Today in black history: Lauryn Hill wins five Grammys, first black woman earns M.D. degree, and more

1864 — Rebecca Lee Crumpler becomes first black woman in the United States to receive an M.D. degree. Crumpler graduated from the New England Female Medical College. She worked as a nurse in Massachusetts from 1852 to 1860 and later became one of the first African-Americans to publish a book when she released A Book of Medical Discourses in 1883.

1966 — Kwame Nkrumah is ousted in a military coup. Nkrumah helped lead Ghana out of British rule and into a state of independence in 1957. He was the country’s first president and named president for life by both his political party and the people. While Nkrumah was on a peace mission to Vietnam, a military coup removed him from office, and he sought asylum in Guinea.

1985 — First black ambassador to Republic of South Africa, Edward Perkins, is appointed. Then-President Ronald Reagan nominated Perkins to be ambassador, and he served in the then-apartheid South Africa from 1986 to 1989. He became director general of the U.S. foreign service from 1989 to 1992, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations until the following year and U.S. ambassador to Australia from 1993 to 1996.

1999 — Singer Lauryn Hill wins five Grammys. The hip-hop and rhythm and blues artist took home five awards at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, the most by a woman at that time, for her 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Overall, the album received 10 nominations.