Black History Month is a remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African diaspora. It is celebrated annually in most countries worldwide in the month of February, while in the UK it is held in the month of October.
The remembrance originated in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson as "Negro History Week". Woodson chose the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of two Americans who greatly influenced the lives and social condition of African Americans: former President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass. Woodson also founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.