Black - African American History Facts

W. B. Purvis, inventor, patented a Paper Bag Fastening Device on this date in 1882. Patent # 256,856.

Ella Fitzgerald, famed jazz singer known for her "skat" style of singing, was born in Newport News, VA, on this date in 1918.

The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) was founded by Dr. Frederick Douglass Patterson on this date in 1944. This non-profit organization supports historically black colleges and universities.

Dr. Ralph Johnson Bunche, Mary McLeod Bethune, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Walter Francis White attended the conference in San Francisco, CA, that led to the founding of the United Nations on this date in 1945.

Charles Cooper became the first black player to sign with the NBA (Boston Celtics) on this date in 1950. He, along with Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, played his first game on October 22, 1950-one day after Earl Lloyd became the first black person to play in a NBA game.