Black History Month Facts You Probably Didn’t Learn in School

Since 1976, February has been officially known as Black History Month – a time to remember our struggle and celebrate all the amazing contributions Black people have made to everything from science to sports to the arts. But as conservatives ramp up their efforts to change what is taught in our schools, Black History will likely be one of their prime targets. But that doesn’t mean we can’t continue to educate ourselves and our children on the rich history of Black people around the world. From amazing inventors to awesome athletes, in honor of Black History Month, we’ve rounded up some interesting facts you may not have learned in your history class.

Madam C.J. Walker Was Also an Activist

You probably know that Madam C.J. Walker whose hair products for Black women made her the first woman to become a self-made millionaire. But you may not know that Walker did a lot of good with the money she made. Walker used her platform to be an advocate to end the lynching of African Americans. She also covered the tuition of at least six Black students at Tuskegee Institute.

The First African American Olympic Gold Medalist

We know the amazing contributions that Olympic athletes like Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis, Florence Griffith Joyner and Allyson Felix have made to the sport. But you may not know that the first African American to win a gold medal at the Olympics was John Baxter Taylor, who won a gold medal at the 1908 Olympic Games in London as part of the men’s 1600-meter relay team. Unfortunately, Taylor developed a case of typhoid pneumonia and passed away just a few months after the Olympics in December 1908.

Central Park Was Black

Before New York City’s Central Park became a massive green landscape that attracts tourists from around the world, the area between West 82nd and 89th Streets was known as Seneca Village, a predominately African American community in which more than half of the residents owned their homes. In the mid-1850s, the city acquired the land through eminent domain to build what is now known as Central Park, displacing over 1500 residents.

The First Black Influencer

Before social media was a thing, there was Gerri Major, society editor for Jet Magazine who is considered the first travel influencer. Major, who covered international events like Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, made it her mission to encourage Black people to travel internationally through her reporting.

A Female Buffalo Soldier

Cathay Williams was the first African American female solider to join the Army as well as the only known Black female member of the Buffalo Soldiers, a group of all-Black Army regiments who served in the 19th Century. Although women were not allowed to serve in the military at the time, Williams enlisted as a man under the name, “William Cathay” in 1866, until health issues cut her military career short.

A Black Man Invented the Door Lock

A Black man is responsible for making sure all of us can sleep safely in our homes at night. WA Martin, who patented the first door lock in 1889. His version, which was an upgrade to a Chinese invention that was thousands of years old, was made with a cylinder and spiral spring wrapped around a metal pin.

A Black World War II Hero

Job Maseko was one of the countless unsung heroes of the second World War. The South African soldier who worked with the Native Military Corps was charged with transporting soldiers who were injured in combat. But when he was captured by German soldiers in 1942, he used skills he learned working in South African gold mines and sank a German ship with a bomb he made from a milk can!

A Black Security Guard’s Discovery Led President Nixon’s Resignation

You probably learned about the Watergate scandal involving former President Richard Nixon in history class. But you may not know that it was Frank Wills, a Black security guard who discovered burglars in the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate Hotel on June 17, 1972. Wills called police, who found five men hiding in the office with bugging equipment and White House phone numbers. The arrest set off a chain of events that led to President Nixon’s resignation.

First African American Presidential Candidate

Before Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Jackson, Barack Obama and Kamala Harris, there was George Edwin Taylor, who ran for President as a member of the National Negro Liberty Party in 1904. The son of a slave, Taylor was a journalist who eventually became editor of Wisconsin’s La Crosse Evening Star. Although he got less than 2,000 votes in the election, the fact that he was able to garner any support during a time when Black women were not legally allowed to vote helped paved the way for future Black candidates to come.

A Black Man Helped Invent the Telephone

Although history credits Alexander Graham Bell with inventing the telephone, he had a Black inventor serving as his right hand man. Self-taught Lewis Latimer helped Bell develop the telephone, including designing a transmitter that helped improved the sound quality.

A Black Woman Designed Jackie Kennedy’s Wedding Dress

When Jaqueline Bouvier married then-Senator John F. Kennedy in 1953, her wedding dress got lots of attention. But what wasn’t talked about was the fact that it was created by Black fashion designer Ann Lowe who designed for other rich families, including the Rockefellers and the Roosevelts.

The “King of Cool”

With over 60 patents to his name, inventor Frederick McKinley Jones had lots of ideas. But he is best known for developing the first portable refrigeration unit, which was used by the military to deliver food and blood to troops in need during World War II.

The First States to Abolish Slavery

We generally associate the abolishment of slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation, which then-President Abraham Lincoln signed in 1863 and the passage of the 13th Amendment, which was ratified in 1865. But parts of the Union did their part to do away with slavery long before. Vermont was the first U.S. territory, in 1777, to abolish slavery in 1777. Pennsylvania became the first state in 1780.