OCTOBER

October 1, 1841 – educator Fannie M. Richards was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia

October 1, 1939 – space physicist and engineer George Robert Carruthers was born in Cincinnati, Ohio

October 1, 1945 – singer and songwriter Donny Edward Hathaway was born in Chicago, Illinois

October 1, 1952 – writer Juanita James was born in Brooklyn, New York

October 2, 1800 – preacher Nat Turner was born in Southampton County, Virginia

October 2, 1898 – songwriter and record label owner Otis Joseph René Jr. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana

October 2, 1935 – United States Air Force officer Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois. Lawrence was the first Black-American chosen to be an astronaut

October 2, 1937 – attorney Johnnie Lee Cochran Jr. was born in Shreveport, Louisiana

October 3, 1829 – Bishop James Theodore Augustus Holly was born in Washington D.C.

October 3, 1856 – orator, civil rights leader, journalist, writer, editor and publisher Timothy Thomas Fortune was born in Marianna, Florida

October 3, 1887 – Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M was founded.

October 3, 1904 – Bethune–Cookman University was founded by Mary McLeod Bethune 

October 3, 1941 – singer and dancer Ernest Evans better known as Chubby Checker was born in Spring Gully, South Carolina

October 3, 1954 – civil rights and social justice activist, Baptist minister, radio talk show host, and TV personality Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. was born in New York City, New York

October 4, 1927 – politician and civil rights activist Cynthia Delores Tucker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

October 4, 1942 – song leader, composer, professor of American history, curator at the Smithsonian, and social activist Bernice Johnson Reagon was born in Dougherty County, Georgia

October 5, 1932 – politician and lawyer Yvonne Pearl Burke was born in Los Angeles, California

October 5, 1957 – comedian, actor and film producer Bernard Jeffrey McCullough better known as Bernie Mac was born in Chicago, Illinois

October 6, 1917 – voting and women's rights activist, community organizer, and leader of the civil rights movement Fannie Lou Hamer was born in Montgomery County, Mississippi

October 6, 1949 – inventor, aerospace engineer, and entrepreneur Lonnie George Johnson was born in Mobile, Alabama

October 7, 1821 – abolitionist William Still was born in Shamong Township, New Jersey

October 7, 1856 – professional baseball player Moses Fleetwood Walker was born in Mount Pleasant, Ohio

October 7, 1891 – artist Archibald John Motley Jr. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana

October 7, 1897 – Nation of Islam leader Elijah Robert Poole better known as Elijah Muhammad was born in Sandersville, Georgia

October 7, 1934 – writer Everett Leroy Jones better known as Amiri Baraka was born in Newark, New Jersey

October 8, 1837 – soldier and actor Powhatan Beaty was born in Richmond, Virginia

October 8, 1941 – Jesse Louis Burns better known as Jesse Jackson was born in Greenville, South Carolina

October 9, 1823 – anti-slavery activist, journalist, publisher, teacher, and lawyer Mary Ann Camberton Shadd Cary was born in Wilmington, Delaware

October 9, 1895 – World War I pilot Eugene Jacques Bullard was born in Columbus, Georgia

October 9, 1909 – illustrator, cartoonist, and writer Elton Clay Fax was born in Baltimore, Maryland

October 10, 1901 – academic administrator, former president of Tuskegee University, and founder of the United Negro College Fund Frederick Douglass Patterson was born in Washington D.C.

October 10, 1917 –  jazz great Thelonious Monk was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina 

October 10, 1979 – singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, and actress Mya Marie Harrison was born in Washington, D.C.

October 11, 1861 – poet and teacher Josephine Delphine Henderson Heard was born in Salisbury, North Carolina

October 11, 1882 – composer, organist, pianist, choral director, and music professor Robert Nathaniel Dett was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

October 11, 1925 – educator, nutritionist, mentor, and philanthropist Gladys Kidd Jennings was born Columbus, Ohio

October 12, 1908 – writer Ann Petry was born in Old Saybrook, Connecticut 

October 12, 1925 – playwright, actor, director, and educator Charles Edward Gordone was born in Cleveland, Ohio

October 12, 1932 – comedian, actor, writer, and activist Richard Claxton "Dick" Gregory was born in St. Louis, Missouri

October 12, 1975 – former world champion track-and-field athlete and former professional basketball player Marion Lois Jones was born in Los Angeles, California

October 13, 1962 – NFL legend Jerry Lee Rice was born in Starkville, Mississippi

October 13, 1902 – poet, novelist, and librarian Arna Wendell Bontemps was born in Alexandria, Louisiana

October 14, 1902 – educator, anthropologist, writer, researcher, and scholar William Boyd Allison Davis was born in Washington, D.C.

October 14, 1896 – Negro league baseball player Oscar McKinley Charleston was born in Indianapolis, Indiana

October 14, 1978 – singer, songwriter, and actor Usher Raymond IV was born in Dallas, Texas

October 15, 1935 – former professional ice hockey player William Eldon O'Ree was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. O'Ree is widely recognized for being the first black player in the National Hockey League (NHL)

October 16, 1831 – abolitionist and feminist Lucy Stanton Day Sessions was born in Ohio. She was the first Black American woman to complete a four-year course of study at a college or university. 

October 16, 1859 – anti-slavery advocate John Brown attacked Harpers Ferry, Virginia, with thirteen white men and five Black men. Brown's goal was to capture the US arsenal at Harpers Ferry, start a slave uprising in the southern states, and arm the revolting slaves.

Brown's party was eventually defeated and he was captured by troops under the command of Colonel Robert E. Lee. John Brown had originally asked Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass to join him in his raid, but Tubman was prevented because of illness and Douglass declined, as he believed Brown's plan was not sound.

October 16, 1932 – double-bassist and orchestral conductor Henry Jay Lewis was born in Los Angeles, California. He joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic at age 16, becoming the first Black American instrumentalist in a major symphony orchestra. He also became to the first Black American symphony orchestra conductor in the United States.

October 16, 1968 – On the morning of October 16, 1968, US athlete Tommie Smith won the 200-meter race with a world-record time of 19.83 seconds. Australia's Peter Norman finished second with a time of 20.06 seconds, and the US's John Carlos finished in third place with a time of 20.10 seconds. After the race was completed, the three went to the podium for their medals to be presented by David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter. The two US athletes received their medals shoeless, but wearing black socks, to represent black poverty. Smith wore a black scarf around his neck to represent black pride, Carlos had his tracksuit top unzipped to show solidarity with all blue-collar workers in the US and wore a necklace of beads which he described "were for those individuals that were lynched, or killed and that no-one said a prayer for, that were hung and tarred. It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the Middle Passage." All three athletes wore Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) badges after Norman, a critic of Australia's then White Australia Policy, expressed empathy with their ideals. 

Both US athletes intended to bring black gloves to the event, but Carlos forgot his, leaving them in the Olympic Village. For this reason, Carlos raised his left hand as opposed to his right, differing from the traditional Black Power salute. When "The Star-Spangled Banner" played, Smith and Carlos delivered the salute with heads bowed, a gesture which became front-page news around the world. As they left the podium they were booed by the crowd. Smith later said, "If I win I am an American, not a Black American. But if I did something bad then they would say 'a Negro'. We are Black and we are proud of being Black ... Black America will understand what we did tonight."

Avery Brundage, who was president of the United States Olympic Committee in 1936, had made no objections against Nazi salutes during the Berlin Olympics. He argued that the Nazi salute, being a national salute at the time, was acceptable in a competition of nations, while the athletes' salute was not of a nation and therefore unacceptable.

October 16, 1995 – Million Man March. On this date, an estimated 850,000 African American men from across the United States gathered together at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to rally in one of largest demonstrations in Washington D.C. history.

This assembly of black men was organized and hosted by the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan who called for all able-bodied African American men to come to the nation’s capital to address the ills of black communities and call for unity and revitalization of African American communities.

Although the Million Man March was proposed and organized primarily by the leader of Islam, many religions, institutions, and community organizations across the spectrum of African America joined together not only for a rally of black men but also to build what many saw as a movement directed toward a future renaissance of the black race.

Farrakhan also called on march participants and supporters to refrain from spending money on October 16 to illustrate to the United States the importance of African American dollars to the national economy.

October 16, 1948 – fashion journalist, stylist, creative director, author, and editor-at-large of Vogue magazine André Leon Talley was born in Washington, D.C. 

October 17, 1711 – writer Jupiter Hammond was born in Long Island, New York. He was the first Black American to have a work published in North America because of this he is considered the father of Black American literature.

October 17, 1817 – abolitionist, newspaper editor, labor leader, and minister Samuel Ringgold Ward was born in Eastern Shore, Maryland

October 17, 1928 – journalist and social historian Lerone Bennett Jr. was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi

October 17, 1956 – engineer, physician, and astronaut Mae Carol Jemison was born in Decatur, Alabama. She became the first Black American woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992.

October 17, 1969 – The Black 14 incident. On this date University of Wyoming head football coach Lloyd Eaton dismissed 14 black players from the team for asking to wear black armbands during the upcoming home game against Brigham Young University. These players wanted to wear the black armbands to protest a policy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) which they considered to be racist. BYU is operated by the LDS Church and the policy in question was one that would not permit Black Americans to become priests.

October 18, 1763 – educator and minister John Chavis may have been born on this date in Oxford, North Carolina. His exact date of birth is unknown. He was the first Black American to attend and graduated college in the U.S.

October 18, 1919 – opera singer Camilla Ella Williams was born in Danville, Virginia. She was the first Black American to receive a regular contract with a major American opera company, the New York City Opera.

October 18, 1926 – singer, guitarist and songwriter Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He is the father of Rock and Roll music.

October 18, 1948 – playwright and poet Paulette Linda Williams later known as Ntozake Shange was born in Trenton, New Jersey. 

October 18, 1951 – novelist Terry McMillan was born in Port Huron, Michigan.

October 18, 1958 – boxing great Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns was born in Grand Junction, Tennessee. He was the first boxer in history to win world titles in five weight divisions: welterweight, light middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight.

October 18, 1961 – trumpeter, composer, and music instructor Wynton Learson Marsalis was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

October 19, 1859 – educator and school administrator Byrd Prillerman was born in Franklin County, Virginia. 

October 19, 1936 – anthropologist, educator, museum director, and college president Johnnetta Betsch Cole was born in Jacksonville, Florida. She was the first Black female president of Spelman College.

October 19, 1962 – boxing great Evander Holyfield was born in Atmore, Alabama. 

October 20, 1971 – rapper, record producer, and actor Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. better known as Snoop Dogg was born in Long Beach, California. 

October 21, 1917 – jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was born in Cheraw, South Carolina. 

October 21, 1947 – physician Ada M. Fisher was born in Durham, North Carolina

October 21, 1950 – astronaut and physicist Ronald Erwin McNair was born in Lake City, South Carolina. He was second Black American to travel to outer space. McNair died during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger which exploded shortly after takeoff.

October 22, 1917 – lawyer and civil rights activist Franklin Hall Williams was born in Queens, New York. He was appointed as the United States Ambassador to Ghana by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966.

October 22, 1925 – ambassador Richard Kenneth Fox Jr. was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was appointed as the US ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago by President Jimmy Carter in 1977.

October 22, 1936 – activist, author, and co-founder of the Black Panther Party Robert George "Bobby" Seale was born in Liberty, Texas.

October 22, 1952 – filmmaker, music video and commercial director, and author Julie Ethel Dash was born in New York City, New York. 

October 24, 1896 – businesswoman, hair care entrepreneur, philanthropist, educator, and activist Marjorie Joyner was born in Monterey, Virginia. 

October 24, 1925 – scientist Emmett W. Chappelle was born in Phoenix, Arizona. 

October 24, 1948 – politician Frizzell Gerard Tate now known as Kweisi Mfume was born in Baltimore, Maryland. 

October 25, 1985 – singer, songwriter, dancer and actress Ciara Princess Wilson was born in Fort Hood, Texas. 

October 26, 1911 – gospel singer Mahalia Jackson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of all time. 

October 26, 1919 – lawyer and politician Edward William Brooke III was born in Washington, D.C.

October 27, 1922 – actress Ruby Ann Wallace better known as Ruby Dee was born in Cleveland, Ohio. 

October 28, 1937 – former NBA player and coach Leonard Randolph "Lenny" Wilkens was born in Brooklyn, New York. When he retired in 2005 he was the winningest coach in NBA history with 1332 victories. 

October 29, 1920 – educator Dorothy L. Hollingsworth was born in Bishopville, South Carolina.

October 29, 1945 – singer and actress Melba Moore was born in New York City, New York

October 30, 1925 – entrepreneur, publisher, and politician Augustus Alexander "Gus" Savage was born in Detroit, Michigan.

October 31, 1896 – singer and actress Ethel Waters was born in Chester, Pennsylvania. She was the second Black American to be nominated for an Academy Award, the first Black American to star on her own television show, and the first Black American woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.