bfCallback1746333736435({"Request":{"VirtualSiteSlug":"blackfacts","IsToday":true,"SearchType":"today","SearchResultType":"event"},"Results":[{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"In May, 1870, Henry O. Wagoner, Jr., the twenty year old son of one of black Denvers leading civil rights advocates, was given the rare privilege of addressing a local audience gathered to celebrate the ratification of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Wagoner congratulated the audience and praised those who had fought for the amendment but he also warned of the civic responsibilities that accompany the newly won voting rights. Part of his address is reprinted below.\nMr. President and Fellow Citizens: My own youthful appearance will naturally suggest the improbability of my being a public speaker of either experience or ability, and hence an extended apology would be needless repetition of what is already apparent. But the occasion is one well calculated to move even the most subtle and most timid from silence. I see before me a vast audience of my fellow people, glowing with enthusiasm, and I am inclined to ask what is the cause of this meeting? For what purpose are we assembled here tonight? Is it to give aid and comfort to some runaway slave? Is it to adopt resolutions declaring the existence of rights whose exercise we are unjustly denied? Is it to appoint representatives to be sent to state capitals, there to plead our cause... Is it to give expression to our utter horror and indignation at some violence perpetrated on the person or property of some of our fellow people? No sir. No such objects as these bring us here tonight. No longer must we come together stealthily by night to give relief to fugitive slaves. No more need we send champions of our rights to state capitals or national conventions; for the reason no longer exists. No more do we hear the heart rending cry of poor mortals bleeding under the lash.... Such things....happily for ourselves, happily for our posterity...are doomed to exist only in the memories and records of the past.\nWe are here tonight for thanksgiving and rejoicing at the ratification of the fifteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States,","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageOrientation":"none","HasImage":false,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"de2ecbf0-5aa4-45ce-bbf9-9a6ac45f6ac8","SourceName":"Black Past","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://www.blackpast.org/","SponsorId":"d9e17e24-cd53-4d57-be36-9d2660786c68","IsSponsored":true,"SponsorName":"Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Boston Professional Chapter","SmallSponsorLogoUrl":"24x24/shpe-logo.jpg","SponsorUrl":"http://shpeboston.org/","HasSmallSponsorLogo":true,"EffectiveDate":"1870-05-04T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1870,"Month":5,"Day":4,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","LastUpdatedBy":"ExtractionBotHub","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":6673,"FactUId":"84db8ea9-a626-409c-9f4b-e247a7872a18","Slug":"1870-henry-o-wagoner-jr-celebrates-the-ratification-of-the-15th-amendment-to-the-united-states-constitution","FactType":"Event","Title":"(1870) Henry O. Wagoner, Jr., Celebrates The Ratification Of The 15th Amendment To The United States Constitution","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/1870-henry-o-wagoner-jr-celebrates-the-ratification-of-the-15th-amendment-to-the-united-states-constitution","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Kimora Lee Simmons is a designer, former fashion model and businesswoman. She was born on May 4, 1975 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her mother is of Japanese and Korean descent but was adopted by an American family during the Korean War so she grew up in America. Her father is of African American descent, who worked in a number of jobs such as an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigator, a bail bondsman, a Federal Marshal as well as a barber. He was sentenced to jail time for being a drug dealer. Her parents separated, and Simmons was raised by her mother.\nKimora grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis and went through a difficult time at school because the other children teased her for being so tall and due to her mixed ancestry. By the age of 11, she was already 5 feet 10 inches in height. Next year, her mother enrolled her in a modeling class to give her more confidence. She graduated from Lutheran North High School in St. Louis. At the age of 13, she was discovered by an agent from Paris Agency Glamour when she participated in a model search organized in Kansas City. At the age of 14, she signed an exclusive contract with Karl Lagerfeld, who was a designer for Chanel. She was the show closer for his haute couture line in 1989.\nSoon, Kimora was getting a lot of attention in the fashion industry. She also received modeling contracts from Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent. She mentioned in a few interviews how her height, which was earlier considered gangly and awkward by her classmates, was now an advantage for her. She was featured on the covers of Harper\u2019s Bazaar magazine in Germany, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.\nAt the age of 17, Kimora met Russell Simmons at New York City\u2019s Fashion Week in 1992. Simmons was 35 years old at the time. The couple was married on a Caribbean island by Simmons\u2019 brother, who was a certified minister. They were married in 1998 and separated in 2006. They also had two daughters together. In March 2007, Simmons met her second husband, an actor and model named Djimon Hounsou.","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.com/uploads/blackfacts/facts/www.famousafricanamericans.org/images/kimora-lee-simmons.jpg","ImageHeight":323,"ImageWidth":600,"ImageOrientation":"landscape","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"73e45e4e-5e7c-4595-9ff3-d9df1f177307","SourceName":"Black History Resources","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://www.internet4classrooms.com/black_history.htm","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"1975-05-04T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1975,"Month":5,"Day":4,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","LastUpdatedBy":"bizdev","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":8040,"FactUId":"5c4f0129-3c3a-4285-ad14-16caceb7444c","Slug":"kimora-lee-simmons","FactType":"Event","Title":"Kimora Lee Simmons","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/kimora-lee-simmons","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"John Quincy Adams was born free in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 4, 1848, to the Reverend Henry and Margaret Priscilla Adams (n\u00E9e Corbin).","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.com/uploads/blackfacts/facts/www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/john_q__adams.jpg","ImageHeight":375,"ImageWidth":250,"ImageOrientation":"portrait","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"de2ecbf0-5aa4-45ce-bbf9-9a6ac45f6ac8","SourceName":"Black Past","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://www.blackpast.org/","SponsorId":"05f41a69-179a-47bc-8508-7c9d7a53954a","IsSponsored":true,"SponsorName":"Museum of African American History in Massachusetts","SmallSponsorLogoUrl":"24x24/maah-logo.jpg","SponsorUrl":"https://www.maah.org ","HasSmallSponsorLogo":true,"EffectiveDate":"1848-05-04T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1848,"Month":5,"Day":4,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":18327,"FactUId":"344c480e-f607-463a-ad3f-e6715d2dcaf1","Slug":"adams-john-quincy-j-q-1848-1922--birthday","FactType":"Event","Title":"Adams, John Quincy [\u0022J. Q.\u0022] (1848-1922) - Birthday","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/adams-john-quincy-j-q-1848-1922--birthday","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Ruth First , in full Heloise Ruth First  (born May 4, 1925, Johannesburg, South Africa\u2014died August 17, 1982, Maputo, Mozambique), South African activist, scholar, and journalist known for her relentless opposition to South Africa\u2019s discriminatory policy of apartheid.","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.com/uploads/blackfacts/facts/media1.britannica.com/eb-media/53/78753-004-905e0af3.jpg","ImageHeight":416,"ImageWidth":550,"ImageOrientation":"landscape","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"80689a34-9b7c-4d3a-91f8-56cabb44f365","SourceName":"Brittanica","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://www.britannica.com/search?query=black%20history","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"1925-05-04T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1925,"Month":5,"Day":4,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":18642,"FactUId":"b65a6c5e-1692-40a6-9e53-c29d25ed9fa1","Slug":"ruth-first--birthday","FactType":"Event","Title":"Ruth First - Birthday","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/ruth-first--birthday","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Jos\u00E9 Luandino Vieira , original name Jos\u00E9 Vieira Mateus da Gra\u00E7a  (born May 4, 1935, Lagoa de Furadouro, Portugal), Angolan writer of short fiction and novels.\nVieira immigrated with his parents to Angola in 1938, living in and around the musseques (African quarters) of Luanda. His writings reflect the fusion of Kimbundu (the language of the Mbundu people) and a variety of Portuguese that is the unique language of the musseque. Vieira, a white Angolan, committed himself early to the overthrow of the Portuguese colonial government and was arrested in 1961 for disclosing, during a BBC interview, secret lists of deserters from the Portuguese armies fighting in Africa. He spent 11 years in prison, mostly at Tarrafal, Cape Verde Islands.\nVieira is best known for his early collection of short stories, Luuanda (1963). The book, which received a Portuguese writers\u2019 literary award in 1965, was banned until the overthrow of the colonial government in 1974. Although the stories are not overtly political, their realism makes clear the oppressiveness of Portuguese occupation. Many of Vieira\u2019s stories follow the traditional structure of African oral narrative. His political novella A vida verdadeira de Domingos Xavier (1974; The Real Life of Domingos Xavier) portrays the cruelty of white \u0026ldquo;justice\u0026rdquo; and the courage of African men and women in preindependent Angola. His other works\u2014among them Velhas est\u00F3rias (1974; \u0026ldquo;Old Stories\u0026rdquo;), N\u00F3s os do Makulusu (1974; \u0026ldquo;Our Gang from Makulusu\u0026rdquo;), Vidas novas (1975; \u0026ldquo;New Lives\u0026rdquo;), and Jo\u00E3o V\u00EAncio: os sues amores (1979; The Loves of Jo\u00E3o V\u00EAncio)\u2014include both novels and collections of stories. In 2003 Vieira published the novel Nosso musseque (Our Musseque).\nAs secretary-general of the Union of Angolan Writers, Vieira directed the publication of a number of works by other Angolan authors and poets.","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.com/uploads/blackfacts/facts/media1.britannica.com/eb-media/88/3588-004-e190adfd.jpg","ImageHeight":250,"ImageWidth":600,"ImageOrientation":"landscape","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"80689a34-9b7c-4d3a-91f8-56cabb44f365","SourceName":"Brittanica","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://www.britannica.com/search?query=black%20history","SponsorId":"d9e17e24-cd53-4d57-be36-9d2660786c68","IsSponsored":true,"SponsorName":"Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Boston Professional Chapter","SmallSponsorLogoUrl":"24x24/shpe-logo.jpg","SponsorUrl":"http://shpeboston.org/","HasSmallSponsorLogo":true,"EffectiveDate":"1935-05-04T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1935,"Month":5,"Day":4,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","LastUpdatedBy":"ExtractionBotHub","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":9749,"FactUId":"6a74804b-7ada-4df4-9b47-d52111ce0278","Slug":"jos-luandino-vieira","FactType":"Event","Title":"Jos\u00E9 Luandino Vieira","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/jos-luandino-vieira","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Smith, J. W. \nLawn sprinkler \nMay 04, 1897 \nPatent No. 581,785","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.com/uploads/blackfacts/facts/2019/11/0900588c-e38b-4ab8-bfed-35607b724b5a1.png","ImageHeight":813,"ImageWidth":813,"ImageOrientation":"portrait","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","SourceName":"Blackfacts.com","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://blackfacts.com","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"1897-05-04T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1897,"Month":5,"Day":4,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":459,"FactUId":"8671a76a-76af-4daf-96c3-c6d91e455af7","Slug":"j-w-smith-patents-lawn-sprinkler","FactType":"Event","Title":"J.W. Smith patents Lawn sprinkler","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/j-w-smith-patents-lawn-sprinkler","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Cowboy Bill\n Pickett earns\n the title of\n inventor of\n Bull\n Dogging.","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageHeight":0,"ImageWidth":0,"ImageOrientation":"none","HasImage":false,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","SourceName":"Blackfacts.com","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://blackfacts.com","SponsorId":"c774164e-1b1a-4b35-8157-9ce64ec2e2c6","IsSponsored":true,"SponsorName":"Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter","SmallSponsorLogoUrl":"24x24/prospanica-logo.png","SponsorUrl":"https://www.prospanica.org/members/group.aspx?code=Boston","HasSmallSponsorLogo":true,"EffectiveDate":"1896-05-04T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1896,"Month":5,"Day":4,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":1085,"FactUId":"05f1fe28-9cc3-4e50-aae1-0e3d28959601","Slug":"cowboy-bill-pickett-earns-the","FactType":"Event","Title":"Cowboy BillPickett earnsthe","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/cowboy-bill-pickett-earns-the","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Thirteen Freedom riders began bus trip through South.","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageHeight":0,"ImageWidth":0,"ImageOrientation":"none","HasImage":false,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","SourceName":"Blackfacts.com","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://blackfacts.com","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"1961-05-04T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1961,"Month":5,"Day":4,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":1287,"FactUId":"7813fd99-b300-43cb-81dc-60d3f38e5374","Slug":"thirteen-freedom-riders-began-bus-trip-through","FactType":"Event","Title":"Thirteen Freedom riders began bus trip through","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/thirteen-freedom-riders-began-bus-trip-through","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Dr. Daniel Hale Williams founded the Provident Hospital and Training School.","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageHeight":0,"ImageWidth":0,"ImageOrientation":"none","HasImage":false,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","SourceName":"Blackfacts.com","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://blackfacts.com","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"1891-05-04T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1891,"Month":5,"Day":4,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":1360,"FactUId":"24ff19a6-7859-4dfe-b028-9580b2a10cb3","Slug":"dr-daniel-hale-williams-founded-the-provident-hospital-and-training-school","FactType":"Event","Title":"Dr. Daniel Hale Williams founded the Provident Hospital and Training School.","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/dr-daniel-hale-williams-founded-the-provident-hospital-and-training-school","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Ulysses S. Grant crossed the Rapidan and began his duel with Robert E. Lee. At the same time Ben Butlers Army of the James moved on Lees forces. Black division in Grants army did not play a prominent role in Wilderness Campaign, but Ben Butler gave his Black infantrymen and his eighteen hundred Black cavalrymen important assignments. Black troops of the Army of the James were the first Union Soldiers to take possession of James River (at Wilsons Wharf Landing, Fort Powhatan and City Point).","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageHeight":0,"ImageWidth":0,"ImageOrientation":"none","HasImage":false,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","SourceName":"Blackfacts.com","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://blackfacts.com","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"1864-05-04T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1864,"Month":5,"Day":4,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":3342,"FactUId":"50e2db3b-50a7-42c4-96a0-25e5798c30fe","Slug":"ulysses-s","FactType":"Event","Title":"Ulysses S","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/ulysses-s","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"}],"Uri":"https://widgets.blackfacts.com/widgets/51eaaa67-9484-41df-96ca-923a28251387/today?callback=bfCallback1746333736435","SiteRoot":"https://blackfacts.com","ApiUsage":0,"Cached":true,"StartTime":"2025-05-04T06:38:34.5820166Z","Elapsed":"00:00:00.4711766"})