National Freedom Day is observed on this date, to celebrate freedom from slavery. If your Black History knowledge is top-notch, you may be aware of how this day came to be. We have come up with a list of events that happened on this day in history to help you stay informed.
- 1884 – The first fascicle of the “Oxford English Dictionary” was published.
- 1923 – Fascists Voluntary Militia formed in Italy under Mussolini.
- 1923 – Ramsay MacDonald’s incoming Labor government formally recognized the Soviet Union.
- 1942 – Second Norwegian government of Vidkun Quisling was formed.
- 1947 – Dmitri Shostakovich was named professor at the conservatoire of Leningrad.
- 1960 – Four black students start the Greensboro sit-ins; they refused to leave a “whites only” lunch counter. Thus, became a milestone in the fight against racial segregation in the United States.
- 1961 – British minister Enoch Powell made medical insurance more expensive.
- 1965 – Martin Luther King Jr. and 700 demonstrators were arrested in Selma, Alabama.
- 1968 – Former US VP Richard Nixon announced his candidacy for president.
- 1976 – Sonny & Cher resume TV show, despite the real-life divorce.
- 1978 – Harriet Tubman was the 1st African American woman to be honored on a US postage stamp.
- 1978 – Director Roman Polanski skipped bail & fled to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl.
- 1979 – Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran after 15 years in exile.
- 1987 – Danielle Steel’s romance novel “Fine Things” was published.
- 1992 – President George H.W. Bush and Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin met at Camp David1
- 2004 -Wardrobe malfunction: Janet Jackson’s breast was exposed during the half-time show of Super Bowl XXXVIII, resulting in US broadcasters adopting a stronger adherence to FCC censorship guidelines.
- 2006 – Economist Ben Bernanke became the chairman of the US Federal Reserve.
- 2013 – John Kerry succeeded Hillary Clinton as US Secretary of State.
- 2014 – Janet Yellen became the Chair of the US Federal Reserve.
- 2016 – Lowa Caucuses: Republican Ted Cruz defeated Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton beat Bernie Sanders.