#15 June 1934

[rabbitcruiser]

The United States Great Smoky Mountains National Park was founded on June 15, 1934.  

[andrewlloydwebber]

RIP to Broadway Legend Merle Louise

April 15, 1934 — January 11, 2025

Merle Louise Simon, 90, of New York, passed away on January 11, 2025. Born on April 15, 1934, in New York City, she was the beloved daughter of the late Alvin and Merle (Barnes) Letowt.

Merle will be lovingly remembered as a dynamic force of nature-energetic, funny, adventurous, and full of life. An avid traveler and scuba diver, she explored the world with curiosity and vigor, journeying to Africa, Nepal, and beyond. Among her greatest adventures was her climb to the base camp of Mount Everest. A gifted entertainer with a beautiful voice and an undeniable stage presence, Merle's life was a testament to her passion for the performing arts.

Merle was also deeply proud of her education, graduating from Marymount College later in life with a degree in Psychology. Her studies reflected her intellectual curiosity and her deep understanding of the human spirit, qualities that enriched her relationships.

She began her journey in theater at the Drawing Room Theater and Pennsylvania Playhouse, both in Bethlehem, PA and traveled to New York City for auditions. Merle, who performed under her birth name Merle Letowt early in her career, made an indelible mark on Broadway. She debuted as "Thelma" in the original cast of Gypsy (1959), later stepping into the lead role of "Dainty June" for much of the Broadway run and the first national tour. She went on to star in several Stephen Sondheim musicals, earning acclaim for her nuanced performances. Her portrayal of "The Beggar Woman" in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979) earned her the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. She was also celebrated for her roles in Company (1970) as "Susan" and Into the Woods (1987), where she memorably played "Cinderella's Mother," "Granny," and the "Giantess."

Merle also originated roles in La Cage aux Folles (1983) as "Mme. Dindon" and Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993) as "Molina's Mother," a role she performed in London's West End, Toronto, and on the national tour. Off-Broadway, she created the role of "Cecily MacIntosh" in Charlotte Sweet (1982) and was widely lauded for her performances in classics by Shakespeare, Chekhov, Molière, and Shaw.

Her theatrical legacy extended beyond the stage, inspiring the creation of the game Six Degrees of Merle Louise, a Broadway-themed twist on the popular Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

Merle's on-camera appearances were equally memorable. She was featured in the televised production of Into the Woods and a documentary about the recording of the original cast album of Company. She made guest appearances on TV shows, including Law & Order, and continued performing into her later years. Highlights included roles in Cabaret, A Little Night Music, and The Full Monty. In 2007, she appeared in Luke Yankee's award-winning play The Jesus Hickey. She also appeared in Billy Elliot.

Merle will be dearly missed by her daughter, Laura Simon; daughter, Heather Simon; and son, Matt Simon. She is also survived by her sister, Jane Halteman, and her husband David Halteman; and a brother, Alvin "Butch" Letowt, Jr. She was preceded in death by her sister, Christine A. King' brother-in-law, Walter I. King and nephew Adam D. Halteman.

Merle's legacy extends beyond her illustrious career. She will be remembered for her warmth, humor, and zest for life. She enriched the lives of those that she encountered, leaving a profound impact on the theater community and all who knew her.

[gunsandspaceships]

MCU Timeline: Captain America: The First Avenger

March 10, 1917 - James Buchanan Barnes is born.

August 15, 1917 - Howard Anthony Stark is born.

July 4, 1918 - Steven Grant Rogers is born.

April 9, 1919 - Margaret "Peggy" Carter is born.

Why 1919 (deleted scene from The Avengers) and not 1921 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), as stated in Wikipedia: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is not canon for the MCU (events of the show take place in another universe, where Peggy was born in a different year and had a different background).

1934-1936 - young Peggy serves as a nurse in the British Air Force.

1936-1940 - Peggy serves in the Special Air Service.

1940:

Peggy joins the Strategic Scientific Reserve.

Howard founds Stark Industries and becomes its CEO.

May 1941 - Steven Rogers attends a Dodgers vs The Phillies baseball game at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn.

March 1942 - Red Skull invades Norway and extracts the Tesseract.

1942/1943 - The Allies receive a gift from Wakanda: Vibranium. It is given to the SSR's Head Engineer - Howard Stark.

1943:

June 14:

13:50 - Steve gets his last 4F.

And his last beating in the alley a couple of hours later.

Evening - he and Bucky go to the "World Exposition of Tomorrow", where Howard demonstrates his (almost) flying car. Steve meets Dr. Erskine and gets a (falsified) 1A.

June 15:

Sergeant James Barnes heads to Europe with the 107th Infantry Regiment.

Candidate Rogers begins his trial week for Project Rebirth at Camp Lehigh in NJ.

June 21 - Dr. Erskine makes his choice and informs Rogers. They talk about it, about the serum and HYDRA.

June 22, morning - Steve becomes a super soldier. Erskine is killed. The last vial of serum is destroyed.

June 23:

Rogers is offered a position in the USO theater (to help sell war bonds) and receives a (fake) rank of captain.

Night - SSR (including Peggy and Howard) is being retasked to fight HYDRA and goes to London, UK.

July-October - Captain America's US tour (over 200 performances).

November 3rd:

Captain America show in Italy.

Night - Steve goes behind the lines to a HYDRA camp in Austria to rescue Bucky with the help of Peggy and Howard.

November 5th - he returns with 400 (CATFA) or 163 (CATWS) liberated soldiers.

A couple of days later - SSR in London. Based on the locations of HYDRA bases remembered by Rogers, they develop a plan to combat HYDRA. Steve puts together a team.

Marvel Studios' mistake: the medals and badges Steve wears don't make any sense at this particular moment. He simply had neither the time nor the opportunity to earn the Combat Infantry Badge, or the Presidential Unit Citation Badge, nor could he receive the American Defense Service Medal.

Next day, 8 am- Steve meets with Howard and receives his vibranium shield.

1944:

November 1943 - November 1944 - Howling Commandos destroy HYDRA weapons factories.

December 1944 - January 1945 - attack on the train with Dr. Zola. Bucky falls from the train from a great height and is declared killed in action. Zola is captured.

1945:

Soon after, early January - the Valkyrie is finished and ready to attack major US cities. SSR receives information about the location of HYDRA's main base in the Alps and heads there.

Next day - SSR attacks HYDRA's main base. Red Skull teleports to Vormir. The Tesseract is lost in the Arctic Ocean. Crash of the Valkyrie. Steve goes into suspended animation.

After January 1945 - Howard Stark leads expeditions to find Rogers. He finds the Tesseract, but not Captain.

March 23, 1945 - Case №17 is opened. James Barnes "joined" the HYDRA branch in the USSR.

May 8, 1945 - VE-Day.

Spring-Summer 1945 - Howard is involved in the Manhattan Project.

1946:

December 1945/January 1946 - Peggy is assigned to the SSR office in New York.

March 1946 - events of "Agent Carter" one-shot.

2012:

Early 2012 - 67 years later, Steve Rogers is found frozen but alive.

April 2012 - Rogers wakes up in the S.H.I.E.L.D. recovery room in New York City.

Iron Man (2008) Timeline

The Incredible Hulk (2008) Timeline

Iron Man 2 (2010) Timeline

Thor (2011) Timeline

The Avengers (2012) Timeline

[ducktoonsfanart]

Happy New Year! - Celebrating Panchito Pistoles, Aracuan Bird and The Three Caballeros’ 80th Birthday, Fethry Duck’s 60th Birthday and Donald Duck’s 90th Birthday - Celebrating New Years with Donald Duck, his friends and family - Donald Duck and kids (preetens and teenagers) - Modern Three Caballeros - Quack Pack AU - Duckverse - My Gift for Friends - My Style - Happy New Year, Happy Birthdays and Happy Holidays!

I wish everyone a Happy New Year, a New Year 2025 with lots of wishes and health, and happy holidays!

Happy New 2025!

A similar drawing, but this time with children and teenagers, mostly as I imagine in my Quack Pack version. The previous drawing was mostly of adults so I divided it into two parts. Everyone celebrates those anniversaries and birthdays together.

I apologize for the delay, because I worked on this drawing for two days, considering that I had other things to do, but I certainly did this now. Unfortunately, I was not able to do last year’s celebration of my favorite duck on the occasion of his 90th birthday where he celebrates with his family and friends except for a few drawings, as well as the birthday of Fethry Duck and Panchito Pistoles, so I wanted to bring everything together in my new first New Year’s drawing, as they celebrate an important anniversary, and you can see it on the cake where they write in the form of candles.

9/6/1934 The Classic Short “The Wise Little Hen” was shown and Donald Duck appeared there for the first time. Donald Duck will become one of the main stars of not only Disney, but also cartoon films, comics and video games at all. Certainly there is no need to tell his history. Yes, on December 21, 1944, the movie “The Three Caballeros” aired and Panchito Pistoles and the goofy Aracuan Bird appeared in that movie. And that’s how the Three Caballeros team was born, in my opinion the best Disney trio, after Huey, Dewey and Louie. Fethry first appeared in the comic book “The Health Nut” which was published in 1964, and on August 2, in the comic book Topolino number 453, in the American edition it will come out two years later. That comic was written by Dick Kinney and drawn by Al Hubbard. So I wish all of them a happy birthday and happy anniversary. In addition, I wish Daisy Duck a happy 85th birthday this year.

Otherwise, they celebrate in Brazil at Jose Ze Carioca’s (José Carioca-Zé Carioca), because it’s summer there. Last year I drew a couple of drawings of adults and children celebrating New Year’s Eve in swimsuits and you can see them here: https://ducktoonsfanart.tumblr.com/post/738405983887474688/happy-new-year-celebrating-new-years-in-brazil

Similar to the previous drawing, here I drew it in my own way adding a lot of characters as I usually like and mostly I combined from Quack Pack, The Legend of The Three Caballeros, Donald Duck comics (Italian comics), Ze Carioca comics (Brazilian comics), Darkwing Duck, Ducktales both versions, Double Duck and Duck Avenger (Paperinik) comics. It’s mostly part of that Quack Pack AU of mine. I drew mostly in my own way. And this is also part of my version of Modern Three Caballeros. Just besides Donald, Panchito, Jose Zé Carioca (José Zé Carioca), Aracuan Bird, Fethry Duck, from the adults there are Daisy Duck and Uno Ducklair from the Duck Avenger (Paperinik-PKNA) comics, and the rest are children (preteens and teenagers).

Mostly there are Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck (Donald’s nephews), April, May and June Duck (Daisy’s nieces), Phooey Duck (fourth nephew), Zico and Zeca Carioca (Jose’s nephews), Gosalyn Mallard, Honker Muddlefoot (Darkwing Duck), Webby Vanderquack, Gene the Genie (OG Ducktales), Minima De Spell (Magica’s niece), Sonny Seagull (Garvey Gull), Newton Gearloose (Gyro’s nephew), Dugan Duck (Fethry’s nephew), Shamrock Gander (Gladstone’s nephew), Vanessa (a friend of Donald’s nephews from the Area 15 comics and mostly Dewey’s and Louie’s girlfriend), Susie McGuider (from the Quack Pack “Ducks by Nature”) and Katie Duck (a newspaper carrier and girlfriend of one of Donald’s nephews in the Quack Pack). I only forgot Little Helper, but I’ll get to that another time. Sorry for some of the mistakes I made while coloring, I was in a hurry.

I hope you like this drawing and this idea and feel free to like and reblog this and please don’t copy my versions of these characters and my ideas without mentioning me. Thanks! I wish everyone a happy 60th birthday to Fethry Duck, 80th birthday to Panchito Pistoles and Aracuan Bird, 85th birthday to Daisy Duck and 90th birthday to the best duck who inspired me, Donald Duck! And a happy New Year to everyone!

P.S. By the way, this is a gift for all of you, especially fans of Donald Duck and his comics, video games and cartoons. But I dedicate these drawings in particular as my gift to these people, for @elmer-dat-gander, @isabellanajera, @you-big-palooka, @fantasticenthusiasttale and to everyone else who loves these characters. I hope you like my gifts for this holiday season! Enjoy and Happy New Year 2025!

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Dr. Jonas Salk, class of 1934 at the City College of New York, received an honorary degree from his alma mater for his discovery of the polio vaccine, June 15, 1955. He is holding a medal struck especially for him.

Photo: Matty Zimmerman for the AP

[dontforgetukraine]

November 6 – the 90th anniversary of Volodymyr Manyak’s birthday Volodymyr Manyak—writer and publicist, one of the first researchers of the Holodomor in Ukraine, and author of the People’s Book Memorial “33rd: Famine”—was born on November 6, 1934, in the village of Kryshtopivka in Khmelnytskyi. He began the search for the truth about the genocide of the Ukrainian people back in 1987, thanks to the policy of Glasnost at the time. His wife, Lidiia Kovalenko, a journalist, helped him. For 4 years, the couple searched for unique archival documents and recorded the testimonies of about 6,000 eyewitnesses to the tragedy. Over a thousand of them were organised and presented in the book “33rd: Famine: People’s Memorial Book.” These were the first testimonies collected in Ukraine about the events of 1932-1933 and, what is significant, from people who survived the Holodomor in adulthood and remembered their experiences in detail. The book “33rd: Famine” is today the most complete documentary source which collects the eyewitnesses’ testimony about the Holodomor in Ukraine. In 1992, the couple initiated the creation of the Association of Researchers of the Holodomor Genocide of 1932-1933 in Ukraine, headed by Lidiia Kovalenko. On June 15 of the same year, Volodymyr and Lidiia were in a car accident. On that day, they were returning from the village of Tymoshivka in Cherkasy Oblast, where one of the first monuments to the Holodomor victims in Ukraine was unveiled. Volodymyr died on the spot, and Lidiia was seriously injured. In half a year, she passed away too. The Manyaks were posthumously awarded the Taras Shevchenko State Prize of Ukraine for their enormous contribution to the revival of truth. In 2005, Volodymyr Manyak was posthumously awarded the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th degree. Regretfully, Volodymyr and Lidiia Manyak’s thorough work “33rd: Famine”, which was published in 1991,has never been reprinted. So the publication has already become a rarity. —Holodomor Museum

[winnix85]

Lewis Nixon's German teacher in high school and his summer in Germany 1934

Previously, I was digging in historic travel records and found that 15 yr old Lewis Nixon went to Germany in the summer of 1934 with several teenager friends. They were among 3rd class passengers. I searched through the passenger list but found no adult chaperone with this group of boys.

Assumption 1: Their chaperone was in 1st class (seems unwise to stay up in 1st class cabin while left a group of teenager boys running wild in 3rd class cabin?)

Assumption 2: There was no adult. Lew and his friends ran away with pocket money.

So I adopted the second assumption.

I was WRONG

It turns out that, there was a chaperone. Lew and his friends were led by their high school German teacher Dr Werner Mueller. Dr Mueller was on SS Europa Passenger List Line 360 "Tourist Third Cabin Passengers". The reason his name was not listed with his students was because Dr Mueller was not US citizen. In US custom records, US citizens and foreigners were listed separately. That's why I can't find him.

Their travel to Germany was reported in local news. Dr Werner Mueller led 4 boys (William Roth, Walter Collins, Robert Day, and Lewis Nixon) to sail from New York for Germany on 25 June 1934, and they returned New York on 02 Sep 1934:

15 yr old Lew was the youngest in the group.

It seems that Dr Werner Mueller visited Germany every summer because his family was still living in Berlin:

Dr Werner Mueller might be relatively young, because he was engaged in 1940. He taught in Santa Barbara boys school for 8 years. He studied at the University of Berlin, Munich Freiburg and Koenigsberg. He worked in the foreign language department, so I assumed that he was a German teacher. However, he was also the head of the art department of Santa Barbara boys school and he was a pianist.

After his marriage in 1940, he moved to Pottstown Pensylvania to teach in Hill school.

In summary, 15 yr old Lew spent two months of summer holiday in Germany, probably with his teacher's family in Berlin. In 1934 the street view pretty much looks like this:

[thelionandthelark]

Some of the actors who participated in the Brazilian soap opera adaptation of Les Misérables in 1967

Sadi Cabral as The Bishop Myriel

Born Sadi Sousa Leite Cabral (September 10, 1906 – November 23, 1986) he was an actor who was active between the years of 1923 and 1986. In addition to being an actor, he was also a announcer, scriptwriter, screenwriter, director, dancer, lyricist and producer.

Leonardo Villar as Jean Valjean

Born Leonildo Motta (July 25, 1923 - July 3, 2020), he was an actor who was active between the 1950 and 2011. His career, like many actors of the time, began in the theater; and to this day he is considered one of the best Brazilian actors, and was acclaimed by many colleagues in the profession.

Both of his parents were Spanish immigrants from Andalusia, and he was the youngest of 7 siblings.

Otávio Augusto as Javert

Born Otávio Augusto de Azevedo Sousa (January 30, 1945), he is an actor, comedian and director who originally began his activities in 1965, and continues with them to this day. He has many credits involving films, plays and other soap operas.

Laura Cardoso as Fantine

Born Laurinda de Jesus Cardoso Balleroni (September 13, 1927), she began her career in 1950. However, her love for acting began many years before her adult life. As a child, she used to play theater with her friends in the neighborhood; and at the age of 15, she decided to finally pursue an artistic career, starting her work in radionovelas.

"She is one of the actresses who has acted the most in the country, with more than 100 works [...] including more than 60 soap operas. She has also made 30 feature films for the cinema."

Chico de Assis as Félix Tholomyès

Born Francisco de Assis Pereira (December 10, 1933 – January 3, 2015) he was a Brazilian playwright who began his activities in 1953. I believe that of those mentioned so far, he was the only one who was not actively in the acting field. Although he participated in some soap operas, the focus of his work was most directing and producing plays.

Maria Isabel de Lizandra as Cosette

Born Maria Isabel Reclusa Antunes Maciel (June 5, 1946 – March 14, 2019) she was an actress of soap operas, series and plays who was active between 1963 and 1998.

She starred in Les Misérables early in her career, making it the fifth soap opera in which she appeared.

Serafim Gonzalez as M. Thénardier

Born Seraphim Gonzalez (May 19, 1934 – April 29, 2007) he was an actor and sculptor who was active between 1946 and 2007. Like the actor who played Jean Valjean, his parents were also Spanish immigrants.

And here's a fun fact about him: Here in Brazil, there is another very famous soap opera called "Mulheres de Areia" (I think in English it would be something like "Sand Women") and there is the original version, and the remake made two decades later. He participated in both versions. He was the one who sculpted the sand statues that appeared throughout the story.

Cacilda Lanuza as Mme. Thénardier

Born Cacilda Lanuza de Godoy Silveira (September 1, 1930 – June 17, 2018) she was an actress of theater, cinema and television. In addition, she also worked as a television host, radio broadcaster, writer, reporter and announcer.

[scotianostra]

On April 7th 1934 Ian Richardson was born.

A great classical actor, he was best known to TV viewers as the Machiavellian Urquhart in House of Cards, in his golden years at the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1960 to 1975, he played a long line of leading roles, television and film later brought Richardson wider renown.

Born as Ian William Richardson the only son and eldest of three children of Margaret and John Richardson in Edinburgh, Ian was educated at Balgreen and then Tynecastle schools, he thentrained for the stage at Glasgow’s College of Dramatic Art, with lightning speed, Richardson, at the age of 24, found himself playing Hamlet. Two seasons at Birmingham were followed by a swift transfer in 1960 to neighbouring Stratford where Richardson became a vital component. of the Royal Shakespeare Company where we was one of the founders.

After leaving the RSC, Richardson became a somewhat nomadic figure, turning up on Broadway as Higgins in My Fair Lady.

For a while he was on the dole — one morning he was even scrabbling round Covent Garden collecting fruit and vegetables. He also suffered a nervous breakdown, as a result of which he was sent to a nursing home run by nuns in Regent’s Park; after three weeks’ treatment he had recovered sufficiently to return home. I suppose it was his time unemployed that took him into a more regular career on the small screen.

From the late 1970′s onwards, he carved out a prosperous career in TV and film. Of course he had already made many TV appearances before now but audiences were peaking just at the right time for the wider public to appreciate his acting skills.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Private Schultz, Porterhouse Blue were the type of programmes I was watching Richardson in, he also played Sherlock Holmes and Dr Joseph Bell in shows about the detective. Then of course there was House of Cards and the brilliant portrayal of the anti-hero Francis Urquhart. He won the BAFTA Best Television Actor and nominations for the following two series.

In June 2006, he was made an honorary Doctor of the University of Stirling. The honour was conferred on him by the University’s Chancellor, fellow actor Dame Diana Rigg.

His final film appearance was as Judge Langlois in Becoming Jane, released shortly after his death.

During the last 15 years of his life he appeared five times on television acting opposite his son Miles Richardson, though this was usually with one or the other in a minor role

[hellishotelier]

Starting Alastor Headcanons

In Life

Father, Joseph, from a decently wealthy business family. Upper middle class. White. He would eventually become a lawyer.

Mother, Cecelia, mixed race, worked as a maid in a hotel.

Parents met in a concert saloon, bonding over music. For him it was a summer fling but she was in love.

Born as Michael Alastor Garcin, May 22nd, 1892.

Went by his first/"Catholic" name among white people or generally those he was trying to impress, but his second "real" name by friends and family or people who otherwise knew he was mixed. He also either used his mother's last name (his own legal last name) or his father's last name. Though he would sometimes switch it up, he usually kept his Catholic name with his father's last name and real name with his mother's. So he usually either went by Michael Anderson or Alastor Garcin (or derivations of this)

Joseph refused to acknowledge his son as his, so Cecilia raised him on her own without his father's financial support

Alastor was light enough and has enough of his father's features to pass. While he grew up knowing his mother's Creole culture, she encouraged him to also adopt more white customs for a better chance of success. As in, learned from an early age to compartmentalize himself and be very cognizant of how he is perceived by others. Very aware of the various masks he needs to wear.

Alastor grew to resent his father and everything he stood for. He has two main goals in regards to his father. Make him notice him. Make Joseph regret abandoning his mother. Whether this was to be by taking over a position of his or by being a nemesis. It didn't matter.

Was going to become a lawyer to try to topple his father, but couldn't afford to become one.

Served in WWI (details to appear in its own post at a later point).

When he returned from the war, he found that both his beloved mother and reviled father had died of Spanish Flu while he was gone. So he neither got to say goodbye to her or get closure/revenge on his father.

In a fit of directionless rage, Alastor killed the first person he thought deserved it in some way. Really was just some random drunk. But that caught the bug for him in a taste for murder. From then on, he would have a mental list of potential victims and when he got into a murderous mood, he would find one of them and kill them.

Post-war, had two jobs, one for each of his identities. Michael Anderson was a radio tech with aspirations for being a host. But this never happened. For Alastor Garcin, he was a pianist at a jazz club. Gave him an extra income for his lifestyle.

Kill count (not including the war) was 31 over 15 years. He kept them spread out fairly well, though he always did at least some murder around mid-April since that's when he found out his parents died.

Died on June 20, 1934. Was shot by a hunter after coming back from burying a body. This hunter, John Murphy panicked and tried to dispose of Alastor's body, but in doing so poorly, was pinned for the murder Alastor was covering. This led to a domino effect where Murphy was accused, tried, and convicted for most of Alastor's murders (not all were connected to the case and were otherwise never discovered or ruled as other causes).

Therefore Alastor's only real legacy (or what he would be known for by anyone who didn't directly know him) is for being a notorious serial killer's last victim. Alastor does not know this.

Afterlife

General current goals: Get out of deal and then stay independent, survive, find purpose in eternity

He was not a cannibal in life. However, he is in afterlife since Rosie was one of the first people he came across when he arrived in Hell. As he was learning the ins and outs of Hell, the offerings made him assume that's just what people are in Hell. He soon found out that wasn't the case, but by that point he wasn't bothered by it.

Contracted with [redacted] ((in RP, by default it won't be who I'm RPing with. It would need to be negotiated specifically. No auto contract))

July 21, 1976 officially dead longer than alive.

[rabbitcruiser]

The United States Great Smoky Mountains National Park was founded on June 15, 1934.  

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Blood on their hands.

June 15, 2024

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

JUN 15, 2024

The reactionary majority on the Supreme Court has dropped all pretense of following the law, so we should drop all pretense about the consequences of their actions: They will have blood on their hands. On Friday, that majority legalized machine guns by striking down a Trump-era federal regulation prohibiting “bump-stock” accessories for semi-automatic rifles. It is now legal for hundreds of millions of Americans to own machine guns—weapons of war favored by organized crime that Congress outlawed in 1934.

It is merely a matter of time until a “law-abiding citizen” exercising his “Second Amendment rights” uses a Supreme-Court-sanctioned machine gun to inflict mass deaths on schoolchildren and adults. When that happens, there will be a direct line from their opinion in Garland v. Cargill to the dead and mangled bodies killed by a weapon that can fire 800 rounds a minute with a single pull of the trigger.

The carnage will be horrific, but the reactionary majority will remain safe and snug in their private jets, wood-paneled chambers, and $5,000-a-plate dinners hosted by conservative advocacy organizations disguised as bar associations and historical societies. Their genteel world will be protected by heavily armed, armor-clad US Marshals who insulate the justices from the dangerous world they just made more dangerous.

The majority’s opinion in Garland v. Cargill is pernicious on multiple levels. The callousness of the majority’s conclusion is shocking. Their abandonment of settled rules of judicial construction is hypocritical. Their continued assault on the expertise of federal agencies charged with regulating complex, fact-dependent questions is part of their master plan to deconstruct the administrative state. Their willingness to base their decision on a lie about how bump stocks work continues the majority’s distressing pattern of making up facts to support otherwise unsupportable opinions.

[More + detailed legal analysis of the decision]

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[lboogie1906]

Valaida Snow (June 2, 1904 – May 30, 1956) was a jazz musician and entertainer who performed internationally. She was known as “Little Louis” and “Queen of the Trumpet,” a nickname given to her by W. C. Handy.

She was born in Chattanooga. Her mother, Etta, was a Howard University-educated music teacher and her father, John, was a minister who was the leader of the Pickaninny Troubadours. Raised on the road in a show-business family, she began performing with her father’s group. By the time she was 15, she learned to play cello, bass, banjo, violin, mandolin, harp, accordion, clarinet, trumpet, and saxophone. She sang and danced.

She had 3 sisters all of who were professional singers. She had a brother. She married Ananias Berry (1934) who was a member of the Berry Brothers. She married Earle Edwards (1943) who became her manager.

Many recordings of her performances still exist, including audio recordings and audiovisual recordings of her on stage or in films. There are no commercial recordings of her as trumpeter made in the US, all were recorded in Europe. Before her obituary was published, The New York Times wrote about her only once in a paragraph-long review about a 1949 Song Recital at New York’s Town Hall. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[padawan-historian]

How do the memories and magic of children disrupt and upRoot the histories we tell ourselves? How do children navigate spaces of oppression and liberation? How do they find joy and hope in places that were not created for them to exist? They live.

(1) Portrait of two young Jackson girls in wrinkled, informal wear. Potentially the descendants of emancipated Virginian Bethany Veney, who authored a narrative of her life in slavery and went on to own three houses in Worcester's Beaver Brook neighborhood (1900)

(2) Three sister dressed in matching outfits (and shoes). The center girl holds a favorite object close, perhaps a record album (1926)

(3) Florence Jones (in white dress with large bow) and a friend swing on a family hammock in Lincoln, Nebraska (1915-1920)

(4) Students at the Harry Prampin School Recital in Harlem (1927)

(5) Washington, D.C. Young boy standing in the doorway of his home on Seaton Road in the northwest section. His leg was cut off by a streetcar while he was playing in the street (1942)

(6) A girl and her dog pose in a New York studio (1921)

(7) Ho-Chunk cousins Carrie Elksit (ENooKah) and Annie Lowe Lincoln (Red Bird) wearing elaborate beaded necklaces and earrings. Carrie (left) was the afroindigenous daughter of Lucie Elk, while Annie (right), was the daughter of King of Thunder in Black River Valley (1940)

(8) Ms. Ruby dons her Pullman maid’s uniform and and poses next to a young girl in Stafford County, Virginia (1904-1918)

(9) Eileen Buckner poses with her grandfather Anthony T. Buckner, who was born enslaved and would go on to be one the most respected merchants in the Charlottesville. Eileen's father, George W. Buckner, would go on to write the New Negro manifesto in 1921

(10) A girl smiles wide as she milks a cow (1934–1956)

(11) A young child plays the phonograph in his family cabin located at the Transylvania Project in Louisiana (1939)

(12) Two brown skinned girls pose in matching dresses near the center of their classroom picture in front of Lincoln High School, Nebraska (around 1919)

(13)  A young sharecropper lays out on his attic bed in New Madrid County, Missouri (1938)

(14) Chris Easterling (left) and George Mashatt learn how to signal when they want the bus to stop in Ann Arbor (June 1975)

(15) A little girl watches the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with her family in New York (1946)

(16) Little ballerinas dance at the Frederick Douglass housing project located in Anacostia, D.C. (1942)

(17) Integrated summer activities at Camp Nathan Hale in Southfields, New York where children learned different skills, like first aid, under the guidance of the Methodist Camp Service (1943)

(18) A young girl smiles at her feline friend; notice the ribbon on the cat's neck (1925)

(19) Children stand in a line to pose during their candy eating competition W.E.B. DuBois' Brownies Book

Sources: Worcester Art Museum, James Van Der Zee Collection, Library of Congress, Harris & Ewing, Leslie Jones Collection, Boston Public Library, National Museum of African American History and Culture

[whitesinhistory]

On June 24, 1934, a white mob in Manchester, Tennessee, lynched a 35-year-old Black man named Richard Wilkerson after he allegedly slapped a white man who assaulted a Black woman at an African American dance.

Mr. Wilkerson had been at a Black church festival with his wife when several white men who had been drinking entered the event. When the white men began accosting some of the Black women in attendance—including Mr. Wilkerson’s wife—Mr. Wilkerson intervened and allegedly slapped one of the men.

Soon after, the group of white men went to Mr. Wilkerson’s home and began destroying all of his belongings. The mob “tore up everything he had, tore it literally all to pieces,” the sheriff later told newspapers.

Unsatisfied, the white men then returned to the church dance where they found and grabbed Mr. Wilkerson, along with an unidentified young Black man. The mob drove the two men roughly 15 miles from town, where they shot Mr. Wilkerson several times before mutilating his body. The young Black man who was with Mr. Wilkerson was also shot but managed to escape.

Among the eight men who lynched Mr. Wilkerson was a 14-year-old teenager who later shared the names of the other members of the mob with officers. Several months later, the eight men were convicted of manslaughter. One newspaper noted it was the first case on record in Tennessee where white men had been convicted for lynching a Black person.

Mr. Wilkerson was one of at least 236 documented lynching victims between 1865 and 1950 in the state of Tennessee—and one of eight people lynched in Coffee County alone. To learn more about the history of racial terror lynching, read EJI’s report, Lynching in America.

[ifelllikeastar]

Ella Fitzgerald was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.

Ella started by singing on the streets of Harlem at the age of 17. On November 21, 1934, she debuted at one of the earliest Amateur Nights at the Apollo Theater. She had intended to go on stage and dance, but she was intimidated by a local dance duo called the Edwards Sisters and opted to sing instead. Performing in the style of Connee Boswell, she sang "Judy" and "The Object of My Affection" and won first prize. She won the chance to perform at the Apollo for a week but, seemingly because of her disheveled appearance, the theater never gave her that part of her prize.

Later she was introduced to drummer and bandleader Chick Webb and was asked to join Webb's orchestra and gained acclaim as part of the group's performances at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom. Fitzgerald recorded several hit songs, including "Love and Kisses" and "(If You Can't Sing It) You'll Have to Swing It (Mr. Paganini)". But it was her 1938 version of the nursery rhyme, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket", a song she co-wrote, that brought her public acclaim. "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" became a major hit on the radio and was also one of the biggest-selling records of the decade.

Born Ella Jane Fitzgerald on April 25, 1917 in Newport News, Virginia and died on June 15, 1996 in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 79.