Browsing: Politics

A Brief History On February 1, 2009, a milestone in LGBT rights occurred when the Icelandic Althing (their version of a Parliament) elected Johanna Siguroardottir Prime Minister, age 66, an openly lesbian woman, the first head of government in the world to be openly LGBT. Digging Deeper The ascension of Johanna in 2009 placed her in the Forbes List of 100 Most Powerful Women in the world.  Serving only one term as Prime Minister, Johanna retired from politics in 2012. After graduating from college, Johanna worked as a flight attendant and office worker, then became active in labor union work,…

A Brief History On January 31, 2017, we at History and Headlines recognize those people who, during this month, not necessarily in the past, have either done some disreputable thing or their disreputable past has come to light.  Whether you call them villains, jerks, creeps, idiots or whatever, these people have brought shame upon themselves, at least for this month if not for their lives or careers.  By including a person and their action in this list we do not condemn that person to a lifetime label as an idiot, just labeling them an idiot for this specific month. Digging…

A Brief History On Saturday, January 21, 2017, about 15,000, mostly female, protesters took to the streets of Cleveland, Ohio.  I am a recently graduated, college-educated woman who participated in these protests.  Although I do not have many good pictures of the event, as I mostly took pictures to show crowd size, I nevertheless wish to share and show what I experienced on a particularly historic Saturday in January with the readers of this site. Digging Deeper The Women’s March was a positive experience.  Everyone I encountered as seen in the pictures below seemed to spread the message of inclusivity.…

A Brief History On January 21, 1908, the New York City Board of Alderman passed the Sullivan Ordinance, a law that banned women from smoking in any public establishment.  Mayor George McLellan Jr. vetoed the ordinance 2 weeks later, and only one woman was fined $5 for disobeying the law.  When she refused to pay the fine, she was arrested, but released the next day. Digging Deeper Laws targeting women separately from men, including those that demean or belittle the public stature of women are nothing new, and unfortunately are far from unknown today.  Here we list 10 Laws That…

A Brief History On January 17, 1961, outgoing President Dwight David Eisenhower (better known as “Ike”) made his farewell address to the nation, a tradition of outgoing Presidents since George Washington left office. Digging Deeper Ike’s speech was unique in that he warned the public of the “Military Industrial Complex,” the big business of war. During the Eisenhower years, defense spending made up an enormous part of the US budget (roughly 75 to 55% of government spending!) compared to today (20-25% of government spending).  Ike also warned of deficit spending and massive government subsidy of science and technology industries, lest…