1763 Glasgow, Literature: H. Spens published the first English translation of Plato’s ‘The Republic’ (1763) and added an introductory essay on ancient philosophy rendering them as Christian precursors. A copy of this edition sold on San Francisco for $US8,000 in 2009. It is a book I have read in whole and in part many times in several translations.
1808 Athens, OH. Ohio University was founded as the first land-grant university. The idea of using land to fund higher education was extended nationally later in the Morrill Acts.
1924 Washington DC. An act of Congress recognised the citizenship of all Native Americans. President Calvin Coolidge signed it the next day. However, the right to vote was governed by state laws, and in many states Native Indians were ineligible to vote until 1957 when Maine was the last state to enfranchise Indians. Coolidge is shown below with representatives of Indian peoples.
1964 Nairobi. Kenya became a republic with Jomo Kenyatta as president. It became one of the success stories of African states. This entry reminded me of Mike Resnick, ‘Kirinyaga: A Fable of Utopia’ (1998) related to Kenya.
1980 Atlanta, Journalism: CNN went to air as the first 24-hour televised news service, repeating the same headlines every hour mixed with ephemeral sensationalism. The Cable News Network was the initiative of Ted Turner.
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