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Black History Month originated in 1926, founded by Carter G. Woodson and was created to celebrate achievements, births, important timelines, events and to remember those we lost.

February 18: This Day in Black History  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com

1. Toni Morrision

Toni Morrision

1931: Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, editor and professor Toni Morrison was born on this day in Lorain, OH. (Photo: AP)

2. Andre Lorde

Andre Lorde

1934: Activist, feminist and Caribbean poet, Andre Lorde, was born on this day. She passed away in 1992. (Photo: Tumblr)

3. Irma Thomas

Irma Thomas

1941: Grammy Award winning R&B/Soul singer Irma Thomas (also known as the Soul Queen of New Orleans) was born on this day in Ponchatoula, LA. (Photo: AP)

4. Frankie Lymon

Frankie Lymon

1956: Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers’ ‘Why Do Fools Fall in Love’ charted on this day reaching #1 on the R&B charts and #6 on the Pop chart. (Photo: YouTube)

5. The Platters

The Platters

1956: ‘The Great Pretender’ by the Platters was the number one song on this day and had a two week run at the top of the charts. (Photo: YouTube)

6. Dr. Dre

Dr. Dre

1965: Grammy Award winning Record producer, rapper entrepreneur and actor Dr. Dre was born on this day in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo: AP)

7. C.T. Vivian

C.T. Vivian

1965: After weeks of demonstrations in Alabama the march with the integration leader, C.T. Vivian, (pictured) reached a tragic climax when black civil rights protester 26-year-old Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot by a state trooper while defending his mother and grandfather from white state troopers in Marion, Alabama. Eight days later, he would be pronounced dead. Martin Luther King, Jr., visited Jackson in the hospital before he died, and delivered a moving eulogy at his funeral. Four decades passed before any charges were filed: 42 years after the shooting, state trooper James Bonard Fowler was finally indicted of the murder. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge—second-degree manslaughter—and was finally sentenced to jail in 2010 … but only for six months. (Photo: AP)

8. Tracey Edmonds

Tracey Edmonds

1967: Tracey Edmonds was born on this day in Los Angeles, CA. She is the CEO of Edmonds Entertainment Group Inc and COO of Our Stories Films. She currently sits on the National Board of Directors for the Producers Guild of America. (Photo: AP)

9. Juelz Santana

Juelz Santana

1982: Rapper, producer and actor Juelz Santana was born on this day in New York City. (Photo: Tumblr)

10. Shani Davis

Shani Davis

1982: Gold medalist and the first African American to win an individual Gold Medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics, Shani Davis, was born on this day. (Photo: AP)

11. Cameo

Cameo

1984: Cameo hit the charts for the 21st time in seven years with what would become their biggest hit ‘She’s Strange’ on this day.

12. Lee Boyd Malvo

Lee Boyd Malvo

1985: Lee Boyd Malvo was born on this day in Kingston, Jamaica. He, along with John Allen Muhammad, went on a killing spree in 2002. He is currently serving multiple sentences of life imprisonment without parole. (Photo: AP)

13. Alvin Robertson

Alvin Robertson

1986: San Antonio’s Alvin Robertson scored NBA’s 2nd quadruple double-20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists & 10 steals against Phoenix.

14. Frank M. Snowden, Jr.

Frank M. Snowden, Jr.

2007: Frank M. Snowden Jr., a Howard University classicist whose research into blacks in ancient Greece and Rome opened a new field of study. Much of Snowden’s scholarship centered on one point: that blacks in the ancient world seemed to have been spared the virulent racism common to later Western civilization. He died of congestive heart failure on this day in Washington, DC. He was 95 years old. (Photo: AP)

15. Snooks Eaglin

Snooks Eaglin

2009: Rhythm and blues singer and guitarist Snooks Eaglin, a local New Orleans legend who played and recorded with a host of other well known musicians passed away on this day of a heart attack. He was 70 years old.

16. President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama

President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama

2010: President Barack Obama met with the Dalai Lama on this day at the White House. (Photo: AP)

17. Damon Harris

Damon Harris

2013: R&B singer (and former member of The Temptations) Damon Harris passed away, aged 62. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer at the age

of 47 and formed a non-profit to heighten awareness of prostate cancer diagnoses and treatment.