On January 3, 1959, George A. Kasem takes office in the U.S. House of Representatives for California’s 25th District, making history as the first Arab American Congressperson.
Kasem, who is of Lebanese descent, was born in Oklahoma and raised in Los Angeles. He ran as a Democrat, flipping the seat previously held by Republican Congressman Patrick J. Hillings, who retired to run for Attorney General of California. Kasem won by a razor-thin margin—50.1% of the vote over Republican candidate Prescott O. Lieberg’s 49.9%—and was part of a national shift during the 1958 midterms, during which Republicans lost 48 seats to Democrats during President Eisenhower’s second term.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the world’s first commercially produced birth-control bill–Enovid-10, made by the G.D. Searle Company of Chicago, Illinois. Development of “the pill,” as it became popularly known, was initially commissioned […]
On June 25, 1978, activists hoist a vibrant rainbow flag in the midst of the festivities for San Francisco’s Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day parade. According to its creator, Gilbert Baker, the crowd immediately recognized […]
On March 7, 1965, in Selma, Alabama, a 600-person civil rights demonstration ends in violence when marchers are attacked and beaten by white state troopers and sheriff’s deputies. The day’s events became known as “Bloody Sunday.” The […]
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