by Susan | Jun 5, 2016 | this day in peace and justice history
June 5, 1972 Jane Briggs Hart, the wife of Senator Philip A. Hart (D-Michigan), informed the Internal Revenue Service that she wouldn’t pay some of her taxes; instead, she deposited her quarterly estimated tax of $6,200 in a special bank account. She wrote: “I...
by Susan | Jun 4, 2016 | this day in peace and justice history
June 4, 1939 During what became known as the “Voyage of the Damned,” the SS St. Louis, carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees from Germany to the U.S., was turned away from the Florida coast. The ship, also denied permission to dock in Cuba, eventually returned to...
by Susan | Jun 3, 2016 | this day in peace and justice history
June 3, 1839 In Humen, China, Lin Tse-hsü destroyed 20,000 chests (about 1.2 tons) of opium confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with a casus belli to open hostilities, resulting in the First Opium War. In the 17th and 18th Century the Western demand...
by Susan | Jun 2, 2016 | this day in peace and justice history
June 2, 1774 One of the Intolerable Acts, the Quartering Act, was enacted, allowing a governor in colonial America to house British soldiers in uninhabited houses, outhouses, barns, or other buildings if suitable quarters are not provided. This eventually lead to...
by Susan | Jun 1, 2016 | this day in peace and justice history
June 1, 1950 Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R–Maine) stepped forward to denounce Senator Joe McCarthy for his reckless anti-Communist demagoguery. Sen. Smith’s speech was titled a “Declaration of Conscience.” Senate Republican leaders punished her by removing her as a...
by Susan | May 31, 2016 | this day in peace and justice history
May 31, 1931 An organized mob of Sinhalese origin burned the Jaffna Public Library, in Sri Lanka. At the time of its destruction, the library was one of the biggest in Asia, containing over 97,000 books and manuscripts. For the Tamil minority, the devastated library...
