December 12, 1899 – George F. Grant patented golf tree.
December 12, 1950 – Jesse Leroy Brown became first African American naval officer to die in combat.
December 12, 1992 – President Bill Clinton’s Cabinet and White House appointments included five black men and one black woman.
December 13, 1944 – First African American servicewomen is sworn into the WAVES.
December 14, 1829 – John Mercer Langston, congressman and founder of Howard University Law Department, born.
December 15, 1883 – William A. Hinton, first African American on Harvard Medical School faculty and developer of the Hinton test to detect syphilis, born.
December 15, 1994 – Ruth J. Simmons named president of Smith College.
December 16, 1976 – Andrew Young nominated by President Jimmy Carter to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
December 17, 1802 – Teacher and minister Henry Adams born.
December 18, 1971 – Rev. Jesse Jackson founded Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity).
