American baseball player, manager, and pioneer executive in the Negro Leagues. Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. Best African-American pitcher of the first decade of the 1900s. Organized the Negro National League, first long-lasting professional league for African-American ballplayers. Founded and managed the Chicago American Giants, one of the most successful Black baseball teams

Research chemist and pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. First to snythesize the natural product physostigmine used to treat glaucoma and a pioneer in the industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of humane hormones. First African-American chemist inducted into the National Academy of Sciences

Athlete and performing artist who became involved with Civil Rights Movement. First Black actor to play Shakespeare's Othello, on Broadway.

Born Timothy Drew, but known as Noble Drew Ali. Founder of the Moorish Science Temple of America in 1913. Promoted belief that African-Americans are of Moorish ancestry, specifically from "Moroccan Empire."

Singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist. Received Grammy Hall of Fame Award for interpretation of "I Love You, Porgy" in 2000.

Enslaved African-American who led a rebellion of slaves and free Blacks. Nicknamed "the Prophet." He was a Christian preacher that traveled from plantation to plantation ministering to the so-called slaves about the Word of God.

Professional boxer and activist. Won the gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Ranked as the greatest athlete of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated and the Sport Personality of the Century by the BBC. In 1967, convicted of draft evasion, sentenced to five years in prison, fined $10,000, and banned from boxing for three years, after refusing induction into the United States Armed Forces, due to religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in Vietnam.

American Civil rights activist from Mississippi. Worked to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi and enact social justice and voting rights.

First African-American Arctic explorer. Recognized as the first person to reach the North Pole in 1909. Recorded his Arctic memoirs "A Negro Explorer at the North Pole" in 1912. In 1937, became the first African-American accepted into the exclusive international Explorer's Club due to his achievement.

Educator, stateswoman, philanthropist, humanitarian, and civil rights activist. President of the Southeastern Federation of Colored Women's Clubs from 1920 to 1925. Founded the Daytona Beach Literary and Industrial School for Training Negro Girls, which eventually became a college, merged with the all-male Cookman Institute, and formed Bethune-Cookman College in 1929. Founded the National Council of Negro Women in New York City in 1935.

Abolitionist, journalist, physician, writer. Founded, The Mystery, the first African-American newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains. One of three, first Black men to enroll in Harvard Medical College, in 1850. Commissioned as major, and first African-American field officer in the United States Army, during American Civil War.

Jamaican political leader, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, orator, and proponent of the Pan-Africanism movement. Founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League in 1914.

Muslim minister and human rights activist. Borm Malcolm Little. In 1960, founded the newspaper, Muhammad Speaks, to further promote the message of the Nation of Islam. Terminated relationship with Nation of Islam in 1964 and created the reigious organization, Muslim Mosque, Inc. Changed name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and converted to traditional Islam during his pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia in 1964.

First Female bank president of any race to charter a bank in the U.S. She established a newspaper "The St. Luke Herald" to promote closer communication between businesses and the public.

Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and political/social activist. First Black female self-made millionaire in America. Made her fortune by developing and marketing a line of beauty and hair products for Black women.

Black Seminole leader. Led the largest mass slave escape in U.S. history from Oklahoma to Mexico (1849-1850).

Pan-Africanist writer, historian, professor. Pioneer in the creation of Africana studies and professional institutions in academia starting in the late 1960s. Founded the African Heritage Studies Association and the Black Caucus of the African Studies Association in 1968. One of his landmark works is a documentary called "A Great and Mighty Walk."

Engineer and former NASA astronaut. Third African-American woman to go into space. Actively participated in 53 space shuttle launches during nine-year tenure at Kennedy Space Center.

Was born in San Domingo, Haiti. Founded a settlement that later became the City of Chicago in 1779.

Novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and African-American social critic. Published a long essay, The Fire Next Time.

Abolitionist, author, social reformer, and diplomat. He joined the abolitionist movement by delivering speeches and writing in the Frederick Douglass Weekly, The North Star, and many other newspapers. In 1872, he received a nomination for Vice President of the United States making him the first African-American on the presidential ballot.

Political activist and revolutionary. Co-founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in 1966.

Voting rights activist, civil rights leader, and philanthropist. Vice-chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.

Canadian-American inventor and engineer. Noted for 57 U.S. patents, most involved the lubrication of steam engines. His oil-drip cup invention was so amazing, people termed the phrase "The Real McCoy" which now refers to something authentic and of high quality.

Pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement. Nine months before Rosa Parks, at only 15 years old, she refused to move from her seat on a Montgomery bound segregated bus.

Historian, author, and journalist. Co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (later known as the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915. Authored the Mis-Education of the Negro in 1933, one of the most important books of the 20th century. Launched the celebration of "Negro History Week" in 1926, eventually expanded and renamed Black History Month.

American civil aviator, known as "Queen Bess". First woman of African-American and Native American descent to hold a pilot license and first American to earn an international pilot's license.

A free, self-taught, African-American mathematician, astronomer, almanac author, and farmer. In the 1750's, he invented the first clock in America. Responsible for surveying of territory for construction of the nation's capital in 1791.

Served as 44th President of the U.S. First African-American to serve as president. The first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review.

Writer, educator, social critic, and essayist. Her works and passion for solving the problem of racism in the U.S. were influenced by her experience growing up in segregated schools. Began writing, reciting, and publishing poetry early on under her real name Gloria Jean Watkins. First Book published was "Ain't I a Woman.

Considered one of the best and most influential jazz vocalists of all time. Her first hit "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", a collaboration with pianist Teddy Wilson, became a jazz standard. She has received four posthumous Grammy awards, all for Best Historical Album. In 1972, there was a film adaptation of her autobiography Lady Sings the Blues. She wa portrayed by another legendary performer, Diana Ross

Attorney, activist, and politician. First African-American woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992. Served as U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa.

Poet, novelist, and author of African and feminist literature. Penned the prize-winning novel Purple Hibiscus. Part of one her TEDx talks was sampled in Beyonce's 2013 song, flawless.

Singer, songwriter, actress, and 12 time Grammy nominee. Achieved 12 number one hits as a solo singer after ending her role as lead singer of the Supremes in 1970. Gave a Golden Globe Award and Academy Award-nominated performance in 1972's Lady Sings the Blues. Became the first African-American woman to co-host the Academy Awards in 1974.

Civil rights and Women's Rights activist. Ran the National Council of Negro Women for twenty years.

Higher education trailblazer and missionary. Studied at Oberlin College, the first college in the United States to accept both Black and female students. First African-American woman to serve as a school superintendent.

Escaped slave, abolitionist, and armed spy during the Civil War. Began freeing her family members through a connected network of safe houses called the Underground Railroad. Led approximately 300 slaves to freedom in the North during her lifetime, earning her the nickname "Moses"

Professional singer, actress, songwriter, and comedian. Became the first African-American to win an Academy Award when she won an Oscar for her portrayal of Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939). First African-American woman to sing on the radio in the U.S. First Black Oscar winner to be placed on a U.S. postage stamp.

African-American woman whose cancer cell culture was used to create on of the most important cell lines in cancer research in 1951.

Formed the National Association of Colored Women in 1896 and later co-founded the NAACP.

Track star, field athlete, and philanthropist. Ranked among the all-time greatest athletes for her talent in the long jump and heptathlon. Won six Olymic medals. Co-founded Athletes for Hope, which helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes and support their communities.

Entertainer and French resistance activist. First black person to become a world-class dancer and star in a major motion picture.

Liberian peace leader and organizer of women. Co-awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for her role in peace-building efforts and the non-violent struggle for women's rights.

One of the first African-American women to earn a college degree. Co-founded the National Association of Colored Women in 1896 as a way to get African-American women involved in right to vote.

Poet, author, and Civil Rights activist. Authored the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". Was the first Black woman to write a screenplay of a major film and the first female poet of any race to recite a poem at a U.S. Presidential Inauguration. In 2010, received Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The first Black person on French television news in Canada during her work as a news reporter and television host.

American ballet dancer, stage performer, author. The first African-American to be promoted to principal ballerina by the American Ballet Theater. Authored the book, Firebird in 2015

Media network owner, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Listed by Forbes as the richest African-American as of 2017. Hosted highest rated talk show in history, from 1986 to 2011. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "The Color Purple".

First African-Amerian poet to publish a book in the English colonies. Most famous work titled "Poems on Various Subjects".

First Black child to desegregate an all-white elementary school in New Orleans in 1960. Her struggle has been portrayed in her book "Through My Eyes".

American professional tennis player and philanthropist. Four-time Olympic gold medal winner.

Abolitionist and Civil Rights Advocate. Changed her name from Isabella Bornfree

Award-winning French figure skater. The only Olympic figure skater to successfully land a backflip on one skate blade

Award-wining professor, editor, and novelist. First African-American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. Penned the award-winning novel "Beloved" based on the life of a runaway slave who killed her daughter rather than have her return to slavery.

Track star, Olympic champion, and educator. Contracted polio at the age of four and lost the use of her left leg but eventually regained her strength. Became the first American woman to win three gold medals in Track and Field during the 1960 summer Olympic games in Rome.

Author, folklorist, and anthropologist. Her most famous novel is "Their Eyes Were Watching God" (1937).

Author and Playwright. Best known for his works of "The Three Musketeers" and "The Count of Monte Cristo"

Inventor, Chef. Accidently invented the potato chip.

Inventor. Created the first U.S. steam engine big enough to power a war ship.

Engineer and Inventor. Helped draft the telephone patent for Alexander Graham Bell. He created and patented a filament which produced a longer lasting light bulb.

Invented the "lasting machine", which would stitch the sole of the shoe and make shoe making process much faster.

First African-American woman to receive a U.S. patent and trademark office.

Surgeon. Opened Provident Hospital in 1891, which became the first interracial staff hospital with a nurse training program. One of the first physicians to successfully perform open-heart surgery without modern surgical tools or a blood transfusion. Co-founded the National Medical Association in 1895, a professional medical association for African-Americans, who were not allowed to join the American Medial Association.

Electrical Engineer and Inventor. Created a device in 1887 which would allow the communication between train depots and trains called the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph. In 1889, received his first patent for the improved steam-boiler furnace.

Became the first African-American to have a national monument dedicated to him.

Soprano Singer. Became the first African-American to sing at Wallack's Theater on Broadway. The first African-American to perform at Cargenie Hall in New York City in 1892

Publisher and Inventor. Invented and patented a new and improved sewing machine. First African-American to own a vehicle in Cleveland, OH. Invented the three-way traffic signal, which included a warning light. Invented a gas mask which made breathing better in a smoky environment.

Created several inventions including a radio transmitter, portable X-Ray machine, and a snow machine to help get around town in the snow easier. Developed a refrigeration system called the Thermo King.

Created a Central Heating system which helped lay the groundwork for keeping millions of homes and businesses warm.

Surgeon, Educator. Discovered methods on the processing and storing of blood plasma, which is blood without its cells.

Author, Journalist, and Poet. Best Known for his work "Native Son". Other Notable works "Black Boy"," The Outsider", and "Black Power."

At the age of 12, Her short story "Come Back to Arizone" was published in "The Brownies Book, Volume 2" which was edited by W.E.B. Du Bois.

Mathematician. Hired by NASA in 1943 as a human computer. Appointed supervisor of the West Area Computing Unit, making her the first African-American woman promoted in the organization and also the first African-American supervisor in NASA. Story told in movie Hidden Figures

Educator and Author. Best known for his novel "The Invisible Man" and his work "Juneteenth" that was published after his death. In 1953, The Invisible Man won the National Book Award for Fiction.

Mathematician and Educator . The thrid African-American woman to earn a Ph.D in mathematics in 1949. First African-American woman to serve as a member of the advisory council to the National Science Foundation.

Inventor, Physical Therapist, and Forensic Scientist. In 1951, invented an electronic feeding device, which was controlled by the bite of the individual. Once the person bit down on the tube, the device would deliver a mouthful of food. Also, invented a device that was able to help a person with one arm hold something close to their face, called the portable receptacle support.

Mathematician. In 2015, awarded with the Presidental Medal of Freedom. Story told in movie Hidden Figures.

In 1959, received a patent for his wire precision resistor, which would be used in radios and televisions. Also invented the control unit for the pacemaker, which used electrical impulses that would stimulate the heart to help create a steady heartbeat.

Mathematician. Hired by NASA in 1951 as a human computer. She was NASA's first African-American engineer. Story told in movie Hidden Figures.

Nurse, Inventor. Created the first home security system in 1969, which consisted of peepholes, monitors, a camera, a two-way microphone, and an alarm button.

Engineer and Physicist. Most well-known invention was the Incineraid System, which helped clean the air of a smoky building or even fog on an airport runway.

Dancer. Known as one of the leading modern dancers of the 20th century, he made his Broadway debut in Truman Capote's "House of Flowers" in 1954. Founded his own dance company, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Dancer. First African American member of The New York City Ballett in 1955. Opened the Dance Theatre of Harlem, which is also America's first African American ballet company, in 1969.

Scientist, Inventor, Physicist. Invented the ultraviolet camera, also known as the spectograph

Helped create the stealth bomber program while part of the United States Air Force. Invented the Super Soaker water gun.

Released 39 Studio albums during Career

Shared lead vocals at age of 7 in the family group, the Jackson 5. Thriller album sold 27 million copies worldwide. Known as the "King of Pop". Has sold over 750 million records and won 13 Grammys.

First African-American woman in history to hold a patent for a natural hair care product, the Moroccan Rhassoul 5-in-1 Clay Treatment