1895: Booker T. Washington delivered his famous “Atlanta Compromise” speech at the Cotton States and International Exposition, proposing that African Americans focus on vocational education and economic self-sufficiency rather than directly challenging racial inequality.
1919: Fritz Pollard became the first African American to play professional football for a major team, joining the Akron Indians.
1970: Rock legend Jimi Hendrix died in London from asphyxiation at the age of 27.
1980: Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez became the first person from the Western Hemisphere and the first Black person to fly in space.
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