1773--- Phillis Wheatley was the first author and first major black poet. She wrote Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. It was the second book published by an American woman.

1792--- The first scientific writing in an almanac by a black person was produced by astronomer and mathematician Benjamin Banneker, which was issued annually after 1792.

1804--- Lemuel Haynes was the first black to receive a degree from a U.S. college, an honorary M.A. from Middlebury College.

1827--- Freedom's Journal, published in New York City, was the first black newspaper.

1837--- Cheyney State Training School in Pennsylvania was the first black college established. 1843--- Macon B. Allen of Maine was the first black lawyer.

1893--- Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performed the first successful operation on the human heart at Chicago's Provident Hospital.

1908--- Jack Johnson was the first black heavyweight boxing champion. He defeated Tommy Burns.

1919--- Fritz Pollard was the first black professional football player. He was also the first black NFL coach and he was a player-coach for a team in Indiana. He coached them to a world professional championship in 1920.

1954--- Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was the first black general in the U.S. Air Force.

1957--- Althea Gibson was the first black to win a major U.S. national tennis championship. She was also the first black to win a Wimbledon championship.

1989--- Oprah Winfrey became the first black to own her own television and film production company, Harpo Studios, Inc.

2002--- Vonetta Flowers was the first African-American to win a gold medal in a Winter Olympics. She wins in the women's bobsleigh event on February 19th.