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September 22, 2014 – Segment 1
Marc talks about what happened on this day in history, including the day the US Postmaster General was established, the day a preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation was released, and the day Congressman George Washington Murray was born enslaved.
Today Is:
Independence Day, celebrates the impendence of f Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire in 1908.
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Mali from France in 1960.
Car – Free Day, Europe and Montreal, Canada
On this day,
1776 – Nathan Hale, American patriot and military spy is hanged by the British Army Hale joined the Continental Army after his graduation from Yale University. He was admitted as 1st Lieutenant and was quickly promoted to Captain, stationed in New York City. Hale is seen as a martyr and was celebrated for his bravery and strength of character more so than his short lived career as a spy. Hale crossed into enemy lines on the 12th of September after volunteering for an intelligence gathering mission. He was caught on the 15th and sentenced to hang as an enemy combatant. At the gallows, Hale is reported to have said “I am so satisfied with the cause I have engaged, that my only regret is that I have not more lives than one to offer in service.” These words became the rallying cry for American patriots and inspired thousands in the taking up of arms against the British Crown.
1789 – The US Postmaster General is established
1792 – The first French Republic is founded. The life of this republic is brief and marked with enlightenment turmoil and great suspicion. After the fall of the French monarch the newly formed National Convention assumed legislative powers in France and was charged with rebuilding the nation, a Herculean task made more complicated with the ever looming threat of civil war and foreign invasion. Suspicion and infighting between the two rival faction within the National Convention were factors that led to a period known the Reign of Terror; a purging of “enemies of the revolution” the revolution which saw thousands of accused citizens rounded up, imprisoned, andmurdered without trial. The first republic lasted until May 1804 when Napoleon I rose as Emperor of France.
1862 – A preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation is released. The document is issued shortly after the bloody Battle of Antietam, a decisive Union victory that saw high casualties on both sides. The message was simple, the southern states were to stop fighting and put an end to rebellion by the 1st of January 1863, less all slaves in Confederate states would be free. Lincoln was starting to bend to the mounting pressure from abolitionists in the north, members of senate and other groups who wanted to see the abolition of slavery proclaimed as the raison d’être of the Union Army. Lincoln was concerned, first and foremost with the preservation of the Union, and until this time the issue of slavery and black civil rights was of little concern to the president who was a backer and enforcer of the Fugitive Slave Act. The call from abolitionists and free Blacks was to repeal the Fugitive Slave Act and bring about immediate emancipation of slaves in all states. The Union army on the other hand knew that they did not have the man power to sustain a long campaign against the confederates and would need Black soldiers to enlist under the Union banner to reinforce their ranks. Whilst members of the senate and the house were feeling the pressure from their constituents to end slavery as the abolitionist cause gained momentum through out New England, the North and the boarder states of MO, KY and MD. The preliminary emancipation proclamation was essentially a measure of war and was not solidified until the Passing of the 13th amendment in 1865.
1888 – The first issue of National Geographic Magazine is published. The magazine was issued to 200 charter members and was first publised as a scholarly journal.
1913 – 263 killed after explosion in a coal mine, Dawson New Mexico
1915 – Xavier University, 1st Black Catholic College, opens in New Orleans, Louisiana. the school was founded by Saint Katherine Drexel and The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, of Philadelphia. The sisters, who wereadvocates for education of African American and Native American peoples, felt that there was a needed for a catholic orientated institution of higher learning in the south dedicated to the education of young African American men and Women. Xavier is the only Historically Black Catholic University in the United States.
1934 – Explosion at Gresford Colliery in Wales, kills 266 miners and rescuers
1949 – The Soviet Union detonates its first Nuclear Bomb
1955 – ITV goes live in the UK for the first times
1961 – The Interstate Commerce Commission issued regulations to enforce integration as law on interstate busses and at terminal facilities. The regulations required all buses to post signs stating “seating aboard this vehicle is with out regard to race, color, creed or national origin by order of the Interstate Commerce Commssion”. The ICC was under immense pressure from Robert F. Kennedy who had called for protection of the Freedom Riders in the south and hailed their bravery in the face of hatred and adversity. Though this was a milestone in the fight for Civil Rights, not all states were compliant and fierce resistance in the south (especially Mississippi and Alabama) led to the desegregation of interstate public transport overturned in individual court cases and Federal rulings.
1973 – Henry Kissinger is sworn in as America’s 1st Jewish Secretary of State
1975 – Second assassination attempt on US President Gerald Ford by Sara Jane Moore fails in San Francisco.
1989 – IRA bomb kills 10 British marines in Kent. On this day at 8:27am a 15 lb bomb planted by the IRA at the Deal Barracks recreation center detonates killing 11 and injuring 10. The recreation center was located at the Royal Marine School of Music. The attack sent shockwaves around the world as most of the victims were mere teenagers.
1991 – The Dead Sea Scrolls are available to the public for the first times, Huntington Library
2011 – Aristides Maria Pereira, the first President of Cape Verde, died
Birthdays
1515 – Anne of Cleaves, the 4th wife of Henry VIII. Anne of Cleaves was granted a sizeable sum after the annulment of her marriage to the King. She remained close friends with him and was referred to as the “Kings beloved sister.” Cleaves would outlive all of Henry VII other wives.
1880 – Dame Christabel Pankhurst, English women’s suffragist
1853 – George Washington Murray, former Congressman and inventor was born enslaved in Sumter County South Carolina. Elected to the House of Representatives, Murray served from 1893-1895 and again from 1896-1897. He was the African American republican to represent South Carolina until 2010. The congressman worked hard to highlight African American achievement and read a list of 92 patents granted to African American inventors into congressional record. Murray was also an educator who taught for 15 years before he headed to the Capitol. The inventor received many patents for inventions and innovations such as grain drill, and reaper.
1884 – James Wormley Jones, the first African American special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Appointed to the FBI in 1919 and was charged with the task of monitoring the activities of groups perceived as subversive. Jones resigned from the FBI in 1923.
1891 – Alma Woodsey Thomas, painter and educator was born in Columbus, Georgia. Woodsey was the first African American to earn a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University and the first African American woman to have a solo exhibit at the Whitney Museum. Woodsey was a teacher in the DC public school system for 35 years.
1929 – A. Cecil Williams, minister, author and community activist, was born in San Angelo, Texas. Williams took over ministry at Glide memorial church in San Francisco in the 60’s. Under his leadership, the congregation grew into the thousands. Williams initiated service programs that serve over 3,000 meals a day, provides HIV/AIDS screening, provides adult education programs and assistance for women dealing with homelessness. Williams retired as pastor in 2000.
1940 – Robert G. Stanton, the first African American director of National Park Service, was born in Fort Worth, Texas
1941 – Ernest Gideon Green, the First African American to graduate from Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. A member of the Little Rock Nine, Green was the only senior amongst the group and graduated on the 27th May 1958. He went on to receive his BA and MA from Michigan State University. Green also received Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian medal from President William Clinton in 1999. He was presented with an honorary doctorate from University of Arkansas in 2011.
This Day in Music: Birthdays Sept. 21st
1934 – Leonard Cohen, American singer songwriter and poet.
1936 – Dickey Lee, US pop and country singer. 1962 US No.6 single ‘Patches’
1934 – David Hood, Bassist and member of the studio backing band known as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section of Alabama. Played with many artists including Paul Simon, The Staple Singers, Odetta, Etta James and Willie Nelson.
1947 – Don Felder, guitarist and vocalist with the Eagles, 1977 US No.1 single ‘Hotel California’, and five number one albums.
Birthdays Sept. 22nd
1942 – Marlena Shaw, Jazz vocalist was born on this day in New Rochelle, New York.
1946 – King Sunny Ade, Nigerian singer
1956 – Debby Boone, singer, daughter of Pat Boone. Enjoyed a ten week run at No. 1 in 1977 with the single ‘You Light My Life Up.’
1960 – Joan Jett, The Runaways, The Blackhearts, 1982 No.1 single ‘I love Rock ‘n’roll’
On This Day in Music
1962 – The Springfields cracked the US top 20 charts with the single ‘Silver Threads and Golden Needles’. They are the first British vocal group to chart that high in America
1965 – The Supremes records single , “I Hear a Symphony”
1972 – David Bowie kicked off the North American leg of the Ziggy Stardust world tour in Cleevland, Ohio.
1980 – Geffen Records is formed
1981 – American composer Harry Warren dies at the age of 88. Penned great American classics such as “The Atchison Topeka and the Santa Fe”, “You Might Have Been a Beautiful Baby ” “Jeepers Creepers” “At Last” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo” which went on to become the first gold record in history.
1989 – Irving Berlin, Russian born American composer and lyricist dies on this day.
Sources: The People History; This Day in Labor History; Wikipedia List of Historical Anniversaries; This Day in Women’s History; This Day in African History;History.com; History Orb; Yenoba; Selected Black Facts; Phil Konstantin’s North American Indian History; and This Day in Music
