1.) On February 21, 1961, Otis Boykin patents the Electrical Resistor.
Otis Boykin, Inventor, patented the Electrical Resistor. U.S. 2,972,726 He is responsible for inventing the electrical device used in all guided missiles and IBM computers, plus 26 other electronic devices including a control unit for an artificial heart stimulator (pacemaker). He began his career as a laboratory assistant testing automatic controls for aircraft. One of Boykin's first achievements was a type of resistor used in computers, radios, television sets, and a variety of electronic devices. Some of his other inventions included a variable resistor used in guided missiles, small component thick-film resistors for computers. The innovations in resistor design reduced the cost of producing electronic controls for radio and television, for both military and commercial applications. Other inventions by Otis Boykin also included a burglarproof cash register and chemical air filter.
2.) On February 21, 1936, Barbara Jordan was born.
Jordan would go on to become the first African American woman elected to the House of Representatives.
3.) On September 25, 1886, Peter "The Black Prince" Jackson wins the Australian heavyweight title, becoming the very first Black man to win a national boxing crown, 1886
4.) March 5, 1939, Charles Fuller was born.
Playwright Charles Fuller was born in Philadelphia March 5, 1939. Fuller co-founded the Afro-American Arts Theatre in Philadelphia, his hometown, in 1967. The Perfect Party (1969) was the first of Fuller's plays to receive critical acclaim. Zooman and the Sign won an Obie Award in 1980. A Soldier's Play, about a murder on a Louisiana military base, won the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was adapted into a film, A Soldier's Story, in 1984.
5.) February 5, 1990, Columbia University graduate and Harvard University law student Barack Obama became the first African American named president of the Harvard Law Review.
6.) February 1, 1926, Negro History Week Begins.
What is now known as Black History Month, was first celebrated on this date as Negro History Week by Carter G. Woodson. It became a month long celebration in 1976.
7.) On October 10, 1901, Frederick Douglass Patterson, veterinarian and founder of the United Negro College Fund, was born.
8.) On June 26, 1956, Physician Bernard A. Harris, Jr was born.
Physician Bernard A. Harris, Jr was born in Temple, Texas. After completing his residency training in 1985 at the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Harris then completed a National Research Council Fellowship at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California. While at Ames he conducted research in the field of musculoskeletal physiology, and disuse osteoporosis, completing his fellowship in 1987. He then joined NASA Johnson Space Center as a clinical scientist and flight surgeon. Selected by NASA in January 1990, Dr. Harris became an astronaut in July 1991. He served as the crew representative for Shuttle Software in the Astronaut Office Operations Development Branch. A veteran of two space flights, Dr. Harris has logged more than 438 hours in space.
9.) In 1970, Maya Angelou (Marguerite Johnson) was the first black to have an original screenplay produced, "Georgia, Georgia," which she directed. Angelou was also the first black woman to have a non-fiction work on the best-seller list.
10.) On January 7, 1890, inventor W.B. Purvis patents the fountain pen.
