muslim if it hadn't been for Malcolm. If I could go back and do it over again, I would never have turned my back on him." —Muhammad Ali

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