July 28 is the 210th day of the year. There are 156 days remaining until the end of the year.
1586 Sir Thomas Harriot introduces potatoes to Europe on Happy Hamburger Day. Coincidence? I think not.
1866 Metric system becomes a legal measurement system in U.S.
1868 14th Amendment is ratified to grant citizenship to ex-slaves and equal protection for all citizens.
1917 Silent Parade in New York City to protest murders of blacks in race riots. Honestly now, you know this is historic. When has a big group of black people ever been quiet?!?!?
1920 'Poor Little Ritz Girl" opens at the Central Theatre, NYC, marking the theatrical debut of the songwriting lovers Richard Rodgers (then 18) and Lorenz Hart (then 25)
1933 1st singing telegram is delivered to Rudy Vallee in New York City
1977 1st oil through the TransAlaska Pipeline System reaches Valdez, Alaska . . .I think we know where this is headed.
1996 Kennewick Man, the remains of a prehistoric man, is discovered near Kennewick, Washington.
2005 The Provisional Irish Republican Army (The PIRA) calls an end to their thirty year long armed campaign in Northern Ireland.
1844 Gerard Manley Hopkins, probably gay Irish poet and Jesuit Priest. Obsessed with handsome younger men. But he probably didn't do anything about it. Is he good? Yes. But keep a dictionary handy.
1909 Malcolm Lowry, English novelist and alcoholic. Best known for "Under the Volcano". His college roommate committed suicide when Lowry refused his advances. His first wife left him because gay men were always after him. Obviously, he had to beat the men off to keep them away from his pulchritude.
June 17 is the 169th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. If the ancient Mayans were correct, there are 187 days remaining until the end of time.
1462 Vlad III the Impaler attempts to ass-ass-inate Mehmed II (The Night Attack) forcing him to retreat from Wallachia.
1876 Indian Wars: Battle of the Rosebud—1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors led by Crazy Horse beat off General George Crook's forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory. . .and a good time was had by all.
1901 The College Board introduces its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT.
1946 Grindr beta: SW Bell inaugurates mobile telephone commercial service in St. Louis
1963 The United States Supreme Court rules 8 to 1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against allowing reciting Bible verses and the Lord's Prayer in public schools
1967 Barbra Streisand happens in Central Park
1971 President Richard Nixon declares the US War on Drugs.
1972 Five White House drug warriors are arrested for clumsily burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate building in an attempt by the Republican party to illegally wiretap the opposition. Those nutty Republicans sure love their technology, don’t they?
1976 ABA (Nets, Pacers, Nuggets and Spurs) merges into NBA
1978 "Cheeseburger In Paradise" by Jimmy Buffett peaks at #32. Here's John Barrowman's "Paradise in Cheeseburger"
1991 Notoriously dyspeptic President Zachary Taylor’s body is exhumed to determine if he was the victim of arsenic poisoning as conspiracy theorists have conjectured for more than 150 years
1994 O.J. Simpson doesn't turn himself in on murder charges and the Los Angeles police chase his white Ford Bronco for 1 hour before he gives up. Ford appreciates the free advertising.
2008 Same sex couples may apply for marriage licenses–not domestic partnership or civil union licenses–in California. Uh, hold that thought.
1880 Carl Van Vechten, gay US writer and photographer of famous gays and Harlem Renaissance luminaries
1939 Last public guillotining in France. Eugen Weidmann, a convicted murderer, is guillotined in Versailles outside the prison Saint-Pierre. What an honor!
1984 Chet Allen, maybe gay US child actor/boy singer (Amahl and the Night Visitors), emits a nocturnal gift of his own
1986 Kate Smith, plus-sized US singer (God Bless America), is the fat lady who sings
1987 With the death of the last individual, the Dusky Seaside Sparrow becomes extinct
1989 John Matuszak, US football player (Oak Raider)/actor, gets blocked
