BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) – Malcom X is assassinated and the first advanced degree ever bestowed upon an African-American is granted. All this and more in today’s special edition of, “This Day in History”.
On this day in 1804, Lemuel Haynes, who was already the first African-American minister to serve for a White congregation, was granted an honorary Master of Arts degree from Middlebury College. It’s the first advanced degree ever bestowed upon an African-American.
On this day 1895, the North Carolina Legislature adjourned for the day to mark the death of Frederick Douglass a day prior.
On this day in 1936, Barbara Jordan was born in Houston, Texas. Jordan would go on to become the first African-American elected to the Texas Senate, elected to the United States House of Representatives, and the first African-American woman to deliver the keynote address for a Democratic National Convention.
On this day 1965- Malcolm X was assassinated in New York City. The African American nationalist and religious leader was gunned down by three men who had rushed to the stage where Malcom was addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom. He was shot 15 times.
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