THE MURDER OF MALCOLM X
Rudolf Dethu
February 21, 2021
56 years ago today, Malcolm X is assassinated by rival Black Muslims while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity in Washington Heights.
HUCK FINN, RACISM, RELIGION
Rudolf Dethu
February 18, 2021
136 years ago today, Mark Twain publishes his famous—and famously controversial—novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (US version).
THE KILLING OF STEVE BIKO
Rudolf Dethu
January 28, 2021
24 years ago today, in South Africa, four apartheid-era police officers, appearing before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, admit to the 1977 killing of Bantu Stephen Biko, a leader of grassroots anti-apartheid campaign known as the Black Consciousness Movement.
THE BIRTH OF FRISBEES
Rudolf Dethu
January 23, 2021
64 years ago today, machines at the Wham-O toy company roll out the first batch of their aerodynamic plastic discs—now known to millions of fans all over the world as Frisbees.
101 YEARS AGO, DRINKING BECAME ILLEGAL
Rudolf Dethu
January 17, 2021
101 years ago today, after it was ratified a year earlier on 16 January 1919, prohibition officially goes into effect, with the passage of the Volstead Act (also known as National Prohibition Act).
CHIEF JOSEPH SURRENDERS
Rudolf Dethu
October 5, 2020
Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce peoples surrenders to U.S. General Nelson A. Miles in the Bear Paw mountains of Montana, declaring “Hear me, my chiefs: My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”
WEST SIDE STORY OPENS ON BROADWAY
Rudolf Dethu
September 26, 2020
63 years ago today, the most acclaimed musical of all time, West Side Story, opens at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway.
SIOUX’S CRAZY HORSE IS KILLED
Rudolf Dethu
September 5, 2020
143 years ago today, one of the most notable and iconic of Native American warriors, Oglala Sioux leader Crazy Horse is fatally bayoneted by a U.S. soldier after resisting confinement in a guardhouse at Fort Robinson, Nebraska.
THE LAST NATIVE AMERICAN WARRIOR, GERONIMO, SURRENDERS
Rudolf Dethu
September 4, 2020
On this date in 1886, the last Native American warrior, Apache leader Geronimo, surrenders to U.S. government troops. For 30 years, the Native American warrior had battled to protect his tribe’s homeland; however, by 1886 the Apaches were exhausted and hopelessly outnumbered.
DISCO INFERNO: THE NIGHT DANCE MUSIC DIED
Rudolf Dethu
July 12, 2020
41 years ago today, disco was killed by a public backlash with the infamous Disco Demolition Night at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. At least 9 were injured and 39 got arrested.
I DON’T LIKE MONDAYS
Rudolf Dethu
July 6, 2020
In 1979, Brenda Ann Spencer (16) opened fire on Grover Cleveland Elementary School shooting eight children and three adults which ended up killing the school’s principal, Burton Wragg, and the caretaker, Mike Suchar. Spencer’s shooting became particularly notorious for inspiring Bob Geldof to write “I Don’t Like Mondays”.
JOHN HINCKLEY JR. FOUND NOT GUILTY
Rudolf Dethu
June 21, 2020
38 years ago today John Hinckley Jr., was found not guilty of attempted murder—he tried to kill President Reagan—by reason of insanity.
