2011

Today in History 06/24 (Marriage Equality Act)

Joan Katter (left) and Valerie Coleman celebrate legalization of same-sex marriage in New York (© Mario Tama/Getty Images)(2011) New York legalizes same-sex marriage
New York becomes the sixth state, and by far the largest population-wise, to legalize same-sex marriage. Thirty more states will follow until 2015, when the Supreme Court of the United States will make it legal nationally in the landmark civil rights case Obergefell v. Hodges.
Same-sex marriage in the United States was initially established on a state-by-state basis, expanding from 1 state in 2004 to 36 states in 2015, when, on June 26, 2015, same-sex marriage was established in all 50 states as a result of the ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States in the landmark civil rights case of Obergefell v. Hodges, in which it was held that the right of same-sex couples to marry on the same terms and conditions as opposite-sex couples, with all the accompanying rights and responsibilities, is guaranteed by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
White House rainbow colors to celebrate June 2015 SCOTUS same-sex marriage ruling
White House in rainbow lights, the first time a government building did such, to celebrate June 26, 2015 ruling by US Supreme Court legalizing same-sex marriage nationally.
wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States
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(2011) New York legalizes same-sex marriage.
Also on this day,

1374 | Dancing in the streets causes alarm in Germany
In the German town of Aix-la-Chapelle, people begin jumping, twirling, twitching, and hallucinating, all of it seemingly out of their control to stop, and some “dance” until they drop. The so-called “dancing plague” will spread to other cities and later be blamed on mass hysteria or bacterial infections.
1947 | Idaho pilot sees supersonic UFOs zoom past Mt. Rainier
Pilot Kenneth Arnold sees what he says are nine shiny objects flying in a 5-mile formation in the clear afternoon sky above Washington State. He later calculates their speed at 1,200 miles-per-hour, describing them as “saucer-shaped” to journalists reporting on the first major UFO sighting of modern times.
2010 | Three-day match wraps up at Wimbledon
After 11 hours and 5 minutes played over three days, American John Isner defeats Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in a first-round singles match at Wimbledon. The contest sets records for longest match in professional tennis history for both time and number of games (183).