April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

Punishment of Crimes Act

April 30, 1790, the First Congress adopted several bills relating to the federal judiciary or its functions, among them the Punishment of Crimes Act, the first listing of federal crimes and their punishment. In addition to treason and counterfeiting of federal records, the crimes included murder, disfigurement, and robbery committed in federal jurisdictions or on the high seas. The fourth paragraph of the act authorized judges to sentence convicted murderers to surgical dissection after execution. The fifth paragraph provided fines and imprisonment for anyone attempting to rescue a body of an individual sentenced to dissection. (see June 25)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Ephraim Grizzard lynched

April 30, 1892: a white mob lynched an African American man named Ephraim Grizzard in Nashville, Tennessee,  two days after the lynching of his brother, Henry. In the middle of the afternoon, the unmasked mob dragged Ephraim Grizzard from the Nashville jail, stripped him naked, beat and stabbed him severely, and then hanged him from the Woodland Street Bridge. As Grizzard’s corpse swayed in the air, members of the mob riddled his body with bullets. Thousands of spectators viewed the brutal scene as Grizzard’s mutilated body was reportedly left on display for almost ninety minutes.

No one was held accountable for either of the brothers’ deaths.  [EJI article] (next BH, June 7; next Lynching, sees Oct 13, or see 19th century for expanded lynching chronology)

George Whitmore, Jr

April 30, 1965: Jury foreman Harold B. Hacker told Justine Dominic Rinaldi that the jury was hopelessly deadlocked, with two or three members in favor of conviction and a like number in favor of acquittal. The others, said Hacker, were “confused” as a result of the discredited confession in the Wylie-Hoffert case. Rinaldi declared a mistrial. (see Whitmore for expanded story)

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR/Vietnam

April 30, 1967: at Ebenezer Baptist Church King spoke against the “triple evils of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism.”  (BH, see May 2; Vietnam, see May 13; MLK, see Oct 30)

Rodney King

April 30 – May 4, 1992: dusk-to-dawn curfews enforced in the city and county of Los Angeles. (see May 1)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Anarchism

Criminal Syndicalism Act of 1919

April 30, 1919: California passed the Criminal Syndicalism Act of 1919, making it a felony to encourage or provoke, in any way, violence with a political motivation. It is used to outlaw anti-government speech and to punish outspoken individuals. The act’s main target was the I.W.W. (see September 27, 1919)

Emma Goldman

April 30, 1934: Goldman left NY for Canada (see Goldman for expanded story)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Federal No. 3

April 30, 1927: in West Virginia an explosion roared through the Federal No. 3 mine owned by New England Fuel and Transportation Company of Everettville, Monongalia County. The explosion, the subsequent fire, and gas in the mine killed 111 men.  (US mine disaster page article) (see Aug 25)

NLRB

April 30, 2012: the Obama administration’s National Labor Relations Board implemented new rules to speed up unionization elections. The new rules were largely seen as a counter to employer manipulation of the law to prevent workers from unionizing. (see Sept 10)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Federal Industrial Institution for Women

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

April 30, 1927:  the Federal Industrial Institution for Women, the first women’s federal prison, opened in Alderson, West Virginia. All women serving federal sentences of more than a year were to be brought there.

Run by Dr. Mary B. Harris, the prison’s buildings, each named after social reformers, sat atop 500 acres. One judge described the prison as a “fashionable boarding school.” In some respects the judge was correct: The overriding purpose of the prison was to reform the inmates, not punish them. The prisoners farmed the land and performed office work in order to learn how to type and file. They also cooked and canned vegetables and fruits.

Reform efforts had a good chance for success since the women sent to these prisons were far from hardened criminals. At the Federal Industrial Institution, the vast majority of the women were imprisoned for drug and alcohol charges imposed during the Prohibition era. (Washington Examiner article)  (see June 17, 1928)

Malala Yousafzai

April 30, 2015: ten members of the Taliban gang that shot Malala Yousafzai were sentenced to life imprisonment. Their convictions and life terms were welcomed by Ms Yousafzai’s supporters, but strong doubts remain over whether the man who pulled the trigger has been brought to justice. The attack was believed to have been ordered by the Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah to punish her for her high-profile campaign against the Taliban’s edict, including a blog on the BBC website. ( Feminism & MY, see June 5)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

Committee for the Suppression of Irresponsible Censorship

April 30, 1927: a group of more than forty noted authors organized the Committee for the Suppression of Irresponsible Censorship to fight the censorship of literary works around the country. Members included the poet Edgar Lee Masters, journalist William Allen White, historian Hendrick Van Loon, novelist Mary Roberts Rinehart, among others. They cited a censorship “wave of hysteria sweeping over the country.” (NYT article) (see May 16)

William French

April 30, 1961: the arrest of William French, a student, at a demonstration by folk-music fans in Washington Square Park nearly set off a riot. It also raised charges of police brutality. (see NYC Bans for expanded story)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestones

FDR on TV

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

April 30, 1939: President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first chief executive to appear on TV. Roosevelt spoke at the opening ceremonies of the New York World’s Fair in Flushing, NY on WNBT in New York. (see Aug 26)

UHF

April 30, 1964: TV sets would be drastically different after a ruling by the FCC stating that all TV receivers should be equipped to receive both VHF (channels 2-13) and the new UHF(channels 14-83). As a result, TV dealers scrambled to unload their VHF-only models as fast as possible. Antenna manufacturers were kept busy, as the new UHF receivers required new antennas too. (see Oct 12 – 16)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Cold War

Organization of American States

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

April 30, 1948: the United States and 20 Latin American nations signed the charter establishing the Organization of American States (OAS). The new institution was designed to facilitate better political relations between the member states and, at least for the United States, to serve as a bulwark against communist penetration of the Western Hemisphere. (OAS site) (see May 1, 1948)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Pledge of Allegiance

Knights of Columbus

April 30, 1951: the Knights of Columbus, the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization, had begun to include the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. On this date in New York City the Knights of Columbus Board of Directors of adopted a resolution to amend the text of their Pledge of Allegiance at the opening of each of the meetings of the 800 Fourth Degree Assemblies of the Knights of Columbus by addition of the words “under God” after the words “one nation.” Over the next two years, the idea spread throughout Knights of Columbus organizations nationwide. 

Newdow v United States

April 30, 2003: the Bush administration appealed to the Supreme Court to preserve the phrase “under God” in the The Pledge of Allegiance recited by school children. Solicitor General Theodore Olson said that “Whatever else the (Constitution’s) establishment clause may prohibit, this court’s precedents make clear that it does not forbid the government from officially acknowledging the religious heritage, foundation and character of this nation,” and that the Court could strike down the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Newdow v United States without even bothering to hear arguments. (see Pledge for expanded story)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

April 30 Music et al

April 30 – May 6, 1966: “Good Lovin’” by the Young Rascals #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

 

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Cambodian Invasion

April 30, 1970: President Nixon announced a joint U.S.-Saigon offensive into Cambodia. The goal: to drive North Vietnamese forces from Cambodia. (see May 1)

Fall of Saigon

April 30, 1975: at dawn, the last Marines of the force guarding the U.S. embassy lifted off. Only hours later, looters ransack the embassy and North Vietnamese tanks rolled into Saigon, ending the war. In 15 years, nearly a million NVA and Vietcong troops and a quarter of a million South Vietnamese soldiers died. Hundreds of thousands of civilians had been killed. (see Fall for expanded story; next Vietnam see July 2, 1976)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Watergate Scandal

Daniel Ellsberg/Pentagon Papers

April 30, 1973: after being confronted by Ellsberg’s defense lawyers, Judge Byrne admitted to meeting with Ehrlichman earlier in the month. 

Resignations/Firing

Nixon’s top White House staffers, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resigned over the scandal. White House counsel John Dean was fired.  (see Papers for expanded story)

Nixon tapes

April 30, 1974: The White House released more than 1,200 pages of edited transcripts of the Nixon tapes to the House Judiciary Committee, but the committee insisted that the tapes themselves must be turned over. (see Watergate for expanded story)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Clarence Earl Gideon

April 30, 1980: made for TV movie and a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, Gideon’s Trumpet, aired on CBS. The moved starred Henry Fonda as Clarence Earl Gideon, José Ferrer as Abe Fortas and John Houseman as Earl Warren (though Warren’s name was never mentioned in the film; he was billed simply as “The Chief Justice”). Houseman also provided the offscreen closing narration at the end of the film. Lewis himself appeared in a small role as “The Reporter”. (see Gideon for expanded story)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Falklands War

April 30, 1982: British task force arrived and set up a 200-mile exclusion zone surrounding Falklands. (see May 2)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Ellen

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

April 30, 1997: in a widely publicized episode of the ABC sitcom Ellen, TV character Ellen Morgan (played by Ellen DeGeneres) announced that she was gay, making Ellen the first prime-time sitcom to feature an openly gay leading character. (see May 9)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

April 30, 1998:  in his first news conference since the Lewinsky scandal broke, the president lashed out at Independent Counsel Ken Starr charging that he heads a “hard, well-financed, vigorous effort” to undercut the president. Clinton repeatedly declines to elaborate on his relationship with Lewinsky. (see Clinton for expanded story)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

AIDS

April 30, 2000: President Clinton declared that HIV/AIDS was a threat to U.S. national security.  (see Oct 20)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

ICAN

April 30 2007:  the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons [ICAN]  is launched internationally during the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons preparatory committee meeting in Vienna. (Nuclear & ICAN, see May 28, 2010)

Indian Point

April 30, 2021: the third and final nuclear reactor at Indian Point Power Plant in Buchanan, N.Y., just 30 miles north of Manhattan shut down. The plant had been active for 59 years. [NYT article]  (next N/C N, see January 30, 2022)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

April 30, 2009:  British troops ended six years of combat operations in Iraq, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced. Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, 179 British service personnel had been killed in Iraq.  (see May 21)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

April 30, 2018: a parent participating on a tour at Colorado State University called campus police because she was nervous about the presence of Thomas Kanewakeron Gray and his brother Lloyd Skanahwati Gray, two young men who had joined the tour while it was in progress.

Police responded to the call by contacting the young Native American men, who were visiting from New Mexico, during the tour.

The police spoke with the students, confirmed they were part of the tour, and allowed them to rejoin the group. Unfortunately, due to the location of the tour when the contact was made, the Admissions tour guide was unaware that police had been called or responded, and the tour group had moved on without the students, returned home to New Mexico.

“We drove seven hours to pretty much get the cops called on us,” said Thomas. [CSU apology] [NYT article] (see May 21)

April 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

April 30, 2024: the Justice Department confirmed that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had agreed with the top federal health agency and proposing to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The decision came more than 50 years after cannabis was first listed as a strictly prohibited drug, on par with heroin and defined as a substance with no known medical value and a significant abuse potential. [MM article] (next Cannabis, see or see CAC for expanded chronology)

 

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Deborah Samson

April 29, 1827: Deborah Samson died at the age of 66. She is buried in Rock Ridge Cemetery in the town of Sharon, Massachusetts.(see Samson for expanded story)

Robert Dale Owen

In 1832: Robert Dale Owen issued the following statement on the occasion of his wedding to Mary Jane Robinson, to protest the state of law by which women lost property and other legal rights upon marriage.

Of the unjust rights which in virtue of this ceremony an iniquitous law gives me over the person and property of another, I cannot legally, but I can morally, divest myself. And I hereby distinctly and emphatically declare that I consider myself, and earnestly desire to be considered by others, as utterly divested, now and during the rest of my life, of any such rights, the barbarous relics of a feudal, despotic system. (Evansville dot edu article) (see Feminism August 30, 1835)

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Ashmun Institute

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

April 29, 1854: by an act of the Pennsylvania legislature, Ashmun Institute, the first college founded solely for African-American students, was officially chartered. The Institute was named after Jehudi Ashmun, the U.S. agent who helped reorganize and preserve the struggling African-American colony in Africa that later grew into the independent nation of Liberia. The Ashmun Institute, chartered to give theological, classical, and scientific training to African Americans, opened on January 1, 1857, and John Pym Carter served as the college’s first president. In 1866, the institution was renamed Lincoln University. (Lincoln University article) (see May 1854)

James T Scott lynched

April 29, 1923 a week after authorities arrested James T Scott for allegedly sexually assaulting the 14-year-old daughter of Missouri University German professor Hermann Almstedt, a mob forcibly removed the door from Scott’s cell in the Boone County Jail and marched him to a bridge near Stewart and Providence roads. A rope was placed around Scott’s neck, and he was hanged from the bridge before a hundreds of people without any opportunity to plead his case in court. [Missourian article] (ext BH, see June 21; next Lynching, see July 13 or see AL3 for expanded chronology of early 20th century lynching)

Ford T. Johnson, Jr

April 29, 1963: in April 1962, Ford T. Johnson, Jr. appeared in a Richmond, Virginia, city traffic court and was convicted of contempt because he refused to sit in the segregated courtroom’s “Negro” section. Mr. Johnson was unaware of the segregated seating and first sat in a section reserved for whites. When ordered to move, Mr. Johnson refused the judge’s order to re-seat himself in the black section and said he would prefer to stand. He was immediately convicted of contempt and fined ten dollars.

When Mr. Johnson appealed, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled his conviction was “plainly right.” He then appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case. The State of Virginia admitted that the Richmond traffic court maintained a segregated seating policy but argued the policy was irrelevant and Mr. Johnson’s contempt conviction was justified because he disobeyed a judge’s order.

The Supreme Court disagreed. Reasoning that one could not be held in contempt for refusing to comply with unconstitutional segregation rules, the Court unanimously overturned Mr. Johnson’s conviction on April 29, 1963, in Johnson v. Virginia. The majority opinion declared that “such a conviction cannot stand, for it is no longer open to question that a State may not constitutionally require segregation of its public facilities.” The decision was lauded by civil rights activists nationwide. The Richmond Afro-American newspaper hailed it as a “ruling against this long injustice practiced in what are supposed to be chambers of impartial justice.” (Cornell Law School article) (see May 2)

Rodney King

April 29, 1992: the four white LAPD officers [Sgt. Stacey Koon and officers Laurence Michael Powell, Timothy Wind, and Theodore Briseno] were acquitted of beating King. Riots start at the intersection of Florence and Normandie in South Central Los Angeles. Reginald Denny, a white truck driver, was pulled from his truck and beaten. A news helicopter captured the beating on videotape. Gov. Pete Wilson declared a state of emergency and called in National Guard troops. (see April 30 – May 4)

Baltimore riots continue

April 29, 2015: (from the NYT) aided by wide support from residents, activists, pastors and local leaders, and by thousands of police and National Guard reinforcements, an overnight curfew appeared to quell the unrest that had gripped this city earlier in the week.

The quiet, mostly deserted streets — even in the Penn-North area that was the locus of rioting and looting on Monday — stood in sharp contrast to the blazes that had raged the night before and had strained the city’s Fire Department as engines and crews raced from fire to fire.

Backstopped by 2,000 National Guard members, as well as officers from the state police and other law enforcement departments from outside the city, the Baltimore police appeared to exercise strategic discretion over the course of the night and did not seem particularly eager to aggressively pursue curfew violators if they did not have to. (next BH, see May 1; next Race Revolt, see November 13, 2023)

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

The Treaty of Fort Laramie

April 29, 1868: The Treaty of Fort Laramie (also called the Sioux Treaty of 1868) was an agreement between the United States and the Oglala, Miniconjou, and Brulé bands of Lakota people, Yanktonai Dakota and Arapaho Nation. Signed at Fort Laramie in the Wyoming Territory, it guaranteed the Lakota ownership of the Black Hills, and further land and hunting rights in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. The Powder River Country was to be henceforth closed to all whites. The treaty ended Red Cloud’s War. Link to text of treaty. (see June 1, 1868)

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Bunker Hill explosion

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

April 29, 1899: an estimated one thousand silver miners, angry over low wages, the firing of union members and the planting of spies in their ranks by mine owners, seized a train, loaded it with 3,000 pounds of dynamite, and blew up the mill at the Bunker Hill mine in Wardner, Idaho. (Rural Northwest dot com article) (see July 20)

Silent Parade

April 29, 1914: Upton Sinclair and his wife organize a “Silent Parade” in front of Rockefeller’s New York Standard Oil offices to protest the Ludlow massacre (see April 20, 1914). Sinclair is arrested along with four women. (see June 28, 1914)

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestone

April 29, 1913:  the zipper was patented by Gideon Sundback. (see January 14, 1914)

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

McCarthyism

Owen Lattimore

April 29, 1950: in response to Senator Joseph McCarthy’s charge that Owen Lattimore was a top Soviet spy in the US, Secretary of State Dean Acheson and three former secretaries of state denied that Lattimore had any influence on U.S. foreign policy.

Senator McCarthy was asked to appear before a subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to provide details about his accusation. During the course of the hearing, the senator charged that Owen Lattimore was a top spy for the Soviet Union and had been “the principal architect of our Far Eastern policy.” The implication of McCarthy’s testimony was clear: Lattimore, acting as a virtual Soviet agent, had helped design a policy that resulted in the loss of China to the communists in 1949. In fact, Lattimore, a well-known specialist in the field of Chinese history, had merely served as a consultant to the Department of State during and after World War II. Like many others, he had come to the conclusion that the Nationalist Chinese government of Chiang Kai-Shek was hopelessly inefficient and corrupt, and that continued U.S. support of such a government was useless. In the harsh Cold War atmosphere of America, though, the “loss” of China to the communists encouraged suspicion that spies and sympathizers were to blame.

Secretary of State Dean Acheson and three former secretaries of state, Cordell Hull, James Byrnes, and George C. Marshall, asked whether the accusations were true, answered that Lattimore had absolutely no impact on U.S. foreign policy toward Asia. Indeed, each of them went to great lengths to make clear that they had never even met Lattimore. Byrnes and Marshall went further, declaring McCarthy’s charges were particularly harmful to America’s foreign relations. Lattimore was later cleared by a congressional investigation in 1950, but in 1951-1952 the attacks against the professor were renewed and he was charged with perjury in connection with his 1950 testimony. These charges were eventually dismissed, but not before Lattimore’s academic career in the United States had been destroyed. (see May 29, 1950)

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

Nuclear power plant

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

April 29, 1957: the first military nuclear power plant was dedicated in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. (see May 18)

Chemical weapon ban

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

April 29, 1997 a worldwide treaty to ban chemical weapons went into effect. (next N/C N, see May 11, 1998; ban, see July 6, 2023)

North Korea

April 29, 2018: the South Korean government said that North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, had told President Moon Jae-in that he would abandon his nuclear weapons if the United States agreed to formally end the Korean War and promise not to invade his country. (see May 8)

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

April 29 Music et al

Andrew Loog Oldham

April 29, 1963, 19-year-old Andrew Loog Oldham signed a contract with The Rolling Stones, becoming their manager. Oldham had seen the band in concert the previous day at the Crawdaddy Club in London.

Hair

April 29, 1968: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical opened at the Biltmore Theater on Broadway. The inspiration to include nudity came when the authors saw an anti-war demonstration in Central Park where two men stripped naked as an expression of defiance and freedom, and they decided to incorporate the idea into the show. The show featured the songs ‘Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In’, ‘Good Morning Starshine’ and the title song. The production ran for 1,729 performances, closing on July 1st, 1972.  (see March 11, 1969)

Mayor John Lindsay

April 29, 1972: NYC Mayor John Lindsay wrote a letter to the Immigration and Naturalization Service calling the deportation proceedings against John Lennon and Yoko Ono, “a grave injustice.” (see Lennon for expanded chronology)

Albert Hofmann

April 29, 2008: Swiss inventor of LSD, and discoverer of the active principles of magic mushrooms and morning glory seeds, Albert Hofmann, passed away from heart failure. He was 102 years old. (next LSD, see March 4, 2014; see Hofmann for expanded story)

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Troop level

April 29, 1966: U.S. troops in Vietnam total 250,000. (see May 15)

Cambodian Invasion

April 29, 1970: South Vietnamese troops attack into Cambodia, pushing toward Vietcong bases. Two days later, a U.S. force of 30,000 — including three U.S. divisions — mount a second attack. Operations in Cambodia last for 60 days, and uncover vast North Vietnamese jungle supply depots. They capture 28,500 weapons, as well as over 16 million rounds of small arms ammunition, and 14 million pounds of rice. Although most Vietcong manage to escape across the Mekong, there are over 10,000 casualties. [timeline] (see Apr 30)

Casualty figures

April 29, 1971: U.S. casualty figures for April 18 to April 24 released. The 45 killed during that time brought total U.S. losses for the Vietnam War to 45,019 since 1961. These figures made Southeast Asia fourth in total losses sustained by the U.S. during a war, topped only by the number of losses incurred during the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. (see May 1)

Operation Frequent Wind

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

April 29, 1975: Operation Frequent Wind, the largest helicopter evacuation on record, began removing the last Americans from Saigon.U.S. Marines and Air Force helicopters, flying from carriers off-shore, begin a massive airlift. In 18 hours, over 1,000 American civilians and almost 7,000 South Vietnamese refugees were flown out of Saigon. Charles McMahon and Darwin Lee Judge, two U.S. Marines, were killed in a rocket attack at Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut airport. They were the last Americans to die in the Vietnam War. McMahon, 11 days short of his 22nd birthday, was a corporal from Woburn, Massachusetts. Darwin Judge was a 19-year-old lance corporal from Marshalltown, Iowa. (see Apr 30)

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

April 29, 1998: a federal judge ruled that Monica Lewinsky did not have an immunity agreement with Ken Starr. (see Clinton for expanded story)

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Rep Virginia Foxx

April 29, 2009: the U.S. House of Representatives debated expansion of hate crimes legislation. During the debate, Representative Virginia Foxx of North Carolina called the “hate crime” labeling of Shepard’s murder a “hoax”. Shepard’s mother was said to be in the House gallery when the congresswoman made this comment. (NBC News follow-up article) (LGBTQ see May 6; Hate Crime Act, see Oct 28)

BSA

April 29, 2013: Houston-area Boy Scout officials voted to continue a policy effectively banning gays from becoming scouts or adult volunteers. Sam Houston Area Council members said they would continue the current national policy of the Irving-based Boy Scouts of America. Like the military’s former “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy about gay troops, the Boy Scouts don’t ask about the sexual orientation of a prospective member or adult volunteer but won’t grant membership to openly gay people or those who engage in behavior that would “become a distraction’ to their mission, the Sam Houston Council said in a statement. A recent survey of parents, volunteers and backers in the Sam Houston Council showed strong support for keeping the policy as it is, officials said. They said 75 percent of respondents to the survey were against changing the current national membership policy. The Sam Houston Council board also said they wouldn’t support a proposed resolution to the national Boy Scouts membership policy that would lift the bar on gay scout members. (LGBTQ, see Apr 29; BSA, see May 23)

Jason Collins

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

April 29, 2013: Jason Collins, the former Nets center who had spent 12 seasons in the NBA, said he was gay in a Sports Illustrated article, becoming the first active player in one of America’s major team sports leagues to come out. (New Yorker magazine article) (see May 23)

Transgender and Insurance Coverage

April 29, 2024:  the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va ruled that state health insurance plans must provide coverage for gender-affirming care in North Carolina and West Virginia. Trans advocates said it was a huge victory, especially since bills restricting the rights of transgender people had been on the rise in state legislatures.

The Circuit Court issued its decision about two cases. One was brought by North Carolina state employees and their dependents who were transgender and were unable to get coverage for gender-affirming care.

The other lawsuit came from West Virginians who were transgender and on Medicaid. They could get coverage for some treatments — like hormones — but not for surgery. [NPR article] (next LGBTQ+, see )

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

Plan B One-Step

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

April 29, 2013: the Food and Drug Administration said that it would make the most widely known morning-after pill available without a prescription to girls and women ages 15 and older, and also make the pill available on drugstore shelves, instead of keeping it locked up behind pharmacy counters. Until this decision the pill, Plan B One-Step, which is used after sexual intercourse to help prevent pregnancy, was available without a prescription only for ages 17 and older. (see July 8)

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

April 29, 2014: in a major environmental victory for the Obama administration, the Supreme Court upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate the smog-causing pollution from coal-fired power plants that wafts across state lines from 27 Midwestern and Appalachian states to the East Coast.

The 6-to-2 ruling upheld a centerpiece of what has become a signature of President Obama’s environmental agenda: a series of new Clean Air Act regulations aimed at cutting pollution from coal-fired power plants. Republicans and the coal industry have criticized the effort as a “war on coal.” (see  May 1)

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

Clayton D. Lockett

April 29, 2014: what was supposed to be the first of two executions was halted when the prisoner, Clayton D. Lockett, began to writhe and gasp after he had already been declared unconscious and called out “oh, man,” according to witnesses. The administering doctor intervened and discovered that “the line had blown,” said the, meaning that drugs were no longer flowing into Mr. Lockett’s vein. At 7:06 p.m., Mr. Patton said, Mr. Lockett died in the execution chamber, of a heart attack.

Director of Oklahoma corrections, Robert Patton said that Gov. Mary Fallin had agreed to his request for a stay of 14 days in a second execution, scheduled for the same night, of Charles F. Warner. (see May 21)

Condemned Oklahoma prisoners

April 29, 2015: (from NYT) lawyers for three condemned Oklahoma prisoners who claimed that the three-drug combination that could be used to execute them risked causing unconstitutional pain and suffering ran into skepticism from conservative members of the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The prisoners argued that the sedative midazolam, which was involved in three prolonged and apparently painful executions last year, could not reliably produce a state of deep unconsciousness before other, severely painful drugs were injected. They asked that lower-court rulings permitting the use of the drug in executions be overturned.

But several of the conservative justices questioned whether the evidence warranted a reversal and, more broadly, expressed exasperation with shortages of more proven drugs that they said had been caused by opponents of capital punishment.

 “Let’s be honest about what’s going on here,” Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said. “Executions can be carried out painlessly.” (see May 20)

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

April 29, 2021: the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 opinion in Niz-Chavez v. Garland, reversing a lower court’s decision that had limited access to “cancellation of removal,” an important form of relief for noncitizens in deportation proceedings.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion, adopting a rigid interpretation of a federal statute that required the government to serve a “notice to appear” in order to trigger the “stop-time” rule. That rule can foreclose access to immigration relief by preventing noncitizens from accruing the time required for eligibility.         According to the majority, in order to trigger the stop-time rule, the government must issue a single immigration charging document with various pieces of required information, including the date and time of the hearing. The majority rejected the government’s contention that a series of documents could together comprise the required notice, noting that the plain language of the law, as well as its structure and history, indicate a single document is required.

The voting line-up was unusual. Gorsuch’s majority opinion was joined by the court’s three liberals – Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – as well as two other conservatives – Justices Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a dissent, which was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. [SCOTUS blog article] (next IH, see May 3)

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

April 29, 2021:  a study published in the Harm Reduction Journal found that people who frequently use marijuana—particularly those aged 40 and older—spend more time engaging in physical activity than non-users do.

The nationally representative analysis of accelerometer-measured sedentary behavior and stated that its “…findings do not support the mainstream perception of cannabis users as living sedentary lifestyles.

In general, they found that “there’s no significant differences between non-current cannabis users and light, moderate, or frequent cannabis users in minutes per day spent in [sedentary behavior].” The difference came down to the average minutes that each group spent in physical activity. [MM article] (next Cannabis, see May 27, or see CAC for expanded chronology)

April 29 Peace Love Art Activism

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

School Desegregation

April 28, 1855: Massachusetts desegregated the state’s public schools with a law that stated: “no distinction shall be made on account of the race, color, or religious opinions, of the applicant or scholar.” (primary research dot org article) (BH, see May 1856; SD, see May 18, 1896)

Lint Shaw lynched

April 28, 1936: a 45-year-old black farmer named Lint Shaw was shot to death by a mob of forty white men in Colbert, Georgia – just eight hours before he was scheduled to go on trial on allegations of attempting to assault two white women.  [EJI article] (next BH, see Dec 8; next Lynching, see June 20, 1940; for expanded chronology of lynching, see also AL4)

Mitchell v the United Sates

April 28, 1941: the case came on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, challenging discriminatory treatment of railroad accommodations for African-American passengers on interstate train coaches passing through Arkansas, where a state law required racial segregation, but equivalent facilities. The Supreme Court had held in earlier cases that it was adequate under the Fourteenth Amendment for separate privileges to be supplied to differing groups of people as long as they were treated similarly well.

Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes delivered the unanimous opinion of the Court: “This was manifestly a discrimination against him [Mitchell] in the course of his interstate journey and admittedly that discrimination was based solely upon the fact that he was a Negro. The question whether this was a discrimination forbidden by the Interstate Commerce Act is not a question of segregation but equality of treatment. The denial to appellant equality of accommodations because of his race would be an invasion of a fundamental right which is guaranteed against state actions by the 14th Amendment.”  (cornell dot edu article

News Music

In 1942: Langston Hughes wrote the lyrics, Emerson Harper wrote the music, and Josh White sang “Freedom’s Road” in which they attempted to link the war abroad to the struggle for racial justice at home. (BH, see Jan 17; see News Music for more)

Ruby Hurley

April 28, 1951: Ruby Hurley opened the first permanent office of the NAACP in the South, setting it up in Birmingham, Ala. Her introduction to civil rights activism began when she helped organize Marian Anderson’s 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Four years later, she became national youth secretary for the NAACP. She helped investigate lynchings across the South and received many threats, including a bombing attempt on her home. In 1956, she left Birmingham for Atlanta after Alabama barred the NAACP from operating. She served as a mentor for Vernon Jordan and retired two years before dying in 1980. In 2009, she appeared on a postage stamp. (women’s history dot org bio) (next BH, see Oct 27); next Lynching, see December 30, 1952; for expanded chronology of lynching, see also AL4)

George Whitmore, Jr/April 28, 1964

April 28, 1964: Whitmore  indicted in for the Minnie Edmonds murder. His court-appointed attorney, Jerome Leftow, stated that Whitmore had repudiated the confessions, claiming he was beaten during interrogation, and would like to take a lie-detector test.

George Whitmore, Jr/April 28, 1965

April 28, 1965: Prosecutor Sidney A. Lichtman told the jury that the Wylie-Hoffert indictment was still pending in Manhattan. Whitmore’s attorney, Stanley Reiben argued, “How can the Wylie-Hoffert confession be bad and the others good beyond a reasonable doubt, given the same day to the same detectives  Is it possible for Wylie-Hoffert to be phony while the others are not?” (see Whitmore for expanded chronology)

Muhammad Ali

April 28, 1967: US Justice Department denied Ali’s claim. The Department found that his objections were political, not religious. Ali reported for induction ceremony, but refused to step forward when called.  (next BH, see April 30; next Ali, see June 20)

Clifford Glover

April 28, 1973: in Jamaica, Queens, NYC two undercover officers, Thomas Shea, and his partner Walter Scott, shot and killed 10-year-old Clifford Glover when he and his stepfather the officers stopped them. Immediately following the shooting, there were several days of riots in the South Jamaica neighborhood. At least 24 people, including 14 policemen were injured and 25 protesters arrested.  (Black Main Street article) (next BH, see May Peace ; next RR, see June 12, 1974)

Baltimore revolt

April 28, 2015: (from the NYT) Engines raced across…[Baltimore] early Tuesday as the Fire Department strained to extinguish blazes, even as the police said some firefighters were reportedly having cinder blocks heaved at them as they responded to emergencies.

As Baltimore residents recoiled from the rioting and looting that struck largely in the west of the city, the police said officers were deployed overnight alongside weary and harried firefighters to ensure their work was not disrupted by people with “no regard for life.” (see Apr 29)

BLACK & SHOT/Eric C Harris

April 28, 2016: Robert Bates was found guilty the manslaughter of Eric C Harris. Based on the jury’s recommendation, he was sentenced to four years in prison. (see July 5)

BLACK & SHOT/Ahmaud Arbery

April 28, 2021: the Justice Department brought federal hate crimes charges in the death of Ahmaud Arbery. Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory, were charged along with a third man, William “Roddie” Bryan. The father and son who armed themselves, chased and fatally shot the 25-year-old Black Arbery after spotting him running in their Georgia neighborhood. The McMichaels are also charged with using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

The Department charged Bryan with one count of interference with civil rights and attempted kidnapping. [AP article] (next BH, see May 31; next B & S, see April 17, 2023; next AhA, see  or see AA for expanded chronology)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Eccles, WV mine collapse

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

April 28, 1914: coal mine collapsed at Eccles, WV, killing 181 workers. (mine disasters dot com article) (see Oct 15)

Benwood, WV coal mine disaster

April 28, 1924: 119 died in Benwood, WV coal mine disaster. (Archiving Wheeling dot org article) (see June 14)

Thornhill v. Alabama

April 28, 1940: in the case of Thornhill v. Alabama, decided on this day, the Supreme Court upheld a constitutional right to picket under the First Amendment. At issue was an Alabama state law that severely limited picketing. (Oyez article) (see Oct 24)

OSHA

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

April 28, 1970: Congress created OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The AFL-CIO set April 28 as “Workers Memorial Day” to honor the workers killed and injured on the job every year. (OSHA site) (see Sept 15)

Feminism/Labor History
April 28, 1993
Harris/Pelosi

April 28, 2021: Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made history as the first women — one of them Black and Indian American — to share the stage in Congress during a presidential address.

President Joe Biden noted the historic development at the very opening of his address. After taking the podium, Biden greeted the two women standing behind him with a “Madam Speaker” and “Madam Vice President.”

He then declared, “No president has ever said those words — and it’s about time.” [AP article] (next Feminism, see February 22, 2022)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Religion and Public Education

Zorach v. Clausen

April 28, 1952: in Zorach v. Clausen, the United States Supreme Court ruled that New York’s “released time” program, which allowed public school students to leave school early in order to attend religion classes, was permissible because the religious instruction took place off school grounds. In an earlier case, McCollum v. Board of Education, the Court had ruled an Illinois released time program unconstitutional because the religious instruction occurred on public school grounds. (Oyez article) (see April 16, 1956)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

INDEPENDENCE DAYS

Japan

April 28, 1952:  Japan independent from US occupation. (see October 22, 1953)

Dissolution of Yugoslavia

April 28, 1992: the two remaining constituent republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – Serbia and Montenegro – form a new state, named the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (after 2003, Serbia and Montenegro), bringing to an end the official union of Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Montenegrins, Bosnian Muslims and Macedonians that existed from 1918 (with the exception of the period during World War II). (see August 3, 1994)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

South Vietnam Leadership

April 28, 1955: US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles told the National Security Council to hold off on allowing the ousting of Diem pending the outcome of the Battle of Saigon. (Vietnam & SVL, see July 27)

General Westmoreland

April 28, 1967: for the first time in American history an American general was ordered home from a battlefield to speak to a joint session of Congress. He summarized the war’s situation by saying that the American Achilles’ heel was its resolve. (see Apr 30)

Cambodian Invasion

April 28, 1970: President Richard Nixon gave formal authorization to commit U.S. combat troops, in cooperation with South Vietnamese units, against communist troop sanctuaries in Cambodia. Secretary of State William Rogers and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, who had continually argued for a downsizing of the U.S. effort in Vietnam, were excluded from the decision. (see Apr 29)

South Vietnam Leadership

April 28, 1975: ARVN general Duong Van Minh became the last president of South Vietnam. (see Apr 29)

My Lai Massacre

April 28, 2024: William L. Calley Jr. died in hospice in Gainesville, Fla, according to Social Security Administration records. He was 80.  [NYT article] (next Vietnam, see ; next My Lai, see )

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

April 28 Music et al

The Road to Bethel

Week of April 28, 1969: Johnny Winter signed ($7,500); Janis Joplin signed ($15,000); and Jefferson Airplane signed ($15,000). (see Chronology for expanded story)

Fear of Rock

April 28, 1982: the California State Assembly consumer-protection-committee heard testimony from “experts” who claimed that when ‘Stairway To Heaven’ was played backward, contained the words: “I sing because I live with Satan. The Lord turns me off, there’s no escaping it. Here’s to my sweet Satan, whose power is Satan. He will give you 666. I live for Satan.” (see April 5, 1983)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

Chesley Karr

April 28, 1972: Chesley Karr, a minor, individually and John R. Karr, individually and as next friend and guardian ad litem on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs-Appellees v Clifford Schmidt, Principal of Coronado High School, et al., etc., Defendants-Appellants. A male high school student with long hair sued the principal of a Texas high school after he was denied enrollment because his hair length violated the school’s “good grooming” policy. This policy prohibited any male student’s hair from hanging over his ears or collar, or from obstructing his vision. Issue: Whether a public school student has a First Amendment right to wear long hair to school. Holding: The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a student does not have a constitutional right to wear his hairstyle however he sees fit. (U Mass  dot edu article) (see June 26)

Skokie Nazi March

April 28, 1977: Judge Joseph Wosik, a judge in the Chancery Department of the Circuit Court of Cook County, in a suit filed by the Village of Skokie against the Nationalist Socialist party, issues a preliminary injunction prohibiting members of the Nationalist Socialist party from marching in Skokie. In this suit, the Village asserts, as a matter of fact, that the Jewish population is approximately 40,000 out of a total population of 70,000. (see May 2)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

ADA in the late 70s & 80s

Judy Heumann

On April 5, 1977 demonstrators led by Judy Heumann  had taken over the Health Education and Welfare in San Francisco in protest of HEW Secretary Califano’s refusal to complete regulations for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which made it illegal for federal agencies, public universities, and other public institutions receiving any federal funds to discriminate on the basis of disability.

On April 28, 1977  Secretary Califano signed the regulations into effect, making the take-over event  the longest occupation of a federal office by protesters in U.S. history. 

“We will ride!”

In 1978: in Denver, Colorado, chanting “We will ride!” nineteen members of the Atlantis Community block buses with their wheelchairs to demonstrate against the inaccessibility of public transportation. 

Fiesta Educativa

In 1978: Fiesta Educativa (Education Fest) formed to address the lack of Spanish-speaking support services to families with disabled children in southern California. 

National Council on Disability

In 1978: the National Council on Disability is established as an advisory board within the Department of Education. Its purpose is to promote policies, programs, practices, and procedures that guarantee equal opportunity for all people with disabilities, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability, and to empower them to achieve economic self-sufficiency, independent living, and inclusion and integration into all aspects of society. 

The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act

In 1980: The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) gives the Department of Justice power to sue state or local institutions that violate the rights of people held against their will, including those residing for care or treatment of mental illness. 

Attention Deficit Disorder

In 1980: the term Attention Deficit Disorder is included for the first time in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). 

National Organization on Disability

In 1982: Alan A. Reich founds the National Organization on Disability (NOD) in 1982. NOD’s mission is to expand the participation and contribution of Americans with disabilities in all aspects of life and to close the participation gap by raising disability awareness through programs and information. As president of NOD, Reich builds the coalition of disability groups that successfully fight for the inclusion of a statue of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his wheelchair at the FDR Memorial. Reich is an international leader in the disability community until his death in 2005. 

ADAPT

In 1983: Americans with Disabilities for Accessible Public Transportation, now known as ADAPT, began its national campaign for lifts on buses and access to public transit for people with disabilities. For seven years ADAPT—under the leadership of Bob Kafka, Stephanie Thomas, and Mike Auberger—blocked buses in cities across the U.S. to demonstrate the need for access to public transit. After the passage of the ADA (and transit measures gained by ADAPT’s hard work), ADAPT began to focus on attendant and community based services, becoming American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today. 

The Air Carrier Access Act

In 1986: The Air Carrier Access Act is implemented, which prohibits discrimination by domestic and foreign air carriers against qualified individuals with physical or mental disabilities. It applies only to air carriers that provide regularly scheduled services for hire to the public. Requirements include boarding assistance and certain accessibility features in newly built aircraft and new or altered airport facilities. (see September 28, 1987)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Irish Troubles

April 28, 1981:  the private secretary of Pope John Paul II paid a visit to Bobby Sands in the Maze Prison but was unable to persuade him to end his hunger strike. Humphrey Atkins, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, stated that: “If Mr Sands persisted in his wish to commit suicide, that was his choice. The government would not force medical treatment upon him.” President Ronald Reagan said that America would not intervene in the situation in Northern Ireland but he was “deeply concerned” at events there. (see Troubles for expanded Chronology)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

The Cold War

Aldrich Ames 

April 28, 1994: Aldrich Ames, a former C.I.A. official, pleaded guilty to passing U.S. secrets to the U.S.S.R. during the Cold War. Ames further confessed that he continued spying for Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. (see May 31)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

April 28, 1998: Nancy Hernreich, director of Oval Office operations, testified for the sixth time in the Lewinsky investigation. (see Clinton for expanded impeachment chronology)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Cultural Milestone

iTunes

April 28, 2003: Apple Computer Inc. launched the iTunes store. (see February 4, 2004)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

April 28, 2004: images of torture by American forces at Abu Ghraib revealed. (see May 19)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

April 28, 2010: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated that the leak was likely 5,000 barrels (210,000 US gallons; 790 cubic metres) a day, five times larger than initially estimated by BP. (see May 12)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

United Church of Christ

April 28, 2014: in a novel legal attack on a state’s same-sex marriage ban, the United Church of Christ, a liberal Protestant denomination, filed a lawsuit arguing that North Carolina was unconstitutionally restricting religious freedom by barring clergy members from blessing gay and lesbian couples.

The lawsuit, filed in a Federal District Court was the first such case brought by a national religious denomination challenging a state’s marriage laws. The denomination, which claimed nearly one million members nationwide, had supported same-sex marriage since 2005.

We didn’t bring this lawsuit to make others conform to our beliefs, but to vindicate the right of all faiths to freely exercise their religious practices,” said Donald C. Clark Jr., general counsel of the United Church of Christ. [NYT article] (see May 9)

Supreme Court hearing

April 28, 2015: in two and a half hours of arguments over whether the Constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry, the Supreme Court was deeply divided over one of the great civil rights issues of the age, same-sex marriage. But Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, whose vote was probably crucial, gave gay rights advocates reasons for optimism based on the tone and substance of his questions.

Kennedy sent conflicting signals. At some points, he seemed wary of moving too fast and torn about what to do. But his demeanor was more emotional and emphatic when he made the case that same-sex couples should be permitted to marry. He was also the author of three landmark opinions expanding the rights of gay Americans. [NYT article]  (see May 4)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

April 28, 2014:  a review conducted by specialists convened by the American Academy of Neurology suggested that marijuana can help alleviate multiple sclerosis symptoms such as pain, overactive bladder, and muscle stiffness.

The review also found that marijuana dd not help relieve the uncontrollable limb spasms that result from a drug used to treat Parkinson’s disease. And it concluded that there is insufficient evidence to know whether the drug reduces symptoms caused by neurological diseases such as Huntington’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome, or epilepsy.

We wanted to inform patients and physicians, but we didn’t make specific treatment recommendations,” said study coauthor Dr. Gary Gronseth, a professor of neurology at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City. (see Nov 4 or see CCC for expanded chronology)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

April 28, 2014: according to a sweeping new statistical analysis, the US might be putting more innocent people to death than previously thought. Authors of the study say that their “conservative estimate of the proportion of erroneous convictions” is 4.1 percent, or approximately twice the number actually exonerated and set free from death row. This could mean that approximately 120 of the roughly 3,000 inmates on death row in America might not be guilty, while additional scores of wrongfully convicted inmates are serving life in prison after their death sentences were reduced over technical legal errors. (see Apr 29)

April 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

April 28, 2023: the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act, or PUMP Act which expanded protections for nursing went into full effect, giving more workers the right to break time and a private space to pump.  [NYT article] (next WH, see July 13)