Moments in Time: Zoot Suit Riots
The History Channel
On June 3, 1943, a group of U.S. sailors marched through downtown Los Angeles with clubs and other weapons, attacking anyone wearing the “zoot suit” favored by many young men of color at that time. The Zoot Suit Riots spread throughout the city over the next week, marking the culmination of racial tensions against the backdrop of World War II.
On June 4, 1876, an astonishing 83 hours after it left New York City, the Transcontinental Express train arrived in San Francisco. Many Americans could hardly imagine that a journey previously requiring months using horses could now be accomplished in under a week.
On June 5, 1956, a young Elvis Presley performed "Hound Dog" on "The Milton Berle Show" with a gyrating enthusiasm that set off a scandal. Critical reaction was almost universally negative. In fact, one writer described Presley's hip-swinging as "tinged with the kind of animalism that should be confined to dives and bordellos."
On June 6, 2013, Edward Snowden, a National Security Agency contractor, leaked documents to the press exposing a government-run surveillance program that monitored not just the communications records of criminals and potential terrorists, but law-abiding citizens as well. Facing multiple charges and prison time, Snowden fled to Hong Kong and later Russia to avoid extradition.
On June 7, 1976, New York magazine published journalist Nik Cohn's article "The Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night," which would inspire the John Travolta cinema smash "Saturday Night Fever." Nearly 20 years later, however, Cohn confessed that the allegedly real-life characters peopling the story were actually fictional.
On June 8, 632, the prophet Muhammad died, as a result of being poisoned, in the arms of Aisha, his third and favorite wife, in Medina, located in present-day Saudi Arabia.
On June 9, 1945, while hosting the Philadelphia Phillies, Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher struck mocking Phillies fan John Christian in the dugout with the help of a stadium security guard. The incident led to Durocher's arrest on assault charges the following day, but he was released on bail, and actor Danny Kaye, a friend of his and acquaintance of Christian, brokered a $7,000 settlement that closed Christian's civil suit.
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