NAACP TIMELINE OF BLACK HISTORY

NAACP at 100: Timeline
A century of talent and genius
By ROBERT HOFLER

1909
The Fisk Jubilee Singers cut their first record, Wallace Willis' "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."

1913
Ragtime's Scott Joplin ("The Entertainer") pays out of pocket to put on a concert version of his opera, "Treemonisha," which must wait until 1975 to receive its first fully staged production, with Houston Grand Opera.

1915
"Jelly Roll Blues" by Jelly Roll Morton is possibly the first jazz composition to be published.

1924
Duke Ellington makes eight records with his new Duke Ellington and his Kentucky Club Orchestra.

1925
After performing in Broadway revues, Josephine Baker becomes a French sensation with her bananas costume and "Danse sauvage" at the Folies Bergeres.

1929
Louis Armstrong performs in the Gotham revue "Hot Chocolate" and turns Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin' " into a showstopper, which he records.

1933
Billie Holiday cuts her first record, "Riffin-the-Scotch."

1934
Ella Fitzgerald makes her singing debut at the Apollo's amateur night. She wins the $25 first prize.

1939
When the DAR refuses to let contralto Marian Anderson sing in Washington, D.C.'s Constitution Hall, she performs instead on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Hattie McDaniel co-stars in "Gone With the Wind," which brings her an Oscar.

1941
Katherine Dunham and her troupe perform in the Broadway production of "Cabin in the Sky," starring Ethel Waters.

1943
Lena Horne headlines 20th Century Fox's "Stormy Weather." She had recorded the title song two years earlier for RCA Victor.

Paul Robeson opens in "Othello" at the Shubert Theater in New York City. It remains the longest-running production of a Shakespeare play in Broadway history.

1950
"Rollin' Stone" by Muddy Waters is the first single released on Chess Records.

1954
Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge update Bizet's opera for the movies, making "Carmen Jones" a hit for 20th Century Fox.

1955
Miles Davis brings together John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones to form the Miles Davis Quintet. They release "'Round About Midnight."

"Womp-bomp-a-loom-op-a-womp-bam-boom!" Little Richard records "Tutti Frutti."

1956
Chuck Berry records his song "Roll Over Beethoven."

Nat King Cole debuts his variety show on NBC.

1959
"A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry opens on Broadway with Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee. Lloyd Richards directs and, later in the run, Ossie Davis replaces Poitier.

Berry Gordy founds Tamla Records, a label that quickly becomes known as Motown, home of Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Little Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross and the Supremes.

1960
Alvin Ailey unveils his dance masterpiece "Revelations."

1964
Novelist James Baldwin makes his Broadway debut with "Blues for Mister Charlie," and the following season he opens "The Amen Corner."

Sammy Davis Jr. comes to Broadway with the new musical "Golden Boy."

1965
The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, releases his signature "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and "I Got You (I Feel Good)." They are his first top-10 hits.

1966
Leontyne Price inaugurates Lincoln Center's new Metropolitan Opera House with the world premiere of "Antony and Cleopatra."

1967
Sidney Poitier is Hollywood's most popular star with "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," "In the Heat of the Night" and "To Sir, With Love."

Aretha Franklin records Otis Redding's "Respect."

1968
Diahann Carroll stars in NBC's "Julia."

1969
Jimi Hendrix sings his version of "The Star Spangle Banner" and closes the Woodstock Festival.

1971
Richard Pryor releases his first concert LP "Richard Pryor: Live and Smokin'."

Photographer-poet-composer-musician-director Gordon Parks kicks off the blaxploitation trend with "Shaft," starring Richard Roundtree.

1972
Stevie Wonder tours with the Rolling Stones and releases "Talking Book," which features "Superstition" and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life."

1975
Ease on down the road. "The Wizard of Oz" morphs into "The Wiz" on Broadway.

1980
Robert L. Johnson founds BET.

1982
Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album, produced by Quincy Jones, becomes the top-selling LP of all time. They collaborated on "Off the Wall" in 1979.

1984
Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin co-found Def Jam Recordings, a label that goes on to release the work of LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Kurtis Blow, Public Enemy, Run-DMC and Jay-Z.

Calling Dr. Huxtable. "The Cosby Show" debuts.

1985
Quincy Jones spearheads the mega-celeb "We Are the World" to fight famine in Ethiopia.

1987
"Fences," starring Tony winner James Earl Jones and directed by Lloyd Richards, wins August Wilson the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the Tony Award.

1989
"Driving Miss Daisy," with Morgan Freeman, wins the top Oscar, the same year Spike Lee's seminal "Do the Right Thing" is nommed for only one award, original screenplay.

1990
"Ghost" brings Whoopi Goldberg an Oscar. Over the next 12 years, she hosts the Academy Awards four times.

The Fresh Prince (aka Will Smith) segues from rap to acting with the TV series "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

1993
Sean Combs establishes Bad Boy Records, signing the Notorious B.I.G., Carl Thomas, Faith Evans, 112 and Total.

1996
Tupac Shakur gives his last live perf, at the House of Blues, with Outlawz, tha Dogg Pound and Snoop "Doggy" Dogg also headlining.

2001
Halle Berry and Denzel Washington star in, respectively, "Monster's Ball" and "Training Day" and win Oscars the following year.

2002
Suzan-Lori Parks' "Topdog/Underdog" wins the Pulitzer Prize for drama. The Broadway production stars Jeffrey Wright and Mos Def under the direction of George C. Wolfe.

2004
Biopic "Ray," starring Jamie Foxx, opens four months after Ray Charles' death.

2008
Oprah Winfrey parlays her TV fame to attract record crowds for Barack Obama's Democratic primary bids in Iowa and South Carolina. The Illinois senator wins both contests plus the Big One.