29 Black History facts you probably didn't learn in school
Ernest Crim III is your instructor for this 29-lesson course as CBS 2 celebrates Black History Month.
Connect with Mr. Crim on TikTok and Twitter!
Lesson 1: Kemet
Ancient Egyptians called their land "Kemet"--or Black Land. The first person to practice medicine was from Kemet, along with the first dentist!
Lesson 2: Shotgun homes and front porches
The shotgun home and front porch design originated in West Africa in what is now Nigeria.
Lesson 3: Walls of Benin
The Walls of Benin were four times longer than the Great Wall of China. So, what happened to them?
Lesson 4: University of Sankore
One of the first universities in the world was located in Mali.
Lesson 5: 1526
The year 1619 is known as the year that Blacks were first enslaved in America. What about the year 1526?
Lesson 6: Freedom by any means
How braided hair, Gospel music, and drums played a role in the liberation of Blacks.
Lesson 7: Benjamin Banneker
Meet the man who helped design Washington, D.C., and that's not all.
Lesson 8: Queen Nanny of the Maroons
She was like Harriet Tubman, but she freed slaves someplace else.
Lesson 9: Henry "Box" Brown
Learn more about how Henry Brown got his nickname. It's incredible.
Lesson 10: Henrietta Bowers
Learn how this undertaker used her background to free Black slaves.
Lesson 11: John Berry Meachum
Learn more about the "Floating Freedom School" and why Meachum had to put it on a boat.
Lesson 12: Lewis Latimer
How Louis Latimer made one of Thomas Edison's famous inventions better.
Lesson 13: Granville T. Woods
How modern wireless technology can be traced back to Granville Woods in the 1800s.
Lesson 14: Oscar Micheaux
The man who paved the way for today's great Black filmmakers.
Lesson 15: Marie Van Brittan Brown
Those Ring cameras are everywhere. It basically started with Marie Van Brittan Brown's invention in the 1960s.
Lesson 16: Alice Parker
Meet the woman behind central heating.
Lesson 17: Safe Bus Company
13 men pooled their savings to start a company to provide transit for Blacks in the South.
Lesson 18: Soul City
A state-of-the-art town was created in the 1970s.
Lesson 19: Robert Johnson
The founder of Black Entertainment Television.
Lesson 20: Douglas Wilder
The first Black governor in the United States.
Lesson 21: Mae Jemison
The pride of Morgan Park High School, she was the first Black woman in space
Lesson 22: Marian Croak
Have you ever been on a Zoom? Marian Croak invented the technology.
Lesson 23: Million Marches
The movement behind the Million Man and Million Woman marches
Lesson 24: Hadiyah Green
She cured cancer -- with lasers
Lesson 25: DuSable
Meet the founder of Chicago, who made a fortune here
Lesson 26: John Jones
Chicago's first Black public official, and a conductor of the Underground Railroad
Lesson 27: Daniel Hale Williams
The pioneer of open heart surgery
Lesson 28: Pullman Porters
Driving force behind Black migration
Lesson 29: Carol Moseley Braun
First Black woman elected to U.S. Senate
Bonus Lesson: Dr. Margaret Taylor Burroughs
Founder of DuSable Museum