FYI February 03, 2021

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On This Day

1870 – The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing voting rights to male citizens regardless of race.
The Fifteenth Amendment (Amendment XV) to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal government and each state from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen’s “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” It was ratified on February 3, 1870,[1] as the third and last of the Reconstruction Amendments.

In the final years of the American Civil War and the Reconstruction Era that followed, Congress repeatedly debated the rights of the millions of former black slaves. By 1869, amendments had been passed to abolish slavery and provide citizenship and equal protection under the laws, but the election of Ulysses S. Grant to the presidency in 1868 convinced a majority of Republicans that protecting the franchise of black male voters was important for the party’s future. On February 26, 1869, after rejecting more sweeping versions of a suffrage amendment, Congress proposed a compromise amendment banning franchise restrictions on the basis of race, color, or previous servitude. After surviving a difficult ratification fight, the amendment was certified as duly ratified and part of the Constitution on March 30, 1870.

United States Supreme Court decisions in the late nineteenth century interpreted the amendment narrowly. From 1890 to 1910, southern states adopted new state constitutions and enacted laws that raised barriers to voter registration. This resulted in most black voters and many poor white ones being disenfranchised by poll taxes and discriminatory literacy tests, among other barriers to voting, from which white male voters were exempted by grandfather clauses. A system of white primaries and violent intimidation by white groups also suppressed black participation.

In the twentieth century, the Court began to interpret the amendment more broadly, striking down grandfather clauses in Guinn v. United States (1915) and dismantling the white primary system in the “Texas primary cases” (1927–1953). Voting rights were further incorporated into the Constitution in the Nineteenth Amendment (voting rights for women) and the Twenty-fourth Amendment (prohibiting poll taxes in federal elections). The Voting Rights Act of 1965 provided federal oversight of elections in discriminatory jurisdictions, banned literacy tests and similar discriminatory devices, and created legal remedies for people affected by voting discrimination. The Court also found poll taxes in state election unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment in Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966).

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1913 – The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.
The Sixteenth Amendment (Amendment XVI) to the United States Constitution allows Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states on the basis of population. It was passed by Congress in 1909 in response to the 1895 Supreme Court case of Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. The Sixteenth Amendment was ratified by the requisite number of states on February 3, 1913, and effectively overruled the Supreme Court’s ruling in Pollock.

Prior to the early 20th century, most federal revenue came from tariffs rather than taxes, although Congress had often imposed excise taxes on various goods. The Revenue Act of 1861 had introduced the first federal income tax, but that tax was repealed in 1872. During the late nineteenth century, various groups, including the Populist Party, favored the establishment of a progressive income tax at the federal level. These groups believed that tariffs unfairly taxed the poor, and they favored using the income tax to shift the tax burden onto wealthier individuals. The 1894 Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act contained an income tax provision, but the tax was struck down by the Supreme Court in the case of Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. In its ruling, the Supreme Court did not hold that all federal income taxes were unconstitutional, but rather held that income taxes on rents, dividends, and interest were direct taxes and thus had to be apportioned among the states on the basis of population.

For several years after Pollock, Congress did not attempt to implement another income tax, largely due to concerns that the Supreme Court would strike down any attempt to levy an income tax. In 1909, during the debate over the Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act, Congress proposed the Sixteenth Amendment to the states. Though conservative Republican leaders had initially expected that the amendment would not be ratified, a coalition of Democrats, progressive Republicans, and other groups ensured that the necessary number of states ratified the amendment. Shortly after the amendment was ratified, Congress imposed a federal income tax with the Revenue Act of 1913. The Supreme Court upheld that income tax in the 1916 case of Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., and the federal government has continued to levy an income tax since 1913.

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Born On This Day

1821 – Elizabeth Blackwell, American physician and educator (d. 1910)
Elizabeth Blackwell (February 3, 1821 – May 31, 1910) was a British physician, notable as the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, and the first woman on the Medical Register of the General Medical Council.[1] Blackwell played an important role in both the United States and the United Kingdom as a social awareness and moral reformer, and pioneered in promoting education for women in medicine. Her contributions remain celebrated with the Elizabeth Blackwell Medal, awarded annually to a woman who has made significant contribution to the promotion of women in medicine.[1]

Blackwell was initially uninterested in a career in medicine, especially after her schoolteacher brought in a bull’s eye to use as a teaching tool.[1] Therefore, she became a schoolteacher in order to support her family. This occupation was seen as suitable for women during the 1800s; however, she soon found it unsuitable for her. Blackwell’s interest in medicine was sparked after a friend fell ill and remarked that, had a female doctor cared for her, she might not have suffered so much.[1] Blackwell began applying to medical schools and immediately began to endure the prejudice against her sex that would persist throughout her career. She was rejected from each medical school she applied to, except Geneva Medical College, in which the male students voted for Blackwell’s acceptance.[2] Thus, in 1847, Blackwell became the first woman to attend medical school in the United States.[1]

Blackwell’s inaugural thesis on typhoid fever, published in 1849 in the Buffalo Medical Journal, shortly after she graduated,[3] was the first medical article published by a female student from the United States. It portrayed a strong sense of empathy and sensitivity to human suffering, as well as strong advocacy for economic and social justice.[3] This perspective was deemed by the medical community as “feminine”.[3]

Blackwell also founded the New York Infirmary for Women and Children with her sister Emily Blackwell in 1857, and began giving lectures to female audiences on the importance of educating girls.[4] She also played a significant role during the American Civil War by organizing nurses.

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FYI

BBC News: Obituary: Captain Sir Tom Moore, a hero who gave a nation hope
At times of crisis, a nation needs hope and heroes.

Sometimes, they’re found in unlikely places – and when Britain first locked down against the coronavirus pandemic, it discovered Captain Sir Tom Moore.

In April 2020 the then 99-year-old war veteran accepted a little family challenge: to raise £1,000 for health service charities by walking 100 lengths of his garden before his 100th birthday at the end of that month.

“One small soul like me won’t make much difference,” he declared in his first TV interview.

He could not have been more wrong.

By the time he closed his fundraising page at midnight on his 100th birthday, Captain Sir Tom had raised more than £32m from more than one-and-a-half-million global donors.

But that was just the beginning – a knighthood, RAF flypast to mark him turning 100 and personal greetings from the Queen and prime minister soon followed.

And he even became the oldest person ever to score a number one single in the UK, when he and Michael Ball sang a cover of You’ll Never Walk Alone.

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Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. (February 17, 1925 – January 23, 2021) was an American actor, television director, and writer. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show he developed, Mark Twain Tonight! while studying at Denison University, performing as Mark Twain. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1966 for his portrayal of Twain.[1] He would continue to perform his signature role for over 60 years, only retiring the show in 2017 due to his failing health. Throughout his career, he also won five Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on television and was nominated for an Academy Award for his work in film.[2]

Holbrook made his film debut in Sidney Lumet’s The Group (1966). He later gained international fame for his performance as Deep Throat in the 1976 film All the President’s Men. He played Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 miniseries Lincoln and 1985 miniseries North and South. He also appeared in such films as Julia (1977), The Fog (1980), Creepshow (1982), Wall Street (1987), The Firm (1993), Hercules (1997), and Men of Honor (2000).[3][4]

Holbrook’s role as Ron Franz in Sean Penn’s Into the Wild (2007) earned him both Academy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor.[1] In 2009, Holbrook received critical acclaim for his performance as recently retired farmer Abner Meecham in the independent film That Evening Sun.[5] He also portrayed Francis Preston Blair in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln (2012).[6][7]

In 2003, Holbrook was honored with the National Humanities Medal by President George W. Bush.[8]

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Joan Reeves: Mystery of the Serenity Prayer Authorship
 
 
 
 
By Matt Goff, Sitka Nature Show: Sitka Nature Show #228 – Catie Bursch (encore)
 
 
 
 

Open Culture: How Vaccines Improved Our World In One Graphic
 
 
By Josh Jones, Open Culture: Tony Bennett Duets with Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse & Other Musicians, Passing on the Great American Songbook
 
 
By Open Culture: Japanese Violinist Covers Eddie Van Halen’s “Eruption”: Metal Meets Classical Again
 
 
By Josh Jones, Open Culture: Listen to the Never-Heard Song Written for Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey
 
 
By Colin Mashall, Open Culture: The Internet Archive Now Digitizing 1,000,000+ Objects from a Massive Cinema History Library
 
 
 
 
Atlas Obscura: Medieval Black Death prevention methods: bawdy badges; Ralph’s Donut Shop; Sinclair Gas Station; Portland’s Dome Home and more ->
 
 
 
 
CutterLight: Chignik Lake in 29 Photos: Orbs
 
 
 
 
Wickersham’s Conscience: Hardly a “Triumph”
 
 
 
 
By Maria C. Hunt, The Kitchn: 3 Black Pioneers Who Made Ice Cream What It Is Today
 
 
 
 
Pedophiles = one bullet each. Condolences to the Warriors who protect children.

 
 
 
 

Recipes

By Darlene Brenden, Taste of Home: French Hot Chocolate
 
 
By Stephanie Gallagher, The Spruce Eats: Easy Beef Stroganoff
 
 
By Cathy Jacobs, The Spruce Eats: 15 Winning Super Bowl Recipes for Two Tasty snacks for game day
 
 
By Betty Crocker Kitchens: 101 Dinners You Can Make with Pantry Staples
 
 
Food Talk Daily, By Kathleen, The Fresh Cooky: Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Heart
 
 
By Betty Crocker Kitchens: Crème Brûlée Cheesecake Bars


 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 

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