Expect a “Harlem Renaissance” of knowledge in this easy black history quiz because we’re serving up facts and figures hotter than a jazz trumpet solo!
Whether you’re a “Booker” of wisdom or just in it for some “Good Marshall” fun, we’ve got you covered. So put on your trivia “gloves”, step into the “ring” of knowledge, and prove you’re the “heavyweight” champ of Black History facts. Don’t let anything “knock you out” – remember, it’s not about the “score”, it’s about the “Morehouse” of knowledge you build up!
1. Who was the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature?
2. Which African-American athlete is known for breaking the color barrier in major league baseball?
3. Who invented the gas mask and the traffic signal?
4. Who was the first African American elected President of the United States?
5. What famous speech did Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963?
6. Who was the first African American woman to travel in space?
7. Which civil rights activist famously refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus?
8. Which couple is considered the first African American billionaires in the United States?
9. What was the historical period of art, music, and literature among African Americans in the 1920s known as?
10. Who was the first African American to win an Academy Award for Best Actor?
11. Which African American author wrote the novel “Beloved”?
12. What musician is known as the “King of Pop”?
13. Who was the first African American Supreme Court Justice?
14. Which African American woman played a significant role in NASA’s successful Apollo 11 moon landing mission?
15. Who was the first African American to win the Nobel Peace Prize?
16. What is the name of the first historically black college in the United States?
17. Who is the author of the groundbreaking slave narrative “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave”?
18. Who was the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress?
19. Who was the African American woman who sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955?
20. Which African American athlete and civil rights activist raised his fist at the 1968 Olympics as a symbol of Black Power?
21. What African-American abolitionist led an armed insurrection against slavery at Harper’s Ferry?
22. Who was the first African-American to be honored on a U.S. postage stamp?
23. Who is known as the “Queen of Soul”?
24. Who was the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy?
25. Who was the first African-American woman to win a Best Actress Academy Award?
26. What civil rights leader organized the 1963 March on Washington?
27. Who was the first African American to serve as U.S. Secretary of State?
28. Who was the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction?
29. What was the name of the first African-American owned and operated television station in the United States?
30. Who is the author of the critically acclaimed play “A Raisin in the Sun”?
31. Who is often referred to as the “Queen of Gospel Music”?
32. Who was the first African American to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics?
33. Who was the first African American to receive a patent for his invention, the dry cleaning process?
34. Which civil rights organization was founded by W.E.B. Du Bois and others in 1909?
35. Who is the most successful African-American to host a television show in the United States?
36. Who was known as the “Black Edison” for his many inventions, including an improved light bulb?
37. Who was the first African American to serve as Surgeon General of the United States?
38. Who became the first African American chess grandmaster in 1999?
39. Who was the first African-American woman to win the U.S. Open tennis championship?
40. Who was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University?
41. Who was the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964?
42. Which black physicist played a key role in the development of the atomic bomb?
43. Who founded Tuskegee Institute in 1881?
44. Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie were the first black Americans to win what award?
45. Who was the first African American to serve as a U.S. Senator?
46. Which African American artist is known for her depictions and interpretations of the African-American experience in her artwork through collage?
47. Who was the first African-American astronaut to fly in space?
48. Which African American was a leader of the American farm worker movement in the 1960s and 1970s alongside Cesar Chavez?
49. Who was the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry?
50. Who was the famous African-American abolitionist who escaped from slavery and became a leading writer and speaker?
51. What famous African American wrote the book “Roots”, which was later turned into a popular TV mini-series?
52. Who was the first African American Justice of the Supreme Court, serving for over 24 years?
53. Whose album Calypso was the first to sell more than a million copies?
54. Who was the first black male tennis player to win a Wimbledon title?
55. What civil rights leader was co-founder and first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and organized the 1963 March on Washington?
56. Name the lawyer who successfully argued the famous 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which declared separate but equal schools to be unconstitutional.
57. What African-American leader founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and advocated for black nationalism and pan-Africanism in the early 20th century?
58. What African-American singer is remembered for her performance at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 after being denied the right to sing at Constitution Hall?
59. Who was the first African American woman to become a bank president in the United States?
60. Which African-American pianist and singer is known for her song like “Four Women” and “Feeling Good”?
61. Which black author wrote “The Three Musketeers”?
62. Who was the first African-American woman to win Miss America?
63. Janelle “Penny” Commissiong was the first black woman to win what competition?
64. Which journalist led an anti-lynching crusade in the 1890s?
65. Who was the first African American to win a Tony for Best Director of a Play?
66. Who was the first African American to serve as the U.S. National Security Advisor?
67. Who is the first African-American woman to serve as vice president of the USA?
68. Who was the first African American woman to win the Miss World title?
69. Who was the first black man to win a Formula 1 race?
70. Can you name the first female stand up comedian to perform at the Apollo theater?
71. Who was the first African American to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
72. Who was the first African American woman to co-own a billion-dollar business?
73. Which African American astronaut died in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion?
74. Who was the first African American model to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine?
75. Who was the first African American woman named as poet laureate of the United States?
76. Who was the first African American to win the Nobel Prize for Economics?
77. Which African American woman was the first female self-made millionaire in America through hair care products for black women?
78. Who was the first African American head coach to win a Super Bowl?
79. Which American athlete won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin?
80. Who was the first African American to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations?
81. Which actress played Foxy Brown, one of the first female action movie stars?
82. Which famous African American singer was known as “The Empress of the Blues”?
83. Who was the first African American to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics?
84. Who became the most decorated gymnast in 2023?
85. Who was the first African American to be named Time Magazine’s “Man of the Year”?
86. Who was the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal?
87. Which African American comedienne starred in the television show “Julia”, the first series on American television to star a black woman in a non-stereotypical role?
88. Which African American artist is best known for her narrative quilts?
89. Who was the first African-American awarded the Medal of Honor?
90. Who famous poet and novelist received the National Medal of Arts in 2000?
91. Who was the first African-American woman to receive a patent for her invention, an improved ironing board?
92. Which African-American singer was known as the “High Priestess of Soul”?
93. Who was the first African-American woman to be appointed to a federal judgeship in the United States?
94. Who was the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in economics in the United States?
95. Who was the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in psychology in the United States?
96. Norma Merrick Sklarek was the first African-American woman to become a certified what?
97. Which African-American civil rights activist was known as “the first lady of civil rights”?
98. Which African American actor is known for his roles in “The Great White Hope” and “Star Wars”?
99. Which African American poet wrote the classic line “What happens to a dream deferred?”
100. Which “reverend” founded Rainbow/PUSH and ran for president in 1984?
101. Who was the first African-American woman to hold a patent for a software invention?
102. Who was the first African-American woman to command a U.S. Navy ship?
103. Who was the first African American to win the men’s singles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and who also helped the U.S. win the Davis Cup?
104. Who was the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives?
105. Who was the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature?
106. Who was the first African American comic book artist at Marvel Comics, known for his work on Luke Cage, Hero for Hire?
107. Which African-American singer created the album “Songs in the Key of Life”?
108. Who was the first African-American woman to receive an academy award for Best Supporting Actress?
109. Who was the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama?
110. Who was the first African-American player in the National Hockey League (NHL)?
111. Who is the first African-American woman to create and produce a Top 10 network series?
112. Who was the first African American to win a Grand Prix in Formula One racing?
113. Who was the first African-American woman to become a judge in the United States?
114. Which trumpeter won the Pulitzer Prize for his jazz composition “Blood on the Fields”?
115. Who was the first African-American woman to win an Individual Gold Medal in gymnastics at the Olympic Games?
116. Who is known as the Godfather of Soul?
117. Who is the activist famously said “I Am Not Your Negro”?
118. Who was the first African American elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame?
119. Who was the first African American to win the Academy Award for Best Director?
120. Name the Bed–Stuy-born jazz singer, actress and civil rights activist known for her song “Stormy Weather”.
121. Who was the first African American to win the U.S. National Men’s Singles Tennis Championship?
122. Who was the first African-American woman to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series?
123. Name the African American athlete who set a new record for most 3-pionters in the NBA in 2021.
124. Who led the first successful slave revolt in Haiti?
125. Which American musician was known as the fifth Beatle?
Congratulations on completing the quiz! You’ve journeyed through an inspirational landscape of historic milestones and legendary figures. A standing ovation for your efforts and remember, every trivia pursuit is a step forward in the march of knowledge. Don’t stop here, though – head on over to explore other quizzes on Trivia Bliss. The game is afoot, and the thrill of trivia awaits you!
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