By Lee A. Daniels
Susan Boyle defied our expectations, and exposed our prejudices. The moment she began “I Dreamed A Dream,” from “Les Miserables” we knew we were hearing a voice full of achievement and promise. We knew we were caught in an extraordinary moment.

Musician Albert King is born in Indianola, Mississippi.

Ella Fitzgerald, “First Lady of Song,” is born in Newport News, Virginia.

The United Nations is founded at a San Francisco meeting attended by W.E.B. Du Bois, Mary McLeod Bethune, Ralph J. Bunche, and Walter

Bessie Blount patents a feeding device for amputees.

The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.

Jazz musician Joe Henderson is born in Lima, Ohio.

Granville T. Woods, inventor of the steam boiler and automobile air brakes, is born in Columbus, Ohio.

Civil rights attorney Charles Hamilton Houston dies in Washington, D.C.

Bassist, composer, and bandleader Charles Mingus is born in Nogales, Arizona.