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Famous Firsts

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: TAYLOR HILL—FILMMAGIC/GETTY IMAGES; ULLSTEIN BILD/GETTY IMAGES; MATT MCCLAIN—THE WASHINGTON POST/GETTY IMAGES; HANNES MAGERSTAEDT—GETTY IMAGES

February is Black History Month. Here are four firsts in Black history. These famous people led the way.

She won a big match.

ULLSTEIN BILD/GETTY IMAGES

Althea Gibson was the first Black tennis champion at Wimbledon. She won the big match in 1957.

She changed schools.

TAYLOR HILL—FILMMAGIC/GETTY IMAGES

In 1960, Ruby Bridges became the youngest Black child to go to a white school in the South.

He led a country.

HANNES MAGERSTAEDT—GETTY IMAGES

Barack Obama was the 44th president of the United States, from 2009 to 2017. He was the country’s first Black president.

She leads the library.

MATT MCCLAIN—THE WASHINGTON POST/GETTY IMAGES

Carla Hayden became the first Black Librarian of Congress, in 2016. She heads the world’s biggest library.