Video: 'History's Mysteries The Strange Case Of Lizzie Borden (History Channel Documentary)'
(Thursday, August 4, 1892, approximately 9:00-11:00 a.m. EST) — Businessman Andrew Borden and his wife, Abby, the father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden, were axed to death today in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Continue reading Father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden are found axed to death in their Fall River, Massachusetts home 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Aug 4 1892)
Video: 'Separate But Equal: Homer Plessy and the Case That Upheld the Color Line'
(Tuesday, June 7, 1892; during the Civil rights movement (1865–1896)) — Homer Plessy, a racially mixed shoemaker from New Orleans, was arrested today for refusing to leave a whites-only car of the East Louisiana Railroad, committing an act of civil disobedience to challenge one of Louisiana’s racial segregation laws and bring a test case to force the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of segregation laws.
Plessy, born a free person of color in a family of French-speaking Louisiana Creole people, had bought a first-class ticket on the East Louisiana Railroad running between the Press Street Depot in New Orleans and Covington, Louisiana, an approximately thirty-mile journey that would have taken two hours. He sat in the “whites only” passenger car.
When conductor J. J. Dowling came to collect Plessy’s ticket, he told Plessy to leave the “whites only” car. Plessy refused. The conductor stopped the train, walked back to the depot, and returned with private detective Chris C. Cain. Cain and other passengers forcibly removed Plessy from the train.
Video: 'Louisiana board pardons Homer Plessy ahead of the 125th anniversary of Plessy v. Ferguson'
Cain then arrested Plessy and took him to the Orleans Parish jail. The Comité des Citoyens arrived at the jail, arranged for him to be released, and paid his $500 bond the following day by offering up a committee member’s house as collateral.
Judge John Howard Ferguson ruled against Plessy in a state criminal district court, upholding the law on the grounds that Louisiana had the right to regulate railroads within its borders.
Plessy appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard the case four years later in 1896 and ruled 7–1 in favor of Louisiana, establishing the “separate but equal” doctrine as a legal basis for the Jim Crow laws that would remain in effect into the 1950s and 1960s.
Video: 'James Naismith & the Invention of Basketball'
(Friday, January 15, 1892) — The “Original 13 Rules of Basket Ball” — devised in December 1891 by James Naismith, a graduate instructor at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts — were published today in the school’s magazine, The Triangle. Continue reading James Naismith’s original rules of basketball published for the first time 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 15 1892)
Video: 'Island of Hope, Island of Tears (DVD Print)'
(New Year’s Day, Friday, January 1, 1892, shortly after an 8:00 a.m. EST inspection) — Ellis Island, a federally-owned island in New York Harbor that was the busiest immigrant inspection station in the United States, formally opened today. Continue reading Ellis Island Immigrant Station formally opens in New York Harbor 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 1 1892)
Video: 'Did You Know: Abraham Lincoln's First Vice President'
(Independence Day, Saturday, July 4, 1891, 8:15 p.m. local time) — Hannibal Hamlin, the 15th vice president of the United States from 1861 to 1865 during the administration of President Abraham Lincoln, which included all but the last month of the American Civil War, died tonight in Bangor, Maine. He was 81. Continue reading Former U.S. Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, 81, dies in Bangor, Maine 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jul 4 1891)
Video: '29th December 1890: Lakota Sioux massacred at Wounded Knee'
(Monday, December 29, 1890, morning local time; during the Wounded Knee Massacre, part of the Ghost Dance War and the Sioux Wars and the American Indian Wars) — Nearly 300 Lakota men, women, and children were massacred by soldiers of the United States Army today near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. 25 soldiers also died.
Continue reading Nearly 300 Lakota Sioux slaughtered by federal troops at Wounded Knee, South Dakota 130 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 29 1890)
Video: 'A KID EXPLAINS SITTING BULL'
(Monday, December 15, 1890, between 12 noon and 1:00 p.m. local time) — Sitting Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against U.S. government policies, and 11 other tribe members were killed today in Grand River, South Dakota, during a confrontation with Indian police.
Continue reading Hunkpapa Lakota leader Sitting Bull killed in skirmish with Indian agency police 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 15 1890)
Video: 'Dwight D. Eisenhower Biography: Military General and U.S. President'
(Tuesday, October 14, 1890) — Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961, was born today in Denison, Texas. Continue reading U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower born in Denison, Texas 130 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 14 1890)
Video: '6th August 1890: William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair'
(Wednesday, August 6, 1890, 6:38 a.m. local time) — The first legal execution by electric chair in the world was carried out today as William Kemmler, 30, of Buffalo, New York, was put to death at Auburn Prison in New York for the ax murder of his common law wife, Tillie Ziegler. Continue reading First execution by electric chair carried out at Auburn Prison in New York 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Aug 6 1890)
Video: 'Idaho Statehood Day 1990 (KTVB Boise)'
(Thursday, July 3, 1890, 10:00 a.m. in Washington, D.C.) — Idaho, located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, became the 43rd state today with the signing of the act of admission by President Benjamin Harrison. Continue reading Idaho admitted as 43rd state admitted to the Union 130 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jul 3 1890)
