Maya Angelou

Every entry, with its source

At 0

1. Apr 4, 1928

   Born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 3

1. c. 1931

   Sent by train to her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas, at 3

   After her parents' marriage ended.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 8

1. c. 1936

   Stopped speaking for almost five years, at 8

   After a trauma she later wrote about in her first memoir. She believed her voice had killed a man.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 16

1. c. 1944

   First Black female streetcar conductor in San Francisco

   At 16.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 17

1. c. 1945

   Had her son Guy three weeks after finishing high school

   She was 17.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 26

1. c. 1954

   Toured Europe in the opera Porgy and Bess

   1954 to 1955. Before that she danced and sang calypso at San Francisco's Purple Onion.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 32

1. c. 1960

   Organized Cabaret for Freedom for Dr. King's SCLC

   After hearing King speak. She became the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Northern Coordinator.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 33

1. c. 1961

   Moved to Cairo as an editor at The Arab Observer

   Then to Accra, Ghana, in 1962, where she worked at the University of Ghana and befriended Malcolm X.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 41

1. c. 1969

   I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings published, at 41

   Her first autobiography, covering her life up to 17. International acclaim.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 44

1. c. 1972

   Pulitzer Prize nomination for her poetry collection

   Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971). The same year, her screenplay Georgia, Georgia was the first by a Black woman to be produced.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 54

1. c. 1982

   First Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest

   A lifetime post, though she had no bachelor's degree.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 64

1. Jan 20, 1993

   Recited a poem at Bill Clinton's inauguration

   On the Pulse of Morning. The first inaugural poet since Robert Frost in 1961. Her recording won a Grammy.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 70

1. c. 1998

   Directed the feature film Down in the Delta

   The first African American woman to direct a major motion picture.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 82

1. Feb 15, 2011

   Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 86

1. May 28, 2014

   Died at 86 in Winston-Salem

   She was working on another autobiography.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org