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Last night, Today Past received the top individual blog award at the Los Angeles Press Club’s Southern California Journalism Awards for its post “June-21: A Day of Bigotry and Justice,” reposted below. Judges credited the post for: “Giving the reader … Continue reading Today Past Wins Top Blog at LA Press Club Awards
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The Los Angeles Press Club announced the finalists for the 59th Southern California Journalism Awards and I am pleased to be included for the 12th Consecutive Year with my 21st and 22nd nomination. Winners will be announced at a June … Continue reading Today Past Honored by LA Press Club
Billy Joel could easily have sung his “We Didn’t Start the Fire” song based on May 1st alone, as it is a red letter day in history that includes: (i) the Memphis Massacre in white mobs launched a three-day attack … Continue reading May 1: Memphis Massacre, May Day, Victory in Manilla, Bin Laden Killed Part of Landmark Day
On this day in 1945, the territory of Alaska passed the nation’s first anti-discrimination law in the 20th Century, ending Jim Crow in Alaska. At that time, approximately 45 percent of Alaska’s population of 72,524 (from the 1939 census) were … Continue reading Feb-16-1945: Alaska Adopts Equal Rights Act
On this day in 1998, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma established the official Day of Memory for Victims of the Holodomor, a term derived from the Ukrainian phrase “to kill by starvation” in reference to the 1932-33 man-made famine in Soviet … Continue reading Nov. 26-1998: Day of Memory for Victims of the Holodomor
On this day in 1969, 89 Native Americans and their supporters occupied Alcatraz Island (the site of the prison that had been closed since 1963). They called themselves “Indians of All Tribes” and issued a proclamation, “We Hold the Rock.” … Continue reading Nov-20-1969: Native Americans Begin Occupation of Alcatraz That Sparked a Movement
On October 24, 1871, Los Angeles exploded with violence as a mob attacked and killed 19 Chinese residents – 15 by lynching. It is believed to be the largest mass lynching in American history and the last mass lynching in … Continue reading Oct 24-1871: LA’s Chinese Massacre (Largest Mass Lynching in US History)
On this day, twenty-six members of the Brown Berets began a 23-day “occupation” of Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles, claiming the island still belonged to Mexico and demanding that undeveloped land be developed into housing. The Brown … Continue reading Aug-30-1972: Brown Berets Occupy Catalina Island
In 1641, Massachusetts became the first colony to legalize slavery. On this day in 1781, however, a jury in the western Massachusetts town of Great Barrington granted Elizabeth Freeman, a woman in her thirties who had been a slave since … Continue reading Aug 22-1781: Elizabeth Freeman (MumBet) Wins Freedom From Slavery Under Massachusetts Constitution
On this day in 1963, 26-year-old Soviet cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova became the first and youngest woman in space, orbiting the Earth 48 times over 2 days, 22 hours, and 50 minutes in Vostok 6. She remains the only woman to have ever been on a solo space mission. Continue reading Jun-16-1963: Women in Space
On March 5, 1959, at around 4:00 a.m., a fire was started in the dormitory of the Arkansas Negro Boys Industrial School (NBIS) in Wrightsville (10 miles southeast of Little Rock), with 69 boys locked inside and with its windows … Continue reading Mar-5-1959: Fire at Arkansas Negro Boys Industrial School Kills 21 Boys Locked Inside
Weeks after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 which authorized the Secretary of War to prescribe military areas from which persons may be excluded and to relocate such persons elsewhere. This formed the legal basis for the exclusion … Continue reading Feb-19-1942: FDR Signs Executive Order 9066 Authorizing Japanese Exclusion and Internment
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