Day Tripping: March 3
Inclusion, Ingenuity, and Gross Injustice
Welcome to my daily feature where each day on the calendar marks a part of our shared history.
Don’t Mess With Girl Power
Strategically timed to occur on the day before President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration in 1913, the first-ever suffragette event was held in the form of a procession through Washington, D.C. The parade followed the same route as the next day’s inauguration down Pennsylvania Avenue, organized by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, co-chairs of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).
The procession itself was led by Inez Milholland riding a white horse, followed by five thousand suffragettes. Ida B. Wells, an early leading activist with the NAACP, was one of many black women who defied the order to march in the back with a segregated group and joined her constituency from Illinois upfront.
Fool Me Once
Notorious bank robber and murderer, John Dillinger breaks out of an Indiana prison by wielding a wooden gun painted with black shoe polish. Dillinger boastfully carved the fake weapon to the delight of his fellow inmates as onlookers. On this Saturday morning in 1934, Dillinger stopped in the middle of his morning exercises and held two guards at gunpoint. His reputation as a ruthless killer convinced the unwitting guards to his bidding.
The veracity of this tale which was first reported in the Chicago Sun-Times has come into question over the years. But, as the saying went in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
Deplorable Conduct
George Holliday was standing on his balcony when he witnessed the end of a high-speed chase between police and a man wanted for drunk driving in 1991. Holliday filmed the ensuing incident whish showed officers beating an unarmed twenty-five-year-old black man Rodney King, and sent the footage to a local television station.
The footage of King’s beating which included over fifty blows about his prone body with billy clubs and multiple uses of stun guns becomes international news. Arresting officers are later charged and acquitted of excessive force, sparking the Los Angeles riots one year later.
Musical Milestones
1965 —British band The Yardbirds perform their last show with Eric Clapton as the lead guitarist who left to join The Bluesbreakers with John Mayall. Another future legend named Jeff Beck replaces Clapton, and then some guy named Jimmy Page took over.
Narratives
Written during the War of 1812, The Star-Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key is officially adopted as the US national anthem in 1931.
Remembrance
Forever remembered as Bud Abbott’s hilarious fall guy, Lou Costello died only days from his 53rd birthday of a heart attack in 1959.
Notable Births
1911 — She was the original Blonde Bombshell of the Hollywood star era. Jean Harlow was another to capture the imagination of Howard Hughes and starred in Hell’s Angels. Sadly, she died of kidney failure at only twenty-six.
1847 — What would Alexander Graham Bell have thought of his invention if saw it today? Probably something like, “Wait, what? You carry it around?”
Thanks for taking the time to read this article dedicated to the days of our history. I hope to see you tomorrow for another instalment.
K. Barrett Katie Wallace Maria Rattray Joseph M. Learned Maryam Merchant Dr Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, PhD. Terry Trueman Dr Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude
