03/25 Open Thread - Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade

On 25 March 1807, King George III signed the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade into law, thereby outlawing trading in enslaved people within in the British Empire effective May 1, 1807. This was neither the first nor the last act of some government or another intended to interfere with the trade in or ownership of enslaved persons. However, it was a good thing, as far as it went and was the reason that this date was used for the typically wordy UN International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire killed 146 garment workers on March 25, 1911. It was one of the deadliest industrial disasters in US history (not counting mining disasters) and led to some legislation, improved safety standards, and helped the ILGWU grow. It also had a positive impact on the unionization movement in the US.

03/25/1954 - The first practical solar cell was demonstrated 70 years ago by Bell Labs. (Remember them?)

03/25/1961 - Robert Noyce was granted a US patent for an integrated circuit.

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On this day in history:

0421 – The city of Venice, Italy was founded

1306 – Robert the Bruce became King of Scots

1409 – The Council of Pisa convened, to depose some popes and create a new one

1410 – The Yongle Emperor of Ming launched his first campaign against the Mongols

1584 – Sir Walter Raleigh was granted a patent to colonize Virginia.

1655 – Saturn's largest moon was discovered

1725 – Bach's chorale cantata Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern was first performed

1792 -- "La Marseillaise" was composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.

1807 - Trading in enslaved people was banned in the British Empire

1811 – Percy Bysshe Shelley was expelled from the University of Oxford

1829 -- Charles Fremantle arrived off the coast of Western Australia.

1846 -- Open conflict began in the Mexico-Texas no man's land triggering the Mexican--American War.

1859 -- British and French engineers broke ground for the Suez Canal.

1894 – Coxey's Army set out for Washington, D.C.

1898 -- The United States declared war on Spain.

1911 – The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire killed 146 garment workers.

1915 -- The Battle of Gallipoli began with the invasion of Turkey at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.

1916 -- Anzac Day was commemorated for the first time on the first anniversary of the landing at Anzac Cove.

1919 – The Tetiev pogrom occurred

1920 -- At the San Remo conference, the main Allied Powers of World War I divvied up the spoils creating no end of trouble.

1931 – The Scottsboro Boys were arrested

1944 -- The United Negro College Fund was incorporated.

1945 -- The Nazi occupation army surrendered and left Northern Italy

1945 -- The United Nations Conference on International Organization began in San Francisco

1953 -- Francis Crick and James D. Watson wrote about the double helix structure of DNA.

1954 -- The first practical solar cell was demonstrated by Bell Labs.

1957 – United States Customs seized copies of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl"

1957 – The European Economic Community was established

1959 -- The Saint Lawrence Seaway officially opened to shipping.

1961 -- Robert Noyce was granted a patent for an integrated circuit.

1965 – The Civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery ended

1974 -- A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrew the fascist Estado Novo regime and established a democratic government.

1990 -- Violeta Chamorro became the first woman President of Nicaragua.

2015 -- Riots broke out in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray in police custody.

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Some people who were born on this day:

Everyone knows what a curve is, until he has studied enough mathematics to become confused through the countless number of possible exceptions.

~~ Felix Klein

1538 – Christopher Clavius, mathematician and astronomer,

1599 -- Oliver Cromwell, general and politician. Also a genocidal theofascist.

1849 -- Felix Klein, a mathematician and academic. Famous for his bottle.

1867 – Gutzon Borglum, sculptor, designed Mount Rushmore, desecrating mountain

1867 – Arturo Toscanini, cellist and conductor

1872 – Horatio Nelson Jackson, automotive pioneer and physician, part of first team to drive a car across the USA

1874 -- Guglielmo Marconi, an inventor who developed Marconi's law and radio.

1881 – Béla Bartók, pianist and composer

1903 – Frankie Carle, pianist and bandleader

1904 – Pete Johnson, boogie-woogie and jazz pianist

1906 -- William J. Brennan, Jr., a jurist.

1906 – A. J. P. Taylor, historian and academic

1908 -- Edward R. Murrow, a journalist

1912 -- Earl Bostic, a saxophonist

1917 -- Ella Fitzgerald, a singer, songwriter, and actress

1920 -- Robert Q. Lewis, a game show host and actor

1923 – Bonnie Guitar, singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer

1925 – Flannery O'Connor, short story writer and novelist

1928 -- Vassar Clements, a fiddler (Old and in the Way)

1932 – Penelope Gilliatt, novelist, short story writer, and critic

1933 -- Jerry Leiber, A songwriter and producer. Half of Lieber & Stoller

1934 – Johnny Burnette, singer and songwriter

1934 – Gloria Steinem, feminist activist

1938 – Hoyt Axton, singer, songwriter and actor

1942 – Aretha Franklin, singer, songwriter, and pianist

1945 -- Stu Cook, A bass player, songwriter, and producer

1945 -- Björn Ulvaeus, a singer-songwriter and producer

1947 – Elton John, singer, songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor

1966 – Jeff Healey, singer, songwriter, and guitarist

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Some people who died on this day:

“It will not save one single job in the long run to protect non-competitive industries.”

~~ Anders Celsius

1738 – Turlough O'Carolan, harp player and composer

1744 -- Anders Celsius, an astronomer, physicist, and mathematician

1800 -- William Cowper, a poet and hymnodist

1918 – Claude Debussy, composer

1931 – Ida B. Wells, journalist and activist

1944 -- George Herriman, a cartoonist with a krazy kat.

1988 -- Clifford D. Simak, a journalist and author

1990 -- Dexter Gordon, a saxophonist, composer, and actor

1995 -- Ginger Rogers, an actress, singer, and dancer. Friend of Fred.

1999 -- Roger Troutman, singer, songwriter, and producer (Zapp and Parliament-Funkadelic)

2006 – Buck Owens, singer, songwriter, and guitarist

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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

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