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After some changes to the line-up ,the group renamed itself \u0026ldquo;The Miracles\u0026rdquo; and began touring. In 1957, the band met Berry Gordy, the future CEO of Motown Records. Gordy was impressed with the band and particularly with Smokey\u2019s vocals and songwriting skills. He offered the Miracles a record contract and their first single \u0026ldquo;Got A Job\u0026rdquo; was released in 1959. Robsinson briefly enrolled at college to study electrical engineering but dropped out after two months when his band released their first record. The Miracles became one of the first bands to be signed to Motown Records.\nThe band\u2019s first hit single, which was also Motown\u2019s first million selling record, was released in late 1960s and called \u0026ldquo;Shop Around\u0026rdquo;. Between 1960 and 1970, the group had 26 top 40 hit songs, all with Robinson as lead singer, chief songwriter and producer. The band later changed their name to \u0026ldquo;Smokey Robinson \u0026amp; The Miracles\u0026rdquo;. Robsinson was one of the most coveted songwriters and wrote several hits for artists such as Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and The Supremes, The Contours and Stevie Wonder. In all, he is credited with writing more than 4000 songs. He also served as the Vice President of Motown Records until 1988.\nIn 1972, Robinson left the band and spent a year in retirement. 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The plot of To Kill a Mockingbird is based in part on his unsuccessful youthful defense of two African American men convicted of murder.\nLee studied law at the University of Alabama (spending a summer as an exchange student at Oxford) but left for New York City without earning a degree. In New York she worked as an airline reservationist but soon received financial aid from friends that allowed her to write full-time. With the help of an editor, she transformed a series of short stories into To Kill a Mockingbird.\nThe novel is told predominately from the perspective of a young girl, Jean Louise (\u0026ldquo;Scout\u0026rdquo;) Finch (who ages from six to nine years old during the course of the novel), the daughter of white lawyer  Atticus Finch, and occasionally from the retrospective adult voice of Jean Louise. Scout and her brother, Jem, learn the principles of racial justice and open-mindedness from their father, whose just and compassionate acts include an unpopular defense of a black man falsely accused of raping a white girl. They also develop the courage and the strength to follow their convictions in their acquaintance and eventual friendship with a recluse, \u0026ldquo;Boo\u0026rdquo; Radley, who has been demonized by the community. To Kill a Mockingbird received a Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. Criticism of its tendency to sermonize has been matched by praise of its insight and stylistic effectiveness. It became  a memorable film in 1962 and was filmed again in 1997.\nOne character from the novel, Charles Baker (\u0026ldquo;Dill\u0026rdquo;) Harris, is based on Lee\u2019s childhood friend and next door neighbour in Monroeville, Alabama, Truman","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.com/uploads/blackfacts/facts/media1.britannica.com/eb-media/91/126891-004-fd0ec21b.jpg","ImageHeight":377,"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":"2016-02-19T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":2016,"Month":2,"Day":19,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","LastUpdatedBy":"ExtractionBotHub","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":9688,"FactUId":"b9482c80-b9f0-4a59-9ad4-d5911d034967","Slug":"harper-lee","FactType":"Event","Title":"Harper Lee","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/harper-lee","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Anderson, an only child, was born in Houston, Texas, on February 19, 1965, to Doris Parker-Morales, a classical piano teacher, and Lawrence Anderson, a high school administrator.","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.com/uploads/blackfacts/facts/www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/lauren_anderson.jpg","ImageHeight":350,"ImageWidth":228,"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/","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"1965-02-19T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1965,"Month":2,"Day":19,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":18460,"FactUId":"d3a54655-4de9-4c43-8903-04b4babfc0ad","Slug":"anderson-lauren-1965--birthday","FactType":"Event","Title":"Anderson, Lauren (1965-    ) - Birthday","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/anderson-lauren-1965--birthday","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Carson McCullers , n\u00E9e Lula Carson Smith  (born February 19, 1917, Columbus, Georgia, U.","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.com/uploads/blackfacts/facts/media1.britannica.com/eb-media/12/161312-004-dcb8eac6.jpg","ImageHeight":450,"ImageWidth":372,"ImageOrientation":"portrait","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":"1917-02-19T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1917,"Month":2,"Day":19,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":18591,"FactUId":"faa2b66f-6eaf-41dc-90dc-5f66e936a945","Slug":"carson-mccullers--birthday","FactType":"Event","Title":"Carson McCullers - Birthday","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/carson-mccullers--birthday","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Concert singer Dorothy Maynor dies (1910-1996)","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.com/uploads/blackfacts/facts/2019/10/6c5159b6-c6d8-40e5-8c4f-1c504ac03a8f1.png","ImageHeight":250,"ImageWidth":225,"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":"1996-02-19T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1996,"Month":2,"Day":19,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":136,"FactUId":"cd52141b-4fba-406f-bdc6-07445f9f972c","Slug":"singer-dorothy-maynor-dies","FactType":"Event","Title":"Singer Dorothy Maynor dies","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/singer-dorothy-maynor-dies","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Knights of Pythias established. 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