Today in history

April 20

1853
Harriet Tubman began her Underground Railroad, a network of people and places that aided in the escape of slaves to the north.

(see my post on Harriet Tubman)

1871
Ku Klux Klan Act Passed by Congress; authority to use military force against Klan

1914
Troops from the state militia, ending a bitter coal-miners’ strike, attacked a tent colony of strikers, killing 25 in Ludlow, Colorado.

read more about the Ludlow Massacre from Howard Zinn’s A PEOPLE’ HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

1969
On the site of a parking lot owned by the University of California, Berkeley a diverse group of people came together, each freely contributing their skills and resources to create People’s Park.

img src=”http://www.blueskyalternatives.net/peacehistory/april/20/PeoplesPark.jpg”>

1971
The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the use of busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools.
1977
Supreme Court rules that the state motto, “Live Free or Die”, may be covered up on New Hampshire license plates.
1999
Killings at Littleton, Colorado’s Columbine High School, where two teenagers killed 12 fellow students, a teacher and themselves.