On this day, legendary bandleader Cab Calloway recorded Minnie the Moocher, a jazz classic known for its infectious “Hi-De-Ho” chorus. The song became the first jazz single to sell over one million copies, catapulting Calloway to national fame. His performance style and innovation helped pave the way for swing music and influenced generations of performers in jazz and popular music.

Renowned author Toni Morrison was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel Beloved, a haunting and powerful portrayal of slavery’s legacy in America. The award recognized Morrison’s literary brilliance and cemented her status as one of the greatest American writers. Beloved later became part of her legacy that helped her win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.

Jesse Owens, the legendary track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, died at age 66 in Tucson, Arizona. Owens’ victories dealt a symbolic blow to Nazi propaganda about Aryan supremacy and became a defining moment in both sports and civil rights history. His legacy continues to inspire generations around the world.

On March 31, 1960, eighteen students were suspended by Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after organizing a boycott of classes in protest of segregation and the administration’s inaction on civil rights. The student rebellion escalated as hundreds joined in requesting withdrawal slips, demanding institutional change. The movement abruptly ended after the sudden death of a professor from a heart attack, bringing national attention to the tension and pressures facing both students and faculty during the Civil Rights Movement.

Laurian Rugambwa of Tanzania was appointed by Pope John XXIII as the first Black Roman Catholic Cardinal. His appointment marked a significant step toward greater representation of Africans in the global Catholic Church. Rugambwa was known for advocating modernization and African leadership within the Church, and his influence extended across both religious and social spheres in post-colonial Africa.

Labor leader and civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, demanding an end to segregation and discrimination in the military draft. He warned that if these injustices were not abolished, he would call on Black youth to resist induction through civil disobedience. Randolph’s bold stance played a critical role in pressuring President Truman to issue Executive Order 9981, which desegregated the U.S. Armed Forces later that year.

President Herbert Hoover nominated Judge John J. Parker of North Carolina to the U.S. Supreme Court. The NAACP launched a national campaign opposing the nomination, citing Parker’s past rulings and statements that were hostile to Black civil rights and labor unions. The organized resistance contributed to the Senate rejecting Parker’s confirmation, marking one of the first successful national civil rights campaigns against a judicial nominee.

On this day, U.S. Navy Seaman Alphonse Gerandy displayed extraordinary bravery aboard the USS Petrel by risking his life to save fellow crewmen during a shipboard fire. For his heroism, Gerandy was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1902, making him one of the few Black sailors recognized with the nation’s highest military decoration during that era.

Jack Johnson, the first Black man to win the world heavyweight boxing title, was born in Galveston, Texas. He became champion in 1908 after defeating Tommy Burns and held the title until 1915. Johnson’s success and defiance of racial norms made him a controversial figure. In 1913, he was convicted under the Mann Act in a racially charged case and fled to Europe. He lost the title to Jess Willard in 1915 in Havana, later claiming he threw the fight. Johnson’s career record stood at 78 wins, 8 losses, 12 draws, with 45 knockouts.

Henry Ossian Flipper was born into slavery on March 31, 1856, in Thomasville, Georgia. He would go on to become the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1877. Despite facing intense racism and isolation during his time at the academy, Flipper’s graduation marked a historic breakthrough in the fight for racial equality in the U.S. military.

The United States recorded a population of 23,191,876 in the 1850 census. Notably, this was the first federal census to include every individual in a household by name, including women and children, as well as enslaved people (listed separately). Of the total population, approximately 3,638,808 million were enslaved African Americans —comprising approximately 15.7% of the population, underscoring the vast scale of slavery in the pre-Civil War United States.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rejected Charles Sumner’s argument in Roberts v. City of Boston, a lawsuit filed on behalf of Sarah Roberts, a young Black girl denied access to white public schools. The court ruled that racially segregated schools were constitutional, establishing an early version of the “separate but equal” doctrine. This precedent influenced future segregation laws and was cited in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), delaying integration efforts for decades.

Olaudah Equiano, a formerly enslaved African who became a prominent abolitionist and author, died in London. His autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, was a landmark work that exposed the horrors of slavery and influenced the abolitionist movement in Britain. Though he longed to return to Africa, he died without ever seeing his homeland again.

A series of fires and rumors of a planned slave uprising in New York City led to mass hysteria in the spring of 1741. Fueled by racial tensions and paranoia, authorities conducted aggressive investigations, resulting in the execution of 31 enslaved people and 5 white colonists. Dozens of others were deported or imprisoned. Historians now view the events as a tragic example of racial scapegoating and judicial overreach in colonial America.