1619 : The first slaved arrived in America 1865 : Slavery is abolished at the end of the American Civil War 1890 : Creation of the Jim Crow Laws 1955 : Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white man 1960 : Ruby Bridge's first day at a all-white school 1963 : Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech 1964 : The Civil Rights Act guarantees all black people the right to vote 1968 : Assassination of Martin Luther King 2008 : Election of Barack Obama the first African-American President 2013 : Creation of Black Lives Matter (activist movement)