October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestones

Cotton gin

October 28, 1793: Eli Whitney applied for a patent for the cotton gin. It was granted in March 14, 1794. It will change the course of American history as it made the cotton crop a valuable commodity for which thousands of workers–black slaves–would be used.(see February 7, 1817)

Football game broadcast

October 28, 1922: hundreds of young men gathered around radios in Western Union offices, speakeasies and a Princeton University physics lab to hear the first-ever cross-country broadcast of a college football game between Princeton and the Chicago Maroons. Telephone lines carried a play-by-play of the match-up. (NYT article) (see April 15, 1923)

October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Matilda Josyln Gage

October 28, 1886: Matilda Josyln Gage joined the New York City Woman Suffrage Association’s protest at the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty. Suffragists called it the greatest hypocrisy of the 19th century that liberty is represented as a woman in a land where not a single woman has liberty. (NYT article)

In 1890: Gage left National Women’s Suffragist Association after its merger with the American Woman Suffrage Association and established the Woman’s National Liberal Union, dedicated to maintaining the separation of church and state. (Separation Church and State, see May 5, 1925 Feminism; see May)

In 1893 Gage published her magnum opus, Woman, Church, and State.

Gage also spoke of organized religion: “The greatest evils to women in all ages have come through the bondage of the Church. Women must think for themselves and realize that the story of the creation with the pair in the garden and the speaking serpent standing on his tail was a myth.” (next Feminism, see Nov 7)

In 1895 Gage contributed to Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s The Woman’s Bible, writing interpretations of three Biblical passages pertinent to women. The Woman’s Bible is a major criticism of standard biblical interpretation from a radical feminist point of view. (next Feminism, see April 4, 1886; see Gage for expanded story)

Consumer Protection

October 28, 1974:  President Gerald Ford signed into law the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which helped to reduce sex discrimination in access to credit. As a member of the Appropriations Committee,

Congresswoman Lindy Boggs (D–Louisiana) helped shape the law. She hand-wrote “sex or marital status” into the text and then passed out new copies of the bill with the phrase included. She suggested sweetly that the omission “must have been an oversight.” The amendment passed. President Gerald Ford signed further amendments to bar discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act Amendments of 1976 in March 1976. (Feminism, see January 8, 1975; CP, see February 12, 1976)

October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

INDEPENDENCE DAY

October 28, 1918:  Czech Republic formed marking independence from Austria-Hungary. (see Nov 11)

October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Cultural Milestone/Volstead Act

 

October 28, 1919,  the day after President Wilson had vetoed the act, the House and Senate override his veto and the Volstead Act was passed, ushering in Prohibition. It went into effect in January 1920. (NYT article) (see January 17, 1920)

October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Cold War

McCarthyism

October 28, 1947: Dalton Trumbo, a successful Hollywood screenwriter, confronted the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) on this day. All of the “Hollywood Ten” were cited for contempt of Congress, convicted, sentenced to prison, and blacklisted by the film industry.

Contempt of Congress indictments became a heavy weapon against alleged subversives during the Cold War. While it had rarely been used before World War II, HUAC issued 21 contempt citations in 1946, 14 in 1947, and 56 in 1950. All other House Committees in those years issued a total of only 6 contempt citations. (Red Scare, see Oct 30; Hollywood Ten, see November 25, 1956; Trumbo, see March 27, 1957)

see Cuban Missile Crisis for more

October 28, 1962:  after much deliberation between the Soviet Union and Kennedy’s cabinet, Kennedy secretly agreed to remove all missiles set in southern Italy and in Turkey, the latter on the border of the Soviet Union, in exchange for Khrushchev removing all missiles in Cuba. Nikita Khrushchev announced that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba. (next Cold War, see Oct 30; see Cuban Missile Crisis for expanded story)

October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Boys arrested after being kissed

October 28, 1958: a mob of white men in Monroe, North Carolina, stormed the home of a nine-year-old Black boy named James “Hanover” Thompson, threatening to lynch him after a white girl told her parents that she kissed him on the cheek when they were playing together earlier that day. James and another Black boy named David “Fuzzy” Simpson, seven years old, who the girl had also kissed on the cheek, were arrested by police, held in jail without contact with their families for days, denied an attorney, and sentenced to indefinite terms, ultimately serving over three months. [EJI story] (next BH, see Nov 24)

Black Panthers

October 28, 1967: Oakland, CA officer John Frey is killed and officer Herbert Haines wounded in a predawn altercation after stopping Huey Newton and Gene McKinney. Newton is also critically wounded. (BH, see Oct 30; BP, see April 6, 1968)

Slave Revolts

October 28, 2002: the City Council in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy, unanimously voted to honor a slave who plotted a revolt.

A resolution calling the slave, Gabriel Prosser, an ”American patriot and freedom fighter” commemorates the 202nd anniversary of his hanging on October 10, 1800, in Richmond. Dozens of conspirators were also executed after two slaves told their masters of the plot. ”This resolution seeks to correct an error in history whereby Gabriel has been seen by many as a criminal,” Councilman Sa’ad El-Amin told the Council. (BH, see Dec 4; SR, see June 17, 2015)

The Matthew Shepard Act

October 28, 2009: President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act, as a rider to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2010. Conceived as a response to the murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., the measure expands the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. (next BH, see November 15, 2010; see Shepard for expanded story;  next LGBTQ, see Nov 3)

see October 28 Music et al for more

Beatles/My Bonnie

October 28, 1961: “My Bonnie” is a success in Germany.  It will be released in Britain on 5 January 1962, as Tony Sheridan and The Beatles.

On the same day, according to Beatles legend,  a fan named Raymond Jones attempted to purchase the single “My Bonnie” from Brian Epstein’s NEMS record store in Liverpool. Brian managed the record shop, which was part of a large department store owned by his father. The legend states that this was the first occasion on which Brian Epstein heard of the single or, indeed, of The Beatles. “Mersey Beat” editor Bill Harry discounts this story as improbable. Harry claims to have discussed The Beatles and other local groups with Epstein well before this date, and he adds that Epstein was already writing record reviews for “Mersey Beat” and selling copies of the paper in his shop. Further, Epstein was selling tickets to Sam Leach’s ‘Operation Big Beat’ concert, and The Beatles’ name was at the top of the list of groups that were scheduled to appear at the November 10 event. (see Oct 30)

Beatles/Empire Theatre, Liverpool

October 28, 1962:  The Beatles performed at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool. This is a major performance for The Beatles, their first at Liverpool’s top theatre. They are part of an eight-act, big-name program that plays to two separate “houses” (two performances for two different audiences, one at 5:40 pm and the other at 8:00 pm). Heading the bill is Little Richard; also appearing is Craig Douglas (for whom The Beatles provide musical backing in addition to their own, separate performance), Jet Harris (ex-Shadows bass player), and Kenny Lynch & Sounds Incorporated. In Liverpudlian terms, The Beatles have hit the big time. (see Nov 23)

see Teenage Awards Music International for more

October 28 – 29, 1964 filmed over two days at the Santa Monica (Calif.) Civic Auditorium, “The T.A.M.I. Show” (short for  Teenage Awards Music International or Teen Age Music International) featured some of the biggest stars in rock and pop music, including The Rolling Stones, James Brown and the Flames, The Supremes, The Beach Boys and Lesley Gore. It was released in theaters in December 1964.  (see June 24, 1966)

Supremes

October 28 – December 1, 1967: Diana Ross and the Supremes Greatest Hits is the Billboard #1 album.

October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

October 28, 1968: US Ambassador Bunker cabled the President that South Vietnam President Thieu had suddenly decided he needed more time to to consult his National Security Council regarding the Paris negotiations.

LBJ knew that Nixon had interfered.(Vietnam, see Oct 30; Nixon, see Nov 3)

October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

October 28, 1989: a group burned a United States flag belonging to the United States Postal Service. The flag-burning occurred during a political demonstration convened in front of a post office in Seattle, Washington to protest the enactment of the Flag Protection Act of 1989, 18 U.S.C. § 700. That statute, which prohibits flag-burning, had taken effect only minutes before defendants’ actions against the flag.

Participants were charged with committing two misdemeanors: one count of fulfill injury to federal property and one count of knowingly burning a United States flag in violation of the Flag Protection Act. (see March 21, 1990)

October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Fair Housing

1992 Act

October 28, 1992: The Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 signed. The Act established the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It also mandated that HUD set specific goals for the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with regard to low income and under-served housing areas.

Home ownership

In 1996 home ownership totaled 66.3 million American households, the largest number ever. Except for a few historic buildings, Techwood Homes (see August 15, 1936) was demolished in 1996 before the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Enforcement Center

In 1998 HUD opened the Enforcement Center to take action against HUD-assisted multifamily property owners and other HUD fund recipients who violate laws and regulations. Congress approves Public Housing reforms to reduce segregation by race and income, encourage and reward work, bring more working families into public housing, and increase the availability of subsidized housing for very poor families.

Home ownership

In 2000 America’s home-ownership rate reached a new record-high of 67.7 percent in the third quarter of 2000. A total of 71.6 million American families own their homes – more than at any time in American history. (next Fair Housing, see July 19, 2013)

October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

October 28, 1998: in the final week of the 1998 campaign, Republicans shift gears and begin pummeling the Democrats in TV ads about Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. (see Clinton for expanded story)

October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

October 28, 2013: federal Judge Lee Yeakel of the US District Court in Austin blocked an important part of the state’s restrictive new abortion law, which would have required doctors performing the procedure to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The decision, one day before the provision was to take effect, prevented a major disruption of the abortion clinics in Texas. It was a victory for abortion rights groups and clinics that said the measure served no medical purpose and could force as many as one-third of the state’s 36 abortion clinics to close.

But the court did not strike down a second measure, requiring doctors to use a particular drug protocol in nonsurgical, medication-induced abortions that doctors called outdated and too restrictive.

The decision is widely expected to be appealed to higher courts. Yeakel declared that “the act’s admitting-privileges provision is without a rational basis and places a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus.” (NYT article) (BC, see Oct 31; Texas, see June 27, 2016)

October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Trump Impeachment Inquiry

October 28, 2019: despite a subpoena, Charles M. Kupperman, the former deputy national security adviser and one of Mr. Trump’s “closest confidential” advisers, did not appear to testify. He had notified lawmakers through his lawyer that he would not appear to testify. Kupperman’s lawyer, Charles J. Cooper,  said that he was following orders from Trump.

“It is President Trump, and every president before him for at least the last half century, who have asserted testimonial immunity for their closest confidential advisers,” Cooper, wrote. [NYT article] (see TII for expanded chronology)

October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

October 28, 2020: a football player’s concerned parent had informed the Missouri state/church watchdog that Joey Ballard, head coach for Jasper High School’s boys football team (Jasper Missouri), regularly led team prayer. On October 6, the Freedom From Religion Foundation informed the district of the practice.

On this date, the FFRF reported the district’s response: “In response to your letter dated Oct. 6, 2020, we write to advise you about the actions the district took in response to your initial correspondence indicating that a coach of the Jasper R-V School District was leading students prayer,” the district’s legal counsel stated. “In response to your complaint, the district conducted an investigation into the matter. We are unable to share the results of that investigation with you, as it involves confidential personnel information. However, we can tell you that employees of the district were reminded of the district’s board policy regarding religion at school and were also instructed not to lead students in, or promote, prayer. This matter has therefore been resolved.” (next Separation, see November 17, 2021)

October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Voting Rights

October 28, 2020: the Supreme Court let election officials in Pennsylvania and North Carolina accept absentee ballots for several days after Election Day.

In the Pennsylvania case, the court refused a plea from Republicans in the state that it decide before Election Day whether election officials can continue receiving absentee ballots for three days after Nov. 3.

In the North Carolina case, the court let stand lower court rulings that allowed the state’s board of elections to extend the deadline to nine days after Election Day, up from the three days called for by the state legislature.

The court’s brief orders in the two cases were unsigned. The Pennsylvania order appeared to be unanimous, while the North Carolina one was issued over three noted dissents.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who had just joined the court the day before, did not take part in either case. [NYT article] (next VR, see March 7, 2021)

October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

October 28, 2021: Oklahoma executed John Marion Grant, 60, for the 1998 slaying of a prison cafeteria worker, ending a six-year execution moratorium brought on by concerns over its execution methods,

Prison officials strapped Grant to a gurney inside the execution chamber. He began convulsing and vomiting after they administered the first drug, the sedative midazolam. Several minutes later, two members of the execution team wiped the vomit from his face and neck.

Before the curtain was raised to allow witnesses to see into the execution chamber, Grant could be heard yelling, “Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” He delivered a stream of profanities before the lethal injection started. He was declared unconscious about 15 minutes after the first of three drugs was administered and declared dead about six minutes after that, at 4:21 p.m.

Someone vomiting while being executed is rare, according to observers.  [AP article] (next DP, see Nov 18)

October 28 Peace Love Art Activism

October 27 Peace Love Art Activism

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

October 27, 1659: during the late 1650s, the government of colonial Massachusetts felt deeply threatened by the Quaker religion. Puritan leaders thought it could destabilize society by undermining their culture and religion. Laws were passed that outlawed Quakerism. Being a Quaker, meeting with or aiding a Quaker, or publishing Quaker material was punished by banishment from the territory, on pain of death.

The first Quakers to break the laws were Marmaduke Stevenson, William Robinson, Mary Dyar, and Nicholas Davis. On September 12, 1659, they were banished from Massachusetts, and told that if any of them returned, they would be put to death. Dyar and Davis left Massachusetts. Stevenson and Robinson ignored the ruling, and went to Salem, MA to spread their gospel. The pair were quickly apprehended and imprisoned in Boston. Dyar left Massachusetts but was compelled to return, and she was also locked up.

On October 27, 1659, Stevenson, Robinson, and Dyar were paraded by 200 armed men through the town of Boston to the place of execution at Boston Neck. They tenderly hugged each other, and each cheerfully climbed the gallows-ladder while praising the Lord. Stevenson and Robinson were executed, but Dyar received a reprieve. She demanded to be hanged like her brethren, but was not executed. Dyar was banished once again, and was eventually hanged in 1660 for returning to the colony. (see May 27, 1668)

October 27 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Technological Milestone

October 27, 1904: New York City Mayor George McClellan took the controls on the inaugural run of the city’s innovative new rapid transit system: the subway. While London boasts the world’s oldest underground train network (opened in 1863) and Boston built the first subway in the United States in 1897, the New York City subway soon became the largest American system. More than 100 workers died during the construction of the first 13 miles of tunnels and track. (NYT subway) (TM, see December 24, 1906; Labor, see January 2, 1905) 

DNAinfo

October 27, 2017: the National Labor Relations Board conducted a vote of workers at DNAinfo after its owner, Joe Ricketts, had refused to recognize the union. The result was that 25 out of 27 workers voted to join the Writers Guild, which meant that management would be required to bargain with the union.

DNAinfo, which specialized in covering the city neighborhood by neighborhood, had broken big stories and earned respect since its founding in 2009, but it had never turned a profit. Gothamist, with a smaller staff but wider readership, was a blog with attitude that combines original reporting, cultural coverage and aggregation. [NYT article] (Labor, see Oct 29; DNAinfo, see Nov 2)

October 27 Peace Love Art Activism

The Red Scare

October 27, 1947: the famous confrontations between the “Hollywood Ten” and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) began on this day. The first “hostile witness” was the screenwriter John Howard Lawson, who like the other members of the Hollywood Ten who followed, was aggressively confrontational with the committee, refusing to answer questions and challenging the committee’s legitimacy.

HUAC had launched an investigation into alleged Communist influence in Hollywood that is probably the most famous event in the entire history of the committee. The hearings had begun on October 20, 1947, with a series of “friendly” witnesses who testified that there was Communist influence in Hollywood. Beginning on this day, a group of so-called “unfriendly” witnesses who refused to testify about their beliefs and associations resulted in stormy confrontational hearings. This group of directors and screenwriters became known as the “Hollywood Ten.” In retrospect (and for many people, almost immediately), it was apparent that the aggressive, confrontational tactics of the Hollywood Ten only alienated potential support across the country.

The hearings ended on October 30, but HUAC conducted another set of hearings in 1951, which resulted in more blacklisting. (NYT article) (see November 24, 1947)

October 27 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

US Labor History

October 27, 1951: the National Labor Council was formed in Cincinnati to unite Black workers in the struggle for full economic, political and social equality. The group was to function for five years before disbanding, having forced many AFL and CIO unions to adopt non-discrimination policies. (BH, see Dec 25; Labor, see Dec 21)

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR

October 27, 1960: King released from jail. Word about President Kennedy’s call circulated widely in the African-American community. Some political commentators believed the publicity gained Kennedy enough African-American votes to give him victory in the November presidential election, but others dispute this interpretation.. (BH, see Oct 29; MLK, see Nov 26)

Ruby Bates

October 27, 1976: Ruby Bates died at age sixty-three. [NYT article] (see Scottsboro Travesty for expanded story)

October 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Cuban Missile Crisis

October 27, 1962: Radio Moscow began broadcasting a message from Khrushchev. The message offered a new trade, that the missiles on Cuba would be removed in exchange for the removal of the Jupiter missiles from Italy and Turkey.  Cuba shot down a US U2 plane with surface to air missile killing the pilot, Rudolph Anderson. U.S. Army anti-aircraft rockets sat, mounted on launchers and pointed out over the Florida Straits in Key West, Florida. (see Cuban missile crisis for expanded story; Anderson, see Nov 6)

October 27 Peace Love Art Activism

October 26 Music et al

Love Me Do

October 27, 1962, The Beatles before their US appearance:  “Love Me Do/PS I Love You” #48 on UK Melody Maker hit parade. (see Nov 26)

Future Woodstock Performers

October 27, 1967: Ten Years After released its first album, Ten Years After. Alvin Lee, age 22.

In 1968 these artists will release their first albums:

• Johnny Winter (age 22) released  The Progressive Blues Experiment
• Sweetwater released Sweetwater
• Bert Sommer (age 18) released , The Road to Travel. It was produced by Artie Kornfeld. Sommer was a schoolmate of Leslie West. (see Feb 21)

LSD

October 27, 1970: The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act  passed. Part II of this is the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) which defined a scheduling system for drugs. It placed most of the known hallucinogens (LSD, psilocybin, psilocin, mescaline, peyote, cannabis, & MDA) in Schedule I. It placed coca, cocaine, and injectable methamphetamine in Schedule II. Other amphetamines and stimulants, including non-injectable methamphetamine were placed in Schedule III. [text of Nixon’s remarks at signing] (see September 3, 1971)

October 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

October 27, 1968: in London, 50,000 protest the Vietnam war. (NYT article) (see Oct 30)

INDEPENDENCE DAYS

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

October 27, 1979: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines independent of the United Kingdom. (see April 18, 1980)

Dissolution of the USSR

October 27, 1991: Turkmenistan declared its independence from the Soviet Union. (see Dec 16)

October 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Crime and Punishment

October 27, 1986: President Ronald Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. The law created a significant disparity in the sentences imposed in federal courts for crimes involving powdered cocaine versus the sentences imposed for crimes involving crack cocaine. The law imposed certain mandatory minimum sentences for crimes involving certain quantities of powdered cocaine, but those mandatory sentences could also be triggered by crimes involving only one percent of that quantity in cases of crack cocaine. For instance, a drug crime involving five grams of crack cocaine resulted in a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison, but crimes involving less than 500 grams of powdered cocaine would not trigger the five year minimum sentence.

This one hundred-to-one sentencing disparity, which was not based on credible scientific evidence about differing biological impacts between cocaine in powder form versus crack form, has had a significant impact on the mass incarceration of African Americans. In the years following the enactment of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, admissions of African Americans to federal prison spiked from approximately 50 admissions per 100,000 adults to nearly 250 admissions per 100,000 adults, while there was almost no change among whites. Disparities in sentence lengths also increased. In 1986, African Americans received drug sentences that were 11% longer than sentences received by whites, on average, but that disparity increased to 49% in the years following the law’s enactment. This law, and similar laws, had a significant role in increasing the incarcerated population from approximately 500,000 in 1980 to nearly 2.3 million in 2013. (see May 26, 1987)

October 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Jack Kevorkian

October 27,  1997: the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, which was approved by referendum on November 8, 1994, and which allows voluntary end of life, took effect on this day. The law allows individuals to voluntarily end their own lives by ingesting a life-ending drug that is prescribed by a licensed physician. The law has survived two challenges. Oregon voters rejected a repeal measure by a margin of 60 percent in 1997. And in 2006, the Supreme Court upheld the law, in Gonzales v. Oregon. (see JK for expanded story)

October 27 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ+

Frank Schaefer

October 27, 2014: the Judicial Council of the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination ruled that a Pennsylvania church jury was wrong to defrock Frank Schaefer last year after he would not promise never to perform another same-sex wedding.

The council ruled on technical grounds and did not express support for gay marriage in general. Its decision was final. [CBS News story](next LGBTQ+, see Nov 6)

Passports

October 27, 2021, LGBTQ+: the U.S. State Department  issued the first official passport with the gender marker “X” in order to make the documents more inclusive for people who identify as nonbinary, intersex or gender-nonconforming.

The department would be able to offer the option to all passport applicants once it finished updating its systems and forms by early 2022, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

“I want to reiterate, on the occasion of this passport issuance, the Department of State’s commitment to promoting the freedom, dignity, and equality of all people – including LGBTQI+ persons,” Price said in a statement. [NPR story] (next LGBTQ+, see June 10, 2022)

October 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News & ICAN

October 27, 2016: the United Nation’s First Committee adopted a landmark International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons [ICAN] -supported resolution to launch negotiations in 2017 on a treaty outlawing nuclear weapons.

ICAN called on all states to participate in the negotiations, stating that “every nation has an interest in ensuring that nuclear weapons are never used again, which can only be guaranteed through their complete elimination.” (Nuclear, see January 6, 2017; ICAN, see July 7, 2017)

October 27 Peace Love Art Activism

TERRORISM

October 27, 2018:  46-year-old Robert Gregory Bowers entered the Tree of Life – Or L’Simcha Congregation synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of while Shabbat morning services and a bris were being held. He shouted “All Jews must die” and began shooting. Eleven people were killed, and nine were injured.  [NYT article] (T, see Oct 29; PSS, see Oct 30)

October 27 Peace Love Art Activism