January 1, 1863 - President Abraham Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation

January 2, 1965 - Martin Luther King, Jr. calls for non-violent protests if Alabama Blacks are not allowed to register and vote.

January 3, 1624 - William Tucker first African American child born in America.

January 4, 1971 - Congressional Black Caucus formed.

January 5, 1943 - George Washington Carver, agricultural scientist, died.

January 6, 1831 - The World Anti-Slavery Convention opens in London.

January 7, 1890 - William B. Purvis patents fountain pen.

January 8, 1811 - Charles Deslandes leads slave revolt in Louisiana.

January 9, 1866 - Fisk University is founded in Nashville.

January 10, 1864 - George Washington Carver, agricultural scientist, born.

January 11, 1985 - Reuben V. Anderson, first African American to be appointed to Mississippi Supreme Court.

January 12, 1948 - U.S. Supreme Court rules that African Americans have the right to study law at state institutions.

January 13, 1990 - L. Douglas Wilder becomes first African American U.S. governor (Virginia) since Reconstruction. 1913 - Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated becomes the 2nd Black Greek Letter Organization.

January 14, 1975 - William T. Coleman named U.S. Scretary of Transportation.

January 15, 1908 - Alpha Kappa Alpha, first African American sorority, is founded at Howard University.

January 16, 1978 - NASA names Black astronauts: Maj. Frederick D. Gregory, Maj. Guion S. Bluford, and Dr. Ronald McNair.

January 17, 1942 - Three-time heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali born.

January 18, 1856 - Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, pioneer heart surgeon, born.

January 19, 1969 - UCLA renames its social science buildings to honor alumnus Ralph Bunche.

January 20, 1977 - Patricia Roberts Harris becomes U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the first black woman to hold a Cabinet position.

January 21, 1936 - Former Congressman Barbara Jordan born.

January 22, 1949 - James Robert Gladden becomes first African American certified in orthopedic surgery.

January 23, 1891 - Dr. Daniel Hale Williams founds Provident Hospital in Chicago, one of the first schools of nursing for black students in the U. S.

January 24, 1865 - Congress passes 13th Amendment which, on ratification, abolished slavery in America.

January 25, 1851 - Sojourner Truth addresses the first Black Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.

January 26, 1954 - Dr. Theodore K. Lawless, dermatologist, awarded the Springarn Medal for his research in skin-related diseases.

January 27, 1961 - Leontyne Price made her Metropolitan Opera debut.

January 28, 1787 - Free Africa Society organized in Philadelphia.

January 29, 1926 - Violette Nealy Anderson becomes the first Black woman lawyer to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

January 30, 1979 - Franklin Thomas named president of Ford Foundation.

January 31, 1986 - August Wilson's Fences, starring James Earl Jones, opens at Chicago's Goodman Theatre.