October 13, 1579 – Martin de Porres, the first black saint in the Roman Catholic Church, born.
October 14, 1964 – At age 35, Martin Luther King, Jr., becomes youngest man ever to win Nobel Peace Prize.
October 15, 1991 – Clarence Thomas confirmed as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the second African American to serve on the court.
October 16, 1995 – Million Man March held in Washington, D.C.
October 17, 1888 – Capital Savings Bank Milwaukee of Washington, D.C., first bank for blacks, organized.
October 18, 1948 – Playwright Ntozake Shange, author of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, is born.
October 19, 1943 – Paul Robeson opens in Othello at the Shubert Theater in New York City. The show runs for 296 consecutive performances.
