1915: House votes down female suffrage

The House of Representatives, with a vote of 204 to 174, refused to submit a constitutional amendment providing "votes for women" to the states for ratification today.

"The vote, the second in the history of congress on the woman suffrage issue, came at the close of a day of oratory, during which the many speakers were listened to with frequent evidences of approval or disapproval by packed galleries," reported The Evening Tribune on January 13, 1915.

Suffragist leaders like Anna Howard Shaw and Carrie Chapman Catt said their fight was not over and "would be pressed forward and onward until every woman in America should have the right to cast a ballot." NOTE: The 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, was finally enacted in 1920.

Links to the Past
House Defeats Equal Suffrage
The Evening Tribune, January 13, 1915

Local Suffrage Leaders See No Blow To Cause
The Evening Gazette, January 13, 1915

Suffrage Now Before House
The Fort Wayne Sentinel, January 12, 1915

Remembering Edmund Hillary

Sir Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and beekeeper, died on Friday of heart failure at the age of 88. Hillary was well known for becoming the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest point, in 1953. The newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth knighted him soon after. He also headed the third team to reach the South Pole, and the first to bring motorized vehicles there, in 1958. In 1985 he accompanied U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong in a plane to the North Pole, where they landed, making Hillary the first man to touch both poles and the peak of Mount Everest.

His trip to the peak of Mount Everest, the event for which he is most famous, was a treacherous journey. The peak reaches 29,000 feet and requires months of planning. Hillary’s expedition set up base camp at 25,900 feet in March of 1953, and the explorers spent two months adjusting to the altitude. The main expedition then formed two two-man teams for the final climb. The first team, consisting of Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans, attempted the climb on May 26, but turned around after a technical problem with the oxygen supply system. Expedition leader Major John Hunt then sent Hillary’s team, consisting of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, on the morning of the 28th. They worked their way up the remaining portion of the mountain and stopped for the night with only a small portion of the climb to go. On the morning of the 29th, the two men scaled a 40-foot rock face by wedging inside a crack in the cliff and slowly working their way up. They reached the summit soon after. The men spent about 15 minutes at the peak before descending in victory.

Click on the links below to read about the accomplishments of Sir Edmund Hillary throughout his life.

Links to the Past
Mighty Everest Conquered, Coronation Gift for Elizabeth
The Post-Standard, June 2, 1953

Expedition Tops Everest As Gift for Coronation
Portsmouth Herald, June 2, 1953

Everest Conqueror Knighted
Winnipeg Free Press, June 8, 1953

Hillary Wins Pole Race
Hammond Times, January 3, 1958

40 years later, Hillary recalls climb
Pacific Stars and Stripes, May 26, 1993

1971: All in the Family premiers

All in the Family, starring Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Sally Struthers and Rob Reiner, debuted tonight on TV. "This one gets a great big plus for being different," the television page in the Syracuse Herald Journal reported on January 12, 1971. "It's based on Till Death Do Us Part, a highly successful and equally controversial BBC series about a bigot of a father, his liberal son-in-law, and a fairly quiet wife and daughter."

Links to the Past
All In The Family
Syracuse Herald Journal, January 12, 1971

CBS Series: Mixed Reaction
The Fresno Bee Republican, January 18, 1971

Comedy series scheduled
The Argus, January 3, 1971

1967: California cancer victim is frozen

Psychology professor Dr. James Bedford, a 73-year-old cancer victim who died today, has been frozen at 428 degrees below zero. "The experiment is being conducted by the Cryonics Society of California. When a cure for cancer is found, the body of the professor will be thawed and an attempt made to revive him," explained Pacific Stars and Stripes on January 21, 1967. NOTE: While Dr. B. Renault Able, the general practitioner who helped with the freezing process, was optimistic about reviving Bedford, other medical authorities called the procedure "naïve" and "absurd."

Links to the Past
Cancer Victim Waits for Cure – at 428 Below
Pacific Stars and Stripes, January 21, 1967

Cold Storage
Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, January 21, 1967

Doctors Rap Quick-Freeze Attempt
Pacific Stars and Stripes, January 24, 1967

Society maps freezeway to future
The Chronicle Telegram, January 20, 1967

1948: Law school must provide training to blacks, Supreme Court rules

The Supreme Court ruled today that the all-white law school at the University of Oklahoma must immediately provide training to black students that is equal to the education given to whites. Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher, an honor graduate of Langston University who was denied entrance to the law school under Oklahoma's separate school law, planned to enroll following the decision from the United States Supreme Court. However, the 1948 ruling didn't fully break the racial barrier at the University of Oklahoma's School of Law. "The university, which has not accepted a Negro student in its 56-year history, today told Mrs. Fisher her application was approved except for her race and pointed out a three-man faculty was ready to open law courses for Negroes only in the state capitol building at Oklahoma City," reported The Charleston Gazette on January 27, 1948.

Links to the Past
Oklahoma U. Law School Told To Admit Negroes
Oakland Tribune, January 12, 1948

Will Enter Jan. 19
The Ada Evening News, January 12, 1948

Negro Ruling Fails To Alter Texas Stand
The Austin Statesman, January 13, 1948

U.S. Supreme Court Holds Oklahoma Must Admit Negroes To Law School
Florence Morning News, January 13, 1948

New Law School Rejected by Negro
The Charleston Gazette, January 27, 1948

1942: Roosevelt creates War Labor Board

"President Roosevelt tonight supplanted the 10-months-old national defense mediation board with a 12-man war-labor board to adjust labor disputes for the duration of the emergency," reported The Charleston Gazette on January 12, 1942. The board, which would handle labor-management disputes in the U.S. during World War II to prevent labor strikes that might impede the war effort, was made up of "four representatives of the government; four of labor, and four of industry."

Links to the Past
12 Appointed As New War Labor Board
The Charleston Gazette, January 13, 1942

Continued: 12 Men Are Selected


Willkie Offered War Labor Board Umpire's Post
The Fresno Bee Republican, January 13, 1942

1911: Taft asks for $5 million for Panama Canal

President Taft sent a request to Congress today for $5 million for the fortification of the Panama Canal. "In his message to congress the president said: 'The canal, when completed, will afford the only convenient route for water communication between our Atlantic and Pacific coasts and virtually will be part of the national defense. Its control will greatly contribute to our peace, safety and prosperity as a nation," informed The Fort Wayne News on January 12, 1911.

Links to the Past
Taft Wants Money To Fortify Canal
The Lethbridge Daily Herald, January 12, 1911

Panama Canal Fortification
The Fort Wayne News, January 12, 1911

Continued: Panama Canal