Human Rights A Day

First university for rural women opened by “domestic science” advocate Adelaide Hoodless. When one of her four sons died at 18 months from drinking impure milk, a young Ontario mother named Adelaide Hunter became an advocate for pasteurizing milk. For Hunter, who was born near St. George in 1857 and married John Hoodless in 1881, this grew into a campaign to educate women about child-rearing and household management. Hoodless’ passion for “domestic science” led her to other significant pursuits. As Hamilton’s first president of the YWCA, she was instrumental in the creation of YWCA chapters all across Canada. A tireless public speaker, Hoodless was inspired one night in 1897, while speaking to farmers’ wives in Stoney Creek, Ontario, to create a rural university for women. On February 19, 1897, she spoke at the founding meeting of the Women’s Institute. Ten years later, more than 500 Women’s Institutes operated across Canada. Today more than 18,000 members are found in Canada’s 10 provinces in which they add

Joseph McCarthy’s search for “Army communists” begins his downfall. Wisconsin Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy was infamous for seeking out and destroying the lives of supposed “communist sympathizers.” While the House of Representatives’ Un-American Activities committee had inflicted damage to the reputations of many people shortly after World War II, McCarthy took it to new heights. He was quick to accuse anyone who’d supported Roosevelt’s New Deal, especially Democrats, of being communists. But when his Permanent Investigations sub-committee levelled accusations against the U.S. Army, his support began to crumble. On February 18, 1954, the day McCarthy’s committee was to investigate communism in the Army, two generals refused to obey their summons to appear. They stayed away on order of Robert T. Stevens, secretary of the Army. Undaunted, McCarthy proceeded to accuse the Army of rampant communism, but this time, when asked to back up his claims, he had very little to reveal. This “stunt” bolstered the pr

Kuwaiti women demand the right to vote. Formal attempts to grant Kuwaiti women the vote began in 1971, following a conference on women’s issues. That bill to the legislative assembly failed as did other bills introduced in 1981, 1986, 1992 and 1996. A coalition of 22 non-governmental organizations made up the Women’s Issues Network, a group that organized various campaigns to put pressure on the government. After years of failed attempts, coalition members gathered by the hundreds on Sunday, February 17, 2002 to protest outside two voter registration centres. Although they were turned away, it marked Kuwaiti women’s first attempt at taking grievances to the streets in protest. The women had the Kuwaiti constitution on their side; it gives various guarantees of equality for all persons of Kuwait. Unfortunately, it seems to be contradicted by Article 1 of Law No. 35/1962 of the Election Law, which specifically denies women the vote and the right to run for public office. Every attempt to challenge the law was

Fidel Castro sworn in as Cuba’s prime minister, becomes country's youngest leader. In 1951, Cubans were denied democratic elections when right-wing dictator General Fulgencio Batista seized power. Three years later, on July 26, 1953, Fidel Castro – who had sought office in the 1951 election – led an attack on the Cuban government. Unfortunately for Castro, more than half his men were either captured or killed, and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for conspiring to overthrow the government. When General Batista granted a general amnesty two years later, Castro and his brother Raúl went to Mexico to organize the revolutionary 26th of July movement. They were joined by Argentina’s Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Latin America’s most famous Marxist. Despite setbacks over the years, Castro and his group won the support of many impoverished Cubans. On January 1, 1959, General Batista fled Cuba for the Dominican Republic. Castro became the military’s commander-in-chief then due to other political changes, was sworn in

Cairine Wilson is sworn in as Canada’s first woman senator. In October 1929, Canada paved the way for women to enter real politics. It came about because Canada’s “Famous Five” women (Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby) won the “Persons Case” before the British Privy Council of the House of Lords. This allowed women to be considered “persons” for appointment to the bench and Senate, as per Canada’s constitution. Less than five months later, Prime Minister William Lyon McKenzie King appointed the country’s first woman senator. Cairine Wilson was sworn in as a Liberal senator for Ontario on February 15, 1930. Wilson was born Cairine Reay Mackay in February 1885, the daughter of a Liberal senator from Quebec. She married Norman Wilson, a Liberal MP, and raised eight children. By the time she had entered the Red Chamber, she'd been involved with the Victorian Order of Nurses, the Young Women's Christian Association and the Salvation Army. As senator, she showed

Iranian Muslim leader Ayatollah Khomeini issues death threat against British author Salman Rushdie. British author Salman Rushdie published his book Satanic Verses in September 1988, to critical acclaim and sales of more than 100,000 within a few months. It didn’t take long, however, for Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, to take revenge on the Bombay-born author of the controversial satirical novel, which Khomeini felt cast the Muslim faith in a less than flattering light. On February 14, 1989, Khomeini condemned Rushdie to death. During the Tehran Radio broadcast, the holy man declared a day of mourning and said, "I inform the proud Muslim people of the world that the author of the Satanic Verses book – which is against Islam, the Prophet and the Koran – and all those involved in its publication who are aware of its content, are sentenced to death.” This “fatwa” (an Islamic religious decree) sent Rushdie into hiding as Muslims around the world protested in the streets. He spent nine years in nume

Dissident Nobel writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn expelled from USSR. Alexander Solzhenitsyn was born in Kislovodsk, Russia on December 11, 1918. There, he pursued a university education in physics and mathematics, even though his real passion was writing. When Soviet authorities discovered his writing criticizing Joseph Stalin, he was imprisoned, first for eight years, then for another two. He used his prison time to write, and much to the dismay of the Soviet leadership, managed to publish his works – sometimes within the USSR, but mostly in the West. His writing included The First Circle, The Cancer Ward and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. In 1970, when he won the Nobel prize in literature, he was widely condemned by his country’s leadership. On February 13, 1975, Soviet authorities expelled him from Russia, sent him to West Germany and stripped him of his Russian citizenship. A day later, he was charged with treason. He quickly moved to Norway, then Switzerland until 1976, after which he moved to Verm

Anglican Church of Canada appoints first female bishop: Reverend Victoria Matthews. The Anglican church has allowed women priests since November 30, 1976. However, 1993 was a breakthrough year when Rev. Victoria Matthews became the first woman to be elected to the post of an Anglican bishop in Canada. The following year, on February 12, 1994, Matthews was consecrated as bishop at a service at St. Paul’s church in Toronto. Matthews was a distinguished choice. She’d graduated from Trinity College at the University of Toronto in 1976. She’d also been awarded the North American theological fellowship at Yale University Divinity School in the United States, where she had graduated in 1979. In 1980 she had been ordained as an Anglican priest. Beyond serving her parishioners, she was actively involved with the Anglican Youth Movement and with groups creating dialogue between Christians and Jews. In 1992, Matthews became a member of the National Executive Council, subsequently known as the Council of General Synod. I

British Conservative Party chooses Margaret Thatcher as leader. The British Conservative Party was not known for being the most progressive. However, on February 11, 1975 the Tories made what was considered great strides for the equality of the sexes by choosing their first woman leader, Margaret Thatcher. In Britain, party leaders are chosen by a vote of the members of Parliament and in 1975 the Conservatives were her Majesty’s Official Opposition party. Thatcher, who was known for showing an interest in the lives of fellow MPs, won handily over her four male opponents in the party. Thatcher began her process by telling former Prime Minister and party leader at the time, Ted Heath, that she would be challenging him for the job. She had served in Heath’s cabinet as Secretary of State for Science and Education when Heath was Prime Minister between 1970 and 1974. The rest, of course, is history: In 1979, Thatcher did indeed become Britain’s first woman prime minister. But if anyone was expecting a more “sensi

U.S. Court of Appeals overturns Army’s ban on homosexuals. The United States Army had a policy of banning gay men from its ranks. The Army took its lead from the British Articles of War of 1775 and felt no need to update it. Many Americans felt the ban was a throwback to the days of paranoia and misinformation about gay men’s abilities. When women were allowed into the combat ranks of the military, many assumed they were lesbians. It was not until February 10, 1988 that a federal appeals court in San Francisco struck down the military’s ban, saying it was unconstitutional. The argument that banning gays preserved morale and discipline did not persuade the court to deny gay men and lesbians the same rights as other Americans. In subsequent years, some courts ruled in favour of gay and lesbian military personnel, while others upheld the government’s stance. Years later, when Bill Clinton became president, he tried to allow gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military. Knowing his decision would be overt

Archie Bunker’s All in the Family debuts television’s first gay-themed episode. With the exception of television comedian Ernie Kovacs poking fun at an effeminate character he played in the 1950s, it wasn’t until the 1970s that a gay character played on television. It should come as no surprise that the loveable bigot, Archie Bunker from All in the Family, was the one chosen to encounter that character. First aired on February 9, 1971, with the title “Judging Books by Covers,” the program produced by Norman Lear went like this: Archie’s son-in-law, Michael (“Meathead”), brings home his friend Roger who Archie thinks is gay. It turns out he isn’t, but Archie gets a rude awakening when he discovers that his long-time friend and former football star Steve was in fact gay. Bunker had a hard time coming to grips with the notion that his beer-drinking buddy was homosexual as this didn’t fit his stereotype of gay men. For Bunker, this created a dilemma of staying loyal to his friend or abandoning him because of

Hungarian Cardinal Mindszenty sentenced to life imprisonment for treason. József Pehm was born on March 29, 1892 in Mindszent, Hungary. Years later he would take the name Mindszenty, from his place of birth. He was active in the Catholic Youth Movement in school and became a priest in 1915. His first book, Motherhood, was published in 1917 and his anti-communist and ultra-conservative beliefs got him into trouble more than once. After World War I, in 1919, Mindszenty became active in the newly formed Christian Party and was arrested and served time under house arrest and in jail until 1919. His work in the church continued and in 1944, he was named diocesan bishop of Veszprém by Pope Pius XII. Shortly afterwards he was arrested by the Nazi-controlled government for denouncing the treatment of Jews. When Hungary was liberated by the Soviet’s Red Army in 1945, Mindszenty moved back to Veszprém. He was elevated to Cardinal of Hungary in 1946, just two years before religious orders were banned by the communist go

The women of Switzerland got the vote well behind women of most Western nations. In a referendum in 1959, male voters soundly defeated the idea of sharing the vote. However, the next decade spelled dramatic change on that front, and Swiss men finally relented. On February 7, 1971, in a two-to-one majority, Switzerland’s male voters granted women the right to vote in federal elections and to stand for office. While all political parties and most churches and businesses supported the move, women voiced concerns that those who’d voted against them would continue to try and limit women’s roles to “kinder, kirche und kuche” (children, church and kitchen). Today, Swiss women still face major hurdles in politics and government, but a growing number are being elected to public office, and the barriers continue to drop. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jehovah’s Witness crusader Laurier Saumur born in Gatineau, Quebec. In 1940, two countries had banned the Jehovah’s Witness religion: Nazi Germany and Canada. The man who relentlessly fought the oppression of his religion was Laurier Saumur, born in Gatineau, Quebec on February 6, 1921, one of 14 children. Raised Catholic, he moved to Ottawa at age 18, where his love of reading led him to information about his church he didn’t like. While in Ottawa, he discovered that one of his brothers was in prison for being a member of a banned organization, the Jehovah’s Witnesses. He began questioning his religion and on July 1, 1944 became baptized as a Witness. Witnesses believe in two worlds that exist simultaneously, with most people on earth living in Satan’s world. Witnesses also believe that one day the Earth will be destroyed at Armageddon. Part of the religion includes proselytizing on the street and at people’s doorsteps. However, in the 1940s, fearing a threat to the Catholic church, Quebec Premier Maurice Du

“Butcher of Lyon” Klaus Barbie is extradited to France for crimes against humanity. Klaus Barbie, born in Germany in 1913 and a member of the Hitler Youth, became known as the “Butcher of Lyon” for his brutality. He was responsible for the torture and murder of thousands of Jews and other prisoners in France during World War II. He headed up Gestapo Department IV in Lyon, France between 1942 and 1944, and after the war, was used by the United States for counter-intelligence work. He then made his way to Bolivia, where he became a citizen and lived for many years under the name Klaus Altmann. Between February 4 and 5, 1983, Barbie was expelled from Bolivia to France, where he was kept in detention in Lyon until his trial began on May 12, 1987. On July 4, 1987, he was found guilty of 17 crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment. Barbie died of leukemia in the prison hospital in Lyon on September 25, 1991. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Gladys Strum, pioneer in Saskatchewan and Canadian politics, was born. Gladys Grace Mae Lamb was born on February 4, 1906 in Gladstone, Manitoba. At 16, she became a teacher in Saskatchewan, where she met her husband Warner Strum. Early in their marriage, Warner contracted tuberculosis and Gladys got an understanding of the deficiencies in Canada’s health care system. During travels to New Zealand, Strum gained an appreciation for that country’s progressive health care practices, which prompted her to get involved in the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) party in Canada. Although defeated in her bids for the legislature in 1938 and 1944 (the latter by six votes to Premier Patterson), Strum was actively involved in Canada’s first socialist government when Tommy Douglas became premier in the June 1944 election. The Saskatchewan CCF elected Strum president, making her the first woman president of a political party in Canada. The following year, she was elected the CCF Member of Parliament for Qu’Appelle

British prime minister speaks of “winds of change” in Africa. On February 3, 1960, when British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan addressed the Houses of Parliament in South Africa, he said “winds of change” were blowing through the continent. This got a rather chilly response from the white minority rulers of South Africa at the time. After all, he seemed to be suggesting that blacks be allowed to run their own affairs, if not their own countries. Macmillan also spoke of the need to "create a society which respects the rights of individuals – a society in which individual merit, and individual merit alone, is the criterion for a man's advancement, whether political or economic." South Africa’s prime minister, Dr. Verwoerd, responded, "We are the people who brought civilisation to Africa… To do justice in Africa means not only being just to the black man of Africa, but also to the white man of Africa." Although it would be another 30 years before blacks were given the vote and the control of their own country,

Bill White becomes the first black president of baseball’s National League. William DeKova White had an extraordinary baseball career both on and off the field. He spent 13 years as a major-league first baseman with the New York Giants, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1966, White tore his Achilles tendon during a paddle-ball game. It curtailed his baseball career, prompting him to retire from the game entirely in 1969. But he didn’t stray far; he landed a job at a television station that led to work as an on-air sports announcer. When he became the New York Yankees’ play-by-play announcer, he was hailed as America’s first black announcer for a major league team. He held that position for 18 years, until February 2, 1989. That’s when he took a salary cut to become the National League’s first black baseball president, and incidentally the highest-ranking black official in American professional sports. He held the job for five years before retiring. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and

Supreme Court hears case regarding paid time off for Jewish teachers. In 1985, three Jewish teachers by the names of Joseph Kadoch, Louise Elbraz and Jacob Lahmi took an approved, unpaid day's leave of absence to celebrate Yom Kippur. The only trouble was, the three employees of the Quebec School Board in Chambly would have preferred a paid day off. Their union agreed they were entitled to this, and filed a grievance aimed at securing pay for teachers on their holy days off work. The labour arbitration found that the school board had discriminated against the teachers and should have granted them paid leave. The case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court of Canada, where the judges heard it on February 1, 1994. Five months later, they (like the arbitrators) ruled against the school board and in favour of the teachers and their union. The Supreme Court justices noted that the school board was able to accommodate these teachers without undue hardship, and already had an established history of granting al

James Gladstone becomes Canada's first aboriginal senator. James Gladstone’s aboriginal name was Akay Namuka, which translates to “Many Guns.” Born May 21, 1887 near Mountain Hill, Northwest Territories, he was a member of the Blood Reserve in Alberta. After completing his schooling, Gladstone apprenticed as a printer, worked as an interpreter and eventually landed an RCMP position as “chief scout and interpreter.” Then he drifted for a while before taking up farming. Soon, he busied himself incorporating modern farming methods into his toil, encouraging others on his reserve to do the same, and establishing various business ventures with his sons. In 1949, he became president of the Indian Association of Alberta, where he was credited by some with bringing the federal vote to Treaty Indians in 1960. In 1957, newly elected Prime Minister John Diefenbaker made good on his pledge to appoint an Indian to Canada’s Upper Chamber by tapping Gladstone for the Senate. On January 31, 1958, Gladstone was officially swo