Black History is celebrated each February in the United States. This observance can be traced back to 1926, when Dr. Carter G. Woodson organized the first Negro History Week. Over time, this event evolved into Black History Month — a celebration of African American history, culture, and heritage.
In honor of this event, you are cordially invited to view Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History. Find profiles of notable personalities and timelines of key events — plus rich images and powerful media. Visit the Britannica Guide to Black History now!
Timeline: Through the Centuries
Selected events from each era within Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History include:
2nd century–1789: Old World to New
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c. 1100: The Great Zimbabwe (in what would later be southeastern Zimbabwe) begins some 400 years as the heart of a great trading empire. |
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1619: A Dutch ship with 20 African slaves aboard arrives at the English colony of Jamestown, Virginia. |
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1790–1863: The Enslavement of Africans
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1793: Congress passes the first Fugitive Slave Act, making it a crime to harbour an escaped slave or to interfere with his or her arrest. |
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1850: Harriet Tubman returns to Maryland to guide members of her family to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Later helping more than 300 slaves to escape, she comes to be known as the “Moses of her people.” |
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1864–1916: Reconstruction and the Start of the Great Migration
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1865: The American Civil War ends on April 26, after the surrender of the Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and J.E. Johnston. |
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1877: Reconstruction ends as the last Federal troops are withdrawn from the South. Southern conservatives regain control of their state governments through fraud, violence, and intimidation. |
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1917–35: The Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance
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1925: At a historic literary awards banquet during the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes earns first place in poetry with The Weary Blues, which is read aloud by James Weldon Johnson. |
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1927: The all-black professional basketball team known as the Harlem Globetrotters is established. |
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1936–59: The Birth of the Civil Rights Movement
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1936: Track-and-field athlete Jesse Owens wins four gold medals in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. His victories derail Adolf Hitler's intended use of the games as a show of Aryan supremacy. |
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1955: Rosa Parks, secretary of the Montgomery, Alabama, chapter of the NAACP, refuses to surrender her seat when ordered to do so by a local bus driver, leading to the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955–56. |
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1960–69: Black Power and a Free Africa
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1960: The sit-in movement is launched at Greensboro, North Carolina, when black college students insist on service at a local segregated lunch counter. |
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1963: Medgar Evers, Mississippi field secretary for the NAACP, is shot and killed in an ambush in front of his home, following a historic broadcast on the subject of civil rights by President John F. Kennedy. |
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1970–90: Mayors, Congressmen, and Astronauts
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1983: Harold Washington wins the Democratic nomination by upsetting incumbent Mayor Jane Byrne and Richard M. Daley and is elected the first African American mayor of Chicago. |
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1983: Guion Bluford, Jr., becomes the first African American in space as a member of the crew of the space shuttle Challenger. |
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1991–present: The Spirit of the Millennium
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1993: Writer Toni Morrison, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for Beloved, receives the Nobel Prize for Literature. |
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2008: Senator Barack Obama becomes a front-runner in the race for the presidency of the United States after winning the Iowa Democratic caucus. |
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More from events from the Timeline>>
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Free Web Training for Britannica Online Subscribers!
See what's new with Britannica Online! Both Children's and Reference Librarians are invited to participate in a complimentary online Britannica training session! You do not even have to leave the library for this 1-hour live presentation where you will learn ways to help both children and adults find answers to their questions and get started on their projects using special Britannica Online features.
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The early life and education of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Copyright © 2004 AIMS Multimedia (www.aimsmultimedia.com)
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Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, performing Tadd Dameron's “Hot House,” 1952.
Copyright Archive Films
View Video
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Obama, Hillary, and Minorities in Office: How Far We’ve Come, How Far Still to Go
by Lilly Goren
My last blog post concentrated on the reality vs. the fiction of electing the first female or African-American president, and my fellow blogger Robert McHenry filled in some of the historical information about the various “firsts” in elected office. I would like to fill in some of the “firsts” in appointed office and what all of this might suggest as the current campaign continues to unfold throughout the country... (read more)
The Britannica Blog is a place to share smart, lively conversations on just about any topic.
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Celebrate Women’s History with Britannica!
In March, we will celebrate Women’s History Month, where Britannica highlights women whose actions and ideas influenced history. Follow the illustrated timeline to identify developments in the lives of women since antiquity in Encyclopædia Britannica Profiles 300 Women Who Changed The World.
Read quotes, essays, and speeches. Enjoy biographies about Women’s Rights luminaries such as Joan of Arc, Jane Adams, Phillis Wheatley, and Sandra Day O’Connor. Watch video clips, use the learning activities to take an in-depth view of women's achievements, or read articles on topics such as feminism and the history of Mother's Day.
Try it now!
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More from Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History
Explore the African American experience and achievements in the United States and elsewhere with even more with these exclusive features:
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Editors' Choice - Articles selected by Britannica's editors that show the breadth and depth of coverage in the Guide to Black History. |
| Biographies - Read the stories of those who fought for justice and equality. |
| Places & Things - Study the significant events that document the struggles, progress, and achievements of African Americans. |
| Subject Browse - Access direct links to each topic within the Guide to Black History. |
| Source Documents - A collection of primary source documents that offer a variety of responses to the black experience written as the issues of the day unfolded. |
| Multimedia - The multimedia selections highlight the contribution of blacks to society, politics, sports, and the arts. |
| Image Gallery - Browse through a comprehensive image library of the important people, places, and events in Black History. |
| Learning Activities - Utilize these classroom activities for more in-depth research on various Black History topics. |
| Internet Guide - Select a topic to find relevant Web sites in the Britannica Internet Guide on Black History. |
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