Happy 380th birthday to my home city!
TODAY IN HISTORY (May 24):
1610 - The Virginia Colony passed a law making sodomy and adultery capital crimes. It is the first such law form the colonial period.
1626 - Peter Minuit buys Manhattan.
1844 - Samuel Morse transmitted the first telegraph message, in which he asked, "What hath God wrought?"
1883 - The Brooklyn Bridge, linking Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City, opened to traffic.
1899 - W.T. McCullough of Boston, Mass., opened the first public garage. One could rent space for selling, storing and repairing vehicles.
1919 - The first showing of the first gay liberation film, Different From Other People, took place in Berlin. It would be banned the following year.
1922 - In Vienna, gay liberation activist Dr Magnus Hirschfeld gave a speech before an audience of 2,000. Though not well publicized, hundreds of people had to be turned away.
1935 - Major League Baseball’s first night game was played under the lights at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field as the hometown Reds defeated Philadelphia, 2-1.
1958 - The United Press and the International News Service merged to form United Press International (UPI).
1974 - Soviet film director Sergei Paradzhanov was sentenced to six years in a labor camp for committing homosexual acts.
1976 - Tales of the City makes its debut in The San Francisco Chronicle.
1976 - The British and French Concordes made their first commercial flights.
1988 - In Britain, Clause 28 took effect, prohibiting local government and public schools from presenting homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle.
1990 - Cartoon character Andy Lippincott (Doonsbury) died of complications from AIDS.
1993 - Roberta Achtenberg, who had been nominated to be assistant secretary for Fair Housing and Urban Development, became the first openly lesbian woman to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The vote was 58-31. Before the vote Sen. Jesse Helms attacked her for outrageous behavior, including kissing her partner at a gay pride parade.
1998 - Cardinal John O'Connor of New York condemned Mayor Giuliani for proposing that New York City grant same-sex couples domestic partnership rights.
2000 - Israeli troops pulled out of Lebanon after 22 years of occupation. Born on this day:
1686 - Gabriel Fahrenheit, German physicist and engineer (d. 1736)
1819 - Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (d. 1901)
1909 - Wilbur Mills, American politician (d. 1992)
1934 - Jane Byrne, Mayor of Chicago
1938 - Tommy Chong, Canadian-born actor and comedian
1941 - Bob Dylan, American singer and songwriter
1943 - Gary Burghoff, American actor
1944 - Patti LaBelle, American singer
1945 - Priscilla Presley, American actress
1949 - Jim Broadbent, English actor
1953 - Alfred Molina, English actor
1955 - Rosanne Cash, American singer
1960 - Kristin Scott Thomas, English actress
1965 - John C. Reilly, American actor
1967 - Heavy D, American rapper and actor
1988 - Billy Gilman, American singer
I couldn't tell what city from this post.
Posted by: John | May 24, 2006 at 11:30 AM