Black History Month

Elizabeth Gyekye takes to the web, with October's celebration of the contribution of African, Asian and Caribbean people to Britain in mind

1) The first black people in Britain were probably Roman soldiers. Septimius Severus , of North African descent, was the first black Roman emperor.

2) Nefertiti , queen of Egypt, co-ruled her country between 1379 and 1358 BC. She was rumoured to have been the world's most beautiful woman in her time. Nefertiti (whose name literally means "a beautiful woman has arrived") was the daughter of Ay (who became pharaoh after Tutankhamun's death) and the wife of another pharaoh, Akhenaten.

3) Records show that small numbers of black men and women lived in Britain in the 12th century, but the black population began to expand rapidly in the 17th and 18th centuries, thanks to the expansion of the British empire.

4) Mary Seacole, a pioneering nurse and heroine of the Crimean war came first in last year's top 100 great black Britons poll. Denied the opportunity to work with Florence Nightingale, she travelled east on her own to minister to wounded British soldiers.

5) Between about 1500 and 1870 it is estimated that at least 12 million African people were forcibly shipped across the Atlantic to work as slaves in the Americas.

6) Britain traded in African slaves for three hundred years on its way to becoming a world economic power. The slave trade helped finance the industrial revolution and many British businesses, such as Lloyd's insurance market, Imperial Tobacco and Midland Bank grew out of the slave trade.

7) To support its colonies, Britain also had the largest fleet of slave ships, mostly operating out of Bristol, Liverpool and London . Slave trading played a very important economic role in all three cities.

8) It was not just through slavery that Britain profited from the inhabitants of its colonies. The Indian army fought in every major theatre of operations during the first world war. In August 1914, it sent 161,000 soldiers to the western front in France, suffering heavy losses and providing half the attacking force at the battle of Neuve Chapelle .

9) Black history month is held every October in Britain. It was inspired by the efforts of Carter G Woodson, known by many as the "father of black history". He established Negro History Week in the US in 1926 and the event was expanded to become Black History Month in the 60s. He was also the editor of the Journal of Negro History for 30 years, having produced the first issue of the publication with his own money.

10) Events planned for the UK this year include a photographic exhibition charting the history of black music in the UK, to be held at the GLA City Hall in central London.