65 years ago today, the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled that restaurants in Washington, DC could not refuse to serve black patrons, invalidating “separate but equal” services as unconstitutional. Six years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat, it was Mary Church Terrell, an 86-year-old NAACP activist, who walked into Thompson’s Restaurant, a few blocks from the White House, and challenged their segregated policy with an eye toward abolishing the practice for good. (1953)
MORE Good News on this Day:
- A proposed Bill of Rights was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by James Madison, who is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” (1789)
- The washing machine was patented by Noah Cushing of Quebec (1824)
- Ives W. McGaffey of Chicago patents the first vacuum cleaner, calling it a “sweeping machine” (1869)
- The Milwaukee Braves set a MLB record that still stands today—4 consecutive home runs by a team, hit by Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock…
