Cold War

Today in History 12/01 (Rosa Parks)

Mugshot of Rosa Parks in 1955 (© Universal History Archive/Getty images)(1955) Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man
Cops arrest the African-American seamstress for violating Montgomery, Alabama’s racial segregation laws that require black patrons to sit in the back of a bus and give up their seats to whites. The incident leads to a bus boycott, spearheaded by a young minister, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The United States Congress has called her “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement”.
Lived: Feb 04, 1913 – Oct 24, 2005 (age 92)
Height: 5′ 3″
Spouse: Raymond Parks (m. 1932 – 1977)
Education: Alabama State Teachers College for Negroes · Highlander Folk School
Parents: Leona McCauley (Mother) · James McCauley (Father)
Siblings: Sylvester McCauley (Brother)
Highlights
  • 1932: In 1932, Rosa married Raymond Parks, a barber from Montgomery.

  • 1943: Initially, she did not notice that the bus driver was the same man, James F. Blake, who had left her in the rain in 1943.

  • 1955: On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to obey bus driver James F. Blake’s order to give up her seat in the “colored section” to a white passenger, after the whites-only section was filled.

  • 1992: In 1992, Parks published Rosa Parks: My Story, an autobiography aimed at younger readers, which recounts her life leading to her decision to keep her seat on the bus.

  • 2005: The lawsuit was settled on April 15, 2005 (six months and nine days before Parks’ death); OutKast, their producer and record labels paid Parks an undisclosed cash settlement.

  • 2005: Parks died of natural causes on October 24, 2005, at the age of 92, in her apartment on the east side of Detroit.

Photograph of Rosa Parks with Dr. Martin Luther King jr. (ca. 1955)
Photograph of Rosa Parks with Dr. Martin Luther King jr. (ca. 1955) Mrs. Rosa Parks altered the negro progress in Montgomery, Alabama, 1955, by the bus boycott she began. National Archives record ID: 306-PSD-65-1882 (Box 93). Source: Ebony Magazine
wiki/Rosa_Parks
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(1955) Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man.
Also on this day,

1934 | ‘Great Purge’ begins with assassination of Party leader as Sergei Kirov murdered
Sergei Kirov is gunned down at Communist Party headquarters in Leningrad. Many suspect Soviet leader Joseph Stalin is behind the assassination, though a connection will not be proved. Kirov’s death, however, marks the beginning of Stalin’s ‘Great Purge,’ in which a million or more people will be executed.
1959 | Antarctica treaty turns Antarctica into a scientific preserve
Twelve countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union, sign a treaty that prohibits any military activity on Antarctica. The agreement stipulates that the continent will be used only for scientific research. It will be considered the first arms control agreement of the Cold War.
1990 | Chunnel breaks through as Workers drill breakthrough hole in Chunnel project
England is now connected to the European mainland via a tunnel that runs deep under the English Channel. When it opens in 1994, the Chunnel project will have taken 13,000 workers about six years to complete the 31-mile long tunnel that stretches from the English town of Folkestone to Coquelles in France.

Today in History 12/01/17

Flags of the original 12 signatory nations of the Antarctic Treaty fly at McMurdo Station, Antarctica (© Rob Jones/National Science Foundation via Getty images)(1959) Treaty turns Antarctica into a scientific preserve
Twelve countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union, sign a treaty that prohibits any military activity on Antarctica. The agreement stipulates that the continent will be used only for scientific research. It will be considered the first arms control agreement of the Cold War.
The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System, regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. For the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all of the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. The treaty, entering into force in 1961 and having 53 parties as of 2016, sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, establishes freedom of scientific investigation and bans military activity on that continent. The treaty was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War. The Antarctic Treaty Secretariat headquarters is located in Buenos Aires Argentina, since September 2004.
Antarctic Treaty parties
[ORANGE] Parties with consulting status making a claim to Antarctic territory [YELLOW] Parties with consulting status reserving the right to make a territorial claim [BLUE] Other parties with consulting status [GREEN] Parties without consulting status [RED] Non-party UN member states and observers

wiki/Antarctic_Treaty_System
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Today in History 10/20 (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

The wreckage of a Convair 240 plane near McComb, Miss. Six were killed in the crash, including three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd. (© AP Photo)(1977) Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane goes down, killing six
The band’s chartered plane runs out of fuel due to a faulty engine and crashes in Mississippi. Singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines are killed, along with three crew members. Lynyrd Skynyrd would disband after the accident, with the remaining members reuniting a decade later.
Lynyrd Skynyrd, is an American rock band best known for popularizing the Southern rock genre during the 1970s. With roots tracing to the formation of My Backyard in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964, the band was also known by names such as The Noble Five and One Percent, before finally deciding on “Lynyrd Skynyrd” in 1969. The band gained worldwide recognition for its live performances and signature songs “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird”. At the peak of their success, band members Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines, died in an airplane crash in 1977, putting an abrupt end to the 1970s era of the band.
Movies: Freebird… The Movie
Lead singers: Ronnie Van Zant (1964 – 1977) · Johnny Van Zant (Since 1987)
Tours: One More from the Road Tour · Rock N Rebels Tour II
Awards: Grammy Hall of Fame (2009, 2008)

Trade ad for Lynyrd Skynyrd's single
Trade ad for Lynyrd Skynyrd’s single “Gimme Three Steps”.
wiki/Lynyrd_Skynyrd
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(1977) Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane goes down, killing six.
Also on this day,

1720 | Calico Jack protects the rum while Anne and Mary fight
Crossed swords and a grinning skull distinguish Calico Jack Rackham’s flag, and that’s just what pirate hunters find while prowling Jamaican waters. When they attack Pirate Jack’s ship, his female crew, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, return the fight while the men, drunk on rum, wait it out in the hold.
1947 | Hollywood’s ‘Red Scare’ as Cold War paranoia breeds hysteria
In Washington, DC, the House Un-American Activities Committee holds its first hearings into possible Communist infiltration of the US film industry. Soon after, a career-killing blacklist will be drawn up with the help of famous informants, and Hollywood will be held in the jaws of the ‘Red Scare.’
1973 | Sydney Opera House opens as an architectural wonder graces Australia
Queen Elizabeth II and Ben Blakeney, a Bennelong Aborigine descendant, help mark the official opening of a new and spectacular performance space seemingly caught in full sail at the tip of a Sydney Harbor peninsula. The breathtaking Sydney Opera House will become an Australian icon.

Today in History 10/20/17

Actor Robert Montgomery tells House investigators of Hollywood "reds" in Washington, October 23, 1947 (© Byron Rollins/AP)(1947) Cold War paranoia breeds Hollywood hysteria
In Washington, DC, the House Un-American Activities Committee holds its first hearings into possible Communist infiltration of the US film industry. Soon after, a career-killing blacklist will be drawn up with the help of famous informants, and Hollywood will be held in the jaws of the 'Red Scare.'
A "Red Scare" is promotion, real and imagined, of widespread fear by a society or state about a potential rise of communism, anarchism, or radical leftism. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States with this name. The First Red Scare, which occurred immediately after World War I, revolved around a threat from the American labor movement, anarchist revolution and political radicalism. The Second Red Scare, which occurred immediately after World War II, was preoccupied with national or foreign communists infiltrating or subverting U.S. society or the federal government.
First occurred: 1917
1919 Political Cartoon
Political cartoon from 1919 depicting the Russian revolution's impact on the Paris peace talks

wiki/Red_Scare
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