1954: School segregation outlawed by U.S. Supreme Court.On this day the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in the leading school-desegregation case, Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka. The landmark decision overturned Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which permitted “separate but equal” public facilities. Argued from 1938 to 1950, the case was successfully won by Thurgood Marshall—the attorney for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)—who argued against the school board's decision. Chief Justice Earl Warren spoke on behalf of the court, declaring that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” The ruling stipulated that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which says that no state may deny equal protection of the laws to any person within its jurisdiction. The decision was limited to the public schools, but it was believed to imply that segregation was not permissible in other public facilities.More events on this day1918:Swedish operatic soprano Birgit Nilsson was born in West Karup, Sweden. |
1875:The first Kentucky Derby was run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky; the winning horse was Aristides. |
1866:French composer Erik Satie was born in Honfleur, Calvados, France. |
1792:Meeting on what is now Wall Street in New York City, 24 businessmen took the initial steps to the formation of the New York Stock Exchange. |
1510:Italian painter Sandro Botticelli of the Florentine Renaissance died. |
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