1963 – Kenya declares independence from Britain
Kenya declared its independence from Britain on December 12, 1963. The East African nation is freed from its colonial oppressors, but its struggle for democracy is far from over.
A decade before, in 1952, a rebellion known the Mau Mau Uprising had shaken the British colony. Not only did the British spend an estimated £55 million suppressing the uprising, they also carried out massacres of civilians, forced several hundred thousand Kenyans into concentration camps, and suspended civil liberties in some cities. The war ended in the imprisonment and execution of many of the rebels, but the British also understood that things had permanently changed. The colonial government introduced reforms making it easier for Kenyans to own land and grow coffee, a major cash crop previously reserved for European settlers. Kenyans were allowed to be elected to the Legislative Council beginning in 1957. With nationalist movements sweeping across the continent and with Britain no longer financially or militarily capable of sustaining its empire, the British government and representatives from the Kenyan independence movement met in 1960 to negotiate independence.
The agreement called for a 66-seat Legislative Council, with 33 seats reserved for Black Kenyans and 20 for other ethnic groups. Jomo Kenyatta, a former leader of the Kenya African National Union whom the British had imprisoned on false charges after the Mau Mau Uprising, was sworn in as Kenya’s Prime Minister on June 1, 1963, in preparation for the transition to independence. The new nation’s flag was modeled on that of the Union and featured a Masai shield at its center.
Source: history.com
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1937 ~ The Rape of Nanking begins
During the Sino-Japanese War, Nanking, the capital of China, falls to Japanese forces, and the Chinese government flees to Hankow, further inland along the Yangtze River.
To break the spirit of Chinese resistance, Japanese General Matsui Iwane ordered that the city of Nanking be destroyed. Much of the city was burned, and Japanese troops launched a campaign of atrocities against civilians. In what became known as the “Rape of Nanking,” the Japanese butchered an estimated 150,000 male “war prisoners,” massacred an additional 50,000 male civilians, and raped at least 20,000 women and girls of all ages, many of whom were mutilated or killed in the process.
Source: history.com for the complete article
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on this day …. 12/12
|
| 1787 |
| Pennsylvania ratifies the Constitution » |
| 2000 |
| GM announces phase-out of Oldsmobile » |
| 1806 |
| Stand Watie born » |
| 1987 |
| Shultz calls on European allies to increase defense spending » |
| 1989 |
| The Queen of Mean is sentenced to the slammer » |
| 1997 |
| A young murderer is indicted » |
| 1917 |
| French soldiers killed in train accident » |
| 1901 |
| Marconi sends first Atlantic wireless transmission » |
| 1913 |
| Mona Lisa recovered in Florence » |
| 1917 |
| Father Flanagan establishes Boys Town » |
| 1937 |
| USS Panay sunk by Japanese » |
| 1967 |
| Hepburn, Tracy and Poitier star in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner » |
| 1821 |
| Flaubert is born » |
| 1970 |
| “Tears Of A Clown” gives Smokey Robinson & The Miracles their first #1 pop hit, finally » |
| 1929 |
| Cattle pioneer Charles Goodnight dies » |
| 1963 |
| JFK memorial album sets record for sales » |
| 1965 |
| NFL rookie Gale Sayers ties single-game TD record » |
| 1968 |
| Procedural questions cause difficulty at the peace talks » |
| 1969 |
| Philippine soldiers depart South Vietnam » |
| 1914 |
| Stocks tank as NYSE trading resumes » |
| 1941 |
| United States seizes French liner Normandie » |
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2001 – The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would implement minimum federal election standards and provide funding to help states modernize their voting systems.
On the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that effectively settled the 2000 presidential election, the House of Representatives on Wednesday passed legislation that would implement minimum federal election standards and provide funding to help states modernize their voting systems.
The bipartisan legislation would provide $2.65 billion in funding, including $400 million to replace punch card voting systems like the ones used in much of Florida last year. Several of those systems were the source of intense controversy, because of confusion and disagreement over what constituted a vote on the punch cards.
The bill passed by a vote of 362 to 63. It now heads to the Senate, where Democrats and Republicans have been negotiating an election reform measure of their own. Differences between House and Senate versions of the legislation would have to be resolved before a bill can be sent to President Bush for his signature.
White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer said Wednesday that Bush supports the legislation and considers it “a positive step forward.”
House Administration Committee Chairman Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and ranking member Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, crafted the measure after previous efforts at reform legislation faltered.
for complete article cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/12/12/scotus.anniversary
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