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Great Sioux Nation

For more than one-hundred years before the tragedy at Wounded Knee, the Lakota Sioux bands (Oglala, Brule, Hunkpapa, Miniconjou, Oohenonpa, Itazipco, Sihasapa) occupied the general area of the present-day Plains states of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. The great Sioux nation (of which the Lakotas are one branch) was comprised of nomadic hunters whose ancestors, like their fellow tribesfolk, had existed for centuries on the land now geopolitically recognized as North America. But the entire Indian population was nearly eradicated with the coming of the Europeans. It is estimated that in 1492, there were more than 5-million Indians living on the continent. By 1900, their numbers had dwindled to less than 250,000.

The 1800s represented a century of despair for the Indian nations as the burgeoning population of white settlers moved further westward, placing heavy demands on the land and natural resources. As the era progressed, the Indians were pushed onto increasingly smaller living areas, forced to sign treaties that were invariably broken by whites, and unable to stop the vanishing of their primary food source, the buffalo.

As the end of the nineteenth century drew to a close, the few remaining free-roaming Indian tribes were pushed onto reservations and forced to become dependent on government rations and relinquish their customary way of life. In addition, throughout the century there had been numerous armed conflicts between the U.S. army (which was carrying out the government policy of manifest destiny) and the Indian tribes who resisted the destruction of their own cultural values. In particular, tension between the U.S. government and the Sioux nation escalated after the Indians, led by Sitting Bull, defeated Gen. George Custer at The Battle at Little Bighorn in 1876.

Ghost Dance Religion

By the late 1880s, many Indian tribes, desperate and facing a dire existence of poverty, hunger and disease, sought a means of salvation to revitalize their traditional culture. The evolution of a new religion, the Ghost Dance, was a reaction to the Indians being forced to submit to government authority and reservation life. In early 1889, a Paiute shaman, Wovoka, (son of the mystic, Tavibo, whose teachings influenced the new religion) had a vision during an eclipse of the sun in which he saw the second coming of Christ and received a warning about the evils of the white man.

Knowledge of the vision spread quickly through the Indian camps across the country. Word began to circulate among the people on the reservations that a great new Indian Messiah had come to liberate them, and investigative parties were sent out to discover the nature of these claims. On one of the excursions, it is said that the messiah appeared to an Arapaho hunting party, crowned with thorns. They believed him to be the incarnation of Jesus, returned to save the Indian nations from the scourge of white people. Delegations were sent to visit Wovoka in western Nevada and returned to their camps disciples, preaching a new religion that promised renewal and revitalization of the Indian nations. Among those who met with Wovoka, Good Thunder, Short Bull, and Kicking Bear became prominent leaders of the new religion which was called the Ghost Dance by white people because of its precepts of resurrection and reunion with the dead.

A Lakota Ghost Dancing shirt, believed to protect its wearer from bullets.

According to Wovoka, converts of the new religion were supposed to take part in the Ghost Dance to hasten the arrival of the new era as promised by the messiah. Although the Bureau of Indian Affairs banned the Ghost Dance (as they did all other Indians spiritual rituals), the Lakotas adopted it and began composing sacred songs of hope:

The whole world is coming,
A nation is coming, a nation is coming,
The eagle has brought the message to the tribe.
The Father says so, the Father says so.
Over the whole earth they are coming,
The buffalo are coming, the buffalo are coming,
The crow has brought the message to the tribe,
The Father says so, the Father says so.

The Ghost Dance religion promised an apocalypse in the coming years during which time the earth would be destroyed, only to be recreated with the Indians as the inheritors of the new earth. According to the prophecy, the recent times of suffering for Indians had been brought about by their sins, but now they had withstood enough under the whites. With the earth destroyed, white people would be obliterated, buried under the new soil of the spring that would cover the land and restore the prairie. The buffalo and antelope would return, and deceased ancestors would rise to once again roam the earth, now free of violence, starvation, and disease. The natural world would be restored, and the land once again would be free and open to the Indian peoples, without the borders and boundaries of the white man. The new doctrine taught that salvation would be achieved when the Indians purged themselves of the evil ways learned from the white man, especially the drinking of alcohol. Believers were encouraged to engage in frequent ceremonial cleansing, meditation, prayer, chanting, and most importantly, dancing the Ghost Dance. Hearing rumors of the prophecy and fearing that it was a portent of renewed violence, white homesteaders panicked and the government responded.

The government agent at Standing Rock, James McLaughlin, described the Ghost Dance as an "absurd craze" -- "demoralizing, indecent, disgusting." Reservation agents described the Indians as "wild and crazy," and believed that their actions warranted military protection for white settlers. But while one of the primary goals of the Bureau of Indian Affairs was to convert the Indians to Christianity, they did not recognize that the fundamental principles of the Ghost Dance were indeed Christian in nature and had the effect of converting many to a belief in the one Christian God. In addition, Wovoka preached that, to survive, the Indians needed to turn to farming and to send their children to school to be educated. Ironically, while these efforts would appear to coincide with the goals of the Bureau, the Ghost Dance was outlawed by the agency. The Bureau feared the swelling numbers of Ghost Dancers and believed that the ritual was a precursor to renewed Indian militancy and violent rebellion.

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on March 13:
1548 Sasbout Vosmeer Dutch Catholic theologist/apostole
1599 Johannes Berchmans Dutch Jesuit/saint
1615 Innocent XII [Antonio Pignatelli] Pope (1691-1700)
1696 Louis F A D Duke de Richelieu French marshal
1700 James Kent composer
1700 Michel Blavet composer
1712 Isfrid Kayser composer
1733 Joseph Priestly England, clergyman/scientist (discovered oxygen)
1741 Jozef II arch duke of Austria/Roman Catholic German emperor (1765-90)
1744 David Allan Scottish painter
1746 Maurus Haberhauer composer
1752 Josef Reicha composer
1764 Charles Earl Grey (Whig), British Prime Minister (1830-34)
1767 Heinrich Domnich composer
1768 Charles Louis WJ van Keverberg Dutch civil servant
1770 Daniel Lambert England, giant (weighed 739 lbs (334 kg) at death)
1779 Oliver Shaw composer
1781 Karl F Schinkel German architect/painter/writer (Schloss Tegel)
1798 Abigail Powers Fillmore 1st lady-Millard Fillmore (1850-53)
1818 Albion Parris Howe Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1897
1820 Louis Herbert Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1901
1822 Moritz Grave von Strachwitz German poet
1832 Alberto Randegger composer
1850 Emilio Serrano y Ruiz composer
1855 Percival "Percy" Lowell US astronomer (predicted discovery of Pluto)
1858 Maximilien Luce French painter
1859 Ivo Bligh cricketer [Lord Darnley] England captain vs Australia 1882-83
1860 Hugo Filipp Jakob Wolf Windisch-Gräz Austria, composer
1862 Vasily Mikhaylovich Metallov composer
1872 Oswald Garrison Villard American journalist
1875 Maria E G "Lizzy" Ansingh Dutch painter (Caught Sultane)
1881 Balthazar H Verhagen Netherlands/South African dramatist/writer
1883 Enrico Toselli composer
1884 Emanuel Stickelberger Swiss writer (Bluthochzeit)
1884 Oskar Loerke German writer (Longest Day-1926)
1884 Sir Hugh S Walpole New Zealand, novelist/critic/dramatist (Jeremy, Maradick at 40)
1886 Henri D Gagnebin Swiss organist
1886 John "Home Run" Baker hall of famer (hit 2 homeruns in 1911 world series)
1887 Carlos Isamitt composer
1890 Frank Thieß writer
1890 Michael Taube composer
1892 Alec Rowley composer
1892 Janet Flanner journalist (New Yorker)
1896 Dorothy Aldis writer
1897 Marcel Thiry Belgian poet (Statue of Fatigue)
1897 William Herald Australia, swimmer (Olympics-1920)
1898 Josie Sedgwick Texas, actress (Son of Oklahoma)
1899 Pancho Vladigerov composer
1901 Paul Fix Dobbs Ferry NY, actor (Rifleman)
1904 Henry Iliffe Cozens pilot
1907 Albert Hughes Williams teacher/historian
1907 Dona Maria Pia de Braganca pretender to the Portuguese throne
1907 Frank Wilcox DeSoto MO, actor (John-Beverly Hillbillies)
1907 Oscar Brink latinist
1908 Helen Sinclair Glatz musician
1908 Paul Stewart New York NY, actor (Top Secret USA, Deadline)
1908 Walter Annenberg Milwaukee WI, publisher (Triangle-TV Guide)
1909 Gilbert Inglefield Mayor of London (1967-68)
1910 Sammy Kaye Lakewood OH, orchestra leader (Sammy Kaye Show)
1911 Jose Ardevol composer
1911 L[aFayette] Ron Hubbard sci-fi writer/Scientologist (Dianetics)
1912 Ernst Hess composer
1912 Igor Youskevitch dancer
1912 James Friell political cartoonist
1913 Tessie O'Shea Cardiff Wales, actress (Entertainers)
1913 William J Casey headed CIA during Iran-contra scandal (1981-87)
1914 Carl-Olof Anderberg composer
1916 (Corinne) Lindy (Claiborne) Boggs (Representative-Democrat-LA, 1973- )
1917 Ina Ray Hutton Chicago IL, orchestra leader (Ina Ray Hutton Show)
1917 Maria Vlamynck Flemish author
1918 Faye Glenn Abdellan US government official (health services)
1918 George McAfee NFL halfback (Chicago Bears)
1920 Frans van der Elst Flemish attorney/MP (Volksunie)
1921 Allan Jaffee comic strip cartoonist/illustrator (MAD Magazine)
1921 Cyril Poole cricketer (England batsman against India 1951-52)
1922 Brun Smith cricketer (New Zealand right-handed batsman of late 1940's)
1922 Jim Rodger sports writer
1925 Anthony Milner composer
1925 Bertha Tickey Dinuba CA, softball pitcher (Hall of Fame 1973)
1925 Roy Haynes US jazz drummer (Trio Music with Chick Corea)
1926 Frederick Hemming McClintock criminologist
1926 Raúl Alfonsín Argentine President (1983-89)
1927 Charles Sickman Corsen Dutch Antillean poet
1929 J D Slater writer
1929 Peter Breck Rochester NY, actor (Black Saddle, Big Valley, Benji)
1929 Walter Medio race horse trainer
1929 Will Eisma composer
1930 Doug Harvey hockey star (3 time James Norris winner)
1930 Liz Anderson C & W singer
1931 Marc Dessauvage Flemish architect
1931 Rosalind Elias Lowell MA, mezzo-soprano (Grimgerde-Die Walkuere)
1931 Wolfgang Kohlhaase Berlin, actor/director/writer (Solo Sunday)
1933 Frank H Murkowski (Senator-Republican-AK, 1981- )
1933 Mike Stoller composer (Lieber & Stoller-Hound Dog, Charlie Brown)
1935 Don Nute Connellsville PA (Denver University), actor
1936 Clarence Nash animation voice (Donald Duck)
1937 Fofo I F Sunia (Representative-Democrat-American Samoa, 1981- )
1938 Hans-Joachim Hespos composer
1938 Jean-Claude Risset composer
1938 Joseph Bellino footballer (1960 Heisman Trophy)
1938 Patricia W Amicone educator/midwife
1939 Neil Sedaka Brooklyn NY, singer/songwriter (Breaking Up is Hard to Do)
1943 Andre Techine director/writer (Scene of the Crime, Rendez-Vous)
1943 Stephen Vincent Benet writer
1947 Lesley Collier British ballet dancer
1947 Tomas Hinojosa jockey
1950 Bernard Julien cricketer (West Indies left-arm pace all-rounder mid-70's)
1950 Danny Kirwan London, rock guitarist (Fleetwood Mac)
1950 Joe Bugner Hungarian/British/Australian boxer (European Champion 1971)
1950 Robert S Woods Maywood CA, actor (Bo-One Life to Live, Deadly Love)
1950 Steve Hill country vocalist (A Winning Hand)
1950 William H Macy Miami FL, actor (Homicide, Water Engine)
1951 Fred Berry St Louis MO, actor (Rerun-What's Happening)
1952 Wolfgang Hihm composer
1953 Andy Bean Lafayette GA, PGA golfer (Western 1978, Kemper 1978)
1953 Deborah Raffin Los Angeles CA, actress (Ransom, Demon, 40 Carats)
1954 Robin Duke Toronto Canada, comedienne (Saturday Night Live, SCTV, Club Paradise)
1955 Glenne Headly New London CT, actress (Dick Tracy, Making Mr Right)
1955 Olga Rukavishnikova USSR, pentathlete (Olympics-silver-1980)
1955 Patricia J Engfer general manager (Hyatt Regency-Orlando)
1956 Dana Delany New York NY, actress (Colleen McMurphy-China Beach, Exit to Eden)
1958 Debi Nicolle Johnson Torrance CA, playmate (October, 1984)
1958 Rick A Lazio (Representative-Republican-NY)
1959 Dirk Wellham cricketer (century on New South Wales debut & Australian debut)
1959 Ronnie Rogers guitarist (T'Pau-Heart & Soul)
1960 Adam Clayton Oxfordshire, rock bassist (U2-I Will Follow)
1961 Cor Lems soccer player (ADO The Hague/Dordrecht '90)
1962 Liane Tooth Sydney New South Wales Australia, field hockey forward (Olympics-96)
1963 Mariano Duncan S P de Macoris Dominican Republic, infielder (New York Yankees)
1963 Vance Johnson NFL wide receiver (Denver Broncos)
1964 Will Clark New Orleans LA, infielder (Texas Rangers)
1966 Akira Nogami wrestler (NJPW)
1966 Tine Scheuer-Larsen Denmark, tennis star
1967 Colleen Rosensteel South Greensburg PA, heavyweight judoka (Olympics-96)
1967 Satu Huotari ice hockey defenseman (Finland, Olympics-98)
1968 Christopher Collett New York NY, actor (Manhattan Project)
1969 Chris Zorich NFL defensive tackle (Chicago Bears)
1969 Kevin Kaminski Churchbridge Saskatchewan, NHL center (Washington Capitals)
1971 Curtis Conway NFL wide receiver/kick returner (Chicago Bears)
1971 Li Chen Changsha China, tennis star (1995 Futures-Austin TX)
1971 Paul Henderson Australian 100 meter/200 meter (Olympics-96)
1971 Ralf Kleinmann WLAF kicker/punter (Frankfurt Galaxy)
1971 Robert Samuels cricketer (West Indies Test opening batsman vs New Zealand 1996)
1971 Ryan Hayden Indianapolis IN, 400 meter hurdler
1971 Tony Vinson NFL running back (Atlanta Falcons, Lon Monarchs, Baltimore Ravens)
1971 Tracy Wells actress (Heather-Mr Belvedere)
1972 Avrom Smith WLAF RB (London Monarchs)
1972 Brian Saxton NFL tight end (New York Giants)
1972 Rickey Brady NFL tight end (New Orleans Saints)
1972 Ryan McCoy WLAF LB (London Monarchs)
1972 Shea Olliff Augusta GA, Miss Georgia-America (1996)
1972 Trent Dilfer NFL quarterback (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
1973 Ann Coale Miss Maryland-USA (1997)
1973 Bobby Jackson NBA guard (Denver Nuggets)
1973 Dan Wilkinson NFL defensive tackle (Cincinnati Bengals)
1973 Edgar Davids Dutch soccer player (Ajax, AC Milan)
1973 Trezelle Jenkins NFL tackle (Kansas City Chiefs)
1974 André Batista Santos "Vampeta" (Brazilian) soccer player (PSV)
1974 Corinna Broiz Garberville CO, lightweight judoka (Olympics-96)
1974 Thomas Enqvist Stockholm Sweden, tennis star (1991 Wimbledon junior boys)
1975 Landon Wilson St Louis, NHL right wing (Colorado Avalanche)

Deaths which occurred on March 13:
1202 Mieszko III the Elder, grand duke of Poland (1173-77, 1200-02), dies
1516 Vladislav II Jagiello king of Bohemia (1490-1516), dies at 60
1558 Jean Fernel French physician/physiologist, dies
1569 Louis Condé French prince/co-leader of Hugenot, dies in battle
1573 Michel de l'Hôpital chancellor of France (1560-68), dies at about 65
1619 Richard Burbage English actor (Shakespeare), dies
1716 Georg Gabriel Schutz composer, dies at 46
1756 Johann Melchior Conradi composer, dies at 81
1817 Matej Sojka composer, dies at 77
1837 Nikita P Panin Russian diplomat/minister of Foreign affairs, dies at 66
1839 Robert Gallenberg composer, dies at 55
1879 Adolf Anderssen German world champion chess (1851..66), dies at 60
1881 Alexander II Tsar of Russia, assassinated at 62
1890 Henry Wylde composer, dies at 67
1901 Benjamin Harrison 23rd President (1889-1893), dies in Indianapolis at 67
1903 Nicolas Beets [Hildebrand] Dutch writer (Camera Obscura), dies at 88
1906 Susan B[rownell] Anthony American suffragist, dies at 85
1911 Jacob M van Bemmelen Dutch physicist/chemist, dies at 80
1915 Sergei J Witte Dutch count/premier of Russia, dies at 65
1918 Karel Stecker composer, dies at 57
1918 William Courtleigh actor (Susie Snowflake), dies at 26
1930 Mary E W Freeman US writer (Pembroke), dies at 77
1934 Fritz Cortolezis composer, dies at 56
1938 Clarence S Darrow Scopes Monkey Trial attorney, dies in Chicago at 80
1941 A Coenradi Dutch resistance fighter, executed
1941 Bernard Ijzerdraat Dutch resistance fighter, executed
1941 E Hellendoorn Dutch resistance fighter, executed
1941 Isaak E Babel Russian writer (Zakat, Marija), executed at 46
1941 J Eyl Dutch resistance fighter, executed
1945 Herbert Bedford composer, dies at 78
1946 Abraham Bredius Dutch art historian (Rembrandt), dies at 90
1946 Thomas Frederick Dunhill composer, dies at 69
1946 Werner von Blomberg German minister of Reichswehr, dies at 67
1951 Alfred Hugenberg German Roman Catholic president-director of Krupp/media magnate, dies
1951 James I Wedgwood British theosophist/Catholic bishop, dies at 67
1955 Maharajadhiraja Tribhuvana Bir Bikram Yung Bahadur Shum Shere dies
1955 Yung Deva king of Nepal (191.-55), dies at about 48
1957 Lena Ashwell English actress/theatrical manager (Kingsway), dies at 84
1964 Kitty Genovese stabbed to death in Queens; 40 neighbors looked on
1965 George Calinescu Romanian author (Lauda Lucrorilor), dies at 65
1967 Frank Worrell West Indian cricketer, dies
1969 Felix Locher actor (Frankenstein's Daughter), dies at 86
1970 Rick Besoyan composer, dies at 45
1971 Piero Coppola composer, dies at 82
1971 Rockwell Kens US artist/painter/illustrator, dies at 88
1973 Stacy Harris actor (Door With No Name, Appointment with Danger), dies at 54
1974 Howard St John actor (Investigator, Dr Lewis-Hank), dies at 68
1974 Janos Prohaska actor (Andy Williams Show), dies at 52
1975 Ali Sastroamidjojo Indonesian attorney/minister/premier, dies at 71
1975 Ivo Andric Yugoslavian author (Nemiri-Nobel 1961), dies at 82
1975 Jean Del Val actor (Sainted Devil, Flying Deuces), dies at 83
1975 Ruth Schaumann German author/painter/sculptor, dies at 75
1976 Willy Alfredo [Willem Jue], Dutch comedian/poet, dies at 77
1977 Fanie Lou Hamer freedom fighter, dies
1977 Jan Patocka Czechoslovakian philosopher, dies in prison
1978 David McKinley Williams composer, dies at 91
1978 Ghulam Mustafa Guard cricketer (3 wickets in 2 Tests for India), dies
1980 Tauno Kullerve Pylkkanen composer, dies at 61
1982 Albert Weisser composer, dies at 64
1982 Wilfred Hawker Suriname Sergeant-Major, executed
1983 Louison Bobet French cyclist (Tour de France 1953-55), dies at 58
1983 Paul R Citroen Dutch sculptor, dies at 86
1984 Dick Whitington journalist/cricketer (South Australia & AIF bat), dies
1986 Alvaro Fayad Delgado Colombian guerilla leader (M-19), dies
1987 Bernhard Grzimek West German zoologist, dies at 77
1987 Finn Videro composer, dies at 80
1987 Gerald Moore England, pianist (Am I Too Loud), dies at 87
1988 Olive Carey actress (Affairs With a Stranger), dies at 92
1990 Bruno Bettelhelm Austrian/US psychoanalyst, commits suicide at 86
1991 Cor Witschge [Pipo the Clown], Dutch actor (Alicia), dies at 65
1991 Jimmy McPartland US, jazz cornetist, dies
1992 Clarence Wright singer, dies at 84
1992 Hans Redeker Dutch art critic (Algemeen Handelsblad), dies
1993 Ralph Smith Fults US gangster (Bonnie & Clyde gang), dies at 82
1994 Danny Barker US banjo player/guitarist (Bourbon St Black), dies at 85
1994 Edward James "Murt" O'Donoghue snooker player
1994 Sandra Paretti romantic novelist, dies at 59
1995 Abdul Ali Mazari Afghan shite leader, shot to death
1995 John Silverlight journalist, dies at 75
1995 Leo Kaplan lawyer (ASCAP), dies at 89
1995 Leon Day pitcher (Negro Leagues), dies of heart failure at 78
1995 Lorraine Macleod dancer (Girls Just Want to Have Fun), dies at 65
1995 P C J van Lierde Dutch vicar-general of Vatican (1951-91), dies at 87
1996 Brian Hulls television news cameraman, dies at 48
1996 Krzysztof Kieslowski film director, dies of heart attack at 54
1996 Lucio Fulci filem director, dies at 68
1996 Lucy Faithfull children's campaigner, dies at 85

On this day...
0483 St Felix III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0607 12th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1138 German king Koenraad II von Hohenstaufen crowned
1519 Cortez lands in México
1560 Spanish fleet occupies Djerba, at Tripoli
1564 Cardinal Granvelle flees Brussels
1567 Battle at Oosterweel: Spanish troops destroy Geuzenleger
1569 Battle of Jarnac, Count of Anjou defeats Huguenots
1591 Battle at Tondibi: Moroccans army under Judar beats sultan Askia Ishaq II of Songhai
1634 Académie Française opens
1639 Cambridge College renamed Harvard for clergyman John Harvard
1656 Jews are denied the right to build a synagogue in New Amsterdam
1677 Massachusetts gains title to Maine for $6,000
1735 1st US Moravian bishop, David Nitschmann, consecrated in Germany
1759 27th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1772 Gotthold Lessing's "Emilia Calotti" premieres in Brunswick
1781 Sir William Herschel sees "comet" (really discovered Uranus)
1790 John Martin, 1st American-born actor, performs in Philadelphia
1797 Cherubini's opera "Medée" premieres in Paris France
1835 Charles Darwin departs Valparaiso for Andes crossing
1846 Friedrich Hebbel's "Maria Magdalena" premieres in Königsberg
1852 Uncle Sam cartoon figure made its debut in the New York Lantern weekly
1861 Jefferson Davis signs bill authorizing use of slaves as soldiers
1865 US Confederate Congress calls on black slaves for field service
1868 Senate begins President Andrew Johnson impeachment trial
1869 Arkansas legislature passes anti-Klan law
1878 Oxford defeats Cambridge in their 1st golf match
1884 Siege of Khartoum Sudan begins
1884 US adopts Standard Time
1887 Chester Greenwood of Maine patents earmuffs
1888 Great Blizzard of 1888 rages
1894 J L Johnstone of England invents horse racing starting gate
1895 Spanish cruiser Reina Regente sinks off Gibraltar, 402 die
1900 British troops occupy Bloemfontein, Orange-Free state
1904 Bronze statue of Christ on Argentine-Chilian border dedicated
1911 Ivan Caryll's musical "Pink Lady" premieres in New York NY
1911 Stanley Cup: Ottawa Senators beat Galt (Ontario), 7-4
1912 Stanley Cup: Québec Bulldogs sweep Moncton (New Brunswick) in 2 games
1913 Kansas legislature approves censorship of motion pictures
1915 Dodgers manager Wilbert Robinson tries to catch a baseball dropped from an airplane, but the pilot substituted a grapefruit
1918 1st NHL Championship: Montréal Canadiens beat Toronto Arenas, outscoring them 10-7 in a 2 game set
1918 American Red Magen David (Jewish Red Cross) forms
1920 Wolfgang Kapp's coup attempt in Berlin fails
1921 Mongolia (formerly Outer Mongolia) declares independence from China
1922 George Bernard Shaw's "Back to Methusaleh V" premieres in New York NY
1922 NHL Championship: Ottawa Senators outscore Toronto St Pats, 5 to 4, in 2 games
1922 WRR-AM in Dallas TX begins radio transmissions
1923 Lee de Forest demonstrates his sound-on-film moving pictures (New York NY)
1924 German Republic day
1925 NHL Championship: Montréal Canadiens sweep Toronto Arenas in 2 games
1925 Tennessee makes it unlawful to teach evolution
1928 450 die in St Franciso Valley Dam burst (California)
1928 Rudolph Friml's musical "Three Musketeers" premieres in New York NY
1929 Bradman scores 123 Australia vs England at MCG, his 2nd Test Cricket ton
1930 Clyde Tombaugh announces discovery of Pluto at Lowell Observatory
1933 Banks reopen
1933 Josef Göbbels becomes German minister of Information & Propaganda
1935 Driving tests introduced in Great Britain
1938 Anschluß-Austria annexed by Nazi Germany
1940 Finland-Russian cease fire signed, Finland gives up Karelische
1941 A Bougne forms AGRA (Amis du Grand Reich Allemand)
1942 Julia Flikke, Nurse Corps, becomes 1st woman colonel in US army
1943 Baseball approves official ball (with cork & balata)
1943 Failed assassin attempt on Hitler during Smolensk-Rastenburg flight
1943 Frank Dixon wins Knights of Columbus mile (4 :9.6)
1944 USSR recognizes Italian Badoglio government
1945 Queen Wilhelmina returns to Netherlands
1945 Sicherheitsdienst arrest Dutch resistance fighter Henry Werkman
1947 "Brigadoon" opens at Ziegfeld Theater NYC for 581 performances
1947 19th Academy Awards: "Best Years of Our Lives", Frederic March, Olivia de Havilland win
1948 10th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Kentucky beats Baylor 58-42
1949 US Ladies Figure Skating Championship won by Yvonne C Sherman
1949 US Men's Figure Skating Championship won by Richard Button
1950 General Motors reports net earnings of $656,434,232 (record)
1951 2nd Dutch government of Drees forms
1951 Israel demands DM 6.2 billion compensation from Germany
1954 Braves' Bobby Thomson breaks his ankle, he is replaced by Hank Aaron
1954 Viet Minh General Giap opens assault on That Bien Phu
1955 Bir BSD Mahendra succeeds Tribhubana as king of Nepal
1955 Patty Berg wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship
1956 New Zealand bowl out West Indies for 77 at Eden Park to score their 1st Test Cricket win
1957 Bloody battles after anti-Batista demonstration in Havana Cuba
1958 Govt troops land in Sumatra Indonesia
1960 Fay Crocker wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship
1960 NFL's Chicago Cardinals move to St Louis
1960 White Sox unveil new road uniforms with players' names above number
1961 Elizabeth Gurley Finn (70) becomes president of US Communist Party
1961 Floyd Patterson KOs Ingemar Johansson in 6 to retain heavyweight boxing title
1961 JFK sets up the Alliance for Progress
1961 Landslide in USSR, kills 145
1961 Old type, black & white notes cease to be legal tender
1961 Pablo Picasso (79) marries his model Jacqueline Rocque (37)
1962 Yugoslavia grants 1,000 prisoners amnesty
1963 2 Russian reconnaissance flights over Alaska
1963 Hindemith & Wilder's opera "Long Christmas Dinner" premieres in New York NY
1963 Indonesia & Netherlands recover diplomatic relations
1964 Turkey threatens Cyprus with armed attack
1965 Beatles' "Eight Days a Week" single goes #1 & stays #1 for 2 weeks
1965 Jeff Beck replaces Eric Clapton of the Yardbirds
1966 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Lagunita Golf Invitational
1967 Congo sentences ex-premier Moïse Tsjombe to death
1967 Robert Anderson's "You Know I Can't Hear You When The Water's Running" premieres in New York NY
1968 Beatles release "Lady Madonna" in the UK
1969 Apollo 9 returns to Earth
1970 100 year Beehive anniversary ends in brawl in Amsterdam
1970 Digital Equipment Corp introduces PDP-11 minicomputer
1970 San Francisco city employees begin 4-day strike
1971 Live at Fillmore East recorded
1973 "Irene" opens at Minskoff Theater NYC for 605 performances
1973 Syria adopts constitution
1974 Charles de Gaulle Airport opens near Paris France
1974 Glenn Turner scores twin tons for New Zealand's 1st win against Australia
1975 Bernard Slade's "Same Time, Next Year" premieres in New York NY
1977 Dennis Lillee takes 6-26, England all out 95 in Centenary Test
1978 Moluccans "suicide commandos" occupies Province house
1979 European Monetary System is established, ECU created
1979 Gairy dictatorship in Grenada overthrown by New Jewel Movement
1979 Isle's Mike Bossy's 5th career hat trick
1980 Eric Heiden skates world record 1000 meter (1:13.60)
1980 Ford Motor Co found innocent in death of 3 women in a fiery Pinto
1981 Attempt on Pope John Paul II by Mehemet Ali Agca
1981 NCAA St Joseph's upsets top seed DePaul
1982 World Ice Dance Championship in Copenhagen won by Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean (Great Britain)
1982 World Ice Pairs Figure Skating Championship in Copenhagen won by Sabine Baess & Tassilo Thierbach (German Democratic Republic)
1982 World Ladies Figure Skate Championship in Copenhagen won by Elaine Zayak (USA)
1982 World Men's Figure Skating Championship in Copenhagen won by Scott Hamilton (USA)
1983 "Woman of the Year" closes at Palace Theater NYC after 770 performances
1983 1st USFL overtime game-Birmingham Stallions beat Oakld Invaders 20-14
1984 Last day of 1st-class cricket for G Chappell, R Marsh, B Laird
1984 Western Australia beat Queensland by four wickets to win the Sheffield Shield
1985 Funeral services held for Konstantin Chernenko (Moscow)
1985 Michael Secrest (US) begins 24 hour ride of 516 miles, 427 yards
1986 Soyuz T-15 carries 2 cosmonauts to Soviet space station Mir
1986 Space probe Giotto encounters Halley's Comet
1987 John Gotti is acquitted of racketeering
1987 Washington Capitals score 5 goals against Toronto in 3 minutes & 3 seconds
1988 14th People's Choice Awards: Fatal Attraction, Bill Cosby win
1989 27th shuttle, Discovery 8, launched, 1st woman to do the countdown
1989 FDA orders recall of all Chilean fruit in US
1989 US space shuttle STS-29 launched
1990 Nicholoas Braithwaite elected premier of Grenada
1991 Exxon pays $1-billion dollars in fines & cleanup of Valdez oil spill (Prince William Sound, Alaska)
1992 570 die in a Turkish earthquake
1992 FCC rules companies can own 30 AM & 30 FM stations (formerly 12)
1992 Martina Navratilova & Judy Nelson settle their galamony suit
1993 Blizzard of '93 hits north-east US
1994 33.3% of Austria votes for ultra-right FPÖ
1994 Cuba Godding Jr (26) weds Sara Kapfer (26)
1994 Donna Andrews wins LPGA Ping Welch's Golf Championship
1994 Oil tank/airship crash at Bosporus (huge fire/15+ killed)
1994 President Mangope of Bophuthaswana deposed
1995 9th Soul Train Music Awards: Boyz II Men, Anita Baker win
1995 Anti fascist Kazakhstan anti-parliament forms
1995 Hungarian Forint devalued 9%
1995 Istanbul police shoot dead 16 Alawitische demonstrators
1996 Sri Lanka beat India in World Cup semi as riots stop play
1996 Thomas Hamilton kills 16 kindergardeners, their teacher & himself

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Cuba : Attack on the Presidential Palace
Liberia : Decoration Day
US : Good Samaritan Involvement Day
Memphis TN : Cotton Carnival (held for 5 days) - - - - - ( Tuesday )
New Mexico : Arbor Day - - - - - ( Friday )

Religious Observances
Christian : Commemoration of St Ansovinus

Religious History
1687 Father Eusebio Kino, 42, an Italian-born Jesuit in the service of Spain, began missionary labors in the American Southwest. In all, Kino established 25 Indian missions in the area now divided between northern Mexico and Arizona.
1804 Birth of James W. Alexander, American Presbyterian clergyman and hymn writer. It was Alexander who, in 1830, rendered the English text of Paul Gerhardt's immortal German hymn, "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded."
1868 Birth of Charles E. Cowman, American missionary pioneer. In 1901 he sailed to Japan with his wife Lettie (who later authored "Streams in the Desert"), where in 1910 they founded the Oriental Missionary Society.
1904 "The Christ of the Andes", a bronze statue of Christ located on the Argentina-Chile border, was formally dedicated.
1925 Tennessee Governor Austin Peay signed legislation prohibiting the teaching of evolution within the state's public school system. (A celebrated violation of this law led to the famous July Scopes Monkey Trial.)

Thought for the day :
" He who has imagination without learning has wings but no feet. "

Wounded knee ping!!! Another clash of the civilizations.

If you want on or off the Western Civlization Military History ping list, let me know.

This is usually the unfortunate outcome when Western and non-Western civilizations clash. Tragic, but not the only example of the savage wars between the civlizations.

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

To be removed from this list, please send me a blank private reply with "REMOVE" in the subject line! Thanks! Jen

Truly a sad chapter in our nation's history. On the plus side, there are likely now more people of American Indian heritage alive in North America than when the Europeans arrived.

"Singuap hockin hatta."
(Old Lenape expression. Translation: "be quiet, the earth has them; they are dead")

The Interactive ALR: A Searchable Database of Historic Native American Vocabularies

Thanks for this really wonderful and enlightening article...

I remember studying all about this in an anthropology course in college...so reading this article brought it all back to me...

My great grandfather was in the military, and stationed at Ft. Yates, North Dakota...his primary job I suppose was to try to relieve tensions between white settlers, and the Sioux Indians...while he was stationed there, his wife also lived at the Fort with him....my grandfather had been gone from Fort Yates for some lengthy time, on some sort of mission, and during this time that he was gone, his wife became pregnant by a Sioux,(whether it was rape, or consensual I do not know)...but the resulting baby was my grandfather, who was greeted into my great grandfathers and great grandmothers family(regardless of his paternal parentage)....

So when I was in college, and was learning about Wounded Knee, and would tell my parents about it, I remember my dad looking so sad....altho he had always been raised in his 'white' family, still he knew the story of what had happened at Ft. Yates and knew that part of him was Sioux, and how badly he felt for what had happened at Wounded Knee...

One year on vacation, going from Chicago to California, my dad made a large detour into North Dakota, as he wanted to see if there were any remnants of the old Fort Yates left, to be seen...we did find Fort Yates, the town, and did find a sign commemorating the Fort, which was just outside of a reservation....

We went onto the reservation, and dad inquired of some of the people living there, if there was anything left of the old fort...they said no there was no longer anything left, ,but one old man pointed my fathers gaze towards a particular direction, and indicated to him, that he did remember years and years ago, there were still remnants of the old fort left, but through time and neglect, they had just vanished...

Dad was sad that there was nothing left to see, of where his grandfather had served, and where his own dad had been born, but still he was glad to at least see the site, even tho nothing remained....

Again, thanks for posting this article, it means a lot to me and my family....

Maj. Malcolm Keogh (7th Cav. 1876), may he rest in peace.

5.56mm