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Henri Caesar aka Black Caesar (1791-1830)

Black Caesar was allegedly a 19th-century  Haitian  revolutionary and pirate. Efforts to find historical evidence of his existence have been unsuccessful. According to works of fiction, he was a participant in the  Haitian Revolution  under  Dutty Boukman  and  Toussaint Louverture  as well as active in piracy for nearly a 30-year period during the early 19th century. Henri Caesar was allegedly born to a slave family kept by a French plantation owner known as Arnaut. He worked as a houseboy on the estate and, as a young man, worked in the lumberyard. He was apparently mistreated by the supervisor and later killed the man during the  slave insurrection , torturing him with a  saw . Joining the rebel forces led by Dutty Boukman  and  Toussaint Louverture , he remained with the revolution until its independence from  France  in 1804, when he left to try his luck at sea. Based in  Port-de-Paix , he captured ...

The Negro Hockey League of the Maritimes (1890s-1920s)

Nova Scotia is considered the place of origin of modern ice hockey. The quantity of natural ponds ideal for skating, combined with the British gaming tradition helped facilitate the geographic and social conditions necessary for the development and creation of the game now known as Canadian Hockey. The roots of Canadian Hockey originated with the North American Indians but early African-Canadian players also helped shape the sport. By the mid-1890's, in an era when many believed blacks could not endure the cold, these African-Canadian athletes defied myths and developed a revolutionary style of hockey that was fast moving, tough, acrobatic, exciting, and entertaining. During the late 1890's games between black club teams in Nova Scotian towns and cities were arranged by formal invitation. By 1900, however, the Negro Hockey League of the Maritimes was created and was headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Negro Hockey League produced players and athletes comparable to an...