The Negro Motorist Green Book was an annual guidebook for African- American travelers in the United States. It was originated and published by New York City mail carrier Victor H. Green from 1936 to 1966, during the Jim Crow era, when racial discrimination was widespread. Although discrimination and poverty limited African-American car ownership, many middle-class blacks took to driving to avoid segregation on public transportation. They faced inconveniences such as businesses refusing to serve them or repair their vehicles and hotels refusing them accommodation or food. They even faced threats of physical violence and forcible expulsion from whites-only sundown towns. Green intended the book "to give the Negro traveler information that will keep him from running into difficulties". It became the definitive Jim Crow travel guide for blacks, but was little known outside the African-American community. Its publication ceased shortly after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Interest in it has revived in the early 21st century in connection with studies of black travel during the Jim Crow era.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Negro_Motorist_Green_Book

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1778:

English explorer James Cook became the first known European to reach the Sandwich Islands, now known as the Hawaiian Islands (pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_Islands

1866:

Wesley College, the largest school in Australia by enrolment, was established in Melbourne. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_College_(Victoria)

1919:

World War I: The Paris Peace Conference opened in Versailles, France, to set the peace terms for the Central Powers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Peace_Conference,_1919

1943:

World War II: As part of Operation Iskra, the Soviet Red Army broke the Siege of Leningrad, opening a narrow land corridor to the city. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Iskra

1990:

In a sting operation conducted by the FBI, Mayor of Washington, D.C., Marion Barry was arrested for possession of crack cocaine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Barry

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

slingshot: 1. To move in a manner resembling a slingshot. 2. (especially) To use the gravity of a moving planet to add momentum to a spacecraft. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/slingshot

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

You simply cannot invent any conspiracy theory so ridiculous and obviously satirical that some people somewhere don't already believe it.   --Robert Anton Wilson https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Anton_Wilson