Portal:Society

The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They are frequently cited as the first instance in American history when gays and lesbians fought back against a government-sponsored system that persecuted homosexuals, and they have become the defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world. The Stonewall Inn, at the time, was owned by the Mafia. It catered to an assortment of patrons, but it was known to be popular with the most marginalized people in the gay community: transvestites, effeminate young men, hustlers, and homeless youth. Police raids on gay bars were routine in the 1960s, but officers quickly lost control of the situation at the Stonewall Inn, and attracted a crowd that was incited to riot. Tensions between New York City police and gay residents of Greenwich Village erupted into more protests the next evening, and again several nights later. Within six months, two gay activist organizations were formed in New York, concentrating on confrontational tactics, and three newspapers were established to promote rights for gays and lesbians. Within a few years, gay rights organizations were founded across the U.S. and the world. Today Gay Pride events are held annually throughout the world toward the end of June to mark the Stonewall riots.

More selected articles

More...

U.S. Senator Henry Clay gives a speech in the Old Senate Chamber calling for compromise on the issues dividing the United States. The result was the Compromise of 1850, a package of five bills, the first two of which were passed on September 9. Ironically, these led to a breakdown in the spirit of compromise in the years preceding the Civil War, particularly after the deaths of Clay and Daniel Webster.

More selected pictures

Read more

• ... that the figure of Abbé Morio in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace was modeled on Scipione Piattoli, one of the drafters of the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791?
• ... that the Buryat people (pictured) use the alcoholic beverage tarasun in their religious ceremonies?
• ... that Jambo OpenOffice was the first office suite in Swahili, a language spoken by about a hundred million people?

More did you know facts

• 10 January 1966 – Foundation of the Kuwait Red Crescent Society, as a branch of the international Red Crescent Society
• 10 January 1990 – Nusantara Society was founded comprising research fellows, professors, lecturers, students and postgraduates of Moscow and St. Petersburg academic institutions, universities and higher schools, studying the vast region of Nusantara, populated by peoples speaking Austronesian languages
• 11 January 1902 – Formation of the Fiscal Philatelic Society (1908 advertisement pictured), an early twentieth century philatelic society that is seen as a predecessor to today's Cinderella Stamp Club and The Revenue Society
• 13 January 1873 – Death of Henry Venn, an Anglican clergyman who served as honorary secretary of the Church Missionary Society from 1841 to 1873

“ At present there is no distinction among the upper ten thousand of the city. ” — Nathaniel Parker Willis, Necessity for a Promenade Drive

More selected quotes

More at Wikiquote

Margaret Fuller (1810–1850) was a journalist, critic and women's rights activist. She was the first full-time female book reviewer in journalism. She became the first editor of the transcendental publication The Dial in 1840 before joining the staff of the New York Tribune in 1844. By the time she was in her 30s, Fuller had earned a reputation as the most well-read person in New England, male or female. Her seminal work, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, was published in 1845 and is considered the first major feminist work in the United States. Fuller was an advocate of women's rights and, in particular, women's education and the right to employment. She also encouraged many other reforms in society, including prison reform and the emancipation of slaves in the United States. Fuller became involved with the revolution in Italy and allied herself with Giuseppe Mazzini. She also met Giovanni Ossoli, with whom she had a child. All three members of the family died in a shipwreck in 1850. Fuller's body was never recovered. Shortly after Fuller's death her importance faded; the editors who prepared her letters to be published, believing her fame would be short-lived, were not concerned about accuracy and censored or altered much of her words before publication. (Full article...)

More selected audio

Read more