In 1794, U.S.-born inventor Eli Whitney (1765-1825) patented the cotton gin, a machine that revolutionized the production of cotton by greatly speeding up the process...
Recy Taylor was a 24-year-old sharecropper who was gang-raped in September 1944 in Abbeville, Alabama. Her attackers were local white teenagers who were never indicted,...
Solomon Burke (born James Solomon McDonald, March 21, 1940 – October 10, 2010) was an American rhythm and blues performer and songwriter who, despite only...
In 1981, Luther Vandross released his debut album, Never Too Much, which sold more than a million copies. Though Vandross was a major R&B phenomenon,...
Ulysses Grant (1822-1885) commanded the victorious Union army during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and served as the 18th U.S. president from 1869 to 1877....