7 Little-Known <br />Black History Facts 1. Shirley Chisholm, the first <br />Black woman elected to Congress, <br />survived multiple assassination attempts <br />when she ran for President of the United States. 2. John Baxter Taylor was the first <br />African American to win an Olympic gold medal. 3. Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" <br />was originally published as a poem by <br />Abel Meeropol, a Jewish school teacher. 4. Hattie McDaniel, the first African American <br />to win an Oscar, wasn't allowed to attend the <br />premiere of 'Gone with the Wind.' 5. Phillis Wheatley was 12 years old when she became <br />the first published African American female author. 6. Famed entertainer Josephine Baker worked as a <br />French Resistance spy during World War II. 7. Black History Month was decreed a national observance in 1976 by President Gerald Ford.
