1920: Women Can Vote
The history of voting women in the United States has a complicated history. A number of pre-revolutionary colonies gave women the right to vote, but that all changed in 1776 when all of the states (except New Jersey) changed course denying their voting rights. Even New Jersey changed its mind in 1807.
The first women’s suffrage amendment was presented to Congress in 1878 but it took until May 21, 1919 for it to pass the House of Representatives. The Senate passed it too on June 4, 1919. From there, the amendment was submitted to the states for ratification. At least 36 ratifications were needed to for it to be adopted. It took over a year, but on this day in 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was certified.
Although not every state had to approve the amendment to make it happen, eventually all of them did (with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii which were not yet states when the amendment was adopted). But surprisingly, Mississippi was the last state to approve it on March 22, 1984!
2014: The Voice of SNL Dies
Dominick George “Don” Pardo passed away on this day in 2014. Beginning his voice work for The Price is Right game show in 1956, the radio and TV announcer’s career lasted over 70 years. In 1964, he moved over to Jeopardy where he stayed until 1975. He continued to be an announcer for various other TV game shows and announced for NBC’s Saturday Night Live from its beginning in 1975.
Pardo partially retired in 2004 but due to executive producer Lorne Michaels’ insistence, continued on with SNL thinking that Michaels would find a replacement. Pardo would travel to New York from Arizona every week. In 2009, Pardo was inducted into the Rhode Island Radio Hall of Fame and he implied that that year would also be his last with SNL, but he continued on through 2014.
Movies Released
- 1972: Deliverance
- 1995: Mortal Kombat
- 1995: The Babysitter’s Club
- 2006: Snakes on a Plane
- 2006: The Illusionist
- 2017: Logan Lucky
- 2017: The Hitman’s Bodyguard
TV Series Debuts
- 2016: The Tick
- 2017: The Defenders
- 2021: Nine Perfect Strangers
Famous Birthdays
- 1774: Meriwether Lewis (explorer)
- 1834: Marshall Field (founder of Marshall Field’s stores)
- 1904: Max Factor (founder of Max Factor cosmetics)
- 1920: Shelley Winters (actress)
- 1936: Robert Redford (actor)
- 1943: Martin Mull (actor)
- 1952: Patrick Swayze (actor)
- 1961: Bob Woodruff (journalist)
- 1969: Edward Norton (actor)
- 1970: Malcolm-Jamal Warner (actor)
- 1978: Andy Samberg (actor)
- 1994: Madelaine Petsch (actress)
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