Notable facts: Date of birth: May 1, 1933; date of death: Sept. 5, 2013; active member of the Labour Council Human Rights Commission; was involved with North Battleford’s Community Players, acting in the play Raisin in the Sun where she won best actress at the Weyburn Drama Festival.
Notable facts: Date of birth: May 2, 1844; date of death: Oct. 10, 1929; notable for his 57 U.S. patents; he developed and patented a particular type of lubricating cup that dripped oil onto the moving parts of a train while it was in motion.
Notable facts: On May 4, 1992 the Black Action Defence Committee (BADC) organized a demonstration to protest the police killing of Raymond Lawrence and to show solidarity with Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict. Dubbed the “Yonge St. Riots” by the media, 1000 people demonstrated in a peaceful march that began at the U.S. Consulate and ended with 30 arrests, 200 windows smashed on Yonge St. and City Hall and a hundred thousand dollars in damages.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Aug. 16, 1910; date of death: May 5, 1954; played as pitcher with the Chatham Coloured All Stars, an all-Black baseball team beginning in 1934. He also played with the London Majors in 1944. Earl worked in Chatham's sanitation department.
Notable facts: Date of death: May 6, 1931; James and his wife Christina (parents of Kay Livingstone) started the Black newspaper, The Dawn of Tomorrow, in 1923.
Notable facts: Date of birth: May 9, 1958; date of death: Jun. 21, 2009; served as artistic director of the Black Theatre Workshop in Montreal in 1985.
Notable facts: Date of birth: May 13, 1989; professional hockey player in the NHL. In 2013, he won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top defenceman. In 2017, he was awarded the Meritorius Service Cross (Civil Division) in recognition of his generous donation of money and time to the Montreal Children's Hospital.
Known for: Veterinarian; professor of veterinarian pathobiology (retired); editor-in-chief of the Canadian Veterinary Journal.
Notable facts: Date of birth: May 15, 1940; Outstanding Veterinary Microbiologist Award 2008; namesake of the Carlton L. Gyles Ontario Veterinary College Support Staff Excellence Award; contributed to the research in understanding how E.coli causes disease in animals and people.
Notable facts: Jackson was hired by the Toronto Postal Service on May 17, 1882, becoming the first Black letter carrier. His mother escaped slavery in the U.S. with him and six siblings in 1858 and settled in Toronto. A laneway is named in honour of him.
Notable facts: Date of birth: May 18, 1961; co-owner of the bookstore, A Different Booklist; recipient of African Canadian Achievement Award for Community Service in 2014.
Notable facts: Elected as Member of Legislative Assembly on May 25, 1993, becoming the first Black person in the history of Nova Scotia to be elected to its Legislative Assembly and subsequently the first and only Black cabinet minister to serve the province of Nova Scotia. Adams also worked as a journalist and broadcaster.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Jun. 17, 1930; date of death: Apr. 26, 2003; first Black female member of a provincial legislature and the first woman to run for leadership of a federal political party.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Jan. 12, 1940; date of death: May 30, 2017; once hosted Raisin in the Rice Pudding, a children's radio program on CRRB 1010; played Grandma Ella on Treehouse Canada.
Notable facts: Date of birth: May 31, 1941; inducted into the Mississauga Walk of Fame in 2016; descendant of Elias Earls who escaped to Ontario via the Underground Railroad.
