October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestone

October 24, 1861:  the first transcontinental telegraph message was sent from California to President Abraham Lincoln. [Forbes article] (see July 27, 1866)

October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

October 24, 1940: the 40-hour work week went into effect in the United States. (NYT article)

In 1941: union membership of employed workers exceeded 20% (20.3%) for the first time in US history. (see Feb 3)

In 1954: Union membership reached 28.3%  of employed workers. The highest in history. (see Sept 2)

In 1975: Union membership declined to 19.5% of employed workers. The first time it fell below 20% since 1942. (see Feb 19)

October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

United Nations

October 24, 1945, the UN Charter, signed on June 26, 1945, formally entered into force.

October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

South Vietnam Leadership

October 24, 1954: President Eisenhower wrote to South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem and promised direct assistance to his government. Eisenhower made it clear to Diem that U.S. aid to his government during Vietnam’s “hour of trial” was contingent upon his assurances of the “standards of performance [he] would be able to maintain in the event such aid were supplied. Eisenhower called for land reform and a reduction of government corruption.

Diem agreed to the “needed reforms” stipulated as a precondition for receiving aid, but he never actually followed through on his promises. Ultimately his refusal to make any substantial changes to meet the needs of the people led to extreme civil unrest and eventually a coup by dissident South Vietnamese generals in which Diem and his brother were murdered. (NYT article) (Vietnam, see February 23, 1955; SVL, see April 27, 1955)

Johnson in Manila

October 24, 1966:  in Manila, President Johnson met with other Allied leaders and they pledged to withdraw troops from Vietnam within six months if North Vietnam “withdraws its forces to the North and ceases infiltration of South Vietnam.” A communiqué signed by the seven participants (Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, South Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States) included a four-point “Declaration of Peace” that stressed the need for a “peaceful settlement of the war in Vietnam and for future peace and progress” in the rest of Asia and the Pacific. After the conference, Johnson flew to South Vietnam for a surprise two-and-a-half-hour visit with U.S. troops at Cam Ranh Bay. ( Johnson statements) (see Nov 7)

Peace Negotiations

October 24, 1972: President Thieu, in a speech, declared the proposals discussed by Mr. Kissinger in Paris unacceptable. (see Oct 26)

WAR POWERS ACT

October 24, 1973: President Nixon vetoed the War Powers Act. [Politico article] (see Nov 7)

October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

October 24, 1955: based on a Broadway play, The Moon is Blue was a light comedy film that not only used the word “virgin” but also made fun of a young woman for remaining a virgin. The film was released without a seal of approval by the Hollywood Production Code Administration, thus marking an early challenge to the production code system of censorship. It was unclear whether it was because of the word “virgin” or because it made fun of virginity. On this day, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Holmby v. Vaughn, overturned a decision by the Kansas Supreme Court and ended a ban on the film in the state.

The Kansas State Board of Review had originally banned the film, citing “too frank bedroom dialogue” and “many sexy words.” The Supreme Court ruled that the Kansas interpretation of the term obscene was unconstitutionally vague.The Court based is per curium decision on its decision in Burstyn v. Wilson, May 26, 1952), which held for the first time that movies were a form of expression protected by the First Amendment. [TCM article] (see January 12, 1956)

October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

October 24 Music et al

“I Want to Be Wanted”

October 24 – November 13, 1960: “I Want to Be Wanted” by Benda Lee #1 Billboard Hot 100. She was 15-years-old. (Whatever happened to Brenda Lee?)

LSD

October 24, 1968: possession of LSD banned federally in the U.S. after the passage of the Staggers-Dodd Bill (Public Law 90-639) which amended the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. (see January 31, 1970)

October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

The Cold War

Cuban Missile Crisis

October 24, 1962: the Soviet news agency Telegrafnoe Agentstvo Sovetskogo Soyuza (TASS) broadcasted a telegram from Khrushchev to President Kennedy, in which Khrushchev warned that the United States’ “pirate action” would lead to war. President John F. Kennedy spoke before reporters during a televised speech to the nation about the strategic blockade of Cuba, and his warning to the Soviet Union about missile sanctions. (see Cuban Missile Crisis)

October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

INDEPENDENCE DAY

October 24, 1964:  Zambia independent from United Kingdom. [SA History article] (see IDs for list of all in 1960s)

October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

see Calvin Graham for full story

October 24, 1977: a People magazine article reported that Graham, 47, was unable to work, had spent some $5,000 on dental repairs, and suffered from diabetes, and heart trouble. As a result of a fall from a pier while serving in the Marines he walked only with a cane. He and his wife existed on $600 a month—part of which came from limited Marine disability payments. (see April 20, 1978)

October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

Women’s Health

October 24, 2017:  “Jane Doe” was already nine weeks into her first trimester by the time she learned she was pregnant. And by then, she was already in federal custody at the border in Texas, one of the multitude of unaccompanied minors caught trying to enter the United States without their parents or relatives. She was 17 years old.

Federal officers tried to prevent her from getting an abortion.

On this date, a federal appeals court in Washington sided with “Jane Doe” sending the case back to a lower court, which immediately ordered the Trump administration to allow the girl to obtain an abortion “promptly and without delay.” The girl remained in custody at a federally-funded shelter in Brownsville  [NYT article] (IH, see Oct 25; WH, see Oct 27)

Separation of children increases

October 24, 2019: the Trump Administration  revealed that an additional 1,556 children had been separated from their parents than previously reported, bringing the total number of family separations since July 2017 up to nearly 5,500. The new instances of family separation came to light after a judge ordered the Administration to deliver an accounting of every case. (next IH, see Nov 2)

October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Terrorism

October 24, 2018: Cesar Sayoc, Jr mailed bombs to Maxine Waters (2 different locations), Hillary Clinton, John O Brennan, Barack Obama. None explode. [NYT story] (see Oct 25)

October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Student Rights

October 24, 2019: federal judge Sallie Kim fined U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for contempt of court for failing to stop collecting loans from former students of a now-defunct chain of for-profit colleges.

The court ruling orders the Education Department to pay a $100,000 fine. Kim said Devos had violated an order to stop collecting loans owed by students who had been defrauded by Corinthian Colleges.

In a video statement, the Education Department said loan servicers had “mistakenly” billed about 16,000 students and parents. Those borrowers have since been reimbursed, according to the video message.

Money from the fine will go toward various remedies and legal expenses for students who are owed debt relief from the Education Department after Corinthian Colleges collapsed in 2014, according to the ruling. [NPR story] (next SR, see Oct 29)

October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK & SHOT/Laquan McDonald

October 24, 2019:  David March, the former Chicago police detective who was acquitted of a cover-up in the 2014 fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald will have the accusation expunged from his record.

Cook County Circuit Judge LeRoy Martin Jr. approved March’s petition filed to expunge the conspiracy, obstruction of justice and official misconduct charges he faced. March had resigned from the department in August 2016 after Chicago’s inspector general’s office recommended his firing.

October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Fair Housing

October 24, 2023: the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced action that would cover expanded housing and neighborhood choices for more than 800,000 total households using Housing Choice Vouchers to find and secure affordable housing. The act required an additional 41 metropolitan areas that cover more than 440,000 housing vouchers to use Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMR) under HUD’s 2016 Small Area Fair Market Rent Final Rule, joining 24 metropolitan areas that covered almost 370,000 vouchers and bringing the total number of metropolitan areas covered by the rule to 65 covering more than 800,000 households (or 45% of families in the Housing Choice Voucher program). [HUD announcement] (next FH, see )

October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

October 24, 2023: in the year after the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion the total number of legal abortions in the United States did not fall. Instead, it appeared to increase slightly, by about 0.2 percent, according to the first full-year count of abortions provided nationwide.

The finding came despite the fact that 14 states banned all abortions, and seven imposed new limits on them. Even as those restrictions reduced the legal abortion rate to near zero in some states, there were large increases in places where abortions remained legal. Researchers said they were driven by the expansion of telemedicine for mail-order abortion pills, increased options and assistance for women who traveled, and a surge of publicity about ways to get abortions. [NYT article] (next WH, see February 16, 2024)

October 24 Peace Love Art Activism

October 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Deborah Sampson

October 23, 1783: Deborah Sampson honorably discharged from the Army after a year and a half of service. (see Deborah Sampson for expanded chronology)

Voting Rights

October 23, 1915:  twenty-five thousand women marched in Manhattan, demanding the right to vote in all 48 states. [NYT article]  (next F, see  Dec 6; next VR,  see  December 4, 1916)

Clarence Thomas

October 23, 1991: despite the sexual misconduct allegations of Anita Hill on October 11, Clarence Thomas sworn in as the 106th U.S. Supreme Court Justice. (see January 28, 1992)

Sandra Day O’Connor

October 23, 2018: retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (see September 25, 1981) announced that “Some time ago doctors diagnosed me with the beginning stages of dementia, probably Alzheimer’s disease. As this condition has progressed, I am no longer able to participate in public life.” (see Nov 23)

October 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Cold War

Ronald Reagan

October 23, 1947:  Ronald Reagan, then president of the Screen Actors Guild, appeared before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) as a “friendly” witness on this day. He testified to his opposition to Communism, and his testimony on this occasion was fairly mild anti-Communist rhetoric. (see Oct 27)

October 23 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

An Appeal to the World

October 23, 1947: the NAACP filed formal charges with the United Nations, accusing the U.S. of racial discrimination. “An Appeal to the World,” edited by W.E.B. DuBois, was a study of the denial of the right to vote that included details of other discrimination.  [NYT article] (see Oct 29)

Booker T. Mixon

October 23, 1959: Booker T. Mixon died (see Oct 12). Family members hired Memphis Attorney J.F. Estes to investigate the death. Estes requested of Governor J P Coleman a full scale investigation. However, the attorney could obtain neither an autopsy nor a coroners’ inquest. The death was written off as an automobile accident.

Aaron Henry was deeply suspicious of Mixon’s death. It was troubling, he observed, that Mixon was found completely nude, and that the family could not get a straight answer as to who transported Mixon to the hospital. There were two funeral companies in the area, one white and one black, neither of which was responsible for transporting Mixon’s body.

No charges were ever brought in the Mixon matter. (BH, see January 5, 1960; Mixon, see August 13, 2012)

137 SHOTS

October 23, 2017: local Cleveland media reported that police officers Michael Farley, Erin O’Donnell, Christopher Ereg, Wilfredo Diaz and Brian Sabolik who had been fired after the November 2012 police chase and shooting deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams were reinstated earlier this month after an arbitrator’s ruling this summer. The sixth officer, Michael Brelo — the arbitrator ruled that he should remain fired. (see 137 for expanded story)

October 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

South Vietnam Leadership

October 23, 1955: Ngo Dinh Diem held an election. He reportedly received 98.2% of the votes, a difficult winning percentage to believe which was further supported by the fact that the total number of votes for exceeded the number of registered voters by over 380,000. (see Oct 26)

Peace negotiations

October 23, 1972: after another Kissinger ‐ Thieu meeting, the South Vietnamese President called in his commanders of the four military regions, the 44 province chiefs and many of the 559 provincial councilors. Kissinger returned to Washington. According to Hanoi, the United States cited “difficulties in Saigon” and demanded continued negotiations, but “did not say anything about the implementation of its commitments under the agreed schedule,” Hanoi contended. (see Oct 24)

October 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency

October 23, 1956: The Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency was approved by the Conference on the Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which was held at the Headquarters of the United Nations. (see  April 1957)

12.5 megaton

October 23, 1961: Soviet Union above-ground nuclear test. 12.5 megaton.  [NYT article] (see Oct 30)

Kenneth Gelpey

October 23, 1961: Kenneth Gelpey wearing protective clothing as he emerged from a fallout shelter in Medford, Massachusetts with a Geiger counter in hand to “test for radiation”. Gelpey and his family spent the weekend in the shelter to test their equipment. (see Oct 30)

Cuban Missile Crisis

October 23, 1962: evidence presented by the U.S. Department of Defense, of Soviet missiles in Cuba. This low level photo of the medium range ballistic missile site under construction at Cuba’s San Cristobal area. A line of oxidizer trailers is at center. Added since October 14, the site was earlier photographed, were fuel trailers, a missile shelter tent, and equipment. The missile erector now lies under canvas cover. Evident also is extensive vehicle trackage and the construction of cable lines to control areas. (see Cuban Missile Crisis for expanded story)

October 23 Music et al

Dion

October 23 – November 5, 1961: “Runaround Sue” by Dion & the Belmonts #1 Billboard Hot 100. 

Bob Dylan

October 23, 1963: Dylan recorded ‘The Times They Are A-Changin‘ at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City. Dylan wrote the song as a deliberate attempt to create an anthem of change for the time, influenced by Irish and Scottish ballads. (Dylan, see Oct 26; Times, see January 24, 1984)

see Jimi Hendrix Experience for expanded story

October 23, 1966: The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded their first single ‘Hey Joe’, at De Lane Lea studios in London. The earliest known commercial recording of the song was the late-1965 single by the Los Angeles garage band the The Leaves. (see Dec 26)

October 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Watergate Scandal

October 23, 1973: Nixon agreed to turn White House tape recordings requested by the Watergate special prosecutor over to Judge John J. Sirica . [NYT article] (see Watergate for expanded story)

October 23 Peace Love Art Activism

TERRORISM

October 23, 1983: Shiite suicide bombers explode truck near U.S. military barracks at Beirut airport, killing 241 marines. Minutes later a second bomb killed 58 French paratroopers in their barracks in West Beirut.  [NYT article] (see Dec 12)

October 23 Peace Love Art Activism

BBC report on Ethiopia

October 23, 1984, BBC News TV reported that a famine was plaguing Ethiopia and thousands of people had already died of starvation and as many as 10,000,000 more lives are at risk. (see Nov 25)

October 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Jack Kevorkian

October 23, 1991: Kevokian attended the deaths of Marjorie Wantz, a 58-year-old Sodus, Michigan, woman with pelvic pain, and Sherry Miller, a 43-year-old Roseville, Michigan, woman with multiple sclerosis. The deaths occur at a rented state park cabin near Lake Orion, Michigan. Wantz dies from the suicide machine’s lethal drugs, Miller from carbon monoxide poisoning inhaled through a face mask. (see JK for expanded story)

October 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

Dr. Barnett Slepian assassinated

October 23, 1998, Women’s Health: James Charles Kopp leaned against a tree behind the suburban home of Dr. Barnett Slepian, who performed abortions as part of his practice, and followed Slepian through the scope of a high-powered rifle.

Slepian, the married father of four young sons, entered the kitchen after returning home from a memorial service for his father, put a bowl of soup in a microwave oven and walked to a desk in the corner of the kitchen where he routinely put his keys, wallet and pager.

With that, Mr. Kopp, a longtime opponent of abortion whose beliefs earned him the nickname Atomic Dog among like-minded people, squeezed the trigger and fired.

The single shot broke the kitchen window and struck Dr. Slepian under his left shoulder blade, tore through his chest and exited from his right shoulder, then ricocheted past his wife and two of their sons, finally lodging in the fireplace of the living room, where a third son was watching television.

About an hour later, the 52-year-old doctor was declared dead. [NYT article] (see March 29, 2001)

Indiana/Medicaid funds

October 23, 2012: The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago upheld the core portion of a lower court order that said Indiana cannot enforce a state law barring abortion providers from collecting Medicaid funds for any medical services, i.e., Indiana can’t cut off funding for Planned Parenthood just because the organization provides abortions, a federal appeals. [NYT article]

Rape defended

October 23, 2012: the issue of pregnancies resulting from rape rattled another campaign for the Senate when Indiana’s Republican Senate nominee, Richard Mourdock, said a life conceived by rape “is something that God intended to happen” and must be protected. (NYT article) (see Dec 4)

October 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestone

October 23, 2001:  Apple Computer Inc. introduced the iPod portable digital music player. (see April 25, 2003).

October 23 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

October 23, 2012: New York’s highest court declined to hear a challenge to the state’s gay-marriage law, ending the only significant legal threat to same-sex weddings in the state. The Court of Appeals rejected a motion by a conservative group, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, which had accused the State Senate of violating the state’s Open Meetings Law in its deliberations before it voted last year to allow gay men and lesbians to marry. The court did not provide an explanation of its decision. (NYT article) (see Nov 28)

October 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Trump Impeachment Inquiry

Disposition invasion

October 23, 2019: more than two dozen House Republicans, led by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, delayed a deposition hearing in the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s conduct regarding Ukraine.

Gaetz and the group marched into the secure facility at Capitol Hill, where House Democrats were scheduled to interview Pentagon official Laura Cooper, a witness in the probe. Cooper helps oversee U.S. policy regarding Ukraine at the Defense Department. Lawmakers had expected to ask her about the Trump administration’s decision to withhold military aid from the former Soviet nation. (see TII for expanded chronology)

October 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Space

October 23, 2020:  the NASA’s OSIRIS-REX spacecraft collected such a large sample of rock and dust that it’s created an unexpected problem.

Rocks were jammed in the device in a way that’s keeping a Mylar flap open, creating a gap that’s letting some of the collected pebbles and dust drift out into space.

“We had a successful sample collection attempt — almost too successful. Material is escaping,” said Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, the principal investigator for the mission. “We think we’re losing a small fraction of material, but it’s more than I’m comfortable with. I was pretty concerned when I saw these images coming in.” [NPR article] (next Space, see Nov 21)

October 23 Peace Love Art Activism