Category Archives: Today in history

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

William Tucker

January 3, 1624: the baptism of William Tucker, the first African-American birth recorded in Jamestown, VA.  His parents, simply Anthony and Isabella, were two of the first Africans brought to North America in 1619 (perhaps as indentured servants). They married and in 1624, gave birth to the first black child born in English America. He was named after his family’s master, Captain William Tucker.(see September 17, 1630)

NAACP report

January 3, 1947: an NAACP report said 1946 was “one of the grimmest years in the history of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.” The report deplored “reports of blow torch killing and eye-gouging of Negro veterans freshly returned from a war to end torture and racial extermination” and said “Negroes in America have been disillusioned over the wave of lynchings, brutality and official recession from all of the flamboyant promises of post war democracy and decency.” (next BH, see Jan 15; next Lynching, see July 14, 1948; for expanded chronology of lynching, see also AL4)

Montgomery Bus Boycott

January 3, 1956: because of drastically reduced ridership during the boycott, Montgomery City Lines suggested to the city commission that unless fares were doubled, it would have to shut down because it was losing as much as twenty-two cents a mile.  The Commission approved the fare increase the following day. (see Montgomery for much more)

Samuel Younge Jr

January 3, 1966: twenty-one-year-old Tuskegee Institute student activist and veteran Samuel Younge Jr spent the day registering black voters in Macon County, Alabama. He stopped at a gas station to use the restroom. The white attendant, 68-year-old Marvin Segrest, directed him to the “colored” restroom out back. When Younge said he wanted to use the regular public restroom, Segrest threatened to shoot him.

Younge reported Segrest to the police, then returned to the gas station and told Segrest the police were coming. The two men argued and Segrest shot at Younge, who hid in a bus. When he exited the bus, Segrest shot him in the head, killing him.

The shooting exacerbated tensions in Tuskegee between African Americans and pro-segregation whites. The day after the shooting, Tuskegee students launched protests that lasted for weeks.

In December 1966 an all-white jury took 70 minutes to acquit Segrest.

Today Younge’s name is carved on the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, a tribute to the 40 people who were slain between 1954 (the year the U.S. Supreme Court banned school segregation) and 1968 (the year of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination). (see Jan 7)

Shirley Chisholm

January 3, 1969: Shirley Chisholm, became the first black woman in Congress. (see Jan 23)

SOUTH AFRICA/APARTHEID

January 3, 1994: more than 7 million people received South African citizenship that had previously been denied under Apartheid policies. (see Apr 27)

Hurricane Katrina

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

January 3, 2007: seven New Orleans policemen charged in a deadly bridge shooting in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina turned themselves in at the city jail, and more than 200 supporters met them in a show of solidarity. Each of the indicted men faces at least one charge of murder or attempted murder in the Sept. 4, 2005, shootings on the Danziger Bridge less than a week after the hurricane hit New Orleans. Two people died and four were wounded in the shooting. (see Katrina for expanded chronology)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

In the late 1800s, the United States government sought to “Americanize” the Indian population by forcing Native American children into white schools, often far from their homes and families. In 1887, the government established Keams Canyon Boarding School and pressured Native American parents from the Hopi tribe to enroll their children. Hopi families that complied with the government’s order and sent their children to school were deemed “Friendlies,” while those who refused were branded “Hostiles.” When most parents refused to part with their children voluntarily, the government resorted to force, sending soldiers to round up children and send them to Keams Canyon.

At the same time, tensions were rising regarding the limited land that the government had allotted to Indian tribes. In October 1894, fifty Hopi returned to farm on land that had traditionally belonged to their tribe. The U.S. government, claiming to act in defense of the rights of Friendlies, responded by ordering troops to arrest the Hopi leaders. Justifying the order for military involvement, one government official wrote that “[t]he Friendlies must be protected in their rights and encouraged to continue in the Washington way. . .”

On January 3, 1895, the US govern met imprisoned nineteen leaders from the Hopi tribe  on Alcatraz Island,  in the San Francisco Bay.  The government charged them with sedition for opposing the program of forced education and assimilation. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that “[n]ineteen murderous-looking Apache Indians” had been arrested and taken to Alcatraz, “because they would not let their children go to school.” The paper added that they “have not hardship aside from the fact that they have been rudely snatched from the bosom of their families and are prisoners and prisoners they shall stay until they have learned to appreciate the advantage of education.” The Hopi leaders were imprisoned in the wooden cells of Alcatraz for nearly one year. (see May 18, 1896)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

ADA

National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis

January 3, 1938, President Franklin D Roosevelt [a victim of polio at age 39 and paralyzed from the waist down and forced to use leg braces and a wheelchair for the rest of his life] helped found the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, later renamed the March of Dimes. The organization was responsible for funding much of the research concerning the disease, including the Salk vaccine trials. (polio, see April 26, 1954)

Hitler’s so-called mercy killings

In 1939: at the onset of World War II Adolph Hitler ordered widespread “mercy killing” of the sick and disabled. Code-named Aktion T4, the Nazi euthanasia program is instituted to eliminate “life unworthy of life.” Between 75,000 to 250,000 people with intellectual or physical disabilities are systematically killed from 1939 to 1941.

Rosemary Kennedy

In 1941: John F. Kennedy’s twenty-three year old sister Rosemary underwent a prefrontal lobotomy as a “cure” for lifelong mild retardation and aggressive behavior that surfaced in late adolescence. The operation fails, resulting in total incapacity. To avoid scandal, Rosemary was moved permanently to the St. Coletta School for Exceptional Children in Wisconsin.

Rusk Institute

In 1948: Dr. Howard A. Rusk founded the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine in New York City, where he developed techniques to improve the health of injured veterans from World War II. His theory focused on treating the emotional, psychological and social aspects of individuals with disabilities and later became the basis for modern rehabilitation medicine.

Committee on Employment of the Handicapped

In 1950: in the 1950s, disabled veterans and people with disabilities begin the barrier-free movement. The combined efforts of the Veterans Administration, The President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, and the National Easter Seals Society, among others, results in the development of national standards for “barrier-free” buildings.

Association for Retarded Citizens

In 1950: parents of youth diagnosed with mental retardation found the Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC). The association works to change the public’s ideas about mental retardation. Its members educate parents and others, demonstrating that individuals with mental retardation have the ability to succeed in life.

Fernald School

In 1953: Clemens Benda, clinical director at the Fernald School in Waltham, Massachusetts, an institution for boys with mental retardation, invited 100 teenage students to participate in a “science club” in which they will be privy to special outings and extra snacks. In a letter requesting parental consent, Benda mentions an experiment in which “blood samples are taken after a special breakfast meal containing a certain amount of calcium,” but makes no mention of the inclusion of radioactive substances that are fed to the boys in their oatmeal. (Waltham testing, see (see December 31, 1998; radiation testing, see October 17, 1995)

American National Standards Institute

In 1961: the American Standards Association, later known as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), publishes the first accessibility standard titled, Making Buildings Accessible to and Usable by the Physically Handicapped. Forty-nine states adapt accessibility legislation by 1973.

Ed Roberts

In 1962: Ed Roberts, a student with polio, will enroll at the University of California, Berkeley. After his admission was rejected, he fought to get the decision overturned. He became the father of the Independent Living Movement and helped establish the first Center for Independent Living (CIL). He earned B.A. (1964) and M.A. (1966) degrees from UC Berkeley in Political Science. Roberts died on March 14, 1995, at the age of 56. (see  October 31, 1963)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

January 3 Music et al

Sam Phillips

January 3, 1950: Sam Phillips opened the Memphis Recording Service at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee. The Memphis Recording Service let amateurs perform, which drew performers such as B.B. King, Junior Parker, and Howlin’ Wolf. Phillips then would sell their performances to larger record labels. In addition to musical performances, Phillips recorded events such as weddings and funerals, selling the recordings. (see Memphis Recording Service for more) (see March 3 or 5, 1951)

Beatles on Jack Parr

January 3, 1964: the “The Jack Paar Show,” aired a filmed Beatles’ performance of “She Loves You” from England.  It was the first complete Beatles song shown on American TV, and for many in America, the first time they saw the Beatles. (see Jan 10)

Psychedelic Shop

January 3, 1966: the Psychedelic Shop head shop opens on Haight Street, S.F.  (see Head Shop for more)

 Bob Dylan
With The Band

January 3, 1974: following on the release of his and The Band’s Planet Waves album, the Tour ’74 began. The tour began in Chicago. (see May 9)

William Zantzinger

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

January 3, 2009: William Zantzinger died. In 2001, Zantzinger had discussed Dylan’s song Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll with Howard Sounes for Down the Highway, the Life of Bob Dylan. Zantzinger dismissed the song as a “total lie” and claimed “It’s actually had no effect upon my life,” but expressed scorn for Dylan, saying, “He’s a no-account son of a bitch, he’s just like a scum of a scum bag of the earth, I should have sued him and put him in jail.” [LA Times obit] (see October 16, 2016)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

The Cold War

January 3, 1961: President Dwight D. Eisenhower closed the American embassy in Havana and severed diplomatic relations. The action signaled that the US was prepared to take extreme measures to oppose Castro’s regime, which U.S. officials worried was a beachhead of communism in the western hemisphere.(see Feb 18)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

Nuclear accident

January 3, 1961: Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. A steam explosion in reactor SL-1 during preparation for start-up destroyed a small US Army experimental reactor and killed three operators. (see Jan 24)

START

January 3, 1993: George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin signed the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). (see Jan 19)

Iran

January 3, 2020:  BBC News reported that Iran had resumed enriching uranium to 20% purity, in its most significant breach yet of the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers.

Government spokesman Ali Rabiei told Mehr news agency that the process had started at the underground Fordo plant. Iran had suspended a number of commitments since the US abandoned the nuclear deal and reinstated sanctions. (next N/C N, see Jan 15)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Politics

January 3, 1964: Senator Barry Goldwater announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for President.

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Jack Ruby

January 3, 1967: waiting in prison for a retrial date, Jack Ruby died of lung cancer.

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

Witherspoon v. Illinois

January 3, 1968: in Witherspoon v. Illinois  the Supreme Court ruled that the practice of excluding prospective jurors who have reservations about the death penalty from capital trials resulted in juries whose sentencing decisions could be considered biased and therefore unconstitutional. (see February 18, 1972)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

January 3, 1968: Senator Eugene McCarthy (D-Minnesota) announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. McCarthy had been a contender to be President Lyndon B. Johnson’s running mate in the 1964 election, but since then he had become increasingly disenchanted with Johnson’s policies in Vietnam and the escalation of the war. In 1967, he had published The Limits of Power, an assessment of U.S. foreign policy that was very critical of the Johnson administration. When announcing his candidacy, McCarthy said he hoped to harness the growing antiwar sentiment in the country, particularly among the young. (see Jan 5)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Japanese Internment Camps

January 3, 1975: the US Government had interned Norman Minetta, as a child as part of the Japanese-American evacuation and internment during World War II. On this date, Minetta took his seat in the House of Representatives. representing the San Jose, California area. He served in the House until 1995 and later served as Secretary of Commerce under President Bill Clinton (2000–2001) and then Secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush (2001–2006). (see JI for expanded chronology)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestone

January 3, 1996:  the first mobile flip phone, the Motorola StarTAC, goes on sale. (see April 20, 1999)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

Medical Marijuana Act

January 3, 2006: Rhode Island’s Senate Bill 0710 (the Edward O. Hawkins and Thomas C. Slater Medical Marijuana Act) tooks effect immediately upon passage on January 3, 2006. The law removed state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who possess “written certification” from their physician… [and] establishes a mandatory, confidential state-run patient registry that issues identification cards to qualifying patients.(see April 20 or see CCC for expanded modern chronology)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

January 3, 2007: death toll of U.S. soldiers in Iraq reaches 3,000. (see Jan 10)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Volunteerism

January 3, 2008: the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported that about 60.8 million people volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2006 and September 2007,

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Occupy Wall Street

January 3, 2012: approximately 200 Occupy protesters performed a flash mob at the main concourse of New York’s Grand Central Terminal in protest against President Obama’s signing the National Defense Authorization Act. Video (see Jan 25)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

January 3, 2013: British doctors discharged fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai, who was shot by the Taliban in October and brought to Britain for treatment, She was due to be re-admitted in late January or early February for reconstructive surgery to her skull. (Feminism, see Jan 9; Yousufzai, see Jan 10)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

STAND YOUR GROUND LAWS

January 3, 2013: research from Texas A&M University reported that over a 10-year period there was an 8 percent increase in homicides in the states that passed Stand Your Ground laws. The law did not deter burglary, robbery or assault either. “These laws lower the cost of using lethal force,” said Mark Hoekstra, an economist with Texas A&M University who examined stand your ground laws. “Our study finds that, as a result, you get more of it.” (see Feb 4)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

January 3, 2014: the U.S. government asked the Supreme Court not to allow Roman Catholic-affiliated groups a temporary exemption from a part of the Obamacare healthcare law that requires employers to provide insurance policies covering contraception. Now that the court has received the government’s filing, Sotomayor – or the nine justices if she chose to refer it to the whole court – would decide whether the injunction should be extended while the case continues in lower courts. There was no deadline by which the court has to act. (see Jan 14)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

January 3, 2017: Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued Motel 6, alleging motel employees gave private information on thousands of guests to U.S. immigration authorities.

Ferguson told reporters that employees of the national budget chain divulged the names, birth dates, driver’s license numbers, license-plate numbers and room numbers of more than 9,000 guests to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The agents did not have warrants.

The lawsuit said the motel employees’ actions violated state consumer-protection law.

Washington’s Supreme Court established that guest-registry information is private, Ferguson said, and Motel 6 violated the law each time it gave out private information. (next IH, see Jan 8; Motel 6, see April 4, 2019)

January 3 Peace Love Art Activism

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestone

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

January 2, 1839: photography pioneer Louis Daguerre took the first photograph of the moon. see March 30, 1842)

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Industrial Union Manifesto

January 2, 1905: conference of 23 industrial unionists in Chicago issued an Industrial Union Manifesto calling for an industrial Union Congress to be held in Chicago June 27. (see Mar 20)

AFL v. American Sash & Door Co

January 2, 1949: in AFL v. American Sash & Door Co, the US Supreme Court ruled against the closed shop, a labor-management agreement that only union members could be hired and must remain members to continue on the job. (see Oct 2)

Sago Mine explosion

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

January 2, 2006: an underground explosion at Sago Mine in Tallmansville, W. Va., trapped 12 miners and cut power to the mine. Eleven men died, mostly by asphyxiation. The mine had been cited 273 times for safety violations over the prior 23 months. (NYT editorial) (see May 1)

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

January 2, 1910: from the New York Times: “Miss Alice Paul of Philadelphia, the suffragette who on December 9 was released from Holloway Jail after serving one month’s imprisonment for her share in the suffragette demonstration at the Lord Mayor’s banquet at the Guildhall, will sail for America some day next week.” On November 11, 1909, UK police had arrested Paul for throwing stones through a window at the Guildhall while the Lord Mayor’s banquet was in Progress. Inside the hall, Lucy Burns found Winston Churchill, waved a tiny banner in his face, and asked him, “How can you dine here while women are starving in prison?” (next Feminism see In February 1910)

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Palmer Raids

January 2 Peace Love Activism

January 2, 1920: over 500 government agents acting on direction of US Attorney General Mitchell Palmer carried out a massive counter-terror operation in 33 US cities, arresting between six and ten thousand aliens suspected of Communism, radicalism and anarchism. The “Palmer Raids” and the detentions and deportation proceedings that followed them were denounced by a number of prominent lawyers and judges who later established the American Civil Liberties Union. (see December 25, 1921)

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

Sam Carter lynched

January 2, 1923: a mob of white men kidnapped, tortured, and lynched Sam Carter, a black craftsman from Rosewood, on suspicion that he had helped Jesse Hunter escape. White men continued to terrorize Rosewood searching for Hunter and black residents armed themselves in defense. [Black Past report] (next BH, RR, and Lynching, see Jan 4; see AL3 for expanded chronology of early 20th century lynching)

Willie James Howard

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

January 2, 1944 15-year-old Willie James Howard, a black boy, was kidnapped and lynched by three white men in Suwannee County, Florida, after being accused of sending a love note to the daughter of one of the men.

During Christmas 1943, Willie Howard sent cards to all of his co-workers at the Van Priest Dime Store in Live Oak, Florida. Unlike the other cards, Willie’s card to Cynthia Goff, a white store employee, revealed a youthful crush. His greeting expressed hope that white people would someday like black people and concluded: “I love your name. I love your voice. For a S.H. [sweetheart] you are my choice.”

After reading the card, Cynthia’s father, Phil Goff, brought two friends to the Howard home and demanded to see Willie. Despite his mother’s pleading, the men dragged Willie away, and then kidnapped Willie’s father, James Howard, from work. The men drove the two Howards to the embankment of the Suwanee River, bound Willie’s hands and feet, stood him at the edge of the water, and told him to either jump or be shot. Willie jumped into the cold water below and drowned while his father was forced to watch at gunpoint. Willie’s body was pulled from the river the next day.

Goff and his accomplices admitted to the local sheriff that they took Willie to the river to punish him, but claimed the teen had become hysterical and jumped into the water unprovoked at the thought of being whipped by his father. Fearful for his own life and the other members of his family, James Howard signed a statement supporting Goff’s account. He and his family fled Live Oak three days later. [PBS report] (next BH, see Feb 16; next Lynching, see March 26; for expanded chronology of lynching, see also AL4)

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR

January 2, 1965: the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee with the help of Martin Luther King Jr. announced the beginning of a new campaign to help register African-American voters in Selma, Alabama. Dallas County Sheriff Jim Clark did his best to stop that. Over the next two months, more than 2,000 people were arrested for attempting to register or encouraging others to vote. (BH, see Jan 11; MLK, see Jan 18)

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Fourth Amendment

January 2, 1952: Rochin v. California. Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputies entered Antonio Rochin’s residence without a warrant in early July 1949. Rochin swallowed some pills, and police took him to the emergency room where he was forcibly induced to vomit them up. The pills were morphine and were later used to convict him. The Supreme Court, in Rochin v. California, unanimously overturned his conviction ruling that the methods used to obtain the evidence “shocks the conscience” and violated the due process clause.

The Court: ” . . . we are compelled to conclude that the proceedings by which this conviction was obtained do more than offend some fastidious squeamishness or private sentimentalism about combating crime too energetically. This is conduct that shocks the conscience. Illegally breaking into the privacy of the petitioner, the struggle to open his mouth and remove what was there, the forcible extraction of his stomach’s contents – this course of proceeding by agents of government to obtain evidence is bound to offend even hardened sensibilities. They are methods too close to the rack and the screw to permit of constitutional differentiation.”(see May 23, 1957)

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Space Race

January 2, 1959: Luna 1 launched from the Soviet Union towards the moon but misses its target. The Soviets had launched lunar probes in 1958 but not announced to the public or acknowledged. This set a pattern for the Soviet space program: missions were not announced until they could be hailed as successes. (see Mar 3)

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

JFK announces candidacy 

January 2, 1960, John F Kennedy announced his candidacy for President.

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

The Cold War 

FREE SPEECH

January 2, 1962: the folk singing group, The Weavers, which had been attacked in the 1950s for the leftist political views of its members, was barred from appearing on the late-night Jack Paar Show (predecessor to The Tonight Show) for refusing to sign a loyalty oath.

Other musicians with left-wing histories also had problems appearing on network television in the 1950s and 1960s because of their political views: Pete Seeger (September 14, 1963); Joan Baez (March 20, 1963).

The insidious aspect of all the loyalty oaths of the Cold War era was that they had nothing to do with any specific criminal or unprofessional conduct on the part of individuals required to sign them. (CW, see Feb 10; FS, see June 25, 1963)

SALT II/Nuclear News

January 2, 1980: in a strong reaction to the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter asked the Senate to postpone action on the SALT II nuclear weapons treaty and recalled the U.S. ambassador to Moscow. These actions sent a message that the age of detente and the friendlier diplomatic and economic relations that were established between the US and Soviet Union during President Richard Nixon’s administration (1969-74) had ended. (CW, see Jan 26; NN, see March 9, 1981)

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

January  2 Music et al

19 attend Beatle concert

January 2, 1963: 19 people attend their concert in Dingwall. (see Jan 11)

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

January 2 – 8, 1965: Elvis Presley’s Roustabout soundtrack the Billboard #1 album. (see Aug 27)

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

January 2, 1969: police seized 30,000 copies of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s ‘Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins’ at Newark Airport on the grounds that its cover photograph was deemed pornographic. (read more at John Yoko Two Virgins)

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Battle of Ap Bac

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

January 2, 1963: Battle of Ap Bac. Against overwhelming odds, the Viet Cong achieved their first major victory. They successfully stopped the well-equipped South Vietnamese army, supported by a combination of artillery and armored units as well as American air power. The Viet Cong lost 18 soldiers killed and 39 wounded, although hit by more than 600 rounds of artillery, napalm and other ordnance released by 13 warplanes and five UH-1 gunships. Three American advisors died. (NYT article) (see Apr 11)

Bucher v. Selective System Local Boards

January 2, 1970: the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the case of Bucher v. Selective System Local Boards that it was illegal for draft boards to punitively reclassify anti-Vietnam War protesters. The Rev. Henry Hale Bucher and other protesters had turned in their draft cards to protest the Vietnam War, leaving them in violation of Selective System regulations, and they were then punitively reclassified as A-1 Delinquent by their local draft boards, meaning they were top priority for being drafted. The local boards acted according to Memorandum 85, issued by the Director of the Selective Service System on October 24, 1967.

The Court of Appeals ruled that the punitive reclassification constituted “summary punishment,” in violation of the constitutional guarantees of due process in the Fifth and Sixth Amendments (trial by jury, assistance of counsel, etc.), and that the delinquency procedures used against the plaintiffs were not authorized by the 1967 Military Selective Service Act. (see Feb 9)

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Consumer Protection

Cigarette advertising ban

January 2, 1971: a federal ban on T.V. cigarette ads went into effect.(see October 28, 1974)

Vaping sales limited

January 2, 2020: federal officials said they would forbid the sale of most flavored e-cigarette cartridges, but would exempt menthol and tobacco flavors, as well as flavored liquid nicotine sold in open tank systems at vape shops.

The policy reflected a partial victory for vaping industry groups, but also seemed aimed at appeasing parents (including the crucial voting bloc of suburban mothers) and public health officials worried about nicotine addiction among teenagers. [NYT article] (next CR, see November 3, 2023)

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Symbionese Liberation Army

January 2, 1975: there was no news of Patty Hearst as the date for the final ransom payment of $2 million passed. (see Hearst for expanded chronology)

January 2 Peace Love Art Activism

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

January 1, 1698: the Abenaki Indians and Massachusetts colonists signed a treaty halting hostilities between the two. (see February 20, 1725)

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Law bans slave trade

January 1, 1808: a U.S. law banning the import of slaves comes into effect, but was widely ignored. (see January 8, 1811)

William Lloyd Garrison

January 1, 1830:  William Lloyd Garrison published the first edition of a journal entitled The Liberator, calling for the complete and immediate emancipation of all slaves in the United States. (next BH, see Nov 15)

Emancipation Proclamation
January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

January 1, 1863: The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order issued to the executive agencies of the United States by President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. It was based on the president’s constitutional authority as commander in chief of the armed forces; it was not a law passed by Congress. It proclaimed all slaves in Confederate territory to be forever free; that is, it ordered the Army to treat as free men the slaves in ten states that were still in rebellion, thus applying to 3.1 million of the 4 million slaves in the U.S. at that time. (see May 1)

Rosewood lynching

January 1, 1923: in Sumner, Florida, Fannie Taylor, a sixteen-year-old married white woman, claimed she had been assaulted by Jesse Hunter, a black fugitive from a prison chain gang. There was no evidence against Hunter, but local white men began to search for Jesse Hunter, Aaron Carrier and Sam Carter who were believed to be accomplices.  Carrier was captured and incarcerated while Carter was lynched. The white mob suspected Aaron’s cousin, Sylvester Carrier, a Rosewood resident of harboring Hunter. [Guardian report] (next BH, RR, and Lynching, see Jan 2)

Autherine Lucy Foster

January 1, 2021: the Philadelphia Tribune reported that 19-year-old Tionna Taite, a sophomore at the University of Alabama, had founded  Nineteen Fifty-Six  a magazine aimed at Black issues. None had existed before. Taite was also the editor-in-chief.

The name of the virtual magazine came from the year Autherine Lucy Foster became the first Black student at UA, and the idea came from Taite’s blog, “Becoming Black Excellence.” (next BH, see; next UA, see Jan 20)

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

January 1 Peace Love Activism

January 1, 1892: the Ellis Island Immigrant Station in New York opened. Three large ships landed on the first day and 700 immigrants passed over the docks. Almost 450,000 immigrants were processed at the station during its first year. (NYT article about a “rosy-cheeked Irish girl”)(see May 5)

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism & Voting Rights

Alice Paul and Lucy Burns picketing the White House with others for the National Woman’s Party

January 1, 1919: from the New York Times: Riotous scenes were enacted tonight in front of the White House when soldiers, sailors, and citizens undertook to end a “watch fire” demonstration…by sentinels of the National Woman’s Party as a protest against the failure of the Senate to pass the equal suffrage resolution.  Lucy Burns arrested in during the watch-fire demonstrations, and served one 3-day and two 5-day sentences.(F & VR, see  Jan 5)

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestone

January 1, 1954: NBC broadcast the first coast-to-coast color TV program as it presented live coverage of the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif. (see Apr 26)

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

INDEPENDENCE DAYS

Sudan

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

January 1, 1956: Sudan independent from Egypt and United Kingdom. (see Mar 20)

Cameroon

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

January 1, 1960: Cameroon independent from France and the United Kingdom.

Samoa

January 1, 1962: Samoa independent from New Zealand. (see Independence days for complete 1960s listing)

Brunei

January 1, 1984: Brunei independent of the United Kingdom. (see February 16, 1990)

Velvet Divorce
January 1 Peace Love Art Activism
Slovakia

 

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism
Czech Republic

January 1, 1993: dissolution of Czechoslovakia: Slovakia and the Czech Republic separate in the so-called Velvet Divorce. (see May 24)

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Cold War

Cuban revolution

January 1, 1959: Fidel Castro’s forces overthrew the Fulgencio Batista. (NYT article) (see Jan 7)

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

 January 1 Music et al

Beatles audition

January 1, 1962: The Beatles and Brian Poole and the Tremeloes both auditioned at Decca Records, a company which has the option of signing one group only. Decca told The Beatles that “guitar groups” were on the way out and did not offer them a contract and signed The Tremeloes instead. Other record companies turned the Beatles down as well.

One of the songs the Beatles sang was Hello Little Girl, the first song written by John Lennon (in 1957).  (see Apr 8)

Beatles tour Scotland

January 1, 1963: The Beatles began a concert tour of Scotland. (see Jan 2)

The Sounds of Silence

January 1 – 7, 1966: “The Sounds of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

FM rock

January 1, 1967: FM stations were no longer allowed to simply simulcast their AM counterpart. Birth of so-called “underground” rock radio. (see Apr 7)

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Binh Gia

January 1 – February 7, 1965: Vietcong forces mount a series of attacks across South Vietnam. They briefly seize control of Binh Gia, a village only 40 miles from Saigon. Two hundred South Vietnamese troops are killed near Binh Gia, along with five American advisors. [NYT report] (see Jan 27)

Troop decline

January 1, 1972: 133,000 U.S. servicemen remained in South Vietnam. Two thirds of America’s troops had gone in two years. The ground war was almost exclusively the responsibility of South Vietnam, which had over 1,000,000 men enlisted in its armed forces. (see Jan 27)

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Cultural Milestone

Youthquake

January 1, 1965: Diane Vreeland, Vogue magazine’s editor-in-chief, declared “The year’s in its youth, the youth in its year. Under 24 and over 90,000,000 strong in the U.S. alone. More dreamers. More doers. Here. Now. Youthquake 1965.” Youthquake became the new fashion style replacing what seemed the staid and traditional syles that Boomer parents had worn. (see Apr 27)

No Fault Divorce

January 1, 1970:  California becomes the first state to adopt ano fault” divorce law, which allowed couples to divorce by mutual consent. (see Feb 26)

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

TWU/Mike Quill

January 1, 1966: members of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) and Amalgamated Transit Union working for the New York City Transit Authority began what would be a successful twelve day strike. TWU leader Mike Quill and eight other union leaders were arrested for violating an injunction issued to end the strike. “I don’t care if I rot in jail,” Quill said, “I will not call off the strike.” (NYT article) (see Jan 20)

César E. Chávez

January 1, 1972: despite the disclaimers of Federal officials, an unemployed laborer who describes himself as a paid police informer insisted that certain farmers in the San Joaquin Valley of California ordered the assassination of César Chávez, the farm union leader. (see Jan 25)

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

LA Black Cat

January 1, 1967: the Los Angeles police raided the Black Cat, a gay bar in the city, on this day. The raid was followed by months of protests by members of PRIDE (Personal Rights in Defense and Education). Its newsletter evolved into The Los Angeles Advocate in September 1967, and later The Advocate, which became a leading lesbian and gay rights magazine. (see Nov 9)

Maryland bans same-sex marriage

January 1, 1973: Maryland became the first state to pass a statute banning marriage between same-sex couples when it included in its Family Law Code a line reading, “Only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid in this State.” (see Mar 7)

Vermont legalized same-sex marriage

January 1, 2009: same-sex marriage became legal in Vermont. (Vermont, see Apr 7; LGBTQ see Apr 2)

New Hampshire legalized same-sex marriage

January 1, 2010: same-sex marriage became legal in New Hampshire. (see Jan 5)

Florida legalized same-sex marriage

January 1, 2015: federal judge Robert Hinkle, who earlier had overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriages, ordered all county clerks to begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses beginning January 6 — ending a long, litigious battle that included almost a dozen lawsuits, most of which are still before appeals courts.

Prior to his order, there was confusion over which clerks were allowed to issue the licenses, but Hinkle clarified the broad scope of his ruling.

Reasonable people can debate whether the ruling in this case was correct and who it binds,” Hinkle wrote. “There should be no debate, however, on the question whether a clerk of court may follow the ruling, even for marriage-license applicants who are not parties to this case.”

His words were directed at the Washington County clerk, who was named in the federal lawsuit. But he added that his order applies not just to that clerk but to all county clerks in Florida. The judge pointed out that clerks who chose not to issue licenses opened themselves up to further lawsuits. (see Jan 9)

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Environmental Issues

January 1, 1970: President Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act, an environmental law that promoted the enhancement of the environment and established the President’s Council on Environmental Quality. (see Apr 22)

Feminism

Ms. magazine

January 1, 1972: Ms. Magazine, which initially appeared as an insert in New York Magazine in December 1971, founded by Gloria Steinem and its first independent issue published in July. The magazine becomes an important mouthpiece of the feminist movement. (see March 22, 1972)

Institute for Research on Women

January 1, 1976: The Institute for Research on Women (IRW) founded at Douglass College, Rutgers University.  Its mission was to promote dialogue between academics on different campuses by holding conferences, lectures, and colloquia. The IRW becomes a prominent leader in research on feminism and gender. (next Feminism  April 22, 1976)

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

European Union 

Trade barriers

January 1, 1993:  the European Community eliminated trade barriers and created a European single market.

Euro established

January 1, 1999: the  Euro is established (but not for everyday use yet)

Euro in circulation

January 1, 2002: Euro notes and coins are issued in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Finland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands. (see Feb 22)

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Crime and Punishment

January 1, 2017: The New Jersey Criminal Justice Reform Act took effect essentially eliminating money bail in the state. The new system began with the assumption that innocent people should not be in jail. People can be held only if their release poses an unacceptable flight risk or poses a danger to their community. (next C & P, see Feb 28; NJCJRA, see November 14, 2017)

Cannabis

California

January 1, 2018: retail cannabis shops in California opened their doors for the first time, inaugurating what proponents say will become the world’s largest market for legalized recreational marijuana.

Such a transaction that remained illegal in many parts of the country seemed almost banal for the customers at a dispensary in Oakland who picked out their marijuana, showed their driver’s licenses and walked into the brisk morning air with their drugs in a paper bag.

California was the sixth state to introduce the sale of recreational marijuana, after Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Nevada. Massachusetts and potentially Maine are expected to begin sales in 2018. [NYT report] (next C, see Jan 4 or see CCC for expanded cannabis chronology)

Illinois

January 1, 2020: Illinois residents 21 and older could buy up to 30 grams of marijuana plant material, edibles with up to 500 milligrams of THC and five grams of cannabis concentrate items. If you’re visiting the state, you can buy half those amounts.

Residents could consume weed in their private residence and local jurisdictions might allow on-site consumption at dispensaries. It was also illegal to cross into Indiana and Wisconsin with marijuana. [ABC New article] [next C, see Mar 23 ; see CCC for expanded cannabis chronology)

January 1 Peace Love Art Activism