Feb. 4
1996- J.C. Watts became the first African American to be selected to respond to a State of the Union address.
Feb. 5
1990- Columbia University graduate and Harvard University Law student, Barack Obama, became the first African American named president of the Harvard Law Review.
Feb. 6
1972- Robert Lewis Douglas, founder and coach of the New York Renaissance basketball team, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Douglas was deemed the father of Black basketball.
Feb. 7
1967- Comedian and actor Chris Rock was born in Andrews, South Carolina. The comedian became a critical comedian when he hosted his self-title show on HBO.
Feb. 8
1944- Harry S. McAlpin was accredited as the first African American journalist to attend a U.S. Presidential news press conference.
Feb. 9
1995- Astronaut Bernard A. Harris, Jr. became the first African American to perform an extra-vehicular activity, also known as a spacewalk, during the second trip of his two Space Shuttle flights.
