In 1924 the US occupation of the Dominican Republic ends after eight years – part of a pattern of US intervention in Latin American affairs. In 1945 the United Nations charter is signed by 50 nations in San Francisco, an attempt to better manage conflict in the world. It has had mixed results. In 1948 Shirley Jackson’s subtle but yet terrifying short story- The Lottery – is published in the New Yorker magazine. And in 1977 Elvis Presley performed in his last concert in Indianapolis, Indiana. Farewell to the King:(
There were three momentous US Supreme Court decisions on this date – 3 strikes for liberty. In the 2003 Lawrence v Texas sodomy laws were declared unconstitutional, laws that had been used to harrass gays. In the 2013 United States v Windsor decision the strict definition of marriage that exclude same sex unions was declared unconstitutional And in 2015 the decision in Obergefell v Hodges decision which struck down the right of states to deny same-sex marriages. And thus the right for gays to marry was freed from the shackles of government interference.
On this date the world welcomed in American writer and Nobel Prize winner Pearl S Buck (1892), Elvis manager Colonel Tom Parker (1909), pioneering female golfer and basketball player Babe Didrickson Zaharias (1911), and Chilean president Salvador Allende (1908), who ended up victim of a CIA-backed military coup in 1973.
This was the date of passing for Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizzaro in 1541 who was assassinated by one of his own men in Peru. This date also saw the deaths of King George IV of England (1830), fashion designer Liz Claiborne (2007), and American director, producer, screenwriter Nora Ephron (2012) who brought us Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally, and Sleepless in Seattle.
This is World Refrigeration Day, started in 2019 to recognize the benefits of refrigeration (food) and to honor the birthday of that other temperature setter Lord Kelvin.
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