1905 Teddy Roosevelt stands up for race equality; 1915 ASCAP is formed; NBA All-Star greats
1905 — Teddy Roosevelt stands up for race equality. He had quite the mind, that Teddy. He believed in a gradual change towards equality, like many other presidents before and after him. On February 13, 1905 he warned: The attitude of the North toward the Negro is far from what it should bek, and there is need that the North also should act in good faith upon the principle of giving to each man what is justly due him, of treating him on his worth as a man, granting him no special favors, but denying him no proper opportunity for labor and the reward of labor.
1837 – The Flour Riot of 1837. F-l-o-u-r, not the daisey. According to the newyorker, occurred after the Great Fire of 1835, when nearly 700 buildings were destroyed with a total loss of 20 million. Depression settled on the country, and there was a food shortage. Flour sold for $7.00 and $12,00 a barrel, and then Jumped to $20. Mass meetings were held & the crowds were stirred up by political leaders who spread rumors. Two companies in N. Y., the Eli Hart & Co., and S. H. Herrick & Co. were accused of hoarding the flour. Direct action was taken by crowd, on Feb. 10th, after speakers worked up fury of the crowd. The rioters marched to Eli Hart’s shop, & before they could be restrained, destroyed 500 barrels of flour, and 1000 bushels of wheat. The Seventh Regiment restrained them. The bulk of the mob attacked Herrick & Company’s warehouse. They began destroying the flour & grain, but gave up within ten minutes and left the place.
1776 – Patrick Henry named colonel of First Virginia battalion. Patrick Henry was elected to the First CXontinental Congress in 1774, later a member of the Second continental Congress. On March 23 1775 he uttered his oh so famous American words Give me liberty or give me eath! Whil this was going on, Virginia’s Royal Governor Lord Dunmore was not liked due to his British allegiance. Amercans in the early 1770s were already fed up with taxation without representation thing, and Dunmore was the perfect target. N April 1775, Dunmore removed the locks from firearms in Williamsburg armories and seized the gunpowder. This was known as the Gunpoweder Affair. Henry led a standoff against Dunmore, and it ended peacefully Dunmore would later retreat to a British ship, ending royal control of Virginia.
1915 – ASCAP is formed. ASCAPT, or the AmericanSociety of Composers, Authors and Publishers, according to their website, an organization owned and run by its members, is the leading U.S. Performing Rights Organization representing over 540,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. Many of you probably don’t have a reason to care about this, but in case you’re in the music industry you know all about it because this is how royalties are paid to artists. ASCAP was founded by the biggest stars at that time: Irving Berlin, James Welon Johnson, Jerome Kern, John Philip Sousa, and others.
NBA All-Star season is here, and on this day in 2000 the East beat the West 137-126 with Shaq and Kevin Garnett named co-MVPs. On this day in 1994 East beat West and Scottie Pippen, who scored 29 points, was named MVP.