Black History Knowledge — November 4

What happened on this day. These are the November 4 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on.

1879 — Thomas Elkins patents a refrigerating apparatus

On November 4, 1879, Thomas Elkins of Albany, New York, received patent No. 221,222 for a refrigerating apparatus that chilled food and other perishable items with a trough of cold water or other cooling fluid. Elkins was a pharmacist and a member of Albany’s Underground Railroad vigilance committee. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture holds his patent model.

1950 — Nat ‘Sweetwater’ Clifton makes his NBA debut with the Knicks

Nat ‘Sweetwater’ Clifton, a former Harlem Globetrotter, played his first game for the New York Knicks on November 4, 1950. He was the first Black player to sign an NBA contract and the third, after Earl Lloyd and Chuck Cooper, to appear in a game. He became an NBA All-Star in 1957.

2008 — Barack Obama is elected the first Black president of the United States

On November 4, 2008, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois defeated Senator John McCain to become the first African American elected president of the United States. He won 365 electoral votes and nearly 53 percent of the popular vote. He took office on January 20, 2009, and was re-elected in 2012.

2014 — Mia Love and Tim Scott win historic races for Congress

On November 4, 2014, Mia Love of Utah became the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress, and Tim Scott of South Carolina won election to the Senate seat he had held by appointment. Scott became the first Black senator elected from the South since Reconstruction. Love, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, served two terms.