On This Day, April 14: First abolition society founded in North America
In 1775, the first slavery abolition society in North America -- the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage -- was founded by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush in Philadelphia.
In 1828, Noah Webster published his American Dictionary of the English Language. It was the first dictionary of American English to be published.
In 1861, the flag of the Confederacy was raised over Fort Sumter, S.C., as Union troops there surrendered in the early days of the Civil War.
In 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln during a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington. Lincoln died the next morning. He was succeeded by Vice President Andrew Johnson.
In 1918, two U.S. pilots of the First Aero Squadron shot down two enemy German planes over the Allied Squadron Aerodome in France during World War I. It was the first U.S.-involved dogfight in history. One of the pilots, Lt. Douglas Campbell, would eventually shoot down five enemy aircraft, making him the first U.S. flying ace.
In 1927, the first Volvo was produced in Sweden.
In 1931, King Alfonso XIII was deposed, ending 981 years of monarchical rule in Spain, and ushering in the Second Spanish Republic, the republican regime that governed Spain from 1931 to 1939.
In 1939, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck was published.
In 1963, police broke up an Easter Sunday anti-segregation protest march in Birmingham, Ala., that saw Black Americans attend services at two white churches.
In 1986, Bishop Desmond Tutu was named Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa.
In 1994, in what was called a tragic mistake, two U.S. warplanes shot down two U.S. Army helicopters in northern Iraq's no-fly zone. All 26 people aboard were killed.
In 2003, U.S. military officials declared that the principal fighting in Iraq was over after Marines captured Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's home town.
In 2008, Silvio Berlusconi swept back into power in a third term as prime minister of Italy in a new election that gave him control of both houses of Parliament.
In 2010, the devastating magnitude-7.1 Yushu earthquake staggered northwest China. Officials reported the death toll eventually surpassed 2,600, with many thousands of people injured.
In 2013, Nicolas Maduro was elected president of Venezuela.
In 2021, President Joe Biden announced he will withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, a plan that NATO's 30 member states agreed to following a meeting with U.S. military and foreign relations leaders.
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New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
At least 3 killed and others injured in train derailment in southern Germany
BERLIN — A regional passenger train derailed in southern Germany on Sunday, killing at least three people and seriously injuring others, authorities said. Federal and local police said the cause of the crash near Riedlingen, roughly 158 kilometers (98 miles) west of Munich, remains under investigation. Photos from the scene showed parts of the train on its side as rescuers climbed atop the carriages. 6 Rescue workers at the scene of a derailed passenger train on Sunday. 6 The regional express RE55 derailed in the Biberach district between the districts of Zweifaltendorf and Zell. 6 Federal and local police said the cause of the crash near Riedlingen, roughly 158 kilometers (98 miles) west of Munich, remains under investigation. It was not immediately clear how many people were injured. Roughly 100 people were onboard the train when at least two carriages derailed in a forested area around 6:10 p.m. (1610 GMT). Storms passed through the area before the crash and investigators were seeking to determine if the rain was a factor. 6 Storms passed through the area before the crash and investigators were seeking to determine if the rain was a factor. 6 Four rescue helicopters in a field near a train derailment. 6 Germany's main national railway operator said in a statement that it was cooperating with investigators. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in a post on social platform X, said he mourned the victims and gave his condolences to their families. Deutsche Bahn, Germany's main national railway operator, said in a statement that it was cooperating with investigators. The company also offered its condolences.
Los Angeles Times
12 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Jim Crow meets ICE at ‘Alligator Alcatraz'
A few years ago I came across a profoundly unnerving historical photo: A lineup of terrified, naked Black babies cowered over the title 'Alligator Bait.' As it turned out, the idea of Black babies being used as alligator bait was a beloved trope dating back to the antebellum South, though it didn't really take off until after the Civil War. The image I saw was created in 1897, just one year after Plessy vs. Ferguson established 'separate but equal' as the foundational doublespeak of segregation. With formerly enslaved people striking out and settling their own homesteads, the prevailing stereotypes deployed to justify violence against Black people were forced to evolve. We were no longer simple and primitive, in desperate need of the civilizing stewardship of white Christian slave owners. After emancipation, we became dangerous, lazy and worthless. Worth less, in fact, than the chickens more commonly used to bait alligators. White Floridians in particular so fell in love with the concept of alligators hungry for Black babies that it birthed an entire industry. Visitors to the Sunshine State could purchase souvenir postcards featuring illustrations of googly-eyed alligators chasing crying Black children. There was a popular brand of licorice called 'Little African,' with packaging that featured a cartoon alligator tugging playfully at a Black infant's rag diaper. The tagline read: 'A Dainty Morsel.' Anglers could buy fishing lures molded in the shape of a Black baby protruding from an alligator's mouth. You get the idea. When I first learned of all this, naturally, I was unmoored. I was also surprised that I'd never heard of the alligator bait slur. Why doesn't it sit alongside the minstrel, the mammy and the golliwog in our cultural memory of racist archetypes? Did it cross some unspoken line with the vulgarity of its violence? Perhaps this particular dog whistle was a tad too audible? Or was it the plausible deniability? Did people (including historians) wave it away because babies were never 'really' used as alligator bait? It's true that beyond the cultural ephemera — which includes songs (such as the ragtime tune 'Mammy's Little Alligator Bait') and mechanical alligator toys that swallow Black babies whole, over and over again — there are apparently no surviving records of Black babies sacrificed in this way. No autopsy reports, no court records proving that anyone was apprehended and convicted of said crime. But of course, why would there be? The thing I found so unnerving about the alligator bait phenomenon wasn't its literal veracity. There's no question human beings are capable of that and far worse. Without a doubt, 'civilized' people could find satisfaction — or comfort, or justice, or opportunity — in the violent slaughter of babies. Donald Trump's recently posted AI clip 'Trump Gaza,' which suggests the real world annihilation of Palestinians will give way to luxury beachfront resorts, is a shining example. The thing that haunted me about alligator bait was the glee with which the idea was embraced. It was funny. Cute. Harmless. Can't you take a joke? Now here we are, 100 years after 'Mammy's Little Alligator Bait,' and the bigots are once again using cartoon alligators to meme-ify racial violence, this time against immigrants. Just like the title 'Alligator Bait,' the Florida detention center name 'Alligator Alcatraz' serves multiple ends: It provokes sadistic yuks. It mocks. It threatens. But most crucially, it dehumanizes. 'Alligator Bait' suggests that Black people are worthless. By evoking the country's most infamous prison, 'Alligator Alcatraz' frames the conversation as one about keeping Americans safe. It suggests the people imprisoned there are not vulnerable and defenseless men and women; anyone sent to 'Alligator Alcatraz' must be a criminal of the worst sort. Unworthy of basic human rights. Fully deserving of every indignity inflicted upon them. 'Alligator Alcatraz' cloaks cruelty in bureaucratic euphemism. It's doublespeak, masking an agenda to galvanize a bloodthirsty base and make state violence sound reasonable, even necessary. It has nothing to do with keeping Americans safe. Oft-cited studies from Stanford, the Libertarian Cato Institute, the New York Times and others have shown conclusively that immigrants, those here legally and illegally, are significantly less likely to commit violent crimes than their U.S.-born neighbors. If those behind 'Alligator Alcatraz' cared at all about keeping Americans safe, they wouldn't have just pushed a budget bill that obliterates our access to healthcare, environmental protection and food safety. If they actually cherished the rule of law, they would not deny immigrants their constitutionally guaranteed right to due process. If they were truly concerned about crime, there wouldn't be a felon in the White House. As souvenir shops and Etsy stores flood with 'Alligator Alcatraz' merch, it's worth noting that none of it is played for horror. Like the cutesy alligator bait merchandise before it, these aren't monster-movie creatures with blazing eyes and razor-sharp, blood-dripping teeth. The 'Alligator Alcatraz' storefront is cartoon gators slyly winking at us from under red baseball caps: It's just a joke, and you're in on it. And it's exactly this cheeky, palatable, available-in-child-sizes commodification that exposes the true horror for those it targets: There will be no empathy, no change of heart, no seeing of the light. Dear immigrants of America: Your pain is our amusement. The thing I keep wondering is, would this cheekiness even be possible if everyone knew the alligator bait history, the nastiness of which was buried so deep that 'Gator bait' chants echoed through the University of Florida stadium until 2020? Would they still chuckle if they saw the century-old postcards circulated by people who 'just didn't know any better'? My cynical side says: Yeah, probably. But my strategic side reminds me: If history truly didn't matter, it wouldn't be continuously minimized, rewritten, whitewashed. There's truth in the old idiom: Knowledge is power. Anyone trying to keep knowledge from you, whether by banning books, gutting classrooms, denying identities or burying facts, is only trying to disempower you. That's why history, as painful as it often is, matters. Remembering the horror of alligator bait isn't about dwelling on the grotesque. It's about recognizing how cruelty gets coded into culture. 'Alligator Alcatraz' is proof that alligator bait never went away. It didn't evolve or get slicker. It's the same old, tired cruelty, rebranded and aimed at a new target. The goal is exactly the same: to manufacture consent for suffering and ensure the most vulnerable among us know where they stand — as props, as bait, as punchlines. And no joke is more vulgar than one mocking the pain of your neighbors, whether they were born in this country or not. Ezra Claytan Daniels is a screenwriter and graphic novelist whose upcoming horror graphic novel, 'Mama Came Callin',' confronts the legacy of the alligator bait trope.
Newsweek
15 hours ago
- Newsweek
Tears As Doorbell Cam Captures Mailman Bringing Dog Home for 'Last Time'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. A Wisconsin woman has shared footage of the moment her mailman made his most-heartbreaking delivery: her recently deceased dog. Krysten Klapatauskas, from Wausau, was inconsolable following the sudden death of her beloved German shepherd. "I got Stoli when she was 8 weeks old from a backyard breeding situation and had her for 10-and-a-half wonderful years," Klapatauskas said. Under her guidance, Stoli bloomed, becoming the best dog she could possibly hope to be. "She learned how to track scents and found more than a dozen lost dogs, a few cats and a horse," Klapatauskas said. It is not often that you would describe a pet as a "people person," but Stoli was, in every sense of the word. "She was very protective of her home and her momma. However, she loved everyone she met, especially children," Klapatauskas said. "Stoli's self-appointed job in the house was to herd the three cats. She always made sure where each one was." That is why Klapatauskas has been left feeling so bereft since Stoli's passing: there just isn't another canine out there quite like her. There had been signs something was wrong. On March 12, while out on a walk, Stoli stumbled. "I thought she had a stroke and took her to the ER vet immediately," Klapatauskas said. "Her blood work looked good, and she was diagnosed with a sprained neck." Malachi the mailman brings Stoli the dog home one final time. Malachi the mailman brings Stoli the dog home one final time. TikTok/krysk710 Despite this diagnosis, Klapatauskas said she still felt something wasn't quite right with Stoli, so she sought a second opinion from her regular vet. Again, the blood work came back fine, with her veterinarian putting the issue down to "joint pain." However, everything changed on July 4. "I woke up to find her having trouble breathing. I took her to the ER vet again," Klapatauskas said. "An ultrasound revealed a large tumor on her spleen and her abdomen filled with blood as one of the tumors had ruptured." Klapatauskas was left facing an unimaginable choice: have Stoli put to sleep that day, or have her undergo surgery, which would, at best, give her six more months. "I was not going to put her through that," Klapatauskas said. "She was way too good of a best friend for me to allow that to happen. I knew that I had to be the one to bear the pain of losing her." It is a pain Klapatauskas has found difficult to bear. "She was my heart dog," she said. "She was my constant source of unconditional love and acceptance. She saw me through breakups, a career change, a move and a major medical diagnosis." When a beloved pet like Stoli passes, you aren't just mourning the loss of a four-legged friend, you are mourning a death in the family. That is a sentiment backed up by science. In 2019, a study published in the journal Death Studies concluded there to be "no significant differences between the levels of grief severity" among people experiencing a pet or human death. That is what made the actions of Malachi, Klapatauskas's mailman, so special. Malachi loved Stoli. "If we were on the porch, Malachi would always give her pets," Klapatauskas said. "Sometimes, we would run into him on our walks, and he always came over to say hi." In that sense, it felt right that Malachi would be the one to deliver Stoli's remains to Klapatauskas's house. It was a task he undertook with the utmost love and respect for his old friend. Krysten Klapatauskas sits with her beloved dog Stoli. Krysten Klapatauskas sits with her beloved dog Stoli. TikTok/krysk710 "Malachi had Stoli up front with him when he left the mail center, so she was safe and secure for her last ride," Klapatauskas said. "He brought her to me and said he was so sorry for my loss and knew how much she meant to me." That heartbreaking delivery and the emotional exchange that followed was captured on Klapatauskas's doorbell camera, with the footage later posted to her TikTok @krysk710. At the time of writing, it has been watched almost 3 million times, with Malachi's simple act of kindness touching so many. "We just sat and cried and talked about how much it sucked that she was gone," said Klapatauskas. "He knew it was going to be a very rough time for me, and he chose to sit with me and be a source of comfort. My mom had been on her way to my house and pulled up to Malachi and I sitting on the porch together. I'm thankful he stayed until she got there." There was something so gut-wrenching about seeing Stoli, her big bundle of love, reduced to a small box. "She hasn't fit in my lap since she was a puppy," Klapatauskas said. "That thought broke me." But she wasn't alone at that moment, thanks to Malachi. "His kindness and compassion know no bounds, and he is an amazing human being," Klapatauskas said. "Stoli was a one-of-a-kind dog. I can only hope that my heart allows me to have that type of connection again. For now, I just need to heal."
