Lesser-known famous African-Americans
Hiram Rhoades Revels (1822-1901)
Revels was born a free man of African-American and Indian descent in North Carolina, a slave state. Revels was ordained as a minister by the African Methodist Church ministering in many states before eventually settling in Baltimore Maryland. During the Civil War he lend his support for the Union cause in [...]
The Music of Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Hilliard
Depending upon one’s age will depend on how you remember the entertainment couple Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. Most will know of them from the TV series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet one of the shows popular in early television. Others will know them as the father to Ricky Nelson, who also appeared on their [...]
Ben Bernie – Yowsah
If you were living in the 1930’s there’s a good chance that one of favorite musical stars would have been Ben Bernie. He’s not a common known artist today, but one phrase of his you may have heard, “Yawsah, Yawsah, Yowsah.”
Ben Bernie was born on May 30, 1891. By the age of 15 [...]
She Flew Into History
Whatever happened to Amelia Earhart? We may never know. And although she is most famous for being lost trying to become the first woman to fly around the world, she did have many successful firsts.
On the morning of May 20, 1932 she left Harbour Grace, Newfoundland in an attempt to become the first [...]
Johns Hopkins – The Man & The School
Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) left $7 million in his 1867 incorporation papers and 1873 will for the foundation of a university and Hospital. The equivalent is over $131 million in the year 2006 dollars.
The peculiar first name of Johns Hopkins came from the surname of his great-grandmother, Margaret Johns. She [...]
Howard K. Smith
To many the old time news anchors are Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather and the late Peter Jennings. There has been a long line of news men that preceded them. One of these men, Howard K. Smith, was born on May 12, 1914.
Before the American’s joined in World War II he was a newsman in [...]
J. Allen Hynek
Josef Allen Hynek was born on May 1, 1910 in Chicago, Ill. He died on April 27, 1986 at the age of 75 from a malignant brain tumor at Memorial Hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Hynek was classified as an expert in astrophysics. He received a B.S. from the University of Chicago received in [...]
The Duke of Jazz
Edward Kennedy Ellington, more commonly known as Duke Ellington, was born on April 29, 1899 in Washington DC. As a youngster he was called Duke by a friend because of a regal air he displayed.
Ellington began playing piano when he was eleven with a heavy influence from Ragtime. By 17 he was a [...]
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was born on April 28, 1878. He was the eldest of the children of actors Georgiana Drew and Maurice Barrymore. Maurice Barrymore legal name was Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blythe and Lionel’s birth name was Lionel Blythe.
His siblings Ethel and John as well as Georgina Drew’s parents, brothers and sister all were [...]
Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Hess born April 26, 1894 can be considered one of Adolf Hitler’s many henchmen. In the early days of the Nazi Party as one of Hitler’s deputies he rose to the ranks of third in the German leadership behind Hitler and Hermann Göring.
On May 10, 1941 he left Germany suddenly for Scotland. His [...]
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