Sunday, February 3, 2008

Today in History: February 3

  • 1468 German inventor Johannes Gutenberg dies; father of modern books, magazines and newspapers; invented movable type and the printing press.
  • 1787 Shays' Rebellion (for tax relief) ends; key members captured in Petersham, Massachusetts; amnesty granted the following year; Jefferson writes "A little rebellion now and then is a good thing".
  • 1870 The Fifteenth Amendment is ratified; one's race, or prior slavery, can't preclude voting rights.
  • 1894 American painter Norman Rockwell born; illustrated everyday American life.
  • 1913 The Sixteenth Amendment is ratified; Federal income tax.
Yesterday | Tomorrow


  1. The phrase "voting rights" is slippery at best, and a contradiction in terms at worst. I'll explain further in a full essay, but the nub of it is that a "right" is a moral principle of individual liberty; when we act as voters, we do not exercise that personal liberty, but in fact act to limit the liberty of all.

  2. I am definitley looking forward to reading that essay.

    Who wants to be King/Queen?

    I'll be the Paster of Muppets ;^/



