Winston S. Churchill is quoted as saying, “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” There are numerous people in history whose struggles are proof of the extraordinary courage they possessed. Even when every circumstance was screaming at them to quit, these people prevailed and turned their days of adversity into a lifetime of success. Here are 10 such individuals in history who succeeded against all odds.

1. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery, separated from his mother at a young age, taught himself to read in secrecy, and was beaten severely when his attempts at learning were found out. He rebelled and finally escaped after numerous attempts, became the leader of the abolitionist movement gaining notoriety for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing.

Frederick Douglass, the African-American social reformer, was born in Maryland as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. It was the custom during those times to separate children born in slavery from their mother at a very young age. This happened with Douglass. At the age of twelve, his master’s wife started teaching him but stopped when his master disapproved. Then Douglass began learning to read and write in secret by observing the writings of men with whom he worked and from the White children in the neighborhood.

After being hired by a new master, Douglass began teaching other slaves at the plantation. When masters of the other slaves found out, they hit them with clubs and stones and the teaching was discontinued. Later, Douglass was sent to work for numerous masters, some of whom used to punish him severely. He rebelled and made numerous attempts to escape. On September 3, 1838, he escaped successfully by boarding a train and reached New York. There he married and adopted the second name, Douglass.

Soon, Douglass began attending abolitionist meetings and started giving eloquent speeches. He traveled to Ireland and Great Britain where he delivered lectures in churches and chapels. His powerful oratory drew masses, and the facilities were often “crowded to suffocation.” Douglass is best known for his autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. He wrote the book so eloquently that some skeptics doubted whether it was actually the work of a Black man.(source)

2. Claudius, a Roman from a noble family, suffered from several health problems throughout his life, avoided assassination of his family because nobody thought he was a threat, later he became the emperor, conquered Britain which was considered impossible at that time, and became one of the greatest rulers of ancient Rome.

Claudius was born into a Roman noble family, yet his family considered him to be an embarrassment. His unattractive appearance, ill health, and clumsy manner were the reason behind their disdain. He drooled, stammered, and limped, and even his mother thought that he was dimwitted. That’s why no one had any expectations of him, and Claudius was left to continue his own study and amusements.

As a young man, Claudius was made a consul under the reign of Caligula, his nephew. Caligula used to humiliate Claudius through practical jokes and tormented him relentlessly. Claudius’ fate changed on 24 January 41 CE, when the Praetorian guard killed Emperor Caligula and his family. They spared Claudius because no one believed the sickly-looking man to be a threat. After the murders, the palace soldiers found him behind a set of curtains, quivering and fearing for his own life. He was made emperor on January 25, the next day.

Claudius’ first act as an emperor was to execute the conspirators who assassinated Caligula. He brought law and order to the land and established peace, and soon proved to be an efficient emperor. During food riots caused by drought, he imported corn. He reclaimed some of the lost lands and expanded the empire into the Middle East and the Balkans. One of his most well-known conquests is the invasion of Britain during which he personally led the army across the English Channel and brought the island into submission.

3. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected US president four times even though he was paralyzed from the waist down after suffering from polio. To run for public office, he taught himself to walk a short distance using a cane while wearing iron braces and took great care to never appear in public in a wheelchair.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, also known as “FDR,” is considered one of the three greatest US presidents. He is well known for his record of winning four successive presidential elections. Despite suffering from polio since 1921, he served as the president of US from 1933 until his death.

FDR fell ill while he was vacationing with his family in Canada. The illness left him paralyzed permanently from the waist down. Since Roosevelt was intending to run for public office, he began convincing people that he was improving. Due to the paralysis, FDR had to use a wheelchair, but he made sure never to use it in public. Using his iron will, he taught himself to walk while wearing iron braces on his legs and hips. He could only walk short distances and used to appear in public standing upright while supported on one side by his sons or an aide.(source)

4. African-American track star, Wilma Rudolph, suffered scarlet fever, whooping cough, and measles, survived infantile paralysis and required a leg brace until age nine. She went on to win three Olympic gold medals and was considered the “Fastest woman on Earth.”

On June 23, 1940, a premature baby girl was born to Blanche and Ed Rudolph. They named the girl Wilma. During her childhood days, Wilma suffered from double pneumonia and scarlet fever. At the age of four, she contracted infantile paralysis caused by the poliovirus and had to wear a brace on her left leg. With the help of physical therapy and a huge determination, she overcame her disability.

At the age of seven, she began attending Cobb Elementary School in Clarksville where she played basketball. Soon she started gaining acclaim for her running abilities. Under the training of Tennessee State University track coach Ed Temple, she qualified for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games and won a bronze medal in the 400-meter relay.

After finishing high school, Wilma enrolled at Tennessee State University and began training for the next Olympics. During the 1960 Olympics, she won three golds in the 100-meter individual, 200-meter individual, and 4 x 100-meter relay respectively and became the first American woman to win three golds in a single Olympics.(1,2)

5. Colonel Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), left school at 13, lost numerous jobs, his wife left him, and at the age of 65, he retired as a failure dependent on his savings and money from social security. One day, knowing he was a good cook, he borrowed some money, fried some chicken, sold it door-to-door, founded Kentucky Fried Chicken and became a billionaire at 88.

Harland David Sanders, popularly known as “Colonel Sanders,” was born in Indiana on September 9, 1890. When he was just six years old his father died. As a result, his mother began working while he cooked and looked after his siblings. At the age of 10, he began working as a farmhand.  At the age of 13, he left home and began working as horse carriage painter.

In 1906, Sanders falsified his date of birth and enlisted in United States Army. In February 1907, he was honorably discharged from the army. He then went to live with his uncle in Alabama and worked as a blacksmith’s helper, then as a cleaner at Northern Alabama Railroad, and then became a fireman. In 1909, Wilbur began working as labor at Norfolk and Western Railway. There he met and married Josephine King. But after the death of his son and losing his job again, his wife left him along with her children. Meanwhile, he began practicing law but his legal career ended after a brawl with his client in the courtroom.

At the age of 40, Sanders began running a service station in Kentucky. The service station featured fried chicken, and it was so popular that he was named a “Kentucky Colonel” in 1935. But his success was short-lived as at the age of 65 he had to sell his restaurant and was left with his savings and $105 per month from Social Security. Instead of bowing down, he borrowed some money, sold his fried chicken door to door, and finally opened a new restaurant in 1959 in Shelbyville. Soon, KFC grew in popularity and became an international success. The company’s rapid expansion overwhelmed Sanders, and he sold it in 1962 for $2 million ($15.4 million today).(1,2)ADVERTISEMENTS

6. Helen Keller went blind and deaf as a toddler but still was able to learn sign language. She also learned to speak, read lips with her hands, go to school, earn a bachelors degree (rare for any woman in her time), and became an author, political activist, and lecturer.

The story of Helen Keller, a deaf-blind American girl who overcame her disability to became a notable author and humanitarian, has inspired people throughout the world. But she was not always a deaf and blind person. Born on June 2, 1880, Keller was a healthy baby. When she was just 19 months old, she contracted an illness and lost both her hearing ability and her vision.

In 1886, six-year-old Helen Keller was allotted an instructor, 20-year old Anne Sullivan, who was herself visually impaired. In the beginning, when Sullivan began teaching her words, Keller couldn’t understand that every object has a unique word. So, she became frustrated. One day, Sullivan took Keller’s hand and began pouring water on it while on her other hand began tapping out the alphabet code of the word “water.” As Sullivan repeated the process again and again, Keller realized the relationship between the cool water on her hand and the word. This ignited her interest and before nightfall, she had learned 30 more words.

After the breakthrough, Keller began learning and soon proved to be a gifted child. By the age of 10, she mastered Braille and the manual alphabet, and could even use a typewriter. By 16, she learned to speak well enough to enroll in school and then went to Radcliff College. She graduated cum laude in 1904. Soon, the little blind and deaf girl became one of the world’s most remarkable woman. She toured various countries delivering lectures, wrote books, and dedicated her life to improving conditions for deaf and blind people throughout the world.(1 ,2)

7. Karoly Takacs, a top pistol shooter of his time, was preparing for the Olympics when one day during a training session with his army squad, his right hand was mutilated by a hand grenade. Instead of giving up, he practiced with his left hand and won a gold medal at both the 1948 and 1952 Olympics.

In 1936, a Hungarian army sergeant, Károly Takács, wanted to take part in the 1936 Summer Olympics. Even though he was a world-class pistol-shooter, he was denied the opportunity as only commissioned officers were allowed to compete. His dream of competing in the Olympics began taking shape again when this rule was lifted. So, Takács began training for 1940 Summer Olympics.

In 1938, life threw a new setback his way. During a training exercise, a defective grenade blew up his right hand and cost him half his right forearm. After being released from the hospital, Takács began training in secret. With determination and hard work, he surprised his countrymen by winning the 1939 Hungarian National Pistol Shooting championship.

But Takács’ dream of competing in Olympics still remained unfulfilled as the 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games were canceled due to Second World War. His chance came during the 1948 Olympics where he won the gold medal in the 25-meter, rapid-fire pistol event. He again won the gold medal in the same category during the 1952 Olympics held in Helsinki. Takács’ amazing story of grit and determination won him a place on the list of “Olympic Heroes” of the International Olympic Committee.(source)ADVERTISEMENTS

8. Orphaned at the age of four, Paul Revere Williams, a Black man, became one of the most important architects of the Los Angeles area during the time when it was becoming a megacity and when racial exclusion was the norm across the entire country.

Paul Revere Williams was born on February 18, 1894, in Los Angeles. He lost his father when he was just two years old. His mother died two years later. Four-year-old Williams was sent to a foster home. His foster mother devoted herself to his education. In his elementary school, he was the only African-American child and everyone mixed together with little prejudice.

Williams first got the hint of racial prejudice in his high school when his teacher advised him against taking up architecture as a career since he may face difficulty in attracting clients from the White community. But with a determined faith in his own talent, Williams went ahead and pursued architecture and gained professional experience in Los Angeles’ leading firms. His outstanding achievement is also due to the fact that he mastered the skill of drawing upside down. He developed this skill so that his White clients, many of whom weren’t keen on sitting next to a Black person, could see the drawing while they sat on the other side of the table.

As Williams gained experience, his outstanding designs won him fame. He was the first Black architect who became a member of the American Institute of Architects. Williams designed the homes of numerous celebrities including Cary Grant, Lon Chaney, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, and Charles Correll. He designed about 2,500 buildings during his lifetime, most of which are in Los Angeles. Even today, the houses that Williams designed are in such high demand that they don’t usually come up for sale, and even if they do, they are gone within seconds.(1,2)

9. After suffering from a massive stroke at the age of 43, Jean-Dominique Bauby became entirely speechless. His mouth, arms, and legs were paralyzed, and he could only blink, yet he wrote the number-one best-selling book The Diving Bell and the Butterfly which was later adapted to produce a multiple award-winning movie.

On 8 December 1995, the life of the suave and flamboyant editor of French “Elle” magazine, Jean-Dominique Bauby, changed. He suffered a massive stroke which sent him into a deep coma. Twenty days later, he woke up to the realization that he had changed physically. He could not move a single muscle except for his left eyelid. The doctors diagnosed it as “locked-in syndrome,” a condition in which Bauby’s brain was functioning normally while his body was now in a vegetative state.

Within the first twenty weeks after the stroke, Bauby lost 27 kilograms. But nothing could dampen the indomitable spirit of this Frenchman. Laying in his hospital bed, Bauby started communicating with his children and others by blinking his eyes. He began dictating the account of his life and dreams while being trapped in a vegetative body. He dictated the letters of the words using the blink of his left eye which was then noted. Using this method, he composed and edited a complete book, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The book was published on 7 March 1997, and went on to become a bestseller and was later adapted into a critically acclaimed film.(1,2)

10. Abraham Lincoln faced many hardships during his childhood and a number of failures during his later years. These included losing jobs, failed businesses, demotion in the army, and losing elections eight times before he became the President of the United States.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, is considered as one of the greatest presidents in the history of US. His life, both before and after becoming president, is an inspiration for all.

When Lincoln was just nine years old, he lost his mother. In those times, he was considered lazy as he disliked physical labor which was associated with frontier life and preferred reading and writing. Lincoln left his father’s home in 1831. At the age of 23, he bought a general store on credit but sold his share as the business struggled. In March 1832, he began his political career and campaigned for the Illinois General Assembly but finished eighth among thirteen candidates. Then he became interested in law. So, he started studying law books and observing court sessions. In 1834, he won a seat in the state legislature.

In 1835, Lincoln’s romantic interest, Ann Rutledge, died leaving him heartbroken, and he suffered a nervous breakdown. He picked himself up, and in 1836, he got admission to the Illinois bar and began practicing law. Between 1840 to 1845, Lincoln suffered numerous political defeats. In 1846, he ran for Congress and won. In 1849, he tried for the position of Commissioner of the General Land Office but was rejected. Between 1850 to 1858, he lost numerous other elections. Finally, in 1860, his undaunted determination brought him success, and Abraham Lincoln became the president of United States.

Source: https://unbelievable-facts.com/2017/10/succeeded-against-all-odds.html

In the last 150 years, women’s roles have changed dramatically across the world. With strong women like Susan B. Anthony and Rosa Parks fighting for equality, women today can be just about anything they set their minds to.

While work is still being done for equal rights for all, let’s take a look at just a few of the women who broke down huge barriers during their lifetimes.

Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, a woman of many firsts

Hon. Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar has had many ‘firsts’. She is the first female lawyer from Northern Nigeria, the first female judge of the High Court in Kano State Judiciary, the first female Justice of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria, the first female Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and most notably, the first female Chief Justice of Nigeria.

She was sworn-in as the Chief Justice of Nigeria in 2012 by then President, Goodluck Jonathan. She had her induction into the Nigerian Hall of Fame in 2005.

Shirley Chisholm fought for racial and gender equality as the first African-American woman in Congress.

Shirley Chisholm broke barriers in American politics as the first African-American woman in Congress during a time of extreme discrimination in the United States. She started her career as a nursery school teacher and earned her master’s degree in elementary education from Columbia University in 1951.

In 1969, Chisholm ran and won a seat in Congress, where she ultimately served seven terms. During her time in Congress, she earned the nickname “Fighting Shirley” for her passionate work for racial and gender equality. She went on to be the first woman and African-American person to run for president of the United States under a major political party in 1972.

Zainab Bulkachuwa, Nigeria’s First Female President of the Court of Appeal

Born March 5, 1950 Hon. Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa  was called  to the bar in 1976. She is the first female Chief Registrar and first female High Court judge in Bauchi State of Nigeria. When Gombe State was created, she was the first Chief Judge of Gombe State, first female Acting President of Nigeria’s Court of Appeal and later the first female substantive President of the Court of Appeal.

Malala Yousafzai continues to fight for the right of all girls to go to school.

Malala Yousafzai grew up in Pakistan, where the Taliban took control. Girls were no longer allowed to go to school, and many schools were being destroyed. 

At just 11 years old, Yousafzai began to speak out against the Taliban on a blog and documented her experiences. After receiving some recognition for her work, at the age of 15, she was shot in the head by the Taliban on her way home from school in 2012. 

After her recovery in the United Kingdom, Yousafzai started the Malala Fund, a charity that fights for girls’ education. In 2014, she became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize winner at just 17 years old. 

Today, there are still more than 130 million girls not in school. Yousafzai continues to break ground with her work across the world.

Marie Curie groundbreaking discoveries led to the use of radiation to treat illness.

Marie Curie became a world-renowned physicist during a time when women weren’t regarded for these types of roles.

Born in Poland, Curie left Warsaw in 1891 to study physics and mathematics at the Sorbonne in Paris. There, she met her husband Pierre Curie, who together began researching the separation of radium from radioactive residues. Their work covering radioactivity earned them the Nobel Prize for Physics.

After her husband died in 1906, Curie threw herself into her career, and she became the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne. She later earned a second Nobel Prize, this time in Chemistry for her work in isolating pure radium.

Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and she’s still the only woman to win Nobel Prizes in two different areas. Her groundbreaking work advanced the use of radiation to treat illness and furthered research around nuclear physics.

Junko Tabei broke gender stereotypes as the first woman to climb to Mount Everest’s summit.

Not only was Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei the first woman to ever climb to Mount Everest’s summit, but she also was the first woman to complete the Seven Summits — climbing the tallest mountain on every continent. 

Tabei formed the Ladies’ Climbing Club in 1969, an all-woman mountaineering club that would eventually make the trek up Mount Everest together in 1975.

While Tabei’s accomplishment of climbing Mount Everest was huge on its own, her Ladies’ Climbing Club broke barriers in Japan where at the time it was believed that women should just be caring for their families.

Frida Kahlo’s art celebrated the female form and Mexican culture.

Frida Kahlo overcame a debilitating injury and tumultuous marriage to become one of Mexico’s most famous painters.

In 1925, she was in a bus accident that required her to have over 30 surgeries during her lifetime. But it was during her recovery that she learned to paint. 

By the 1930s, Kahlo’s marriage was suffering. Her husband was having an affair with Kahlo’s sister, while Kahlo was also having extramarital affairs with both men and women, and the couple divorced.

Despite her personal struggles, Kahlo is best known for her surrealist self-portraits that celebrate both the female form and Mexican culture. Today, she is heralded as a feminist and LGBTQ icon.

Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space.

Russian Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to ever go to space. While working in a textile mill, Tereshkova joined a parachuting club, where she made 150 parachute jumps. With her experience from parachuting, she wrote a letter to the space center asking if she could join.

The Soviet space officials were already putting together a group of women for the next cosmonaut team. In 1961, they decided to choose Tereshkova to join the next group of people to go to space. After rigorous training, she was launched into space for a 70-hour-and-50-minute flight that resulted in 45 revolutions around the earth.

Katherine Johnson’s keen mathematics skills helped put people in space.

Mathematician Katherine Johnson used her exceptional calculation skills to assess the flight paths of spacecraft for NASA. Prior to her work in the space industry, Johnson one of the first three African American students to be accepted into the graduate program at West Virginia University in 1939. Soon after, she got married and started a family, putting her mathematics career on hold.

In 1953, Johnson began working for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which was still segregated at the time. Her work analyzing flight tests led to her joining the Space Task Group for what would become NASA later that year. She did trajectory analysis for the first human spaceflight and ran calculations personally for John Glenn’s orbital mission.

During her 33-year career, she was the first woman in her division to receive credit for a research report, and she went on to author or co-author 26 research papers. Johnson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama in 2015.

Madam C.J. Walker became the first female self-made millionaire in the US.

Madam C.J. Walker

Madam C.J. Walker created her own line of hair care products in 1905, which led to her becoming the first female self-made millionaires in the United States. Her business started after she invented a treatment for her own hair loss, and she began selling it as the Walker system.

Her products became popular among African American women because she used her personal experience and marketed them as being designed for their specific hair type. She used her wealth to fund a YMCA in Indianapolis and made donations to the NAACP. 

Katharine Graham’s courage led her to become the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Katharine Graham paved the way for women in business as the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

After her husband died in 1963, Graham took over as president of the Washington Post Company and ultimately led the newspaper to success.

Because of Graham’s courage and tenacity, the Washington Post published the Pentagon Papers, which exposed the harsh realities of the Vietnam War, and the Watergate Scandal, despite pushback from the Nixon administration. 

Bessie Coleman escaped poverty to learn to fly.

Bessie Coleman escaped poverty and discrimination to become the African American female pilot. After hearing the exciting stories from pilots returning from World War I, Coleman decided she was going to learn to fly.

It was nearly impossible for a woman to earn her pilot’s license in the United States during this time, so Coleman went to France to learn in 1920.

When she returned to the United States a year later with her international pilot’s license, she was met with fanfare and celebration. She used her newfound fame to promote equality. Coleman would decline airshows that wouldn’t admit African American people, and she encouraged other African American people to learn to fly.

Kathy Switzer was the first woman to officially complete the Boston Marathon.

In 1967, Kathy Switzer became the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon as a registered runner. The year prior, another woman completed the race but hadn’t entered since it. Switzer became determined to enter and finish the Boston Marathon despite pushback from her coach, boyfriend, and others.

She entered the race using just her initials and received mostly positive comments from other male runners. Once race officials realized a woman was running, they found her on the course and tried to rip her race bib off her shirt. She continued on and ultimately finished the race with her coach by her side. 

It wouldn’t be until 1972 that women were officially permitted to enter the Boston Marathon.

Susan B. Anthony dedicated her life to fighting for women’s suffrage.

Suffragist Susan B. Anthony dedicated her life’s work to getting women the right to vote. After spending 15 years as a teacher, she joined the abolishment movement and temperance rallies. She wasn’t allowed to speak at the rallies because she was a woman, so she ultimately joined the women’s rights movement in 1852.

In 1872, it took a turn when Anthony was arrested for voting, which brought attention to the movement. She continued to speak out for women’s suffrage, gathering signatures for petitions, and lobbying in Congress up until her death in 1906.

She died just a few years shy of the passage of the 19th amendment, which finally gave women the right to vote. 

Rosa Parks became a symbol of the civil rights movement.

Rosa Parks is best known for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus in a segregated Alabama. Prior to this moment, Parks worked as a seamstress while joining her local chapter of the NAACP. On December 1, 1955, Parks became the face of the modern civil rights movement when she was arrested for not giving her bus seat to a white man.

This was a catalyst for the civil rights movement and African Americans began boycotting the buses for just over an entire year. In November 1956, the US Supreme Court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional.

Parks’ work as the “mother of the civil rights movement” left a lasting legacy on the fight for equality in the United States and earned her the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999.

Nancy Pelosi was the first female Speaker of the House.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds her weekly news conference with Capitol Hill reporters in Washington, U.S., May 23, 2019. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan

Known now for her strength and grit as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi has worked hard to get to this point. 

Her early political involvement began while living in San Francisco with her family, where she was a volunteer Democratic organizer with a knack for fundraising. 

She eventually served on the Democratic National Committee and went on to run for California’s 12th District Congressional seat, just narrowly winning the first election. 

After she proved herself in her first term, she continued to be reelected and hold her ground in Washington D.C. She was known to use her stern voice to unite the moderates and liberals of her party to join together.

In 2002, Pelosi was elected as the minority whip. Later that year, she was elected as the minority leader, and in 2003, went on to be the first woman to lead a party in Congress. 

In 2007, Pelosi was elected as the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House, and continues to fight for democracy and human rights every day. Credit: https://www.insider.com/trailblazing-women-who-broke-barriers-for-others

By Alamin Yohannes

Alain Leroy Locke

First Black Rhodes Scholar

Alain LeRoy Locke was an American philosopher, educator and writer. After obtaining an undergraduate degree from Harvard University, Locke became the first Black Rhodes Scholar. He later returned to the U.S. to complete his doctoral studies at Harvard where he got a PhD in philosophy in 1918.

Locke later earned the title “Father of the Harlem Renaissance,” the period of social, cultural and artistic rebirth that took place in Harlem, New York, throughout the 1920s to the mid-1930s.

Locke continued to mold minds at Howard University as the Philosophy department chair, a role he would keep until his retirement in 1953. In fact, there is a New York City school, Alain L. Locke Magnet School for Environmental Stewardship, named after the educator.

Alexander L. Twilight

First Black person to graduate from a U.S. college

Alexander Twilight grew up in Corinth, Vermont during the turn of the 18th century where he worked on a neighbor’s farm while learning to read and write. He was able to finally put himself through school at Randolph’s Orange County Grammar School at the age of 20. Six years later he transferred as a junior to Vermont’s Middlebury College, where he graduated from in 1823, becoming the first Black person to earn a bachelor’s degree from a U.S. college.

Twilight went on to become a teacher, molding the minds of students for generations to come. In 1836, during a stint teaching in Brownington, Vermont, he became part of the state legislature.

Bessie Coleman

First Black civilian to become a licensed pilot

Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas, in 1892 and grew up in a family of 13 children. Coleman had dreams of soaring through the air, so she went to France in 1919 to find a flight school willing to teach her.

When she returned to the U.S. in 1921 — as the first Black civilian to be a licensed pilot in the world — Coleman was met with press coverage and attention. She used her platform to do events, like parachute jumps, and give lectures, all with the aim of opening an African-American flying school. Coleman would only perform for desegregated crowds. She died in 1926 during a test flight.

Dr. Charles Hamilton Houston

First Black editor of Harvard Law Review

Charles Hamilton Houston went to Amherst and taught English at Howard University before attending Harvard Law School, where he would make history. Houston started law school in the fall of 1919 and in 1922 he became the first Black editor of the Harvard Law Review.

As a lawyer he went on to play a role in a majority of the civil rights cases before the Supreme Court between 1930 and the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954. In fact his work working to dismantling the Jim Crow laws earned him the name “The Man Who Killed Jim Crow.”

RELATED: The ‘Green Book’ Was a Travel Guide Just for Black Motorists

Constance Baker Motley

First Black women to become a federal judge

When Constance Baker Motley was 15 she was turned away from a public beach because she was Black and it sparked her interest in civil rights. After obtaining her law degree from Columbia Law School, Motley went on to represent Martin Luther King Jr. as a young lawyer and become a law clerk for Thurgood Marshall.

She took an interest in politics and because the first Black woman to serve in the New York Senate, but her political career was cut short when she became the first Black woman to be appointed a federal judge in 1966.

Eugene Jacques Bullard

First Black combat pilot

Georgia native Eugene Jacques Bullard, born in 1895, was unhappy with his life in the U.S. and fled to Europe in 1912. Bullard joined the French Foreign Legion after the start of World War I and enlisted in the French flying service after betting a friend on leave he could despite being Black.

In 1916, Bullard entered Aeronautique Militaire, French Air Force where he became the first Black military pilot to fly in combat. He was also only Black American pilot in World War I, although he never flew for the U.S.

Fritz Pollard

First Black NFL coach

Fritz Pollard was small, but he loved football and went on to have a historic football career at Brown University. Pollard played before attending the Ivy League school, but being on the university’s team put him on the map. Many firsts were ahead of him, starting with being the first Black player to be selected for the Walter Camp All-America team and play in the Rose Bowl.

He went on to join the American Professional Football League — which later became the NFL — as a member of the Akron Pros in 1920. Pollard faced adversity and racism at every turn, but he persevered and became the first Black coach when he took the reins of the Pros a year after the team won their first title.

Gwendolyn Brooks

First Black author to win Pulitzer Prize

Gwendolyn Brooks was a writer who was recognized for her work in poetry. Her poems, like those in her book “A Street in Bronzeville,” were about the black experience in America at the time. In 1950, Brooks won a Pulitzer Prize for her book of poetry “Annie Allen.” The award made her the first Black author to win the prestige prize.

Brooks wrote several other works before passing away in 2000, “Maud Martha,” “We Real Cool” and “Blacks. She is one of the most highly regarded poets of 20th-century American poetry.

Gordon Parks

First Black director of Hollywood studio film

Gordon Parks did not begin his career as a filmmaker until he was 55, after a long career as a photographer and writer. In fact, he was the first Black staff photographer at Life Magazine. Parks signed a contract to make 1969’s “The Learning Tree,” earning him a place in history as the first Black director of a Hollywood studio film.

Park followed the film up with movies including 1971’s “Shaft,” one of the first Blaxploitation films. Famous filmmakers like Spike Lee and John Singleton have referred to Park’s achievement as inspiration for their own careers. Singleton directed the 2000 remake of “Shaft,” starring Samuel L. Jackson.

RELATED: Today in History: Earl Lloyd Became First Black NBA Player

Joseph Rainey

First Black person to win seat in U.S. House of Representatives

Joseph Rainey, a South Carolina native, was called to serve the Confederate Army during the Civil War. In 1862, he fled the United States with his wife and went to Bermuda, where the couple accumulated a notable amount of wealth.

When he returned to the U.S. years later, Rainey utilized his new status to become an active participant in the Republican Party. He won a seat in the North Carolina state senate in 1870 and went on to become the first Black person to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

William Carney

First Black Medal of Honor recipient

William Carney was a member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry during the Civil War. Carney and his fellow soldiers were in the Battle of Fort Wagner in July of 1863. When his regiment’s color bearer was shot down during the battle, an already wounded Carney struggled to retrieve the banner himself. As he brought the flag back to his fellow soldiers, Carney was shot several more times. For his heroic actions the soldier received a Medal of Honor, making him the first Black soldier to receive the honor.

Marian Anderson

First Black artist to join the Metropolitan Opera

Born in Philadelphia, Marian Anderson was a staple at her church’s choir starting at a very young age. She traveled around with her choir performing, which led to increased notary in the community. Other churches asked her to sing at their events, including the National Baptist Convention in 1919. When Anderson was unable to afford formal training, her church held a fundraiser to get the necessary funds.

Credit: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/14-individuals-who-made-black-history-n722051