Racial segregation in public schools and the controversial
concept of "separate but equal" were unanimously declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court on this
day in history, May 17, 1954.

The high court ruled 9-0 in favor of the plaintiffs in the famous
landmark case of Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, 
Kansas.        

Linda Brown (far left) with parents Leola and Oliver and little sister Terry in front of their house in Kansas. The Browns
sued the Kansas Board of Education when young Linda
wasn’t allowed to go to an unsegregated school.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren oversaw the high court’s 9-0 decision in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case.

Topeka, Kansas is home to the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site.

SANDY KOZEL

James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006)

“Soul Brother #1,”The Godfather of Soul,” “Mr. Dynamite,” “Sex Machine,” “The Minister of the New New Super Heavy Funk.”

These are some of the names by which the world would eventually
know James Joseph Brown, Jr., the revolutionary musical figure
who was born on May 3, 1933. The story Brown himself would
often tell is that he appeared stillborn when he first came into
the world, but that an aunt attending his birth managed to breathe
life into him.

ROSS SIMPSON

James Wilson Marshall
(October 8, 1810 – August 10, 1885)

The caption with this photo at the Library of Congress
claims that this was Marshall in front of the mill in 1850.

On January 24, 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill on
the American River in Northern California. After James W.
Marshall, who’d been overseeing the sawmill’s construction,
found the gold nuggets he and his boss, John Sutter,
attempted to keep

the discovery a secret. However, word soon spread and by
1849 thousands of prospectors, who became known as 49ers,
were flocking to Coloma, California, site of Sutter’s Mill, and
the surrounding region, hoping to strike it rich.

   
James Marshall’s cabin.

   

    
    
    
   
John Augustus Sutter
(February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880)

The spot where Marshall first discovered the gold that
started the California Gold Rush.

(FOX NEWS) – Retired Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor,
the first woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, has died. 

The high court said O’Connor died Friday morning in Phoenix
of complications related to advanced dementia, probably
Alzheimer’s, and a respiratory illness.

O’Connor is sworn in by Chief Justice Warren Burger as
her husband John O’Connor looks on.

John Jay (December 23, 1745 – May 17, 1829)

(FOX NEWS) – Founding Father John Jay, a towering figure
among the intellectual giants who forged the nation, was
sworn in as first chief justice of the Supreme Court of the
United States on this day in history, Oct. 19, 1789. 

The New York native held the title until resigning in 1795,
among the shortest tenures for the prestigious lifetime
appointment.

Only 16 other people have held the title of Supreme Court
chief justice in the 227 years since.

On the night of May 14, 1829, Jay was stricken with palsy,
probably caused by a stroke. He lived for three more days,
dying in Bedford, New York.

Jay’s childhood home in Rye, New York is a New York
State Historic Site and Westchester County Park.

Jay’s retirement home near Katonah, New York.