Notable facts: Date of birth: Jan. 1, 1842; date of death: Jan. 11, 1939; in 1893, the first Black Canadian to hold the position of college president at Livingstone College.
Notable facts: On Jan. 3, 1985, took the oath of office; elected mayor of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia in 1984; the first Black female mayor in North America; named Halifax Chamber of Commerce Person of the Year in 2013.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Jan. 6; drafted the Charter on Media Representations of Black Peoples in 2013; inducted into the National Wall of Role Models on Jun. 7, 2014.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Jan. 7, 1953; hired as poetry editor for McClelland & Stewart in Aug. 2017; won the Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry for her publication, Thirsty, in 2002; received 2011 Griffin Poetry Prize for her collection Ossuaries.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Nov. 1827; date of death; Jan. 9, 1901; born in New Brunswick; used tonalism and painted mainly pastoral subject matter; in 1876, Bannister’s painting Under The Oaks won first prize at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, the first Black individual to do so. After finding out that Bannister was African American, the judges discussed rescinding the award, but fellow competitors demanded he keep the prize.
Notable facts: On Jan. 10, 2017, he was the first Somali-Canadian appointed Minister of Immigration; first Somali-Canadian cabinet minister; first Somali-Canadian MP when elected in the riding of York South-Weston in the 2015 election; a member of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
Known for: Professional wrestler known as Abdullah the Butcher
Notable facts: Date of birth: Jan. 11, 1941; named the Montreal International Champion four times and the Stampede North American Champion five times; inducted into the World Wrestling Entertainement (WWE) Hall of Fame in 2011.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Aug. 12, 1943; on Jan. 13, 1984, she was appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau; the first Black Canadian to serve in the Upper Chamber.
Notable facts: Date of death: Jan. 14, 2014; the first Black Canadian appointed as a citizenship judge in Ottawa on Jun. 4, 2012; Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award medalrecipient.
Notable facts: Beginning of the exodus of almost 1,200 Black Loyalist settlers to Sierra Leone; sponsored by the Sierra Leone Company, about 1,192 left Halifax in 15 ships, arriving at the site of Freetown between Feb. 28-Mar. 9, 1792.
Notable facts: Date of death: Jan. 17, 1871; freed by will on Aug. 27, 1803; served in the War of 1812; one of only two Blacks enslaved in Ontario who provided a first-hand account of their life.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Jan. 20, 1972; co-founded the Hogan’s Alley Memorial Project, dedicated to preserving the public memory of Vancouver’s Black community; book The Outer Harbour received the 2014 City of Vancouver Book Award.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Jan. 21, 1922; date of death: Oct. 19, 2012; appointed Ontario's 24th Lieutenant Governor (Sept. 20, 1985-Dec. 10, 1991).
Notable facts: Date of birth: Jan. 23, 1923; date of death: Jan. 30, 2013; formed J. L. Browning & Co. and Browning Engineering and Manufacturing Co. with his son, the late Joseph Browning, Jr.; master of ceremony for Miss Sepia Pageant at Windsor Emancipation Day celebrations; received 2005 Black Community Leadership Award.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Jan. 28, 1951; date of death May 5, 1989; produced several films, including the widely discussed landmark film, Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community (1983), which explored relations mainly between the police and Black immigrant communities in Toronto's Jane-Finch neighbourhood.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Jul. 5, 1902; date of death: Jan. 29, 1975; first and only Black Canadian to head the pharmacology department at McGill University; chairman of the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics from 1953 to 1967; professor emeritus from 1967 until his death in 1975.
