Coretta Scott King, wife of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., dies in Mexico.

August Wilson’s Fences, starring James Earl Jones, opens at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.

Jackie Robinson, first African American to play in major league baseball, is born in Cairo, Georgia.

William Wells Brown published first black drama, “Leap to Freedom.”

Richard Theodore Greener becomes the first African American to graduate from Harvard University.

Violette Nealy Anderson becomes the first African-American woman admitted to practice before the Supreme Court.

Francis L. Cardoza is elected South Carolina state treasurer.

Roots, the TV miniseries premiers on ABC.

Condoleezza Rice is sworn in as United States Secretary of State, becoming the first African- American woman to hold the post.

Matthew Henson receives a joint medal from Congress as co-discoverer of the North Pole.