Simmering racial tensions and economic frustrations boiled over
in New York City on the night of August 1, 1943, culminating in
what is now known as the Harlem Riot of 1943.
During an altercation in the lobby of the Braddock Hotel, a white
police officer shoots a Black soldier, Robert Bandy, triggering a
massive uprising.
ED DANAHUE
An armed group of white supremacists attacked a courthouse
guarded by a mostly-Black militia in the town of Colfax,
Louisiana on April 13, 1873. A bloodbath ensued, as the
militia surrendered and the white supremacists carried out a
day-long campaign of terror that came to be known as the
Colfax Massacre.
CAMILLE
BOHANNON
On this day in 1943,race-related rioting erupted in Detroit, MI. Federal troops were sent in two days later to end the violence that left more
than 30 dead.
CAMILLE BOHANNON
On this day in 1984, President Ronald Reagan was preparing for his weekly radio broadcast when, during testing of the microphone, the President said of the Soviet Union, "My fellow Americans, I am
pleased to tell you that I just signed legislation that would outlaw
Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."
In Bloomington, MN, the Mall of America opened on this day in 1992. It
was the largest shopping mall in the United States.
