Category Archives: Lynching

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Hiram Rhodes Revels

January 20, 1870: Hiram Rhodes Revels was elected to the U.S. Senate. He would become the first African American to serve in the United States Congress. Revels was elected in Mississippi to fill the vacancy left after the state’s secession from the Union prior to the Civil War.

However, when Revels later arrived in Washington, Southern Democrats determined to block his seating to the U.S. Congress. The Democrats declared his election null and void for various reasons including the fact that he was ineligible for the Senate because he was not a citizen under Dred Scott until the passage of the 14th Amendment. (biography of Revels from US House site) (BH, see Feb 3; Revels, see Feb 25)

George H White/lynching

January 20 Peace Love Activism

January 20, 1900: Black Congressman, George H White from North Carolina introduced the first bill in Congress to make lynching a federal crime to be prosecuted by federal courts; it died in committee, opposed by southern white Democrats. (next BH & Lynching, see Nov 16; for for expanded chronology, see American Lynching 2)

Georgia attempts to withhold school funding

January 20, 1951: Georgia Governor Eugene Talmadge attempted to fight integration by asking the legislature to withhold funds from schools which admit black students. (see Apr 23)

James H Meredith

January 20, 1963: though he initially considered leaving because of continual harassment, James H Meredith announced that he would return to the U of Mississippi for the spring semester. (next BH, see Jan 24; Meredith, see July 9 )

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 20, 1986: the US observed the first federal holiday in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (see Feb 6)

Biden reverses Trump policies

January 20, 2021: On his first day in office, President Biden ended the Trump administration’s 1776 Commission, which had released a report that historians said distorted the role of slavery in the United States, among other history.

Biden also revoked Trump’s executive order limiting the ability of federal agencies, contractors and other institutions to hold diversity and inclusion training.

The president designated Susan E. Rice, the head of his Domestic Policy Council, as the leader of a “robust, interagency” effort requiring all federal agencies to make “rooting out systemic racism” central to their work. His order directed the agencies to review and report on equity in their ranks within 200 days, including a plan on how to remove barriers to opportunities in policies and programs. The order also moves to ensure that Americans of all backgrounds have equal access to federal government resources, benefits and services. It starts a data working group as well as the study of new methods to measure and assess federal equity and diversity efforts. [NYT article] (next BH, see Feb 11)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

BILL OF RIGHTS

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

January 20, 1920: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) founded.

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

see January 20 Music et al for more

Meet the Beatles

January 20, 1964, The Beatles before their US appearance: Meet The Beatles! released.  (see Meet the Beatles! for more) (see Feb 7)

Alan Freed

January 20, 1965: Alan Freed died. Freed was the man who first played Rock and Roll on the radio and was one of the first to use the term “Rock’N’Roll” in the early 1950’s. Freed is commonly referred to as the “Father of Rock’N’Roll”. He helped bridge the gap of segregation among young teenage Americans, presenting music by African-American artists (rather than cover versions by white artists) on his radio program, and arranging live concerts attended by racially mixed audiences. Freed appeared in several motion pictures as himself. In the 1956 film Rock, Rock, Rock, Freed tells the audience that “rock and roll is a river of music that has absorbed many streams: rhythm and blues, jazz, rag time, cowboy songs, country songs, folk songs. All have contributed to the big beat.” (see January 8, 1966)

Byrds Mr Tambourine Man

January 20, 1965:  The Byrds entered the studio to record “Mr Tambourine Man,” what would become the title track of their debut album and, incidentally, the only Bob Dylan song ever to reach #1 on the U.S. pop charts. Aiming consciously for a vocal style in between Bob Dylan and John Lennon, Roger McGuinn sang lead, with Gene Clark and David Crosby providing the complex harmony that would, along with McGuinn’s jangly electric 12-string Rickenbacker guitar, form the basis of the Byrds’ trademark sound. (see Mar 27)

Woody Guthrie Memorial Concert

January 20, 1968, Bob Dylan and the Band performed Woody Guthrie’s “I Ain’t Got No Home” at the Woody Guthrie Memorial Concert, Carnegie Hall. The concert was Dylan’s first public appearance since his motorcycle accident on August 20, 1966 . (see June 22)

Judy In Disguise

January 20 – Feb 2, 1968: “Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)” by John Fred & His Playboy Band #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Judy in disguise, well that’s what you are
Lemonade pies with a brand new car
Cantaloupe eyes come to me tonight
Judy in disguise, with glasses.

The Beatles inducted 

January 20, 1988. Paul McCartney did not attend the ceremony, leaving surviving Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, to be inducted by Mick Jagger. McCartney released a brief statement that read: ‘’After 20 years, the Beatles still have some business differences, which I had hoped would have been settled by now. Unfortunately, they haven’t been, so I would feel like a complete hypocrite waving and smiling with them at a fake reunion.’’ (see May 7, 1992)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

January 20 Inaugurations Since 1960

January 20, 1961: John F Kennedy inaugurated. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1965: Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in for his own full term as U.S. President. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1969, Richard Nixon inaugurated. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1973: Nixon  inaugurated for his second term.[Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1977, Jimmy Carter inaugurated.[Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1981: Ronald Reagan’s first inaugurated. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1985: Reagan’s second inauguration. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1989: George H. W. Bush inaugurated the 41st President.[Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1993: Bill Clinton inaugurated first time. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1997, Bill Clinton is inaugurated for his second term. On the last day of his presidency, [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 2001: George W. Bush inaugurated first time.  [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 2005, George W. Bush is inaugurated for his second term. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 2009: Barack Obama inaugurated first time. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 2013: Barack Obama inaugurated second time. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 2017: Donald Trump inaugurated. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 2021: Joe Biden inaugurated. [Inaugurations Address]

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

January 20, 1966: stewardess Judith Evenson’s challenge to the airlines’ “no marriage” policy was one of a number of cases between the mid-1960s and mid-1970s in which stewardesses challenged discriminatory policies in the industry. She eventually settled her case out of court, but subsequent challenges by other stewardesses ended this and other discriminatory policies.  (F, see June 30; Labor, see June 8)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Iran hostage crisis

January 20, 1981: Iran released the 52 Americans held for 444 days within minutes of Ronald Reagan’s inauguration ending the Iran hostage crisis. (NY Daily News article) (see IHC for expanded chronology)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Symbionese Liberation Army

January 20, 2001: on his final day in office, President Bill Clinton issued a presidential pardon to Patty Hearst. (Guardian article) (see Patti Hearst for more about the SLA)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Maryland/Same-sex marriage

January 20, 2006: Maryland Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock struck down a state law banning same-sex marriage saying the measure violated a state constitutional amendment prohibiting sex discrimination. (see October 25, 2006)

Biden reverses Trump

January 20, 2021: on his first day in office President Biden  with an executive order reinforced Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require that the federal government dids not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, a policy that reverses action by Trump’s administration. [NYT article] (next LGBTQ, see Jan 25)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Foxconn

January 20, 2011: iPhone maker Apple was criticized by Chinese green groups for lax corporate oversight of its suppliers in China, leading to poor environmental and work safety standards that poisoned dozens of factory workers. (see Feb 22)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

Holt v Hobbs

January 20, 2015:  in Holt v Hobbsthe US Supreme Court ruled unanimously and invalidated an Arkansas state prison rule that barred inmates from growing beards measuring more than a quarter of an inch long. The rule had been challenged by inmate Gregory Holt, a Muslim man who had asked for permission to grow a half-inch-long beard as a compromise from the full beard he believed was required by his faith. In the ruling the Supreme Court said the policy violated Holt’s religious beliefs.

Justice Ruth Ginsberg wrote: “Unlike the exemption this Court approved in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., accommodating petitioner’s religious belief in this case would not detrimentally affect others who do not share petitioner’s belief. On that understanding, I join the Court’s opinion.” (Oyez article)

Church request denied 

January 20, 2015: the Supreme Court decided not hear a petition by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge, LA regarding a civil lawsuit the diocese said threatened the confidentiality of the confession.

The petition had sought to block a child from testifying in a civil suit against the church and priest about what she said in confession. The high court’s decision meant the lawsuit could move forward.

The Louisiana Supreme Court’s ruling, rendered in May 2014, laid out arguments that priests should be subject to mandatory reporting laws regarding abuse of minors if the person who makes the confession waives confidentiality. Normally, priests are exempt as mandatory reporters in the setting of confessions. The decision by the state’s high court stated confidentially was intended to protect the person who made the confessions, not the person who receives them.

The original case involved a then-minor girl, who alleged she confessed during the sacrament of Reconciliation to Baton Rouge priest Father George Bayhi that a fellow church parishioner had molested her. The Mayeux family sued the priest and diocese for damages, claiming they were negligent in allowing the alleged abuse to continue and should have reported it to authorities. The suit also names the estate of the man Mayeux says molested her, who died in 2009, as a defendant.

The state Supreme Court’s ruling did not decide the case but ordered it returned to the district level for a hearing to let both sides present evidence about the nature of the confessions. The hearing would decide if the communications between Mayeux and Bayhi should be considered religious confessions and/or explore the content of what was allegedly said. (see June 30)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Fair Housing

January 20, 2017: the new Trump administration immediately undid one of Barack Obama’s last-minute economic-policy actions: a mortgage-fee cut under a government program that was popular with first-time home buyers and low-income borrowers.

HUD cancelled a reduction in the Federal Housing Administration’s annual fee for most borrowers. The cut would have reduced the annual premium for someone borrowing $200,000 by $500 in the first year. (see May 1)

Renewed Rule

January 20, 2023: the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a proposed fair housing rule which put back in place many fair housing obligations that the Trump administration rescinded in 2020.

The new rule revived many provisions of the 2015 Affirmatively Further Fair Housing (AFFH) Rule, passed during the Obama administration. The 2015 rule required program participants to submit an “equity plan” for review and acceptance to HUD every five years. It also required participants to identify fair housing issues in their communities and set goals to remedy them.

The Biden administration’s proposed rule was supposed to foster “greater transparency and public involvement” in its execution by making equity plans available for public feedback. HUD would provide technical assistance to communities under this program. The rule also aimed to create public accountability by including a “complaint and compliance review process.”

The proposed rule fulfilled an obligation in the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which formed part of the landmark 1968 Civil Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, disability and other grounds in the provision of real estate and brokerage services. [Jurist article] (next FH, see Mar 17)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Trump Impeachment

January 20, 2020: Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, unveiled ground rules for President Trump’s impeachment trial that would attempt to speed the proceeding along and refuse to admit the evidence against the president unearthed by the House without a separate vote.

In a 110-page brief submitted to the Senate, the president’s lawyers advanced their first sustained legal argument since the House opened its inquiry in the fall, contending that the two charges approved largely along party lines were constitutionally flawed and set a dangerous precedent. [NYT story] (next TI, see Jan 21 or see Trump for expanded chronology]

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

January 20, 2020: according to the findings  by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the financial cards were stacked against women who wanted but were denied an abortion, as they and their children were more likely to spend years living in poverty than those able to end their pregnancies. Those compelled to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term were far more likely to experience eviction, bankruptcy and be mired in debt,

In looking at a decade of credit data for women who sought abortions at 30 health providers in 21 states, the latest findings built upon a 2019 study  that found denied abortions quadrupled the odds of a new mother and her child living in poverty. The new analysis compared changes over time in credit report outcomes for three years before and up to five years after the intended abortion.

“We find that being denied an abortion has large and persistent effects on financial distress that are sustained for five years following the intended abortion,” wrote the report’s authors, Sarah Miller of the University of Michigan, Laura Wheery of the University of California at Los Angeles and Diana Foster of of the University of California at San Francisco. “Unpaid debts that are more than 30 days past due more than double in size, and the number of public records, which include negative events such as evictions and bankruptcies, increases substantially.”  [CBS News story] (next WH, see Feb 20)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

Paris Climate Accord

January 20, 2021: President Biden signed a letter to re-enter the United States in the Paris climate accords, which it would officially rejoin in 30 days from January 20.

In 2019, President Trump had formally notified the United Nations that the United States would withdraw from the coalition of nearly 200 countries working to move away from planet-warming fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.

In additional executive orders, Biden began the reversal of a slew of the Trump administration’s environmental policies, including revoking the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline; reversing the rollbacks to vehicle emissions standards; undoing decisions to slash the size of several national monuments; enforcing a temporary moratorium on oil and natural gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and re-establishing a working group on the social costs of greenhouse gasses. [NYT article] (next EI, see Jan 27)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

DACA

January 20, 2021: with an executive order, President Biden bolstered the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals [DACA] program that protected from deportation immigrants brought to the United States as children, often called Dreamers. President Trump had sought for years to end the program.

The order also called on Congress to enact legislation providing permanent status and a path to citizenship for those immigrants.

Another order overturned a Trump executive order that pushed aggressive efforts to find and deport unauthorized immigrants.

Another order blocked the deportation of Liberians who had been living in the United States.

Biden has also ended the so-called Muslim ban, which blocked travel to the United States from several predominantly Muslim and African countries. Biden had directed the State Department to restart visa processing for individuals from the affected countries and to develop ways to address the harm caused to those who were prevented from coming to the United States because of the ban. [NYT article] (next DACA, see July 17)

Trump’s Wall  

January 20, 2021: President Biden halted construction of President Trump’s border wall with Mexico. The order included an “immediate termination” of the national emergency declaration that had allowed the Trump administration to redirect billions of dollars to the wall. It said the administration would begin “a close review” of the legality of the effort to divert federal money to fund the wall. [NYT article](next TW, see)

2020 Census

January 20, 2021: with an executive order, Biden revoked the Trump administration’s plan to exclude noncitizens from the census count, [NYT article] (next 2020 Census, see Apr 26; next IH, see Jan 26)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

January 20, 2022: Pope Benedict XVI knew about priests who abused children but failed to act when he was archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982, an inquest found, rejecting Benedict’s long-standing denials in a damning judgment.

“He was informed about the facts,” lawyer Martin Pusch said, as the Westpfahl Spilker Wastl law firm announced the findings of an investigation into historic sexual abuse at the Munich Archdiocese over several decades. The report was commissioned by the church itself.

“We believe that he can be accused of misconduct in four cases,” Pusch said. “Two of these cases concern abuses committed during his tenure and sanctioned by the state. In both cases, the perpetrators remained active in pastoral care.” [CNN article] (next SaoC, see Apr 19)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Anarchism in the US

January 14, 1910: using section 497 of the Postal Laws and Regulations Act of 1902, Mother Earth magazine was banned from the mails after Anthony Comstock complained about Emma Goldman’s essay, “The Traffic in Women.” The issue will be released by the Post Office after Comstock is forced to withdraw his objections. (see March 26, 1910)

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestone

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

January 14, 1914:  Henry Ford announced the newest advance in assembly line production of cars. The new continuous motion method reduced assembly time of a car from 12½ hours to 93 minutes. (see Mar 14)

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Raymond Gunn lynching

January 14, 1931: black residents of Maryville, Missouri fled the town after the lynching of Raymond Gunn on January 12. More than 20 percent of Maryville’s black population fled the town in fear. Despite investigations initiated by state officials, no one was ever arrested or convicted of any crime related to the lynching of Raymond Gunn. [EJI article] (next BH, see July 15, 1931; next Lynching, see April 2, 1933; see AL3 for expanded chronology of early 20th century lynching)

A. Philip Randolph

January 14, 1941: Civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph on this day proposed a march on Washington to demand equal employment opportunities for African-Americans in the defense industries. Full employment had returned to the U.S. as a result of the war in Europe.

The idea of an African-American protest march in Washington, D.C., shocked and scared many Americans –and drew more African-American support than Randolph had imagined. (BH, see Apr 18; March, see June 18)

Segregation Forever

January 14, 1963: in Nov 1962 Alabama elected George Wallace governor in a landslide victory. He took the oath of office standing on the gold star marking the spot where, 102 years earlier, Jefferson Davis was sworn in as President of the Confederate States of America. In his inaugural speech, Wallace used the line for which he is best known: In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever… Let us send this message back to Washington . . . that from this day we are standing up, and the heel of tyranny does not fit the neck of an upright man . . . that we intend to take the offensive and carry our fight for freedom across the nation, wielding the balance of power we know we possess in the Southland. . . . that WE, not the insipid bloc voters of some sections will determine in the next election who shall sit in the White House of these United States. (see Jan 20)

Lawrence Douglas Wilder

January 14, 1990: Lawrence Douglas Wilder was sworn in as the governor of Virginia by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell. Wilder was the first African-American to be elected governor of a U.S. state. (see May 17)

de la Beckwith extradited

January 14, 1991: Chattanooga, TN. Judge Joe DeRisio of Hamilton County Criminal Court ordered  that Byron de la Beckwith be returned to Mississippi to face a charge of first-degree murder in the 1963 slaying of Medgar Evers, but DeRisio delayed putting the extradition order into effect until January 22 to give Mr. Beckwith time to file an appeal with the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. (see June 3, 1991)

Antwon Rose

January 14, 2019: Judge Alexander Bicket ordered that a jury be selected from another county for the trial of East Pittsburgh officer Michael Rosfeld accused in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager 17-year-old Antwon Rose Jr.

Rosfeld is charged with homicide in the death of Rose Jr., who was shot June 19, 2018 as he fled a traffic stop.

Bicket ordered that a jury be chosen from outside Allegheny County, citing “pervasive prejudicial pre-trial publicity” that could deny Rosfeld an impartial jury. He said he expected media coverage to intensify with jury selection for a trial scheduled to begin in late February. (B & S, see Jan 16; AR see Mar 19)

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Japanese Internment Camps

Proclamation No. 2537

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

January 14, 1942: President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Presidential Proclamation No. 2537, requiring aliens from World War II-enemy countries–Italy, Germany and Japan–to register with the United States Department of Justice. Registered persons were then issued a Certificate of Identification for Aliens of Enemy Nationality. (see JIC for expanded chronology)

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

January 14 Music et al

Sgt Presley

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

January 14, 1960: Elvis Presley promoted to sergeant in the U.S. Army (see Mar 5)

LSD
January 14 Peace Love Art Activism
Poster for San Francisco Human Be In

January 14, 1967: the Human Be-In was held in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. It was a prelude to San Francisco’s Summer of Love, which made the Haight-Ashbury district a symbol of American counterculture and introduced the word “psychedelic” to suburbia. (see San Francisco Human Be In for more) (LSD, see March)

John Lennon
January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

January 14, 1970: a display of John Lennon’s erotic “Bag One” lithographs opened in London. 2 days later Scotland Yard seized prints as evidence of pornography. (see Jan 27)

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam & My Lai Massacre

 

January 14, 1971: During his trial for charges of assault with intent to murder at least six My Lai civilians, Sergeant Charles Hutto admitted to killing a group of unarmed civilians with an M60 machine gun. Hutto’s acquittal (on the 14th) set the precedent that “obeying orders” is a viable defense for mass murder. (see My Lai for expanded chronology; Vietnam, see Jan 18)

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

The Red Scare

January 14, 1975: after 37 years of civil liberties abuses involving  investigations of freedom of belief and association, almost all of which involved left-wing, labor and liberal individuals and groups, the House of Representatives on this day abolished the notorious House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). (see May 2)

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear news

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

January 14, 1994: President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed accords in Moscow to stop aiming missiles at any nation and to dismantle the nuclear arsenal of Ukraine. (see May 31)

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

Monica Lewinsky

January 14, 1998: Monica Lewinsky gave Linda Tripp a document headed “Points to make in an affidavit,” coaching Tripp on what to tell Jones’ lawyers about Kathleen Willey, another former White House staffer. Willey recently had testified about alleged unsolicited sexual advances made by the president in 1993.

Opening statements

January 14, 1999: thirteen House prosecutors begin a three-day opening statement, laying out the case for the Senate to convict President Clinton and remove him from office. (see Clinton for expanded entry)

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

January 14, 2005:  Army Specialist Charles Graner Jr., the reputed ringleader of a band of rogue guards at the Abu Ghraib prison, was convicted at Fort Hood, Texas, of abusing Iraqi detainees. (see Jan 15)

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

LGTBQ

January 14, 2014: U.S. District Judge Terence Kern ruled that Oklahoma’s ban on marriage equality was unconstitutional.  His ruling was stayed pending appeal, meaning marriages would not occur immediately in the Sooner State.

Two plaintiff couples, Mary Bishop and Sharon Baldwin and Gay Phillips and Susan Barton, filed their case, Bishop v. Oklahoma, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma in November 2004. [NYT article] (see Jan 23; Oklahoma, see July 18)

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

January 14, 2019: more than 30,000 Los Angeles public-school teachers began a long-planned strike, pressing demands for higher pay, smaller classes and more support staff in the schools.

The strike affected roughly 500,000 students at 900 schools in the district, the second-largest in the nation. The schools remained open staffed by substitutes hired by the city, but many parents said they would not send their children across picket lines. [NYT article] (LH, see Jan 18; strike, see Jan 22)

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

Climate change continues

January 14, 2021:  an analysis of global temperatures by the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies found that 2020 was slightly warmer than 2016. But the difference was insignificant, the institute’s director, Gavin Schmidt, said in an interview.

“Effectively it’s a statistical tie,” he said.

Other analyses issued, one by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and another by Berkeley Earth, an independent research group in California, found that 2020 was slightly cooler than 2016, as did one published last week by the Copernicus Climate Change Service in Europe. But the difference was small enough to not be statistically significant.

With the 2020 results, the last seven years have been the warmest since the beginning of modern record-keeping nearly a century and a half ago, Dr. Schmidt said.

“We are now very, very clear about the underlying long-term trends,” he said. “We understand where they come from. It’s because of the greenhouse gases being pumped into the atmosphere.”

The planet has warmed more than 1 degree Celsius (about 2 degrees Fahrenheit) since the late 1800s, when the spread of industrialization led to rising emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and the pace has accelerated in recent decades. Since 1980, warming has averaged about 0.18 degree Celsius (about 0.32 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade. [NYT article]

Electric Vehicle Study

January 14, 2021:  data published by a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) showed that despite the higher sticker price, electric cars might actually save drivers money in the long-run.

o reach this conclusion, the MIT team calculated both the carbon dioxide emissions and full lifetime cost — including purchase price, maintenance and fuel — for nearly every new car model on the market.

They found electric cars were easily more climate friendly than gas-burning ones. Over a lifetime, they were often cheaper, too.  [NYT article] (next EI, see Jan 19)

January 14 Peace Love Art Activism

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Dred Scott

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

The US Supreme Court will eventually side against Dred Scott’s freedom, but on January 12, 1850, the St. Louis Circuit Court charged the jury that Scott’s residence in free jurisdictions would destroy his status as a slave, and if the jurors determined he had in fact lived in a free state or territory, they should find him free. The jury sided with Scott and his family.

The jury concluded that Scott’s residence in a free state and a free territory had made him free. This result was consistent with Missouri precedents dating from 1824. Irene Emerson, reluctant to lose her four slaves, appealed this decision to the Missouri Supreme Court.(see Dred Scott for more; next Black History, see April)

Patrick & Charlotte “Lottie” Morris murdered

January 12, 1896: a mob of twenty men gathered around the home of Patrick and Charlotte “Lottie” Morris in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, and set it ablaze. Mr. Morris, a white railroad hand, and his wife, a black woman, had garnered the ill will of the community “on account of their difference in color” as well as their operation of a gathering place and hotel for black people.

The mob first attempted to burn down the Morris’ home at 11:00 that night, but Mr. Morris discovered the fire and extinguished it. By midnight, the mob set a fire that could not be controlled. When the couple attempted to escape the flames through the front door of their home they were met with a barrage of gunfire. Mrs. Morris was shot and killed at the doorstep while Mr. Morris was maimed by a shot to his leg.

The Morris’ twelve-year-old son witnessed the events and escaped through the back door of the home. As the boy ran for safety, the mob shot into the darkness after him but missed. Patrick Morris Jr. spent the night hiding underneath a nearby home in the neighborhood.

The next morning, community members found that much of the Morris’s home had been destroyed by the fire. Mr. and Mrs. Morris’s charred remains were found on their bed inside the home. A coroner’s examination revealed that one of the bodies had been decapitated, though it was unclear whether this act was carried out before or after death. Charlotte Morris was sixty-eight years old and Patrick Morris was fifty-eight years old. (next BH, see May 18; next Lynching, see July 4 see Never Forget for expanded article)

Marcus Garvey

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

January 12, 1922: federal authorities arrest Marcus Garvey for fraudulent use of mails and held on a $2,500 bond pending presentation of his case to a federal grand jury. Garvey was  s proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements. (next BH, see Jan 26; see Garvey for expanded chronology)

Raymond Gunn lynched

January 12, 1931: authorities arrested Raymond Gunn, an African American man,  and accused him of killing a white school teacher.

Following his arrest, police took Gunn to jail in a neighboring county due to threats of lynching. Lynch mobs still formed and attempted to seize Gunn from jail, so officials transported him to another prison with reinforcement from firemen and a tank company of the Missouri National Guard.

On January 12, the morning of Gunn’s arraignment, a mob of about two thousand white men, women, and children gathered outside the courthouse. Despite the previous attacks, the local sheriff did not request assistance from the National Guard. With little resistance from local law enforcement, and sixty members of the National Guard at ease in an armory one block from the courthouse, Mr. Gunn was seized by the mob and burned on the roof of the schoolhouse. [EJI article]  (next BH & Lynching, see Jan 14; see AL3 for expanded chronology of early 20th century lynching)

Sipuel v. Board of Regents of University of Oklahoma

January 12, 1948: the U.S. Supreme Court, in Sipuel v. Board of Regents of University of Oklahoma, ruled that state law schools could not discriminate against applicants on the basis of race. “The State must provide [such education] … in conformity with the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and provide it as soon as it does for applicants of any other group.” (see July 26)

Montgomery Bus Boycott

January 12, 1956: in response to the Montgomery’s rejection of its most recent offer to end the boycott, the MIA executive board decided to boycott the buses indefinitely. (next BH, see Jan 24; see Montgomery for more)

Motown Records

January 12, 1959:  Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records (originally Tamla Records) in Detroit. (next BH, see Mar 5)

Charlayne Hunter

January 12, 1961: Charlayne Hunter, 18, was whisked away from the University of Georgia campus in a state patrol car when students staged an uprising against the integration. She graduated in 1963.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault became an American journalist and former foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, and the Public Broadcasting Service. (see Jan 21)

Albany Movement

January 12, 1962: police arrested Albany State College student Ola May Quarterman who refused to move from the front of a city bus. The Albany Movement organized a boycott of the city buses. (see Albany for expanded chronology)

Medgar Evers assassination

January 12, 1966: Byron De La Beckwith, twice tried for the murder of Medgar W. Evers, appeared before a Congressional committee and refused to answer charges that he had participated in Ku Klux Klan intimidation since his release from jail. (BH, see Jan 13; Evers, see September 27, 1973)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism/Voting Rights

No to women’s suffrage

January 12, 1915: US House of Representatives voted for first time on federal woman suffrage amendment, defeating the measure. (see Oct 23)

Hattie W. Caraway

January 12, 1932: Hattie W. Caraway, a Democrat from Arkansas, became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. (see March 4, 1933)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

January 12, 1942: President Franklin D. Roosevelt revived the National War Labor Board (NWLB) for World War II. In order to prevent wartime labor stoppages, the NWLB was set up to arbitrate labor disputes that arose during the war. The NWLB also managed wage controls over the airplane, automobile, shipping, mining, telegraph, and railway industries during the war.(see February 27, 1943)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestone

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

January 12, 1950: the general public was introduced to color television for the very first time when CBS demonstrated its “field sequential” color system on eight television sets in the Walker Building, in Washington. By the end of 1950, 9% of American homes have a TV set. (see June 25, 1951)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical Weapons

John Foster Dulles

January 12, 1954: Secretary of State John Foster Dulles announced a doctrine of massive retaliation which could entail the use of nuclear weapons against communist aggression.  (Red Scare, see Mar 4; NN, see Jan 21)

Iran’s nuclear program

January 12, 2014: American and Iranian officials said that Iran and six world powers had agreed on how to put in place an accord that would temporarily freeze much of Iran’s nuclear program. That accord would go into effect on Jan. 20. (next N/C N,  see in Feb; next Iran, see January 25, 2015)

Iran again

January 12, 2018: President Trump again stopped short of reimposing punitive sanctions on Iran that would have broken its nuclear deal with world powers, but Trump gave European allies only 120 days to agree to an overhaul of the deal or administration officials said he would pull the United States out of it. (next N/C N, see Jan 13; next Iran, see May 8)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

January 12, 1956: in the District Court for the Southern District of New York, a jury found Samuel Roth guilty of 4 counts of a 26-count indictment charging him with mailing obscene circulars and advertising, and an obscene book, in violation of the federal obscenity statute.”

The judge sentenced Roth to five years for each count (to run concurrently) in the Lewisburg Penitentiary and fined $5,000.(FS, see June 17, 1957; Roth, see June 24, 1957)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Operation Chopper

January 12, 1962: in Operation Chopper, helicopters flown by U.S. Army pilots ferry 1,000 South Vietnamese soldiers to sweep a NLF stronghold near Saigon.

Operation Ranch Hand

During the early part of 1962 Operation Ranchhand began. The goal of Ranchhand was to clear vegetation alongside highways, making it more difficult for the Vietcong to conceal themselves for ambushes.

As the war continued, the scope of Ranchhand increased. Vast tracts of forest were sprayed with “Agent Orange,” an herbicide containing the deadly chemical Dioxin. Guerrilla trails and base areas were exposed, and crops that might feed Vietcong units were destroyed. (see Jan 15)

Rev. Philip Berrigan

January 12, 1971: a federal grand jury indicted Rev. Philip Berrigan and 5 others, including a nun and two priests, on charges of plotting to kidnap Henry Kissinger. Because the charges were filed in Harrisburg, Pa, the group became known as the “Harrisburg Six.” On 5 September 1972 the Justice Department dropped all charges.  (see Jan 14)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

January 12 Music et al

Fear of Rock

January 12, 1958: the NY Times reported that “One St Louis radio stion is in revolt against rock ‘n’ roll music.” On January 13, station KWK would play such music records once and then snap it in two near a mic so listeners could hear it beinb broken. Robert T Convey, the station president, said that rock “has dominated the music field long enough.”  (see January 26, 1962)

Berry Gordy, Jr

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

January 12, 1959:  Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records (originally Tamla Records) in Detroit. (see Motown Records Begins for full story) (next BH, see Apr 18)

Go Away Little Girl

January 12 – 25, 1963: written by written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King “Go Away Little Girl” by Steve Lawrence #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Goffin/King’s third #1 hit (Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow in 1960 and Take Good Care of My Baby in 1962)

Teenage Culture

January 12, 1966: ABC-TV’s replacement for Shindig broadcast: Batman. (see Aug 29)

Beatle summit

January 12, 1969: in an attempt to sort out the problems within The Beatles following George Harrison’s sudden departure two days earlier, all four met at Brookfield House, Ringo Starr’s Tudor mansion in Elstead, Surrey.

The meeting was not a success. The feud between Harrison and John Lennon remained unresolved, and Harrison left early without agreeing to rejoin The Beatles. (see Jan 13)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Consumer Protection

January 12, 1966: in his State of the Union address, President Johnson stated: Our people have a right to feel secure in their homes and on their streets–and that right just must be secured.Nor can we fail to arrest the destruction of life and property on our highways.I will propose a Highway Safety Act of 1966 to seek an end to this mounting tragedy. (see Feb 10)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

IRAQ War I

January 12, 1991: a deeply divided Congress gave President George H.W. Bush the authority to use force to expel Iraq from Kuwait. (The Senate vote was 52-47; the House followed suit 250-183.) (see Jan 15)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

January 12, 2005:  U.S. intelligence official told CNN that U.S. inspectors ended their search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. (see Jan 14)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

Sister Helen Prejean

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

January 12, 1996: the film, Dead Man Walking, released. In 1994, Sister Helen Prejean released her book titled Dead Man Walking about her role as spiritual advisor for two death row inmates. The popularity of the film led to increased levels of public discourse on the morality of the death penalty. (see Jan 25)

Hurst v. Florida

January 12, 2016: the US Supreme Court held in Hurst v. Florida that Florida’s capital sentencing scheme was unconstitutional because it does not require the jury to make the critical findings necessary to impose the death penalty. Because Alabama has the same sentencing scheme as Florida, the Court’s decision will apply to cases in Alabama as well. (see Mar 3)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

January 12, 1998: Linda Tripp contacted the office of Whitewater Independent Counsel Ken Starr to talk about Lewinsky and the tapes she made of their conversations. The tapes allegedly have Lewinsky detailing an affair with Clinton and indicated that Clinton and Clinton friend Vernon Jordan told Lewinsky to lie about the alleged affair under oath. (see Clinton for much more)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Haitian Earthquake

January 12, 2010: 7.0 earthquake in Haiti. The Haitian government reported that an estimated 316,000 people had died, 300,000 had been injured and 1,000,000 made homeless. The government of Haiti also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged. [2020 NPR report]

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Cold War

Cuba releases prisoners 

January 12, 2015: U.S. officials announced that Cuba had released all 53 prisoners it had promised to free, a major step toward détente with Washington.

The release of the remaining prisoners set a positive tone for historic talks aimed at normalizing relations after decades of hostility. Officials described the Cuban government’s release over the weekend of the last detainees on the list as a milestone but said they would keep pressing Havana to free more people the United States considers political prisoners.

The officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, did not say how many prisoners were released over the weekend or identify them. But the White House will provide the names of all 53 to Congress and expects lawmakers to make them public, the officials added. (NYT article) (see Jan 15)

Cuban refugee status changes

January 12, 2017: President Obama announced that he was terminating the 22-year-old policy that allowed Cubans who arrived on United States soil without visas to remain in the country and gain legal residency.

Effective immediately, Cuban nationals who attempt to enter the United States illegally and do not qualify for humanitarian relief will be subject to removal, consistent with U.S. law and enforcement priorities,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries.”  (NYT article) (see Nov 8)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Louisiana’s ban stays in place

January 12, 2015: the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take an early look at a challenge to Louisiana’s state ban.

In addition, the court took no action on four other pending cases concerning gay marriage bans in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee,

The decision not to hear the Louisiana case was not unexpected as gay rights advocates had sought to skip the regular judicial process by seeking Supreme Court review before the case had been decided by an appeals court. Gay rights advocates representing the Louisiana plaintiffs said in court papers there is a “pressing need” to resolve the issue once and for all.

South Dakota’s ban overruled

January 12, 2015: U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier ruled against South Dakota’s constitutional amendment banning marriage equality.

South Dakota legislation passed in 1996 banned same-sex marriages in the state. In 2006, state voters passed a constitutional amendment stating only a marriage between a man and a woman.

Private attorneys and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) sued the state on behalf of six same-sex couples who argue that South Dakota’s ban on marriage equality violated the U.S. Constitution.

Schreier stayed the decision pending appeal. (NYT article) (see Jan 15)

Adoptions denied

January 12, 2021: with little more than a week left to the Trump administration, the Department of Health and Human Services finalized a rule permitting social-service providers that receive government funds to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

According to the 77-page release Obama-era requirements that agencies refrain from discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity and recognize same-sex marriages as legally valid violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. [NBC News article] (next LGBTQ, see Jan 20)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

January 12, 2021: the NY Times reported that the loss of tribal elders had swelled into a cultural crisis as the COVID pandemic had killed American Indians and Alaska Natives at nearly twice the rate of white people, deepening what critics call the deadly toll of a tattered health system and generations of harm and broken promises by the U.S. government. (next NA, see Mar 15)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

2020 Census

January 12, 2021: despite President Trump’s demands since the summer of 2020, the Commerce Department inspector general, Peggy E. Gustafson questioned an order to deliver the estimates before Trump leaves office, after whistle-blowers warned that the rush would imperil their accuracy.

Gustafson said in a letter that two White House political appointees were the “driving forces” behind the order, which required census experts to deliver counts of unauthorized immigrants by January 15, five days before Inauguration Day.

Her letter stated that Steven Dillingha, the Census Bureau director appointed by Mr. Trump, had designated the estimates a top priority for the bureau’s data experts, even though completion of the 2020 census itself had fallen months behind schedule because of the coronavirus pandemic. The letter said Dillingham had discussed offering cash bonuses for producing the estimates quickly.

Dillingham backed off his order this week, according to bureau employees who refused to be named for fear of retaliation. [NYT article] (next 2020 Census, see Jan 18)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration/Trump’s Wall

January 12, 2021: a week before the end of his term, President Trump traveled to Alamo, Texas, near the border, to mark the completion of more than 450 miles of the border wall.

The wall, which Trump repeatedly cited over the last four years as an accomplishment, cost US taxpayers — not Mexico — billions and became emblematic of the President’s restrictionist immigration policies, which largely sealed the US off from immigrants and refugees.

During a brief speech near the wall, Trump listed off a series of those policies, citing them as accomplishments and calling them “historic.”

Many of the policies rolled out over the last four years were unprecedented, including requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico until their immigration court date in the US and swiftly removing migrants arriving at the southern border under a public health order. Immigrant advocates and lawyers had challenged the policies in court, arguing that they put migrants in harm’s way. [CNN article] [next IH & TW, see Jan 20)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

January 12, 2021: the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s request to reinstate in-person abortion medication requirements during the pandemic.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations require mifepristone, which is used in medication abortion, to be dispensed at a clinic, hospital or medical office. Lower courts had blocked the requirements this past summer, finding them to be a “substantial obstacle.”

“The question before us is not whether the requirements for dispensing mifepristone impose an undue burden on a woman’s right to an abortion as a general matter,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the opinion.

“The question is instead whether the District Court properly ordered the Food and Drug Administration to lift those established requirements because of the court’s own evaluation of the impact of the COVID–19 pandemic,” Roberts continued.

In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor raised concerns about patients’ ability to access abortion pills amid an ongoing public health emergency.

“The FDA’s policy imposes an unnecessary, unjustifiable, irrational, and undue burden on women seeking an abortion during the current pandemic,” Sotomayor argued. [HealthCare News article] (next WH, see Feb 18)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

January 12, 2024:  the Biden administration announced new moves to curb the release from oil and gas facilities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is responsible for more than a quarter of the warming the planet is currently experiencing.

Under the new plan, oil and gas companies would be required for the first time to pay a fee for emitting methane. The resulting penalties could total millions of dollars for the companies. [NYT article] (next EI, see Mar 1)

Cannabis

January 12, 2024: the U.S. government released hundreds of pages of documents related to its ongoing review of marijuana’s status under federal law, officially confirming for the first time that health officials had recommended the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) place cannabis in Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The 252 pages of documents from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) explained that cannabis “has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States” and has a “potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in Schedules I and II.”

Federal health officials said their review found that more than 30,000 healthcare professionals “across 43 U.S. jurisdictions are authorized to recommend the medical use of marijuana for more than six million registered patients for at least 15 medical conditions.”  [MM article] (next Cannabis, see Apr 30, or see CAC for expanded chronology)