August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

National Labor Union

August 20, 1866:  the newly organized National Labor Union called on Congress to mandate an eight-hour workday. A coalition of skilled and unskilled workers, farmers, and reformers, the National Labor Union was created to pressure Congress to enact labor reforms. It dissolved in 1873 following a disappointing venture into third-party politics in the 1872 presidential election.

Although the National Labor Union failed to persuade Congress to shorten the workday, its efforts heightened public awareness of labor issues and increased public support for labor reform in the 1870s and 1880s. [America’s Library article]

Order of the Knights of St Crispin

In 1867, the Order of the Knights of St Crispin, a northeastern American labor union of shoe workers, was founded in 1867. It claimed 50,000 members by 1870. [Stichtingarus article] (see September 17, 1868)

August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Anarchism in the US

August 20, 1886: seven of the Haymarket anarchists were found guilty and sentenced to death (August Spies, Michael Schwab, Samuel Fielden, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer, George Engel and Louis Lingg). Oscar Neebe was found guilty of murder and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. [Famous Trials article]  (see Nov 11)

August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

FEMINISM & Voting Rights

Lafayette Park protesters

August 20, 1918:  Lafayette Park protesters (sentenced Aug.15) released before completing sentences. (see Aug 26)

Harry T. Burn

August 20, 1920: Tennessee became the thirty-sixth and last state needed to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment. The state’s decision came down to 23-year-old Representative Harry T. Burn, a Republican from McMinn County, to cast the deciding vote. Although Burn opposed the amendment, his mother convinced him to approve it. (Mrs. Burn reportedly wrote to her son: “Don’t forget to be a good boy and help Mrs. Catt put the ‘rat’ in ratification.”) With Burn’s vote, the 19th Amendment was ratified. [History dot com article]

Anti-suffragists tried to overturn vote, but after six more days of legal maneuvering, the governor signed a certificate of ratification and mailed it to Washington, D.C., on Aug. 24.

Connecticut, Vermont, Florida, and North Carolina ratified the amendment after August 20, 1920.

Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina (see August 22, 1973), Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi had rejected the amendment, but all later ratified it.  (see August 26, 1920)

August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Emmett Till

August 20, 1955:  Mamie Till drove her son to the 63rd Street station in Chicago. They kissed goodbye, and Till boarded a southbound train headed for Mississippi. (see Till for expanded story)

Arthur D Shores

August 20, 1963: terrorists bombed the home of Arthur D Shores, a lawyer who had played a major role over the years in desegregation cases. [NYT obit] (BH, see Aug 28; Shores, see Sept 4)

Viola Liuzzo murder

August 20, 1965:  Matt Murphy, the defendants’ lawyer in the Viola Liuzzo murder, was killed in an automobile accident when he fell asleep while driving and crashed into a gas tank truck. Segregationist and former mayor of Birmingham, Art Hanes, agrees to represent three accused killers. (see Liuzzzo for expanded story)

Jonathan Myrick Daniels

August 20, 1965: Jonathan Myrick Daniels, valedictorian of the VMI Class of 1961 and an Episcopal Seminary student in Boston, was killed in Hayneville, Ala. He had come to Alabama to help with African-American voter registration in Lowndes County. Arrested at a demonstration and jailed, he was released with Father Richard F. Morrisroe and two female civil rights workers, Ruby Sales and Joyce Bailey. When the group, which included whites and blacks, tried to buy sodas from nearby Varner’s Cash Store, a white special deputy named Tom L. Coleman blocked their way with a shotgun and pistol. When he leveled his gun at 17-year-old Sales, Daniels pushed her away and caught the full blast of the shotgun, which killed him. When Morrisroe tried to flee with Bailey, Coleman shot Morrisroe, severely wounding him. An all-white jury acquitted Coleman, who was never tried again, and he died in 1997. In 1991, the Episcopal church designated August 14 as a day of remembrance for Daniels and all other martyrs of the civil rights movement. [VMI article]  (see Aug 27)

Wattstax Concert

August 20, 1972: Wattstax Concert held held at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Memphis’s Stax Records organized the event to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots. Wattstax was seen by some as “the Afro-American answer to Woodstock”.

To enable as many members of the black community in L.A. to attend as possible, tickets were sold for only $1.00 each. The Rev Jesse Jackson gave the invocation, which included his “I Am – Somebody” poem, which was recited in a call and response with the assembled stadium crowd. (see Oct 12)

James C. Anderson murder

August 20, 2011: 19-year-old Deryl Dedmo was formally charged with capital murder in the hit-and-run death of James C Anderson. (see Sept 14)

August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

August 20 Music et al

Technological Milestone

August 20, 1967:  The New York Times reported about a noise reduction system for album and tape recording developed by technicians R. and D.W. Dolby. Elektra Record’s subsidiary, Checkmate Records became the first label to use the new Dolby process in its recordings. (see Dec 3)

Abbey Road

August 20, 1969: The Beatles completed recording Abbey Road, their 11^th and final studio album. They had recorded it that year between February 22 and August 20.  The US release was October 1, 1969. The completion of the track “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” on this date was the last time all four Beatles were together in the same studio.

Although the Beatles recorded Let It Be  mainly before Abbey Road (February 1968; January – February 1969; and January and March 1970, Let It Be would be the 12th and final studio album,  released on May 8, 1970 by the band’s Apple Records label shortly after the group announced their break-up. (see Aug 22)

August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam &  My Lai Massacre

William Calley

August 20, 1971: William Calley’s sentence to reduced to 20 years. (next Vietnam, see Aug 21)

William Calley speaks

August 20, 2009: for the first time William Calley spoke publicly about My Lai. In front of the Kiwanis Club of Columbus, OH, he said, “There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day in My Lai. I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families, for the American soldiers involved and their families. I am very sorry.” (see My Lai for expanded story)

August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Irish Troubles

August 20, 1981:  tenth hunger striker dies. Michael Devine (27) died after 60 days on hunger strike. [UPI article] (see Troubles for expanded story)

August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Reagan nominated

August 20 > 23, 1984: Dallas, TX. Republican National Convention nominated incumbents Ronald Reagan for president and George H W Bush for vice-president. The Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade participated in a political demonstrations Convention. The demonstrators were protesting the policies of the Reagan Administration and of certain companies based in Dallas. They marched through the streets, shouted chants, and held signs outside the offices of several companies. At one point, another demonstrator handed Gregory Lee “Joey” Johnson an American flag stolen from a flagpole outside one of the targeted buildings. When the demonstrators reached Dallas City Hall, Johnson poured kerosene on the flag and set it on fire.  [UPI article]  (see June 21, 1989)

August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

IRAQ

August 20, 1988: the Iran–Iraq War ended  with an estimated one million lives lost. [NYT article] (see July 15, 1990)

August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Dissolution of the USSR

INDEPENDENCE DAY

August 20, 1991:  Estonia declared its independence from the Soviet Union. [Estonia article] (see Aug 21)

August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

August 20, 1998: Monica Lewinsky testified before the grand jury for a second time. (see Clinton for expanded story)

August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Westboro Baptist Church

FREE SPEECH

August 20, 2013: U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig ruled that a measure passed in St. Charles County, Mo. that baned picketing within 300 feet and one hour before or after any burial service.did not restrict Westboro Baptist Church’s first amendment rights, noting a similar measure that passed in Manchester County, Mo. in 2012.

During that case, Eighth Circuit Judge Diana Murphy argued that the ordinance, which placed limitations on picketing, “survives First Amendment scrutiny because it serves a significant government interest, it is narrowly tailored, and it leaves ample alternative channels open for communication.” (see Dec 19)

August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

August 20, 2018: Pope Francis issued a rare letter to Catholics around the world condemning the “atrocities” of priestly sexual abuse and its cover-up, demanding greater accountability, and asking his flock to “join forces in uprooting this culture of death.”

The pope said that the church would spare no effort to ensure that such situations never happened again. But he acknowledged that much damage had already been done, and that the church had fallen short of its responsibilities, to children, and to the faithful.

“With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realizing the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives,” Francis wrote. “We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them.”

A Vatican spokesperson said it may have been the first time a pope has addressed the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics about sexual abuse. (see Aug 26)

August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

August 20, 2020: scientists trying to understand how much plastic humans were pumping into the ocean and how long it stick around published a study published stating that it might be much more than earlier estimates.

By some measures, the plastic trash that was floating on the surface of the water only accounts for about 1% of the plastic pollution that humans generate.

“If we are missing 99% of plastic that we thought we have put in, it has to be somewhere,” said Katsiaryna Pabortsava, a researcher at the National Oceanography Centre in the United Kingdom. [NPR story] (next EI, see Sept 14)

August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

August 20, 2020: the Kansas City Chiefs announced new rules for fans attending home games at Arrowhead Stadium, banning headdresses and certain types of face paint in an effort to be more sensitive to Native Americans.

Beginning with the 2020 season, fans would be prohibited from wearing headdresses into the stadium, and would be asked upon arrival to remove “any face paint that is styled in a way that references or appropriates American Indian cultures and traditions.”

The reigning Super Bowl champions were keeping their name but reviewing two longtime traditions, the pre-game drum ceremony and the “Arrowhead Chop.” [NPR story] (next NA, see January 12, 2021)

August 20 Peace Love Art Activism

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Virginia’s first slaves arrive

August 19, 1619: the first kidnapped Africans arrived in the Virginia colony at Point Comfort on the James River. There, “20 and odd Negroes” from the White Lion, an English ship, were sold in exchange for food; the remaining Africans were transported to Jamestown and also sold into slavery.

Historians have long believed that these first African slaves in the colonies came from the Caribbean but Spanish records suggest they were captured in the Portuguese colony of Angola, in West Central Africa. While aboard the ship São João Bautista bound for Mexico, they were stolen by two English ships, the White Lion and the Treasurer.

Once in Virginia, the enslaved Africans were dispersed throughout the colony. [Encyclopedia Virginia article]  (see January 3, 1624)

Five Lynched

August 19, 1916: five Black individuals—Andrew McHenry, Bert Dennis, John Haskins, Mary Dennis and Stella Young—were lynched by a mob of white people in Alachua County, Florida, while a Black man named James Dennis was also killed nearby by a “sheriff’s posse.” On the same day, almost 1,000 miles away, in Navarro County, Texas, Edward Lang, a 21-year-old Black man was lynched by a mob of 200 white people.

)n August 18, in Jonesville, Florida, a Black man by the name of Boisey Long was accused of murdering the local constable. When Mr. Long went missing, word spread that four Black men—Andrew McHenry, Bert Dennis, James Dennis, and John Haskins—and two Black women—Mary Dennis and Stella Young—had allegedly aided Mr. Long in an escape. On Saturday, August 19, a mob of white people captured Andrew McHenry, Bert Dennis, John Haskins, Mary Dennis, and Stella Young, and lynched them. According to reports, on the same day James Dennis was captured and killed by a “sheriff’s posse.”

Edward Lang was accused of assaulting a young white woman near the town of Rice in Navarro County, Texas. A mob of white people captured Mr. Lang four miles from where the alleged attack took place and handed him over to the sheriff. However, before Mr. Lang could be tried, on that same day, an unmasked and armed mob of 200 white farmers seized him from the jail, and hung Mr. Lang to a telephone pole. {EJI article] (next BH, see “In May 1917”; next Lynching, see Oct 4  or see AL2 for expanded chronology)

Moses Wright

In August 1955  Emmett Till’s great uncle Moses Wright traveled from Mississippi to Chicago to visit family. At the end of his stay, Wright planned to take Till’s cousin, Wheeler Parker, back to Mississippi with him to visit relatives. Emmett learned of these plans he begged his mother to let him go along. Initially, Mamie Till said no. She wanted to take a road trip to Omaha, Nebraska and attempted to lure Till to join her with the promise of open-road driving lessons. But Till desperately wanted to spend time with his cousins in Mississippi and she gave her permission. (next BH, see Aug 13)

ET

August 19, 1955:  Till’s mother gave Emmett his late father’s signet ring, engraved with the initials L.T.

Louis Till had died in 1945 while a private in Europe during World War II. (see Till for expanded story)

Oklahoma City sit-in

August 19, 1958: inspired by the success of Wichita, Kansas, sit-in on August 11, an NAACP youth chapter staged a sit-in at the segregated Katz  lunch counter in Oklahoma City.  [News OK timeline] (see Sept 12)

Eric Garner

August 19, 2019:  New York City police commissioner, James P. O’Neill, dismissed officer Daniel Pantaleo, just over two weeks after a police administrative judge found him guilty of violating a department ban on chokeholds. The chokehold was partly blamed for Eric Garner’s death in police custody in 2014

The firing ended a bitter, five-year legal battle.

“The unintended consequence of Mr. Garner’s death must have a consequence of its own,” Mr. O’Neill said. “Therefore I agree with the deputy commissioner of trial’s legal findings and recommendations. It is clear that Daniel Pantaleo can no longer effectively serve as a New York City police officer.” (next B & S, see Aug 29)

Autherine Lucy Foster

August 19, 2020: Miles College honored Autherine Lucy Foster an alumna and the first African American to enroll and attend the University of Alabama with an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

The recognition came as Lucy Foster sat in front of a small crowd in the Brown Hall Auditorium filled with Miles College leadership, the Student Government Association and a handful of friends and family.

“Autherine Lucy Foster was afflicted in every way, but not crushed. She was perplexed, but not driven to despair. She was persecuted, but never forsaken,” said Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton, chairman of the Miles College Board of Trustees. [Birmingham Times article]  (next BH, see ; next Lucy, see January 1, 2021)

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Cultural Milestones

Smithsonian Institution

August 19, 1846: Congress chartered the Smithsonian Institution, named after English scientist James Smithson, whose bequest of $500,000 made it possible. [Smithsonian site] (see March 13, 1852)

Google

August 19, 2004: the Internet search engine Google went public. (see February 14 2005)

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

August 19, 1854: sent to arrest an Indian who had killed a cow to feed his starving family, Lt. John Grattan encounterd a larger group than anticipated. After failed negotiations and nervous shooting by the American cavalry,  Grattan’s forces were surrounded and killed. The encounter became known as the “Grattan Massacre.” [Legends of America story] (see  September 3, 1855)

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

INDEPENDENCE DAY

August 19, 1919:  Afghanistan independent from United Kingdom. (see December 11, 1931)

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

The Cold War

August 19, 1960: the Soviet Union sentenced Francis Gary Powers to 10 years for espionage. [NYT article] (CW, see Oct 19; Powers, see February 10, 1962)

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

August 19, 1960: the first commercial atomic energy reactor, and the third in the U.S., achieved a self-sustaining nuclear reaction. It began producing power for distribution on 10 Nov 1960. This was the $57 million Yankee Atomic Electric Company’s plant at Rowe, Mass., on the Deerfield River. The pressurized light-water reactor produced 125,000 kilowatts of electricity. The company was formed by twelve New England utility companies which signed a contract with the Westinghouse Corporation as the principal contractor. It was permanently shut down on 26 Feb 1992, due to reactor vessel embrittlement, after more than 31 years of service. (see Dec 14)

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

August 19 Music et al

see The Beatles play the Cow Palace for more

August 19, 1964: The Beatles had taken America by storm during their famous first visit, wowing the millions who watched them during their historic television appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. But after the first great rush of stateside Beatlemania, the Beatles promptly returned to Europe, leaving their American fans to make do with mere records. By late summer of that same year, however, having put on an unprecedented and still unmatched display of pop-chart dominance during their absence, the Beatles finally returned. On August 19, 1964, more than six months after taking the East Coast by storm, the Fab Four traveled to California to take the stage at the Cow Palace in San Francisco for opening night of their first-ever concert tour of North America. (see Cow Palace for expanded story; next Beatles, see Aug 18)

All You Need Is Love

August 19 – 25, 1967: “All You Need Is Love” #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. (see Aug 25)

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

 My Lai Massacre

August 19, 1969: authorities at Fort Benning decided to press charges against Lieutenant Calley. (see My Lai for expanded story; next Vietnam, see Sept 2)

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Gerald Ford nominated

August 19, 1976: U.S. President Gerald Ford edged out challenger Ronald Reagan to win the Republican Party presidential nomination in Kansas City.  [NYT article]  [Video of acceptance speech]

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

Dr George Tiller

August 19, 1993: Rachel “Shelley” Shannon shot Dr. George Tiller in both arms, outside his Wichita, Kansas clinic. [History Commons article]  (WH, see March 5, 1994; Shannon, see April 26, 1994)

Planned Parenthood

August 19, 2019: Planned Parenthood announced that it would withdraw from Title X, the federal family planning program, rather than comply with a new Trump administration rule that restricted what health providers can say about abortion.

The move could affect more than 1.5 million low-income women who rely on Planned Parenthood for services like birth control, pregnancy tests and screening for sexually transmitted diseases. Planned Parenthood served about 40 percent of the four million patients under Title X. In some rural communities, Planned Parenthood was the only provider of such services.

The Trump administration’s rule said that while clinics accepting Title X funds might continue to talk to patients about abortion, they may not refer women to an abortion provider or suggest where to obtain an abortion. (see Oct 29)

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

August 19, 1997: after a 16-day walkout, United Parcel Service agreed to a contract with the Teamsters, marking labor’s first successful nationwide strike in two decades. One of the main issues leading to the strike is the company’s practice of using part-time workers to avoid paying benefits. [CNN article] (see July 28, 1998)

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

August 19, 1998: word that Starr had requested and received a sample of Clinton’s DNA becomes public. (see Clinton for expanded story)

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

August 19, 2006:  1,249 days since the war began — the war in Iraq surpassed the length of WWII. (see Aug 21)

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Fair Housing

August 19, 2015: in response to an unsparing audit by its watchdog, the Department of Housing and Urban Development flipped its stance and said would urge housing authorities nationwide to evict tenants who earn too much to qualify for government subsidies.

The initiative represented an about-face from the agency’s earlier response to the audit by HUD’s inspector general. That review found that more than 25,000 tenants make more than the maximum income allowed to qualify for public housing. The threshold varies depending on local economic circumstances, ranging, for example, from an income limit of $32,750 for a family of four in the District to $14,500 in Mississippi.

Although many of the “over income” tenants exceeded the limit by a small amount, the audit revealed that nearly half were over the threshold by $10,000 to $70,000. And some of the cases were eye-popping, such as a family of four in New York City with a $497,911 salary that is paying $1,574 in rent for a three-bedroom apartment in public housing. The review, released on July 21, said that some public housing tenants who exceed HUD’s low-income threshold were committing “egregious” abuses and were squeezing out truly needy families.

“This audit, like others, provides HUD an opportunity to re-evaluate policies and initiatives and make improvements where necessary,” agency spokesman Jereon M. Brown said in a statement. “As a result, HUD is taking additional steps to encourage housing authorities to establish policies that will reduce the number of over income families in public housing.” [Washington Post article]  (see Nov 12)

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

August 19, 2020: four state attorneys (Delaware, Minnesota, New York and Oregon) general and about 50 other current and former law enforcement officials sent a letter to congressional leadership endorsing a federal marijuana legalization bill and urging that a vote on the legislation be held on the House floor next month.

The push came as a new poll showed that 62 percent of likely voters, including 60 percent of Republicans, supported the bill and its provisions.

“As front-line public safety experts, we believe that responsible regulation and control of marijuana will be more beneficial to society than prohibiting and criminalizing it,” the law enforcement coalition wrote. “The COVID-19 pandemic shines a bright light on why this kind of reform is as urgent as ever as a matter of public health, safety, and better use of much needed resources.” [MM article] (next C, see Oct 13 or see CCC for expanded chronology)

August 19 Peace Love Art Activism

August 18 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

August 18,1862: a Sioux Uprising began in Minnesota. It resulted in more than 800 white settlers dead and 38 Sioux Indians condemned and hanged. The Minnesota Uprising began when four young Sioux murdered five white settlers at Acton. The Santee Sioux, who lived on a long, narrow reservation on the south side of the Minnesota River, were reacting to broken government promises and corrupt Indian agents. A military court sentenced 303 Sioux to die, but President Abraham Lincoln reduced the list. The 38 hangings took place on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minn. [U of M article] (see September 2, 1862)

August 18 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Walter Asbury lynched

August 18, 1889: a mob in Chatham County, Georgia lynched Walter Asbury after a young woman accused him of assaulting her.    Without any evidence linking him to the crime, the mob of 300 white men in the town of Pooler captured Mr. Asbury and took him to an open field. They hanged him next to a railroad track, 10 miles west of Savannah, and riddled his body with bullets. Before his lynching, newspapers reported that Mr. Asbury asked for time to pray and in the final moments, begged that word be sent to his wife.

In an effort to terrorize the Black community, his body was left hanging all day with a sign that read: “This is the way we protect our homes.”  [EJI article] (next BH & Lynching, see Aug 31 or see NF for expanded lynching chronology)

James H Meredith

August 18, 1963: Meredith received his bachelor of arts degree in political science and thus became the first African-American alumnus in the 115-year University’s history. (BH, see Aug 20; Meredith, see September 8, 1965)

South Africa and Olympics

August 18, 1964: the International Olympic Committee barred South Africa from participating in the Summer Olympics due to the country’s Apartheid policy. The nation would not be reinstated until 1992. [SAHO article]  (see June 16, 1976)

Steve Biko

August 18, 1977: in South Africa police arrested Steve Biko [headed the Black Consciousness Movement and was the country’s best known political dissident] and Peter Jones at Grahamstown.  [africanhistory.com article] (see Sept 11)

Eric Garner death

August 18, 2019: the New York Times reported that administrative judge Rosemarie Maldonado, in a 46-page opinion, had concluded that Officer Daniel Pantaleo had been “untruthful” during her interview with him and found this explanation “implausible and self-serving.”

Maldonado, who recommended that Officer Pantaleo be fired (see Aug 19)

Cold War

see Pete Seeger for more

August 18, 1954: Pete Seeger testified before H.U.A.C. He refused to answer questions. (see Aug 24)

President Clinton and Cubans

August 18, 1994: with hundreds of Cubans continuing to flee each day in rafts and rubber dinghies, the Clinton Administration announced, that it would detain Cubans for an indefinite period after they arrived in the United States. The move, effective immediately, was a major departure from an open-door policy toward Cubans, who, for three decades, had usually been granted free entry into the United States after a brief interview by immigration authorities.

Attorney General Janet Reno announced the new policy at an unusual late-night news conference, saying the move was intended to slow the fast-growing flow of refugees from Cuba to the United States, which Ms. Reno ascribed to deep dissatisfaction with the Government of Fidel Castro. (see October 17, 1995)

August 18 Peace Love Art Activism

August 18 Music et al

Beatles School of Hard Knocks

August 18, 1960: new stage name and first performance as “The Beatles” at the Indra Club in Hamburg, Germany. Paul McCartney (on discussing performing and other things they learned in Hamburg): “Sex…was one of the first things ’cause we were kids just let off the leash, you know. And then there was like, the amount of music we played — we played — the shear amount of music. Some evenings I think we probably…we played eight hour periods ’cause you’d come on and another band would take an hour and you’d take an hour, so we probably played four hours but we had to stretch it over an eight hour period. And that’s an awful long time, man, to play. I mean even bands now with three or four hours sets is a hell of a long time.” (see Oct 15)

Ringo joins the band

August 18, 1962: Ringo Starr made his debut with The Beatles at the horticultural society Dance, Birkenhead, England, having had a two-hour rehearsal in preparation. This was the first appearance of The Beatles as the world would come to know them: John, Paul, George, and Ringo. (see Aug 22)

August 18 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

Sherrie Finkbein

August 18, 1962: Sherrie Finkbein, a 30-year-old mother of four in Phoenix, Arizona, underwent an abortion in Sweden on this day, after being unable to obtain one in the United States. Mrs. Finkbein had discovered that she had inadvertently taken the drug Thalidomide, which was responsible for the birth of thousands of physically deformed infants in England and Canada. (The side effects of Thalidomide at the time were an international scandal.) Her unsuccessful attempts to obtain an abortion in Arizona touched off the first national debate over the right to abortion. Arizona law at the time permitted abortion only to save the life of the mother. The Royal Swedish Medical Board approved the abortion to protect Mrs. Finkbein’s “mental health.” [2016 AZCentral article]

Roman Catholic Church and birth control

In 1965 the Roman Catholic Church’s Second Vatican Council commission on marriage voted overwhelmingly to recommend that the church rescind its ban on artificial contraception, saying that it was not “intrinsically evil” [Guardian article] (see Jan 28)

Florida’s funding restored

August 18, 2016: U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle permanently blocked parts of a Florida law that had aimed to cut off state funding for preventive health services at clinics that also provide abortions.

Hinkle had issued a preliminary order in June after state Planned Parenthood affiliates challenged provisions as unconstitutional. The June order had come just before the restrictions were to take effect.

“The preliminary injunction is made permanent with this order,” Hinkle wrote in a three-page decision.

The judge had found the clinics were unacceptably targeted by state efforts to eliminate funding for other healthcare services they also provided, such as Women’s Health and screening for cancer and sexually transmitted diseases. [Reuters article] (BC, see Dec 14; F, see February 18, 2017)

August 18 Peace Love Art Activism

 

August 18 Peace Love Art Activism

George H.W. Bush

August 18, 1988: the Republican National Convention in New Orleans nominated George H.W. Bush for President and Dan Quayle for Vice President. [text of acceptance speech]

AIDS

see Ryan White for expanded story

August 18, 1990: President George Bush signed the Ryan White Care Act, a federally funded program for people living with AIDS. (first Ryan White entry, see December 9, 1971)

Visual AIDS

In 1991 the New York-based Visual AIDS, adopted the red ribbon as a symbol of awareness and compassion for those living with HIV/AIDS. (AIDS, see December 3, 1992 ; LGBTQ, see July 29, 1992)

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis

August 18, 2016: U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning dismissed three lawsuits filed against Kentucky’s Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples last year.

Couples who were denied licenses filed the federal lawsuits claimed a violation of civil rights.

Bunning issued an order dismissing the lawsuits. Bunning noted that last January Gov. Matt Bevin signed an order removing names of county clerks from marriage licenses, and that the General Assembly later passed legislation which creates a new marriage license form that does not require the county clerk’s signature. (see Sept 12)

August 18 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

Dick Morris

August 18, 1998: former Clinton political adviser Dick Morris testified before the grand jury.

Ken Starr

August 18, 1999: the federal court panel that appointed Independent Counsel Ken Starr split over whether to end the five-year independent counsel investigation, voting 2-1 to keep it alive. Judge Richard D. Cudahy dissents from his fellow judges, saying that with President Bill Clinton already impeached and acquitted, and no prosecutions pending against others, “this is a natural and logical point for termination.” CNN also learns that Starr has been involved in “theoretical discussions” about stepping aside as independent counsel. (see Clinton for expanded story)

August 18 Peace Love Art Activism

César E. Chávez

August 18, 2000: César Chávez Day established when California Governor Gray Davis signs into law SB 984, authored by Senator Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles. The day of service is celebrated on March 31.(see Nov 12, 2000)

August 18 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War I

August 18, 2010:  the final U.S. combat troops in Iraq crossed the border into Kuwait. 4,487 American troops had died. (see Aug 31)

August 18 Peace Love Art Activism

Crime and Punishment

August 18, 2017: President Trump signed the Rapid DNA Act of 2017. It’s official title as introduced was, “To establish a system for integration of Rapid DNA instruments for use by law enforcement to reduce violent crime and reduce the current DNA analysis backlog.” (see Nov 24)

August 18 Peace Love Art Activism

Voting Rights & Feminism

August 18, 2020:  the NY Times reported that on the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, President Trump said that he would pardon Susan B. Anthony, the women’s suffragist who was arrested after voting illegally in 1872 and charged a $100 fine.

That same day, Deborah L. Hughes, the executive director of the National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House in Rochester, N.Y. wrote in a statement: “Objection! Mr. President, Susan B. Anthony must decline your offer of a pardon,”

She continued: “Anthony wrote in her diary in 1873 that her trial for voting was ‘The greatest outrage History ever witnessed.’ She was not allowed to speak as a witness in her own defense, because she was a woman. At the conclusion of arguments, Judge Hunt dismissed the jury and pronounced her guilty. She was outraged to be denied a trial by jury. She proclaimed, ‘I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty.’ To pay would have been to validate the proceedings. To pardon Susan B. Anthony does the same.” [NPR story] (next VR, see Aug 29; next F,  see Sept 18)

August 18 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

August 18, 2021:  Judge Sharon L. Gleason of the United States District Court for Alaska blocked construction permits for an expansive oil drilling project on the state’s North Slope that was designed to produce more than 100,000 barrels of oil a day for the next 30 years.

The multibillion-dollar plan, known as Willow, by the oil giant ConocoPhillips had been approved by the Trump administration and legally backed by the Biden administration. Environmental groups sued, arguing that the federal government had failed to take into account the effects that drilling would have on wildlife and that the burning of the oil would have on global warming.

Gleason agreed. In her opinion, they wrote that when the Trump administration permitted the project, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management’s exclusion of greenhouse gas emissions in its analysis of the environmental effects of the project was “arbitrary and capricious.” [NYT article] (next EI, see Aug 30)

August 18 Peace Love Art Activism