June 30, 1921 – Charles S. Gilping awarded Spingarn Medal for his performance in Eugene O’Neill’s Emperor Jones.
July 1, 1889 – Frederick Douglass named U.S. Minister to Haiti.
July 2, 1872 – Elijah McCoy patents his first self-lubricating locomotive engine. The quality of his inventions helped coin the phrase “The Real McCoy”.
July 3, 1688 – The Quakers in Germantown, PA., make the first formal protest against slavery.
July 4, 1900 – Trumpeter Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, jazz pioneer, born.
July 5, 1892 – Andrew J. Beard patents rotary engine.
July 6, 1957 – Althea Gibson wins women’s singles title at Wimbledon, becoming first African American to win tennis’s most prestigious award.
