1811 – Charles Deslondes Led Louisiana Slave Revolt
Charles Deslondes, born around 1789, was an enslaved Black abolitionist who emerged as a key leader of the January 8, 1811 German Coast Uprising in Louisiana. Enslaved on local plantations, he later worked as a driver and organized more than 200 rebels who marched toward New Orleans seeking freedom.
The revolt was violently suppressed by militias and the U.S. Army. Deslondes was captured and brutally executed without trial, becoming a symbol of resistance and the extreme violence used to uphold slavery in early America.
1912 – The African National Congress (ANC) Is Formed
The African National Congress (ANC) was founded on January 8, 1912, as the South African Native National Congress to challenge racial discrimination. Initially reformist, it sought equal rights through petitions. In the 1940s, younger leaders such as Nelson Mandela pushed the ANC toward more radical strategies.
After apartheid was formalized in 1948, the ANC led mass resistance, launched the Defiance Campaign, and adopted the Freedom Charter. Banned in 1960, it went underground and formed a military wing. The ANC was unbanned in 1990 and won South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994.
1922 – Charles Young Passes Away
Colonel Charles Young was the first African American to attain the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army. Born in 1864 in Kentucky to formerly enslaved parents, he graduated from West Point in 1889 and served as a Buffalo Soldier with the 9th and 10th Cavalry and 25th Infantry.
Young also taught at Wilberforce University and later commanded troops in the Spanish-American War, led the Sequoia and General Grant National Parks, and served in World War I. He died on January 8, 1922 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.