Today in History, March 21

This video says about itself:

“The Road To Resistance” is part 1 of a 6 part documentary series on the global anti-apartheid movements, stretching from 1946-1990. The first story covers almost twenty years of history as one nation embarks on a collision course with the rest of the world. In 1948 the United Nations adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but South Africa marches in the opposite direction implementing a system of laws called apartheid, segregating its people by race in every aspect of life.

The black majority led by the ANC mounts a non-violent campaign of defiance, attracting the attention of Gandhians in Britain, Sweden, and the United States — and the seeds of an international movement are sown. The world reacts with horror as protesters are gunned down in the town of Sharpeville. And in the fateful year of 1964, Nelson Mandela is jailed for life, and the entire ANC leadership is forced underground or imprisoned. The movement is effectively shut down in South Africa as hundreds escape into exile.

From Associated Press:

Today in History – March 21

Today is Saturday, March 21, the 80th day of 2009. There are 285 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On March 21, 1685, composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany.

On this date:

In 1804, the French civil code, or the “Code Napoleon” as it was later called, was adopted.

In 1806, Mexican statesman Benito Juarez was born in Oaxaca.

In 1907, U.S. Marines arrived in Honduras to protect American lives and interests in the wake of political violence.

Rather “patriotic” word by this US news agency to describe one of several colonialist invasions in that country.

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan began a four-day conference in Bermuda.

In 1960, some 70 people were killed in Sharpeville, South Africa, when police fired on demonstrators.

In 1963, the Alcatraz federal prison island in San Francisco Bay was emptied of its last inmates at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

In 1965, more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.

In 1972, the Supreme Court, in Dunn v. Blumstein, ruled that states may not require at least a year’s residency for voting eligibility.

In 1985, police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings; the reported death toll varies between 29 and 43.

In 1990, Namibia became an independent nation as the former colony marked the end of 75 years of South African rule.

…

Five years ago: The White House disputed assertions by President George W. Bush’s former counterterrorism coordinator, Richard A. Clarke, that the administration had failed to recognize the risk of an attack by al-Qaida in the months leading up to 9/11. (Clarke’s assertions were contained in a new book, “Against All Enemies,” that went on sale the next day.) Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid won the prestigious 2004 Pritzker Architecture Prize, becoming the first woman to receive the profession’s highest honor.

One year ago: Officials admitted that at least four State Department workers had pried into the supposedly secure passport files of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain, prompting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to personally apologize to the presidential contenders.

Related articles

• Alf Kumalo, Whose Photography Indicted Apartheid, Dies at 82 (nytimes.com)
• Steve Gunn: Modern American fight their civil wars in the ballot box, not through secession (mlive.com)
• Jeep Says Americans Need to Brush Up History (motortrend.com)
• A little history – Martin Luther King (johncashon.wordpress.com)
• Roslyn Bernstein: Okwui Enwezor Traces the Struggle of Apartheid (guernicamag.com)