This week in Black history

Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, pediatrics doctor and neurosurgeon, led a 70-member surgical team in separating two 7-month-old Siamese twin boys joined at the head in a 22-hour operation at Johns Hopkins Hospital on this day. The twins were born connected at the back of the head and shared a major vein, but their brains were separate. The operation was the second attempted separation of Siamese twins in Hopkins' 98-year history. Born in Detroit, Carson earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Yale University in 1973 and a medical degree from the University of Michigan School of Medicine in 1977. Carson's work makes him one of the most notable Black neurosurgeons in the nation. He has written three books, Gifted Hands, Think Big and The Big Picture.

September 12, 1992

Dr. Mae C. Jemison, physician and astronaut, became the first Black woman in space on this day. As a mission specialist, Dr. Jemison researched biofeedback, a process which uses relaxation and mental exercises to control body functions. During her eight days in space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor, she conducted experiments on physiological conditions encountered in space. The Alabama-born, Chicago-raised prodigy earned her chemical engineering and African-American studies degrees from Stanford University in 1977 at 16. She completed her doctoral studies at New York's Cornell University Medical College in 1981. Before she joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), she served as a doctor for the Peace Corps. She left NASA in 1993 and currently supervises her Texas-based technology firm.