Bill and Camille Cosby gave an unprecedented gift of $20 million to Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.

Birthday of musician Sean “P. Diddy” Combs. Combs had early training working for record companies before setting off on his own with Bad Boy Entertainment. Together with the late rapper Notorious B.I.G., Combs (performing as Puff Daddy) popularized the east coast sound of American hip-hop.

On this date in 1868, Arkansas Governor Powell Clayton declared martial law in ten counties and mobilized the state militia due to a Ku Klux Klan crisis. During the summer and fall of 1868, white unrest grew in most of the southern states due to the newly created state governments enacted under the radical Reconstruction Acts. Resentful of Republican control and the extension of rights to blacks, white southerners turned to violence to impose their will. In Arkansas, racial violence continued to escalate as whites attempted to keep blacks from voting and exercising their newly guaranteed rights.

In response to outrages attributed to the Ku Klux Klan, Governor Powell Clayton secretly organized a state militia and declared martial law in many of the counties in Arkansas. His militia consisted largely of the governor’s “State Guards,’ which were very unpopular and composed partly of African Americans.

On this date in 1997, in a low-turnout election on this day, Chuck E. Burris defeated the incumbent, Pat Wheeler, by 278 votes to 260; a third candidate won 30, to become the first Black mayor of Stone Mountain, Georgia which is the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan.

On this date in 1988, the Martin L. King, Jr, federal Building is dedicated in Atlanta, Ga. It is the first federal building in the nation to bear the name of the slain civil rights leader.

On this date in 1981, Zena Garrison becomes the 1st African American player to win the junior singles tennis championship at Wimbledon, England

On this date in 1978, William Howard Jr., elected president of the National Council of Churches.

On this date in 1969, Howard N. Lee and Charles Evers are elected the first African American mayors of Chapel Hill, N.C. and Fayette, Miss., respectively

ON this date in 1958, World renowned opera singer, Shirley Verrett, makes her debut in New York City, 1958

On this date in 1953, Hulan Jack was elected first Black Borough President of Manhattan, NYC.