Joel Finkelstein was an accidental witness to one of the seminal events during the Civil Rights Movement, the signing in 1965 of the Voting Rights Act.

The agency tasked with securing America's airports is testing the use of facial recognition technology at a number of airports across the country.

Whether you feel like you have a strong understanding of black history, or you're working to learn more, we've assembled 10 facts, or anecdotes, from history.com, to help you grow your knowledge base.

The bust of a U.S. Supreme Court justice who wrote an infamous decision on slavery could soon be leaving the Capitol.

The oldest president in U.S. history is hitting a milestone birthday.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says she has “a seat at the table now and I’m ready to work,” leaning into her history-making role as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.

The Oprah Winfrey-produced documentary “Sidney” has arrived eight months after the death of Sidney Poitier.

Former President Barack Obama told the Harvard men’s basketball team that the sport taught him “it wasn’t just about me.”.

Reparations experts and advocates largely welcomed a move by California to acknowledge in writing its role in perpetuating discrimination against African Americans.

Supreme Court justices have long prized confidentiality.

In an exclusive interview, Patrisse Cullors, the former leader of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, tells The Associated Press that neither she nor anyone else in leadership has misused millions of dollars in donations.

More Americans approve than disapprove of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court as its first Black female justice, a new poll finds, but that support is politically lopsided.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's speech at the White House went to the heart of both the triumphs and struggles of Black Americans in her lifetime.

Lawmakers erupted in cheers after Vice President Kamala Harris announced the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.

The Senate has confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, shattering a historic barrier by securing her place as the first Black female justice and giving President Joe Biden a bipartisan endorsement for his effort to diversify the court.

Three Republican senators are breaking from their party to support Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's historic nomination to the Supreme Court.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins says she'll vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, giving Democrats at least one Republican vote and all but assuring Jackson will become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is pushing Ketanji Brown Jackson closer to confirmation, setting up a vote next week to recommend her nomination to the full Senate and seat her as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.

Empathy is not a quality many Republican senators want to see in the next Supreme Court justice.

After more than 30 hours of hearings, the Senate is on track to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin has announced his intention to support the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, pushing her one step closer to confirmation.

The historic Senate hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who's the first Black woman nominated for the Supreme Court, have been joyful, combative and clarifying.

It’s not just Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson who is being watched as she makes history as the first Black woman to be considered for the job.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson faced down a barrage of Republican questioning about her sentencing of criminal defendants on Wednesday, as her history-making bid to join the Supreme Court veered from lofty constitutional questions to attacks on her motivations as a judge.

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson forcefully defended her record as a federal judge Tuesday, pushing back on Republican assertions that she would be soft on crime and declaring she would rule as an “independent jurist” if confirmed as the first Black woman on the high court.

History was made the instant Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The first full day of questions for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson opened with some very big ones — on judicial philosophy, terrorism and race.

Judge Ketanji Brown is pledging to defend the Constitution and decide cases “without fear or favor” if she is confirmed to the Supreme Court.

Ketanji Brown Jackson has held private meetings with almost half the members of the Senate.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court, is going before the Senate Judiciary Committee with the path to her historic confirmation seemingly clear.

The first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court is likely to face questioning at her Senate hearing that would have been familiar to Thurgood Marshall, the first Black man who served on the high court.

President Joe Biden knows better than anyone the unexpected turns a Supreme Court nomination can take after it lands on Capitol Hill.

Labor unions and worker advocates have applauded President Joe Biden’s nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court.

The judge President Joe Biden has chosen to fulfill his historic pledge to name the first Black woman to the Supreme Court would also bring rare experience of defending poor people charged with crimes.

President Joe Biden’s nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court has launched what Democrats hope will be a quick, bipartisan confirmation process for the court’s first Black woman.

Just being the newest member of the Supreme Court can be a momentous adjustment for a justice.

If President Joe Biden’s search for a nominee to the Supreme Court could be summed up by a Help Wanted ad it might read: “Seeking a well-respected liberal jurist.

The NBA's All-Stars are sharing their stage this weekend in Cleveland.

President Joe Biden first zeroed in on a pair of finalists for his first U.S. Supreme Court pick when there were rumors last year that Justice Stephen Breyer would retire.

President Joe Biden has already made history by nominating more public defenders, civil rights attorneys and nonprofit lawyers to the federal bench during his first year in office than past presidents.

Black women have been buoyed by President Joe Biden’s pledge to nominate a Black woman to the court.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says he will not run for the U.S. Senate.

President Joe Biden had Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over to the White House on Wednesday to talk about how to fill an upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court.

President Joe Biden is reaching out to Republican as well as Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee leaders as he works to gain GOP support for his Supreme Court nominee.

President Joe Biden's commitment to nominating the U.S. Supreme Court's first Black female justice will have an incalculable effect on young lawyers around the country.

President Joe Biden has strongly affirmed that he will nominate the first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court.

President Joe Biden is eyeing at least three judges for an expected vacancy on the Supreme Court, and each of them would fulfill his campaign pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the nation’s highest court.

Sidney Poitier made history — on the screen and off.

As Jussie Smollett fights criminal charges that he lied to Chicago police about being the victim of an anti-gay, racist attack, his supporters are also working on a broader strategy: Ensuring the 39-year-old emerges from the scandal with his reputation and career intact, whatever the outcome of the trial.

A South Florida law school says it is creating a social justice center named after Ben Crump, the Black civil rights attorney who has gained national prominence representing victims of police brutality and vigilante violence.

Florida has formally cleared four Black men who were falsely accused of raping a white woman more than seven decades ago.

Officials at historically Black colleges thought they might finally have a pipeline for long-term funding from the federal government after the Biden administration included at least $45 billion for them in its multitrillion dollar economic package.

One of the nation's most prestigious historically Black colleges got a major publicity boost recently when it announced two high-profile faculty hires.

With the surprise twin hiring of two of the country’s most prominent writers on race, Howard University in Washington, D.

The House has approved a bill to remove Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol.

Howard University announced that it will name its newly re-established College of Fine Arts after famed alum Chadwick Boseman.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James walks onto the court for the first half of basketball's NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta, Sunday, March 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)ATLANTA – In the midst of a pandemic, this was assured of being an NBA All-Star Game like no other. After showing it could handle shots up close, Team LeBron headed outside in the final seconds of the half. Team LeBron: Paul had 16 assists, passing Magic Johnson's record for most career All-Star assists with 128. UP NEXTThe 71st All-Star Game will be held Feb. 20, 2022, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, left, shoots as Phoenix Suns forward Dario Saric defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 2, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)ATLANTA – It's the NBA All-Star Game almost no one seemed to want. "It’s the All-Star Game, so there’s going to be some shenanigans out there. Team LeBron will play on behalf of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, while Team Durant represents the United Negro College Fund. Trae Young, a starter in 2020, was snubbed this season despite averaging 26.4 points — the most of any player not selected for the All-Star Game.

1 overall pick on Antetokounmpo — the NBA’s two-time reigning MVP from Milwaukee — in the draft for Sunday’s All-Star Game in Atlanta. Kevin Durant, who will not play in the All-Star Game because of injury but still is the captain for Team Durant, took Brooklyn teammate Kyrie Irving with his first pick. This is the fourth year of the NBA's playing captain format for the All-Star Game. It’s the All-Star Game, so there’s going to be some shenanigans out there. AdTHE COACHESRivers, who played in one All-Star Game, is coaching the game for the third time.

(AP Photo/Jim Mone)The voters have spoken: They wanted LeBron James of the reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers to be an All-Star captain, again. James and Durant were revealed Thursday as the leading fan votegetters in the Western and Eastern Conferences for the All-Star Game, meaning they’ll be captains for the matchup in Atlanta on March 7. James will start for the 17th time, extending his record, and Durant is an All-Star for the 11th time. James — the leading overall votegetter this year, with more than 5.9 million votes from fans — and Durant will then pick their teams, with the rosters for Team LeBron and Team Durant to be revealed March 4. The game has been criticized by some of the league’s top players, James included, who voiced concerns about having it during a pandemic.

As it turns out, random dinner conversations in a Baltimore kitchen led to a significant piece of U.S. history.

Kamala Harris is sworn in as vice president by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as her husband Doug Emhoff holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris broke the barrier that has kept men at the top ranks of American power for more than two centuries when she took the oath Wednesday to hold the nation's second-highest office. With Trump absent from the inauguration, Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, took on the symbolic duty of escorting former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, out of the Capitol. To celebrate the historic day, the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the nation’s oldest sorority for Black women, which Harris joined at Howard University, declared Wednesday as Soror Kamala D. Harris Day. “Today, we mark the swearing in of the first woman in American history elected to national office, Vice President Kamala Harris.

The NAACP's Legal Defense Fund launched a $40 million scholarship program on Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, to create a new generation of civil rights lawyers. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi, left, and Henry Griffin)ATLANTA – The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund launched a $40 million scholarship program on Monday to support a new generation of civil rights lawyers, dedicated to pursuing racial justice across the South. With that whopping gift from a single anonymous donor, the fund plans to put 50 students through law schools around the country. In return, they must commit to eight years of racial justice work in the South, starting with a two-year post-graduate fellowship in a civil rights organization. “The donor very much wanted to support the development of civil rights lawyers in the South.

The film will debut at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. (Sundance Film Festival via AP)Sundance Institute programs. Organizers on Tuesday unveiled a robust and diverse slate for the festival, which will be largely virtual due to the pandemic. Yutani said that the Sesame Street documentary, “Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street” is likely to be a crowd favorite. “We all are so excited about the possibility of encountering people who’ve never been to the festival," Jackson said.

on Aug. 31, 2020, actor Chadwick Boseman in character as T'Challa in "Black Panther" and 10-year old twins Lenny, left, and Bobby Homes paying tribute to Boseman at their home in in Mesa, Ariz. on Aug. 31, 2020. (Takiyah Dupas, Marvel Studios, Annalie Homes via AP)And now, for our annual look at the year in pop culture…. Truth is, people turned to culture of all kinds in 2020 — highbrow and lowbrow — to satisfy varied and sometimes conflicting needs: Distraction, inspiration, consolation, escapism, hope. A Broadway star serenaded health workers from his apartment window, and ballet dancers performed “Swan Lake” from their bathtubs. The world mourns an actor of immense talent who, like many of his characters, radiated a regal sense of dignity.

SELMA, Ala. – Bruce Carver Boynton, a civil rights pioneer from Alabama who inspired the landmark “Freedom Rides" of 1961, died Monday. Yet both his mother and father were early civil rights activists. Thurgood Marshall, then the nation’s leading civil rights attorney and later on to become the first Black Supreme Court justice, was his counsel. The “Freedom Riders” were arrested or attacked in Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina, and a bus was burned. He spent most of his career as a civil rights attorney before retirement.

President-elect Joe Biden won in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia because of Black voters, many of them concentrated in big cities. Such a plainly racist strategy to contest the election could erode Black voters’ trust in elections. Voting-rights advocates say they stand ready to beat back any efforts to water down the Black vote. Black voters and other voters of color were guaranteed free and fair access to the polls through the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. Prior to its passage, Black voters, primarily in the South, were routinely subjected to intimidation and deadly violence for simply registering to vote.

“Black Lives Matter saved us, because we had nobody,” said Jones. Now, BLM’s influence faces a test, as voters in Tuesday’s election consider candidates who endorsed or denounced the BLM movement amid a national reckoning on race. Enter Black Lives Matter. Across social media platforms, the Black Lives Matter movement boasts a following of millions. “Black Lives Matter,” as a slogan, elicited “All Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter” responses from foes.

If Trump wins the election, Biden said the president’s nominee should have a vote. No justice has ever been confirmed to the Supreme Court so close to a presidential election with early voting already underway in some states. Republicans believe the fight ahead will boost voter enthusiasm for Trump and Senate Republicans at serious risk of losing their majority. Democrats warn Barrett's confirmation would almost certainly undo Americans' health care protections as the high court takes up a case against the Affordable Care Act in the fall. Biden has said he would nominate the first Black woman to the court, but he has not released the names of his potential choices.

Biden on Sunday appealed directly to his former colleagues in the Senate to “take a step back from the brink." If Trump wins the election, Biden said the president’s nominee should have a vote. Republicans believe the fight ahead will boost voter enthusiasm for Trump and Senate Republicans at serious risk of losing their majority. With only two of the 53 Republican senators voicing opposition to a confirmation vote before the Nov. 3 election, Democrats appeared outnumbered — and without recourse to block the nomination. Asked about potential House maneuvers to stall the nomination, such as impeaching Attorney General William Barr, Pelosi quipped, “What is the use of talking about that?” She stressed that Americans should “vote, vote, vote” to put Democrats in charge of the White House, House and Senate.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett speaks after President Donald Trump announced her as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in Washington. She said she would be mindful of the woman whose place she would take on the Supreme Court. Barrett has been critical of Chief Justice John Roberts' opinion upholding the Affordable Care Act, which is again facing a constitutional challenge at the Supreme Court. Barrett had the chance to serve as a Supreme Court clerk. Barrett’s ascension to the Supreme Court could give gun rights advocates the vote they need to bring the issue back to the court in the near future.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett applauds as President Donald Trump announces Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in Washington. Trump hailed Barrett as “a woman of remarkable intellect and character,” saying he had studied her record closely before making the pick. Trump, meanwhile, is hoping the nomination will galvanize his supporters as he looks to fend off Democrat Joe Biden. “We don’t have to do it before, but I think this will be done before the election," Trump told reporters Saturday. “I think this will end up in the Supreme Court,” Trump said Wednesday of the election.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett applauds as President Donald Trump announces Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in Washington. Trump hailed Barrett as “a woman of remarkable intellect and character,” saying he had studied her record closely before making the pick. Trump, meanwhile, is hoping the nomination will galvanize his supporters as he looks to fend off Democrat Joe Biden. “We don’t have to do it before, but I think this will be done before the election," Trump told reporters Saturday. “I think this will end up in the Supreme Court,” Trump said Wednesday of the election.

In this video grab issued Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020, by MTV, host Keke Palmer talks about late actor Chadwick Boseman during the MTV Video Music Awards. (MTV via AP)

In this video grab issued Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020, by MTV, host Keke Palmer talks about late actor Chadwick Boseman during the MTV Video Music Awards. (MTV via AP)NEW YORK – “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman, whose death from colon cancer shocked fans, was honored at the MTV Video Music Awards as a hero in real life, not just on the big screen. Host Keke Palmer said the Sunday night awards show was dedicated to Boseman, who died at the age of 43 on Friday . Boseman had previously been honored by the MTV Movie & TV Awards in 2018 for his role as the Marvel Comics superhero. ABC aired “Black Panther” commercial-free Sunday as a prime-time tribute to the actor, followed by an ABC News Special, “Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King.”

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Commissioner Amy Zanelli, suggested George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black Americans whose killings by police sparked massive street protests. The administration also is leaving open the possibility of a statue of Trump himself in the Trump-created statue park after receiving what it said were multiple nominations" of the president. Trump ordered up the statue park during a Fourth of July speech at Mount Rushmore, and set up a task force on a 60-day deadline to get the idea going. They urged the task force to consider a statue to Kendrick Castillo, an 18-year-old high school senior shot to death last year while lunging at a gunman in his British literature class. Asked about what it said were many nominations for a statue of Trump, Goldey, the Interior spokesman, pointed to Commissioner Steve Smith of Custer County, Idaho.

FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2018 photo, actor Chadwick Boseman poses for a portrait in New York to promote his film, "Black Panther." Boseman, who played Black icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown before finding fame as the regal Black Panther in the Marvel cinematic universe, has died of cancer. His representative says Boseman died Friday, Aug. 28, 2020 in Los Angeles after a four-year battle with colon cancer. (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP)

FILE - In this March 4, 2018 file photo, Chadwick Boseman arrives at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Actor Chadwick Boseman, who played Black icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown before finding fame as the regal Black Panther in the Marvel cinematic universe, has died of cancer. When the former playwright suited up as Black Panther, he brought cool intellectual gravitas to the Marvel superhero whose Wakanda forever! salute reverberated worldwide. You dont have the same exact experience as a Black actor as you do as a white actor. Before an auditorium full of actors, Chadwick Boseman stepped to the microphone.

FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2018 photo, actor Chadwick Boseman poses for a portrait in New York to promote his film, "Black Panther." Boseman, who played Black icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown before finding fame as the regal Black Panther in the Marvel cinematic universe, has died of cancer. In a tragically brief but historically sweeping life as an actor, Boseman played men of public life and private pain. Theres a lot to learn from Thurgood Marshall, Boseman said that day two and a half years ago. During the filming of Black Panther, Boseman said he was communicating with two boys who had terminal cancer.

It was in that room that Taney, the nation's fifth chief justice, announced the Dred Scott decision, sometimes called the worst decision in the court's history. Lynne M. Jackson, Scott's great-great-granddaughter, says if it were up to her, she'd leave Taney's bust where it is. In Congress, Taney's bust was controversial from the start. "And an emancipated country will fasten upon him the stigma which he deserves.Funding for a Taney bust wasn't approved until almost a decade later. The first, John Marshall, is the only person to serve as chief justice longer than Taney and a revered figure in the law.

In this Tuesday, May 5, 2020, photo, Morehouse College senior Lanarion "LTL" Norwood Jr., of Atlanta, works on his computer in a hotel room in Atlanta. Then Bennett, a small historically black womens college in North Carolina, saw Johnsons potential and offered her a full scholarship. HBCUs have the added challenge of educating a large population of low-income and first-generation students who now need more help than ever. Morehouse College President David Thomas said after the last recession enrollment at the all-men's school in Atlanta dropped from about 2,800 to 2,100. It was kind of magical when I first stepped onto the Morehouse campus, Norwood said.