Black History
"We are not makers of history. We are made by history." - Martin Luther King
New Black History Information Added Daily!
Featured
Marie Van Brittan Brown
Brown designed a closed-circuit security system that used a camera to project images onto a television monitor. She also had a panic button set to contact the police immediately.
She officially patented her inventions in 1969
Fun Fact:
Marie Van Brittan Brown was a nurse and invented the security system to keep herself safe while home alone when her husband was at work.
Phillip B. Downing
Phillip B. Downing patents 2 inventions in 1890 and 1891. In 1891, he designed a switch system for the railroads to plan and guide trains along the track. A year later, he designed and patented the "street letter box" which is known today as a Post Office Mailbox.
Carter G. Woodson
Black History Month was created in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson. It was initially recognized as “Negro History Week,”
50 years later, in 1976, "Nego History Week" became a month-long celebration.
Fun Fact:
Carter G. Woodson was a noted African American historian, scholar, educator, and publisher.
He chose the month of February to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
Shelia Johnson
Shelia Johnson was the first African-American woman to attain a net worth of at least one billion dollars.
As an American Businesswomen, she built her wealth as the co-founder of BET, and CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts,
Fun Fact:
Sheila Johnson has ownership in the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the 2018 Stanley Cup Champions the Washington Capitals, and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics. She is the only African American woman to have ownership of three professional sports teams.