Today in History

Today in History Today is Friday, March 25, the 84th day of 2022. There are 281 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On March 25, 1931, in the so-called ‘œScottsboro Boys’� case, nine young Black men were taken off a train in Alabama, accused of raping two white women; after years of convictions, death sentences and imprisonment, the nine were eventually vindicated. On this date: In 1634, English colonists sent by Lord Baltimore arrived in present-day Maryland. In 1894, Jacob S. Coxey began leading an ‘œarmy’� of unemployed from Massillon (MA’-sih-luhn), Ohio, to Washington D.C., to demand help from the federal government. In 1911, 146 people, mostly young female immigrants, were killed when fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. in New York. In 1915, the U.S. Navy lost its first commissioned submarine as the USS F-4 sank off Hawaii, claiming the lives of all 21 crew members. In 1947, a coal-dust explosion inside the Centralia Coal Co. Mine No. 5 in Washington County, Illinois, claimed 111 lives; 31 men survived. In 1954, RCA announced it had begun producing color television sets at its plant in Bloomington, Indiana. In 1960, Ray Charles recorded ‘œGeorgia on My Mind’� as part of his ‘œThe Genius Hits the Road’� album in New York. In 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led 25,000 people to the Alabama state capitol in Montgomery after a five-day march from Selma to protest the denial of voting rights to Blacks. Later that day, civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo, a white Detroit homemaker, was shot and killed by Ku Klux Klansmen. In 1987, the Supreme Court, in Johnson v. Transportation Agency, ruled 6-3 that an employer could promote a woman over an arguably more-qualified man to help get women into higher-ranking jobs. In 1990, 87 people, most of them Honduran and Dominican immigrants, were killed when fire raced through an illegal social club in New York City. (An arsonist set the fire after being thrown out of the club following an argument with his girlfriend; Julio Gonzalez died in prison in 2016.) In 1996, an 81-day standoff by the anti-government Freemen began at a ranch near Jordan, Montana. In 2020, the Senate unanimously passed a $2.2 trillion economic rescue package steering aid to businesses, workers and health care systems engulfed by the coronavirus pandemic; the largest economic relief bill in U.S. history included direct payments to most Americans, expanded unemployment benefits and $367 billion for small businesses to keep making payroll while workers were forced to stay home. Ten years ago: President Barack Obama arrived in South Korea, where he visited the Demilitarized Zone separating the South from the communist North, telling American troops stationed nearby they were protectors of ‘œfreedom’s frontier.’� Pope Benedict XVI, on his first trip to Latin America, urged Mexicans to wield their faith against drug violence, poverty and other ills, celebrating Mass before a sea of worshippers in Silao. Five years ago: A scuffle broke out at Bolsa Chica State Beach in Southern California where supporters of President Donald Trump were marching when counter-protesters doused organizers with pepper spray. Stars and fans gathered for a public memorial to honor the late mother-daughter film stars Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher.