A regiment of Indians and blacks is defeated in the Battle of Suwanna, Florida, ending the first Seminole War.

James Benton Parsons becomes the first black Chief Judge of the Federal District Court in Chicago, Illinois.

Ralph David Abernathy, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, dies in Atlanta, Georgia.

Francis Williams, first African American to graduate from college in the Western Hemisphere, publishes a collection of Latin poems.

Leila Smith Foley is elected mayor of Taft, Oklahoma, becoming the first black woman to serve as mayor of a US city.

August Wilson is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his play Fences.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. writes A Letter From the Birmingham Jail.

Inventor C.J. Dorticus patents the Photo Embossing Machine.

Antoine Dubuclet of Louisiana is elected as the first black State Treasurer.

Acclaimed concert singer Flora Batson is born in Washington, D.C.