Check out This Day in History for Nov. 3, in MainStream’s daily look at significant progressive, intersectional historical events.
1793: Olympe de Gouges, 45, was far ahead of her time: she advocated against slavery, for women’s rights, and for children’s right to inheritances even if born out of marriage, more than two centuries ago. Yet she was declared a threat to the ideals of the French Revolution and was arrested, tried and executed all within 24 hours on this day.
Above, Olympe de Gouges, Carol Moseley Braun, Tammy Baldwin, Sarah McBride, and One World Trade Center
1838: The Times of India, which will grow to be the largest English-language daily print newspaper in the world, is founded with the name of The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce.
1956: Somewhere between 275 and 1,200 Palestinians are executed by the Israeli military in the Khan Yunis massacre in the Gaza Strip, undertaken as part of Israel’s effort to root out fedayeens, or militants, loyal to Egypt. Israel was working alongside France and Great Britain to invade Egypt.
1956: The “The Wizard of Oz” is broadcast on television for the first time since its release in 1939, drawing 45 million viewers.
1957: A stray dog named Laika becomes the first-ever animal to orbit the earth, launched in a capsule by the Soviet Union a few days after the country’s successful Sputnik launch. No provisions were made to bring Laika back to earth, and she lived only a few hours into the flight because her capsule lots its heat shields and overheated.
1964: Voters who live in Washington, D.C., are permitted to participate in the vote for President and Vice President for the first time since 1790. D.C. residents had not been allowed to vote in federal elections before because D.C. is not an actual state; the Twenty-Third Amendment allowed them to vote for the top two offices in the land, but not for any other federal positions. The district is considered a key stronghold for Democratic politicians historically.
1969: Black Solidarity Day happens for the first time ever, encouraging Black Americans to refran from work, school and shopping as a means to socio-economic inequality between Blacks and whites. The tradition was started by the New York City’s Black Solidarity Committee of teachers and community leaders. Founded by professor and Panamanian native Carlos Russell, the day is still recognized among many Caribbean and Panamanian communities in the United States.
1970: U.S. President Richard Nixon popularizes the term “silent majority” in a television and radio speech where he promises to begin gradually removing troops from Vietnam. Though the phrase would be used later by Roland Reagan to refer to conservative votres, Nixon used it to refer to Americans who supported the U.S. keeping its commitment to help South Vietnam become self-standing.
1992: Carol Moseley Braun becomes the first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate after defeating incumbent Democrat Alan Dixon in the primary and besting Republican challenger Richard Williamson.
1998: Wisconsinite Tammy Baldwin becomes the first openly gay Congressperson to win election, when she defeats Republican Josephine Musser for a seat vacated by moderate Democrat. She would be elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012 and remains in office today.
2014: The 94-story One World Trade Center, built to replace the World Trade Center towers brought down by suicide attackers in 9-11, 2001, opens, when more than 3,000 Americans died in a multi-part attack. It’s the tallest building in the country, and the seventh-tallest in the world.
2020: Oregon voters make the state the first to decriminalize drugs. Measure 110, approved handily by voters in a referendum, makes small amounts of drug possession a civil infraction, similar to a traffic ticket. The change, which takes effect in 2021, also legalizes the use of psilocybin for mental health treatment.Â
2020: Sarah McBride becomes the first-ever openly transgender person elected to a state Senate seat, when she defeats Republican Steve Washington for the Delaware State Senate. McBride will go on to become the first openly transgender person elected to Congress in 2024.
Photos courtesy Wikimedia Commons
