Gaborone is the capital and largest city in the African country of Botswana. Formerly known as Gaberones, the name was changed and the town was declared the capital of the country shortly after Botswana won its independence from Great Britain in 1966. Its history, however, … Read MoreGaborone, Botswana (1880- )
Bestselling author, journalist, and public intellectual Malcolm Gladwell was born in Fareham, Hampshire in southern England on September 3, 1963, the second son of Graham Gladwell, a British mathematics professor, and Joyce Nation, a psychotherapist from Jamaica. The couple first met at University College in … Read MoreMalcolm Gladwell (1963- )
The Right Excellent Sir Simeon Daniel—teacher, lawyer, civic activist, Premier of Nevis and national hero—was born on August 22, 1934 at Barnes Ghaut Village in Saint Thomas Parish on the Island of Nevis, West Indies. He was one of six children born to farmers Joseph … Read MoreSimeon Daniel (1934-2012)
In 1926 Violette Neatley Anderson became the first African American female attorney admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. Anderson was born on July 16, 1882 in London, England to Richard and Marie Neatley. The family immigrated to the United States and settled in … Read MoreViolette Neatley Anderson (1882-1937)
Beauty pageant queen, model, and actress Denny Andreina Méndez de la Rosa was born on July 20, 1978 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Her mother, Lidia Chavez, who had divorced her biological father, met a vacationing Italian, Sergio Casabianca, who became her stepfather. At age five, … Read MoreDenny Méndez (1978- )
Marion Williams, an American gospel singer, was born in Miami, Florida on August 29, 1927. Her father, originally from Nassau, Bahamas, worked as a butcher, a barber, and a music teacher while her mother, born in South Carolina, worked as a laundress. One of 11 … Read MoreMarion Williams (1927-1994)
Youssou N’Dour, West African humanitarian, activist, and musician, often cited as father of modern Afro-pop, was born in 1959 in the Medina neighborhood of Dakar, the capitol of Senegal. His father, Elimane N’Dour, of the Serer ethnic group, supported his family as an auto mechanic. … Read MoreYoussou N’Dour (1959- )
Solomon Northup was a free black man who was illegally held in bondage for twelve years before he regained his freedom. Northup was born to free parents in Minerva, New York in 1808. Little is known of his mother other than she was born a … Read MoreSolomon Northup (1808-?)
During the first two decades of the 19th Century, escaped American slaves formed a military cadre called Britain’s Royal Navy Corps of Colonial Marines. After the War of 1812 these former soldiers established Trinidad’s “Merikin” communities. These black marines in the British Navy were first organized in 1808 to … Read MoreBritish Corps of Colonial Marines (1808-1810, 1814-1816)
Image Ownership: Public Domain Jazz trumpeter Thomas “Tommy” Ladnier was born in Florenville/Mandeville, Louisiana on May 28, 1900. His father was Alfred Ladnier and his mother Willie Williams Ladnier. He played in local bands beginning in 1914 and one of his teachers was trumpeter Bunk … Read MoreThomas James Ladnier (1900–1939)
