Black - African American History Facts

W. Johnson, inventor, patented the Egg Beater on this date in 1884. Patent # 292,821.

J. Herman Banning, the first black aviator to be granted a license by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the first black pilot to fly across the United States, died in a plane crash on this date in 1933. Banning was not piloting the plane.

Henry "Hank" Aaron, baseball legend, was born in Mobile, AL, on this date in 1934. Aaron played for the Milwaukee (Atlanta) Braves over a 20-year span. He hit 755 regular-season home runs-more than any other baseball player.

Clifton Reginald Wharton, Sr. became the first black person to head a U.S. embassy in Europe on this date in 1958. Wharton was confirmed as Ambassador to Rumania.

White supremacist, Byron de la Beckwith was finally convicted of the murder of Medgar Evers on this date in 1994, nearly 31 years after Evers was gunned downed at his Jackson, MS, residence. Evers was a civil rights activist and the first NAACP Field Secretary in Mississippi.

Barack Obama won 13 states on "Super Tuesday" on this date in 2008.