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In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court rules unanimously against school segregation,
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refuses to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to a white person, triggering a successful, year-long
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Musician Chuck Berry begins recording; his music will help shape rock-and-roll
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The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the segregation of Montgomery, Ala., buses is unconstitutional.
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Althea Gibson becomes the first African American tennis player to win a major title by winning both the women's singles and doubles championships at Wimbledon
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Four African American college students hold a sit-in to integrate a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., launching a wave of similar protests across the South.
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Dr Martin Luther King said his famous "I have a dream" speeech
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Aretha Franklin records a series of hit singles, including her best-known song, "Respect." She will become known as the "Queen of Soul."
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Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African American justice on the Supreme Court.
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writes his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," his famous statement about the civil rights movement.
