This Day in History...
On this day in 1957, racial desegregation took centre stage when federal troops were dispatched to Little Rock, Arkansas, to maintain order and enforce the right of black students to attend the local public high school.
African American students walk onto the campus of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, escorted by the National Guard, September 1957.
Historic Events:- Plummeting gold prices led to a panic known as Black Friday, when U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, after learning of an attempt by Jay Gould and James Fisk to drive up the gold market, ordered $4 million of government gold to be sold on the market. (1869)
- Saigo Takamori, a hero of the Meiji Restoration, was killed after reluctantly leading a rebellion against the Meiji government. (1877)
- Don Budge won the U.S. Open, becoming the first player to win a grand slam title in tennis. (1938)
- The first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Enterprise, was launched by the United States. (1960)
- Children's author Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, died at age 87. (1991)
Today's Birthday...
American puppeteer Jim Henson, born this day in 1936, was the creator of the Muppets (a meld of “marionettes” and “puppets”), whose characters included Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big Bird, and the Cookie Monster.
Other Notables:- John Marshall: the fourth chief justice of the United States and principal founder of the U.S. system of constitutional law, including the doctrine of judicial review, was born. (1755)
- F. Scott Fitzgerald: one of the best known American authors of the 1920s and '30s and is closely associated with the optimism and excesses of that era's "Jazz Age." Authored The Great Gatsby, among others. (1896)