The Book Of Yesterday | May 25
A POLICEMAN KILLED BLACK AMERICAN GEORGE FLOYD
May 25, 2020
Exactly one year has passed since a police officer in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States killed 46-year-old Black American George Floyd while arresting him from a convenience store in that city. Responding police officer David Chauvin arrested Floyd after a convenience store employee called him because Floyd refused to return the cigarette he had bought that he paid for with a fake 20-dollar bill. When Chauvin's comrades handcuffed Floyd, he struggled while riding in a police car, and this is where the picture of the brutality of the American police took place. The Black American was thrown on the road and Chauvin even hit Floyd's neck with his knee. Several times Floyd begged to be released because he could not breathe due to the police hitting him on the knee. His fellow policemen even helped him control the struggling Floyd, while another policeman blocked civilians who wanted to appease him. While this was happening they were secretly filmed on video, which quickly spread to various social media platforms.
Floyd was taken away by police when he was found unconscious, but on arrival at the hospital he was declared dead.
Such an incident sparked public outrage, especially of Black Americans in America, against the brutality perpetrated by the police in the midst of the pandemic. It also revived actions against the oppression and discrimination experienced by Black Americans at the hands of white Americans, which has spread to various cities in America.
After Chauvin and his colleagues were removed from service, Floyd's bereaved family filed a complaint against Chauvin and his colleagues involved in Floyd's murder. The media has been paying close attention to the trial of his case since March 29, where video footage of police brutality to his victim was shown. He was convicted on murder and manslaughter charges, and is expected to serve his sentence in June inside the jail.
Floyd’s death re-ignited actions against oppression among Black Americans and other races in America, which eventually had a new terminology, the Black Lives Matter or BLM. This reflects the long history of discrimination against Black Americans even before the United States was born. Even outside the country, actions intensified to support what Black Americans were fighting for.
AMERICAN TEACHER JOHN T. SCOPES SUED FOR TEACHING ABOUT HUMAN EVOLUTION
May 25, 1925
A teacher in the United States was indicted simply for teaching about human evolution, on this day in 1925. John T. Scopes of Tennessee, was indicted by a state court in the United States for violating the Butler Act, which prohibits in teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in schools throughout Tennessee. The media and the press focused on the surge of the case against such an American teacher, called the Scopes Trial that began on the 10th of the same year, which became the national debate about the theory of evolution.
Attorney Clarence Darrow served as Scopes' defense attorney, while William Jennings Bryan served as defendant's prosecutor.
Darrow gave a long speech, asserting that the Butler Act violates the American Constitution and violates religious freedom. He also asserted that the theory of evolution does not deviate from Bible teachings. Scopes 'defense and prosecutor argued hotly, but serving judge John Raulston ignored Scopes' lawyer's arguments about the theory of evolution and whether the law was constitutional, and the judge even declared that the testimonies of evolutionary experts will not be accepted as evidence in favor of Scopes.
On July 20, the discussion became heated and the trial was held in front of the public. Darrow even challenged Bryan to explain in his own words the biblical interpretation of the creation of the world and of humans, but Bryan equaled the challenge, saying that Darrow only wanted to discredit the Bible in the face of trial. Scopes later admitted in court that he had taught about evolution at a high school in Dayton, Tennessee, based on a book he had read about evolution. On July 21, the trial ended and Scopes was convicted, and he was paid USD 100 or $ 1,460 in the current amount or more than PhP 70,170 in our currency. Scopes 'verdict was appealed to the Supreme Court, but it insisted that the Butler Act was in accordance with the Constitution, but Scopes' verdict was reversed because the judge set the verdict for him instead of the jury.
The trial had a profound effect on Scopes' life. Fellow teachers insulted and ridiculed, even in public because of what he taught. He even experienced severe depression because of the humiliations he received, but it did not stop his studies and his career. Eventually the media’s attention to him also stopped, but he still tried to distance himself from the public eye. On May 18, 1967 the Tennessee legislature permanently repealed the controversial Butler Act.
Scopes passed away at the age of 70 on October 21, 1970. Who would have thought that the long history of conflict between religion and science, especially on a critical issue such as evolution versus creation, would reach court. To this day the issue of the origin of mankind and all life on earth is still a hot topic of discussion.
IGOR SIKORSKY WAS BORN
May 25, 1889
Today is the 132nd birthday of a genius behind the innovative helicopter aircraft-Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky. He was born on this day in 1889 in the city of Kiev, Ukraine which was formerly part of Imperial Russia, and the youngest child of professor Ivan Sikorsky and doctor Maria Sikorskaya.
Igor is said to have acquired his interest in making helicopters when he saw flying machine sketches by the Italian painter Leonardo da Vinci, and as a child he had already made a model of such a flying machine. Became a cadet at a maritime school in St. Petersburg, Russia, before moving to Paris, France to study engineering and returning to Ukraine to study mechanical engineering.
His attention to aviation was revived when he heard of the successful flight of the Wright Brothers in America in 1903 and the flight of the first zeppelin or airship in Germany in 1908. His interest in aviation flourished when airplanes were first used. in the fighting during World War I, but was forced to flee Russia to France when the Bolshevik communists occupied the country. Sikorsky offered his service in the French air force, but when the war ended he later moved to the United States. There he founded the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in 1923 and was one of the first to establish the first trans-Atlantic air travel, including the so-called flying boat. But the most important thing he has accomplished in his aviation career is that he developed a modern aircraft that can now rise vertically using complex systems of elbows. His experimentation was successful, and after being granted a patent in March 1935 he improved its design several times, and on May 24, 1940, his invention, the first Sikorsky R-4, was put into massive production. -first helicopter in history.
Igor Sikorsky died in Connecticut, United States on October 26, 1972 at the age of 83.
GOVERNOR GENERAL RAMON BLANCO ORDERS EXPORTATION OF SOME PROMINENT PEOPLE OF BULACAN
May 25, 1895
On this day in 1895, an order was enacted by Governor-General Ramon Blanco y Ereñas deporting nine prominent people of Malolos, Bulacan to the island of Mindanao and Palawan. This was ordered by Governor-General Blanco because of their membership in Freemasonry, which was strictly forbidden by the colonial government under the influence of the Catholic church as well.
The parish priest of Malolos complained to the Archbishop of Manila Bernardino Nozaleda about the presence of Masons in the town, which according to the said friar causes lack of discipline, respect for the friars and obedience to the parish. The deportation of these nine prominent citizens was in line with Archbishop Nozaleda's urging to Governor Blanco, to end the scandal perpetrated by the Masons and the evil they are spreading among the people.
Most of the nine deported to Mindanao were relatives and friends of Filipino journalist and propagandist Marcelo H. Del Pilar, who will be remembered for fleeing the Philippines for openly mocking the friars. The following prominent people of Bulacan who were sentenced to be deported to Mindanao and Palawan are:
DON MANUEL CRISOSTOMO,
DON CEFERINO ALDABA,
DON JUAN ALDABA,
DON SATURNINO BUENDIA,
DON ANASTACTO DE LEON,
DON JUSTO TEODORO,
DON VALENTJN ALDABA,
DON VICENTE GATMAITAN, at
DON LUIS H. DEL PILAR.
All of them will still be under the surveillance of the authorities from Manila until Governor Blanco sets the end of their exile.
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