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Humanistic philosopher and psychologist Erich Fromm was born on this date in 1900 in Frankfurt, Germany. He was a student of the Talmud and used Jewish texts and imagery as touchstones for his political and psychological insights long after he left the world of Orthodox observance at the age of 26. Fromm’s attachment to Judaism […]
Read MoreOn this date in 1959, Pope John XXIII announced that he would be convening an Ecumenical Council — the first in almost a century — within the Catholic Church. The announcement of this “Second Vatican Council,” or Vatican II, shocked and disturbed the Church leadership as it implied that the Church was imperfect, thus contradicting […]
Read MoreHalf a million people participated in the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights on this date in 1987. The following year, Dr. Robert Eichberg and Jean O’Leary founded National Coming Out Day, which is observed annually on October 11th. Eichberg was a Brooklyn-born psychologist who lived in Los Angeles and New […]
Read MoreSigmund Rolat, a Holocaust child survivor (in the Częstochowa Ghetto and labor camps in Poland) who in 2013 founded POLIN, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews on the site of the Warsaw Ghetto, was born on this date in 1930.
Read MoreThe Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer company, or MGM, was founded on this date in 1924 when Marcus Loew, owner of the Loew’s theater chain, took control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures. MGM was the dominant Hollywood film studio through World War II, producing such classics as The Wizard of Oz, the originalBen Hur and the Charlton […]
Read MoreRosalind Franklin, who made key contributions to Crick and Watson’s formulation of the double-helix structure of DNA but received little credit for her work, died on this date in 1958 at age 37. Franklin was born in Notting Hill, London to a family involved in banking, government, trade union organizing and women’s suffrage. The family […]
Read MoreAmong those who perished when the ocean liner Titanic sank on this date in 1912 were Ida and Isidor Straus, co-owners with Nathan Straus of Macy’s and Abraham & Straus department stores. Ida (born 1849) was offered a place on a lifeboat but refused it, saying to her husband, “We have lived together for many years. Where […]
Read MoreMarvin Miller, who directed the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) from 1966 to 1983, was born on this date in 1917 in the Bronx. He was the leading economist and negotiator for the United Steelworkers when he was elected head of the MLBPA in 1966, and within two years had negotiated its first collective […]
Read MoreRadical journalist Amy Goodman, the co-creator and host of Democracy Now!, was born on this date in 1957. Democracy Now! has been broadcasting on Pacifica radio and other networks since 1996, giving in-depth coverage to peace and human rights struggles, corporate malfeasance, and numerous other pressing international issues of our time. Goodman was the first journalist to win […]
Read MoreThe clown prince of the New Left, Abbie Hoffman died by his own hand on this date in 1989 at the age of 52. Using ridicule and audacity against the political, military, and judicial systems that were helping to prosecute the Vietnam War, Hoffman worked to transform the anti-authoritarian sentiments of many young people of […]
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