Hands Across Hawthorne was a rally held at the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, Oregon, on May 29, 2011, in response to an attack on a gay male couple one week earlier for holding hands while walking across the bridge. News of the attack spread throughout the Pacific Northwest and the United States. According to the couple and the Portland Police Bureau, a group of five men followed Brad Forkner and Christopher Rosevear along the bridge before they were physically assaulted. The assault was condemned by Portland's gay mayor, Sam Adams, and its police chief, Mike Reese. The attack prompted volunteers from the Q Center, an LGBT community center and non-profit organization, to form street patrols to monitor Portland's downtown area. Several LGBT and human rights organizations sponsored Hands Across Hawthorne in response to the attack, linking hands across the entire span of the Hawthorne Bridge to show solidarity. More than 4,000 people attended the rally.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hands_Across_Hawthorne
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1453:
With the conquest of Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottomans. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire
1852:
Swedish operatic soprano Jenny Lind concluded a successful concert tour of the U.S. under the management of showman P. T. Barnum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Lind_tour_of_America,_1850%E2%80%9352
1911:
English dramatist W. S. Gilbert of the songwriting duo Gilbert and Sullivan died while saving a young woman from drowning in his lake. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._S._Gilbert
1942:
Bing Crosby recorded his version of the song "White Christmas", which went on to become the best-selling single of all time, with over 50 million copies sold. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Christmas_(song)
1953:
New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary and Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_British_Mount_Everest_expedition
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
duodenum: The first part of the small intestine, starting at the lower end of the stomach and extending to the jejunum. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/duodenum
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know. --John F. Kennedy https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy