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Morning Open Thread: from Riots in Canada to Ella Fitzgerald to Attacks on Women's Rights [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-04-25
APRIL is
Celebrate Diversity Month
& National Poetry Month
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"Exclusion is derived from fear, ignorance,
and power, whilst inclusion is derived
from love, compassion, and respect."
— Michelle Emson,
Documentary Filmmaker
and Human Rights Activist
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April 25 is:
DNA Day: April 25, 1953 –Francis Crick and James Watson publish Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid describing the double helix structure of DNA. They gave only minimal acknowledgement to Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins
Thank a Plumber Day
Red Hat Society Day: April 25, 1999 – The Red Hat Society starts with two chapters. Sue Ellen Cooper’s impulsive purchase of an old red fedora in a thrift shop, because she had read the poem “When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple” by Jenny Joseph, makes her decide to give a dear friend a red hat for her birthday, and an international movement is born
Sue Ellen Cooper
License Plate Day: April 25, 1901 – A bill requiring motor vehicles to be registered with the state was signed into law by New York Governor Benjamin Odell Jr. The first vehicular license plate was issued by New York state to George F. Chamberlain on May 2, 1901.
1913 New York license plate
World Malaria Day: WHO Member States instituted this day during the World Health Assembly of 2007.
Zucchini Bread Day: ‘Zucchini’ originated from the Italian word ‘zucca,’ meaning squash.
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Australia, Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Cook Islands, New Zealand, Niue, Northfolk Island and Tonga – ANZAC Day
Egypt – Sinai Liberation Day
Faroe Islands – Flag Day
Italy – Liberation Day (WWII)
North Korea – People’s Army Foundation Day
Portugal – Dia do 25 de Abril (Liberation Day – 1974 “Carnation Revolution” overthrows the Estado Novo regime)
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404 BCE – The Spartan fleet threatens to cut Athens off from its grain source. The Athenian fleet rushes after them. Through cunning strategy, Lysander defeats the Athenians at the Battle of Aegospotami, destroying 168 ships and capturing some three or four thousand Athenian sailors. Only 12 Athenian ships escape, several sailing to Cyprus, carrying the “strategos” (general) Conon, who wants to avoid facing the judgment of the Athenian Assembly. After months of food shortages, Athens chooses surrender over starvation on this day
775 – Battle of Bagrevand: The forces of the Armenian princes, Smbat VII Bagratuni and Mushegh VI Mamikonian, who were rebelling against the Abbasid Caliphate are beaten decisively by the Abbasid army led by Amir ibn Isma’il
1644 – The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming dynasty China, commits suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng
1792 – Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine
1829 – Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the Australia’s western coast
HMS Challenger
1840 – Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky born, major Russian composer
1849 – Montreal Riots: The Parliament buildings are burned by Tory rioters outraged by the Rebellion Losses Bill enacted by members of the Legislative Assembly and given assent by the Governor General, James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin. The Province of Lower Canada (now the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the southern part of Quebec ) had suffered losses in the Lower Canada Rebellion. The Province of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) had also suffered losses in the Upper Canada Rebellion. Both rebellions were sparked by frustration over severe economic hardships, and the corruption and injustice of local non-elective governments, which were not being addressed by the distant rulers in Britain. While neither rebellion was successful, they did lead to the Act of Union in 1841, which united Upper and Lower Canada under one government as the Province of Canada. With the British North American Act of 1867, the confederation of the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia formed the sovereign dominion of Canada
Montreal Riots — Burning of Parliament —
painting by Joseph Légaré
1850 – Luise Adolpha Le Beau born, German composer of classical music and pianist. In 1878, she founded her “private music course for daughters of the educated classes.” These lessons were aimed at preparing women for job opportunities as piano teachers.
1853 – John F. Stevens born, American chief civil engineer of the Panama Canal
1859 – British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal
1873 – Howard Garis born, American author of the Uncle Wiggily children’s stories
1873 – Walter de la Mare born, prolific English poet, short story writer, and novelist; best remembered for his poem, ‘The Listeners’ and his subtle psychological horror stories
1887 – Kojo Tovalou Houénou born in Porto-Novo (now part of Benin), Dahomean critic of France’s colonial empire in Africa. Through his mother, he was related to Béhanzin, the last king of the Kingdom of Dahomey, which existed from 1600 until 1894, when the French won the Second Franco-Dahomean War, and annexed Dahomey into their colonial territory of French West Africa. He was sent to France at age 13 for his education, where he studied medicine, and earned a law degree. In 1915, Houénou was one of the few Africans to be awarded French citizenship, because of his medical service in the French army during WWI. After the war, he was admitted to the bar, and became part of the intellectual community in Paris. Toward the end of 1921, he returned to Dahomey for the first time since 1900. Seeing the poverty that existed in the colony and particularly following the 1923 riots in Porto-Novo, Houénou grew increasingly critical of the French administration. He began to write and speak for gradual reform of the French colonial administration, and returned to Paris. There he became embroiled in what became an international incident. Houénou was having a drink a club in Montmartre, when he was attacked by Americans who were angered by a black man being in the club. The club owner responded to the struggle by forcibly removing Houénou and another person of African descent from the club. The French press made the incident into a scandal, and the French government denounced an American attempt to impose racial segregation on France. The press stories elevated his status, referring to Houénou as “a kind of colored Pascal.” At this point, his position hardened, and he began to speak of self-rule for African colonies instead of reforming colonial government. He also began an association with like-minded reformers like Marcus Garvey, and founded the short-lived publication Les Continents, which folded in 1924 because of a libel suit which left him bankrupt. He left Paris, but had to renounce his ties to Garvey before he was allowed back in Dahomey. Less than a year later, Houénou and a small, ill-equipped band of supporters attempted to overthrow the French colonial government and failed spectacularly. Houénou fled to Togo, but was quickly caught and imprisoned. He was never allowed to enter Dahomey again. After his release from prison in the late 1920s, he went to Senegal and became involved in Senegalese politics. He called for the recognition of the equality of all races and the independence of all African territories from colonial rule. Houénoui died from Typhoid fever in 1936 while imprisoned in Dakar on contempt of court charges
1900 – Edith Gregor Halpert born in Russia, American art dealer, influential owner of The Downtown Gallery, NYC’s Greenwich Village, early supporter of Modern Art, showcasing Stuart Davis, Georgia O’Keeffe, Arthur Dove, Jacob Lawrence and many others
1908 – Edward R. Murrow born, influential American radio and television broadcaster during the industry’s early years
1917 – Ella Fitzgerald born, American jazz singer, known as the “First Lady of Song” and the “Queen of Jazz”- 13 Grammy Awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the National Medal of Arts
1923 – Albert King born, American blues guitarist
1923 – Melissa Hayden born, Canadian prima ballerina; after 2 years at the American Ballet Theatre (1945-1947), she joined the New York City Ballet in 1948. She became prima ballerina at NYCB from 1955 until her retirement in 1973, and was frequently partner with American danseur Jacques d’Amboise. She taught at Skidmore College and at the School of the Pacific Northwest Ballet before she opened her own school in New York City. She wrote several books, including Melissa Hayden, Offstage and On and Dancer to Dancer: Advice for Today’s Dancer
1927 – Corín Tellado born as María del Socorro Tellado López, prolific best-selling Spanish author; she published over 5,000 titles. In 1962, UNESCO declared Tellado the most-read Spanish author after Miguel de Cervantes
1942 – Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson born, American civil rights activist, prominent member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the only woman to serve on the SNCC executive committee
1944 – The United Negro College Fund is incorporated
1945 – Fifty nations gather in San Francisco to begin the United Nations Conference on International Organization
1954 – Bell Telephone Laboratories. demonstrates the first practical solar cell
1959 – The Saint Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping.
1961 – Robert Noyce, American engineer, patents an integrated circuit; he later co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor (1957) and Intel Corporation (1968)
1963 – Joy Covey born, American business executive; she began as an accountant, but after graduating from Harvard’s MBA program, she worked briefly as an investment banker before joining Digidesign, a technology company, which she helped take public and assisted brokering its sale to a larger company. In 1996, Covey joined Amazon, became the company’s CFO, followed by promotion to Chief Strategy Officer, where she raised $500 million for Amazon. In 1999, she was #28 on the Fortune magazine list of “Most Powerful Women in Business.” In 2000, when she resigned voluntarily from Amazon, it was rumored she was “tired of the frenetic internet life.” She was serving as treasurer of the Natural Resources Defense Council when she died in 2013 at age 50, struck by a delivery van while riding a bicycle
Joy Covey
1966 – Femke Halsema born, Dutch Groenlinks (GreenLeft) politician; in 2018, she became the first woman Mayor of Amsterdam; Leader of GroenLinks in the House of Representatives (2002-2010); Member of the House of Representatives (1998-2011). Between 2011 and 2018, she wrote articles and columns for De Volkskrant, and De Correspondent, taught at Tilburg University and the University of Utrecht, and led an inquiry into the behavior of school board administrators at the Amarantis Education group, which operated over 60 schools in the Netherlands. The inquiry found that the board had operated within the law, but their behavior was not desirable. She then led a committee on governance rules for the semi-public sector at the request of Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp. The final report of the committee concluded that a governance code would not lead to the desired culture change in the semi-public sector, citing the “old boys network” and political influence as major factors
1974 – Steely Dan’s “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” is released
1982 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula per the Camp David Accords
1987 – The U2 album Joshua Tree becomes #1 on the U.S. album chart; it will sell over 25 million copies, and win a Grammy for Album of the Year
1990 – Violeta Chamorro becomes the first woman President of Nicaragua
1992 – Islamic forces took control of most of the Afghan capital Kabul following the collapse of the Communist government
2004 – The March for Women’s Lives brings over 800,000 pro-choice marchers to Washington D.C. to protest the so-called ‘Partial-Birth’ Abortion Ban Act of 2003, and other restrictions on abortion
2005 – The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937
2015 – After a week of protests in Baltimore because of the death of Freddie Gray from neck and spinal injuries during his arrest and transport by police, a march from city hall to Baltimore’s inner harbor turns violent, as cars and windows are smashed, and police pelted with rocks. At least 34 people are arrested, 6 police officers are injured, and two photojournalists wearing their press credentials are roughed up by police, one being arrested, but later released
2019 – U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Bastian issued a nationwide injunction, temporarily blocking the Trump administration from imposing new anti-abortion restrictions on the use of federal family planning funds designed to assist 4 million low-income women. “Today’s ruling ensures that clinics across the nation can remain open and continue to provide quality, unbiased healthcare to women,” said Washington’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson, representing his state, one of the plaintiffs in the case challenging the proposed restrictions to the Title X program, the only federal program to assist low-income women to pay for family planning needs. The rule, promulgated in March by the Department of Health and Human Services, bars programs receiving the federal money from referring pregnant patients for abortions, and prohibits health care providers to “perform, promote, or support abortion as a method of family planning.” When the order later did go into effect, Planned Parenthood, the largest recipient of Title X funding, pulled out of the program rather than comply with the gag order. "The Trump administration has forced Planned Parenthood grantees out of Title X," said Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood's acting president, "The impact of the Trump administration's gag rule will reverberate across the country."
Alexis McGill Johnson
2022 – In the UK, Angela Rayner, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party since 2020, spoke out against “sexism and misogyny” in politics, as a storm of criticism erupted after a report in the Daily Mail claimed she crossed and uncrossed her legs during prime minister’s questions to distract Boris Johnson. In an article published in The Guardian, Rayner said, “I stand accused of a ‘ploy’ to ‘distract’ the helpless PM – by being a woman, having legs and wearing clothes.” She accused Johnson’s allies of “resorting to spreading desperate, perverted smears in their doomed attempts to save his skin … He and his cheerleaders clearly have a big problem with women in public life. They should be ashamed of themselves. I won’t be letting their vile lies deter me. Their attempts to harass and intimidate me will fail.” Westminster has been plagued by claims of misogyny and sexual harassment in recent years, and many female MPs say they continue to face a sexist culture in their workplace.
Angela Rayner and Keir Starmer — UK Labour Party
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Everybody have a No-More-Fascists-Friday
[END]
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