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| August 1 1993: Barbara Ross-Lee named dean of Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, becomes the first African American woman to head a medical school. 2002: President George W. Bush signs into law the Nurse Reinvestment Act. |
August 2 1924: James Baldwin, author of Go Tell It on the Mountain, The Fire Next Time and Another Country, born. |
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| August 3 1800: Gabriel Prosser leads slave revolt in Richmond, Virginia. |
August 4 1810: Abolitionist Robert Purvis born. |
August 5 1962: Nelson Mandela, South African freedom fighter, imprisoned. He was not released until 1990. |
August 6 1848: Susie King Taylor, first black army nurse, born. 2002: L. Natalie Carroll, M.D., installed as president of the National Medical Association at its Annual Convention and Scientific Assembly in Honolulu, Hawaii. |
August 7 1989: Congressman Mickey Leland dies in plane crash during a humanitarian mission to Ethiopia. |
August 8 1865: Polar explorer Matthew Henson born. |
August 9 1936: Jesse Owens wins fourth gold medal at Summer Olympics in Berlin. |
| August 10 1987: Reginald Lewis engineers $985 million buyout of Beatrice Foods, making it the nation's largest black-owned business. 1989: Gen. Colin Powell is nominated Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first African American to hold this post. |
August 11 1872: Solomon Carter Fuller, acknowledged as first black psychiatrist, born. 1921: Alex Haley, author of Roots, born. |
August 12 1977: Steven Biko, leader of Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa, arrested. |
August 13 1981: Reagan administration undertakes its review of 30 federal regulations, including rules on civil rights to prevent job discrimination. |
August 14 1969: Dance Theatre of Harlem founded. 1989: First National Black Theater Festival held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. |
August 15 1888: Granville T. Woods patents electromechanical brake. |
August 16 1922: Author Louis E. Lomax born. |
| August 17<Br> 1849: Lawyer-activist Archibald Henry Grimké, who challenged segregationist policies of President Woodrow Wilson, born. | August 18 1859: Harriet Wilson's Our Nig is first novel published by a black writer. |
August 19 1954: Dr. Ralph J. Bunche named undersecretary of United Nations. |
August 20 1993: Dr. David Satcher named director of the Centers for Disease Control. |
August 21 1831: Nat Turner leads slave revolt in Virginia. |
August 22 1843: Henry Highland Garnett calls for a general strike by slaves. |
August 23 1926: Carter Woodson, historian, author, inaugurates Negro History Week. |
| August 24 1950: Judge Edith Sampson named first black delegate to United Nations. |
August 25 1908: National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses founded by Martha Minerva Franklin. |
August 26 1920: 19th Amendment to the Constitution ratified, giving women the right to vote. |
August 27 1935: Mary McLeod Bethune founds National Council of Negro Women. |
August 28 1963: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers "I Have A Dream" speech during March on Washington, D.C. 1994: Tiger Woods wins U.S. amateur golf championship. |
August 29 1920: Saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker born. |
August 30 1983: Lt. Col. Guion S. Bluford Jr. becomes the first African American astronaut in space. |
| August 31 1836: Henry Blair patents cotton planter. |