1955: Rosa Parks refuses to give up seat

Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, today for disregarding the municipal segregation ordinance when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. Her refusal brought on the Montgomery Bus Boycott and challenged segregated transportation in the south.

"While thousands of other Negroes boycotted Montgomery city lines in protest, Mrs. Rosa Parks was fined $14 in police court today for disregarding a driver's order to move to the rear of a bus last Thursday," reported The Bridgeport Telegram on December 6, 1955.

NOTE: The protest was not an easy battle, but it caught the attention of newspapers across the country and the National City Bus Lines in Montgomery. In 1956, newspapers estimated 65 percent of the bus company's patrons were black and 95 percent of the blacks in Montgomery participated in the 10-week boycott. As a result, National City Bus Lines was forced to hike fares and limit service just to break even.

Links to the Past
Arrest May Bring Court Test Of Dixie City's Bus Segregation
The Bridgeport Telegram, December 6, 1955

Six Negro Ministers Arrested In Boycott Of Alabama Buses
Ironwood Daily Globe, February 22, 1956

Parks liberated the South
Syracuse Herald Journal, June 21, 1999

Rosa Parks – a polite ‘no’…
The Chronicle Telegram, January 19, 1988

Tragedy in Tacoma

On Sunday, four police officers were shot to death while sitting in a coffee shop in Parkland, Washington (a suburb of Tacoma). The suspect, 37-year-old Maurice Clemmons, has not been apprehended as of this writing. This terrible tragedy is the third such mass police shooting in 2009.

A Historical Perspective

On March 21, 2009, four Oakland police officers were shot to death by a felon wanted for parole violations. "A 26-year-old parolee wanted on a parole violation opened fire on [Officer John] Hege and 40-year-old Sgt. Mark Dunakin after they pulled him over Saturday afternoon, police said. Dunakin died that day. Hege was hospitalized with a major brain injury and survived through the night, his family said," reported the Daily News Record on March 23, 2009. "Suspect Lovelle Mixon was slain later Saturday afternoon in a gunfight with police that left two more officers dead. Thomason identified those officers as Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43, and Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 35."

Then on April 4, 2009, three Pittsburgh police officers were killed by white supremacist Richard Poplawski after responding to a 911 call. "A 911 call that brought two police officers to a home where they were ambushed, and where a third was also later killed during a four-hour siege, was precipitated by a fight between the gunman and his mother over a dog urinating in the house," informed the Bedford Gazette on April 6, 2009. " The suspect was concerned that with the collapse of the economy, police could no longer protect citizens, and that the Obama presidency would call for the seizure of privately-owned guns.

I (and the OurNewspaperARCHIVE Team) offer my condolances to the family, friends, and other officers in Lakewood, Parkland, and Tacoma after this tragedy.

Links to the Past
Police: Fourth Oakland Officer Dies After Shooting
Daily News Record, March 23, 2009

Argument Preceded Ambush of Police
Bedford Gazette, April 6, 2009

Officers remembered as heroes
Bedford Gazette, April 10, 2009

1969: Draft lottery for Vietnam

The first military draft lottery in 27 years began today, assigning draft dates for a half-million young men. “There will be a big board with numbers and dates being posted one by one; a hot glare of lights; standing men and women, intently jotting down every announcement and handing the notes to scurrying messengers,” explained The News-Palladium on December 1, 1969. “It may look more like a hot day in the stock exchange than a December night at Selective Service.

Links to the Past
Young men will be watching…
Winona Daily News, December 1, 1969

Fate Of Half Million Men…
The News-Palladium, December 1, 1969

How Draft Lottery Works
San Antonio Light, December 1, 1969

1958: Our Lady of the Angels fire

“An explosion threw killing flames through a Roman Catholic grade school today and one official estimated the death toll at close to 60,” reported the San Mateo Times on December 1, 1958. By the time final counts were complete, 92 students and three nuns had lost their lives to the conflagration. NOTE: The cause of the fire is unknown to this day, although most evidence points to arson by a student at the school who confessed and later recanted. The school was not required to comply with current safety codes due to a grandfather clause in the law and did not have many safety devices required in other structures, which may have saved lives.

Links to the Past
60 Die, 74 Hurt…
San Mateo Times, December 1, 1958

Giant Probe Considers Arson…
The Bridgeport Post, December 2, 1958

Smoker Suspected In Fire
Cedar Rapids Gazette, December 2, 1958

1904: World's Fair ends in St. Louis

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, which commemorates the centennial of the acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase, will end today in St. Louis after seven months with an international parade and fireworks. "Promptly at midnight the illumination, that has amazed millions of visitors with its grandeur, will be turned off and the World's Fair will have formally ended," reported The Galveston Daily News on December 1, 1904. NOTE: A number of foods were supposedly invented at the Louisiana Purchase Expositon, though it is suspected that they were already invented and merely popularized at the fair. Among these are hamburgers, hot dogs, peanut butter and iced tea.

Links to the Past
Closing Day of The World's Fair
The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, December 1, 1904

The Last Day
The Galveston Daily News, December 1, 1904

What The Fair Commemorates…
Anaconda Standard, May 1, 1904