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Jackie Robinson enters the MLB
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson made history by becoming the first African American to play in Major League Baseball, debuting for the Brooklyn Dodgers and breaking the color barrier in the sport. -
Executive Order 9981
abolished discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin in the U.S. armed forces, mandating equality of treatment and opportunity. -
Brown v. Board of Education
In the landmark 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. -
Emmett Till is murdered
The murder of Emmett Till was the catalyst for the grassroots civil rights movement. -
Rosa Parks arrest
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for disorderly conduct for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery bus boycott, sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a bus, was a 13-month protest where African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to ride city buses to protest segregation, ultimately leading to the desegregation of public transportation. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957 is passed
On September 9, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1957. -
Little Rock Nine Intervention
Rock Nine crisis by sending federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. This was to protect the kids who were facing harassment by racist people. -
Greensboro Sit-In Protest
The Greensboro sit-in, a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement, began on February 1, 1960, when four Black students from North Carolina AT State University sat at a "whites-only" lunch counter in a Woolworth's store. -
Integration of Ole Miss Riots
On September 30, 1962, riots erupted on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford where locals, students, and committed segregationists had gathered to protest the enrollment of James Meredith, a black Air Force veteran attempting to integrate the all-white school. -
The Birmingham Children’s March
Birmingham Children's Crusade, nonviolent protest against segregation held by Black children on May 2–10, 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama. -
George Wallace’s “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door”
Alabama Governor George Wallace stood in a schoolhouse door and told U.S. Justice Department officials that his state Constitution forbade two black students from entering. -
Medgar Evers shooting
On June 12, 1963, civil rights activist Medgar Evers was shot in the back as he returned home from an NAACP meeting in Jackson, Mississippi, and died shortly after. -
I Have a Dream Speech
This was Dr Martin Luther King Jrs most famous speech he gave, and also arguably his most popular speech. He gave this speech in hopes to unite the White and Black people of America to spark change for voting rights and equality for African American people. -
16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was a terrorist bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963. -
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer, a pivotal 1964 initiative in the civil rights movement, focused on registering African-American voters in Mississippi, facing violence and resistance, and ultimately leading to increased awareness of voting rights. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964 is passed
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, a landmark piece of legislation, was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964, prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. -
Malcolm X is murdered
Malcolm X was one of the biggest civil rights activists of the 50´s and 60´s, rather than Dr Martin Luther King Jr's peacful approach, Malcolm X was willing to do any means needed. Malcolm X was killed in 1965 when three armed men shot him 21 times as he was preparing to speak in New York. -
The Selma Marches / Bloody Sunday
That day became known as "Bloody Sunday," whenever civil rights activists attempted to peacefully march across the Edmund Petus Bridge in Selma while on their way to Montgomery, the state's capital. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965 is passed
A conference committee reconciled the House and Senate versions, which both bodies adopted. On August 6, 1965, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in the President's Room just off the Senate Chamber. -
Black Panther Party is formed
The Black Panther Party was founded on October 1966 in Oakland, California by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, who met at Merritt College in Oakland. -
Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court ruling
In the landmark 1967 case Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Virginia's anti-miscegenation law, which prohibited interracial marriage, violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses. -
Dr Martin Luther King Jr is Assasinated.
Martin Luther King Jr., an American civil rights activist, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel after a speech in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m.