This Day in Black History: Feb. 9, 1906

Poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar dies.
By Britt Middleton
Posted: 02/09/2012 07:00 AM EST
Filed Under National News, This Day in Black History

Paul Lawrence Dunbar

Poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar dies in Dayton, Ohio. He was 33. Dunbar is credited with being the first Black poet to use African dialect in his work.

 

Also, on this day, in 1971, Leroy “Satchel” Paige was nominated into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and elected on Jun. 10 by the Hall’s Special Committee on the Negro Leagues. Paige, who played for the Cleveland Indians and later the St. Louis Browns, was an icon long before his venture into the major leagues. The pitcher was a star in the Negro leagues, where he began his career in 1926 and played for over 20 seasons. In 1948, he was drafted to the Indians at 42 years old, making him the oldest rookie ever to play in Major League Baseball.

 

Also, on this day, in 1995, Bernard Harris becomes the first African-American to take a spacewalk during the second of his space flights. On this mission, Harris logged 198 hours, 29 minutes in space, completed 129 orbits and traveled over 2.9 million miles. For more on African-Americans who took famous first steps in space, visit BET.com’s Sky Heroes.

 

BET National News - Keep up to date with breaking news stories from around the nation, including headlines from the hip hop and entertainment world.

 

(Photo: Anthony Barboza/Getty Images)

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