On August 24, 1954, the US Communist Control Act went into effect. This outlawed the Communist Party in the US. In reality, it did much more, effectively outlawing democracy in this country and destroying the First Amendment. Mind you, we never had a democracy or anything similar, but this act made it clear that it cannot and will not ever happen here, and destroyed the myth that the US governs by the consent of the people. Similarly, we've never really had any rights under the First Amendment, but this act destroyed the myth that we do. The First Amendment to the US constitution says:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
and has been interpreted by the US courts as creating, presuming , implying or including a "Right of Free Association". Of course, we have none of those rights, it is a tissue of lies and quite a thin one at that. The act also makes an absolute mockery of the laughable propaganda fiction that we have free elections, or something vaguely resembling democracy. You cannot pretend to have either free elections or a democratic form of government when you can and do outlaw parties and organizations either by law, as in this case, or by assassinating its leaders and members, framing them for crimes and seizing or destroying their property as we have done so many times in the past.
On August 24, 1967, Abbie Hoffman and assorted Yippies exposed the enormity of the petty greed and avarice of our capitalist masters by throwing handfuls of single dollar bills out onto the floor of the stock exchange. All business ceased as the putative savants and masters of the market and the economy ran hither and thither scrambling and scrabbling for for the price of a couple of big macs. There was the very essence of the US exposed in all of its hollow soullessness for all of the world to see.
On this day in history:
0410 – The Visigoths under king Alaric I began to pillage Rome. 1215 – Pope Innocent III issued a bull declaring Magna Carta invalid. 1349 – Six thousand Jews were killed in Mainz after being blamed for the bubonic plague. 1682 – William Penn received the area that is now the state of Delaware, and added it to his colony of Pennsylvania, just like that. 1814 – British troops invaded Washington, D.C. and Burned it. 1816 – The Treaty of St. Louis was signed in St. Louis. Quelle surprise. 1820 – There was a Constitutionalist insurrection at Oporto, 1821 – The Treaty of Córdoba was signed in Córdoba, now Veracruz, ending the Mexican War of Independence from Spain. 1857 – The Panic of 1857 began, setting off an economic crises in the US. They are a periodic affliction in the US from which nobody ever seems to learn, or do they? 1891 – Thomas Edison patented the motion picture camera. 1909 – Workers started pouring concrete for the Panama Canal. 1932 – Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the US non-stop 1936 – The Australian Antarctic Territory was created. 1949 – The treaty creating NATO went into effect. 1950 – Edith Sampson became the first black U.S. delegate to the UN 1954 – The Communist Control Act went into effect, outlawing the American Communist Party. 1967 – Led by Abbie Hoffman, the Youth International Party temporarily disrupted trading at the New York Stock Exchange by throwing dollar bills from the viewing gallery, causing trading to cease as brokers scramble to grab them. 1991 – Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. 1991 – Ukraine declared itself independent from the Soviet Union. 2006 – The International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefined the term "planet" such that Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet, perhaps Grumpy.
Born this day in:
“If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.” -- Howard Zinn
1552 – Lavinia Fontana, painter and educator 1556 – Sophia Brahe, horticulturalist and astronomer 1759 – William Wilberforce, politician, leader of movement to ban slave trade 1787 – James Weddell, sailor, hunter, and explorer 1872 – Max Beerbohm, essayist, parodist, and caricaturist ( 1890 – Duke Kahanamoku, swimmer, actor, and surfer 1897 – Fred Rose, pianist, songwriter, and publisher 1898 – Malcolm Cowley, American novelist, poet, literary critic (d. 1989) 1899 – Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator 1902 – Carlo Gambino, businessman 1905 – Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, singer, songwriter ,and guitarist 1915 – Wynonie Harris, singer and guitarist 1921 – Eric Simms, ornithologist and conservationist 1922 – Howard Zinn, historian, author, educator, and activist 1924 – Alyn Ainsworth, singer and conductor 1924 – Louis Teicher, pianist 1926 – Nancy Spero, painter and activist 1930 – Jackie Brenston, singer, songwriter, and saxophonist 1938 – David Freiberg, singer and bass player 1938 – Mason Williams, guitarist and composer 1942 – Jimmy Soul, pop-soul singer 1945 – Ronee Blakley, singer, songwriter, producer, and actress 1945 – Molly Duncan, saxophonist 1945 – Ken Hensley, singer, songwriter, and musician 1945 – Marsha P. Johnson, gay liberation activist and drag queen 1947 – Jim Fox, rock drummer and organist 1951 – Danny Joe Brown, singer, songwriter, and musician 1953 – Ron Holloway, saxophonist 1957 – Jeffrey Daniel, singer, songwriter, and dancer 1979 – Kaki King, guitarist and composer
Died this day in:
[T]he production of heat alone is not sufficient to give birth to the impelling power: it is necessary that there should also be cold; without it, the heat would be useless. -- Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot
1217 – Eustace the Monk, black magician, Benedictine Monk, Pirate, and Privateer 1540 – Parmigianino, rather cheesy painter and etcher 1595 – Thomas Digges, mathematician and astronomer 1832 – Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, French physicist and engineer (b. 1796) 1888 – Rudolf Clausius, German physicist and mathematician (b. 1822) 1923 – Kate Douglas Wiggin, author and educator 1932 – Kate M. Gordon, activist 1940 – Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, technician and inventor, invented the Nipkow disk 1943 – Simone Weil, philosopher and activist 1978 – Louis Prima, singer, songwriter, trumpet player, and actor
Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: William Wilberforce Day International Strange Music Day (Please define same) International Day Against Intolerance, Discrimination and Violence Based on Musical Preferences, Lifestyle and Dress (Zoot suit riots?) National Waffle Day (US) National Peach Pie Day (US) Can Opener Day (nickel? dime?) National Knife Day (Hola, Az!)
Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies ;-)