Almanac - Monday March 4, 2024

She was the founder of Lesbian Feminist Liberation, one of the first lesbian activist groups in the women’s movement, and was an early member of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Elizabeth Wood, the first Executive Director of the Chicago Housing Authority, was born today in 1899.

She worked to structure city management of three housing projects built by the Federal Public Works Administration, including the Jane Addams, Julia C. Lathrop and Trumbull Park Homes.

In 1933, Frances Perkins was sworn in as Secretary of Labor, as well as the first woman in the U.S. cabinet.

Lucy Hicks Anderson, a Black trans woman, was born today in 1886. When she entered school, she insisted on wearing dresses and calling herself Lucy. Since the term transgender hadn’t been invented yet, when Lucy’s mother took her to the doctor for an explanation of her strange behavior, the physician encouraged her to raise Lucy as a girl and not a boy.

In 1944 Lucy married a soldier in California, which led to troubles. When the government found out that Lucy had been born male, she was prosecuted for receiving checks as a wife of a US Army soldier. “I defy any doctor in the world to prove that I am not a woman,” Anderson told reporters in the midst of her trial. “I have lived, dressed, acted just what I am, a woman.” Both Lucy and her husband were sent to prison. Once free, Lucy moved to Los Angeles where she lived until she died in 1954.

Also on this day in history….

1769 – Mozart departed Italy after the last of his three tours there.

1789 – In New York City, the first Congress of the United States meets, putting the United States Constitution into effect.

1791 – Vermont is admitted to the United States as the fourteenth state.

1794 – The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by the U.S. Congress.

1797 – John Adams is inaugurated as the 2nd President of the United States of America, becoming the first President to begin his presidency on March 4.

1837 – The city of Chicago is incorporated.

1849 – President-elect of the United States Zachary Taylor and Vice President-elect Millard Fillmore did not take their respective oaths of office (they did so the following day), leading to the erroneous theory that outgoing President pro tempore of the United States Senate David Rice Atchison had assumed the role of acting president for one day.

1865 – U.S. politician Andrew Johnson made his drunk vice-presidential inaugural address in Washington, D.C.

1913 – The United States Department of Labor is formed.

1933 – Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the 32nd President of the United States. He was the last president to be inaugurated on March 4.

1966 – In an interview in the London Evening Standard, The Beatles' John Lennon declares that the band is "more popular than Jesus now".

1980 – Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe's first black prime minister.

1985 – The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for HIV infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States.

1998 – Gay rights: Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex.

2020 – Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.

If today is your birthday, Happy Birthday To You! You share your special day with…

1188 – Blanche of Castile, French queen consort (d. 1252)

1502 – Elisabeth of Hesse, princess of Saxony (d. 1557)

1678 – Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1741)

1729 – Anne d'Arpajon, French wife of Philippe de Noailles (d. 1794)

1745 – Casimir Pulaski, Polish-American general (d. 1779)

1781 – Rebecca Gratz, American educator and philanthropist (d. 1869)

1883 – Maude Fealy, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1971)

1888 – Rafaela Ottiano, Italian-American actress (d. 1942)

1888 – Emma Richter, German paleontologist (d. 1956)

1888 – Knute Rockne, American football player and coach (d. 1931)

1889 – Pearl White, American actress (d. 1938)

1890 – Norman Bethune, Canadian soldier and physician (d. 1939)

1891 – Dazzy Vance, American baseball player (d. 1961)

1897 – Lefty O'Doul, American baseball player and manager (d. 1969)

1914 – Barbara Newhall Follett, American author (d. 1939)

1918 – Margaret Osborne duPont, American tennis player (d. 2012)

1921 – Joan Greenwood, English actress (d. 1987)

1922 – Dina Pathak, Indian actor and director (d. 2002)

1931 – Alice Rivlin, American economist and politician (d. 2019)

1932 – Miriam Makeba, South African singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2008)

1934 – Anne Haney, American actress (d. 2001)

1934 – Barbara McNair, American singer and actress (d. 2007)

1934 – Sandra Reynolds, South African tennis player

1938 – Paula Prentiss, American actress

1942 – Gloria Gaither, American singer-songwriter

1942 – David Matthews, American keyboard player and composer

1942 – Lynn Sherr, American journalist and author

1944 – Bobby Womack, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)

1946 – Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, American journalist and author

1947 – Jan Garbarek, Norwegian saxophonist and composer

1948 – James Ellroy, American writer

1950 – Ofelia Medina, Mexican actress and screenwriter

1950 – Rick Perry, American captain and politician, 47th Governor of Texas

1954 – Catherine O'Hara, Canadian-American actress and comedian

1954 – Irina Ratushinskaya, Russian poet and author (d. 2017)

1958 – Patricia Heaton, American actress

1958 – Tina Smith, American politician

1960 – Chonda Pierce, American comedian

1965 – Stacy Edwards, American actress

1965 – Khaled Hosseini, Afghan-American novelist

1966 – Fiona Ma, American accountant and politician

1966 – Dav Pilkey, American author and illustrator

1968 – Patsy Kensit, English model and actress

1969 – Chaz Bono, American writer, musician, and actor

1969 – Annie Yi, Taiwanese singer, actress, and writer

1970 – Andrea Bendewald, American actress

1972 – Katherine Center, American journalist and author

1972 – Ivy Queen, Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, rapper, actress and record producer

1972 – Alison Wheeler, English singer-songwriter

1973 – Penny Mordaunt, English lieutenant and politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces

1975 – Kristi Harrower, Australian basketball player

1979 – Sarah Stock, Canadian wrestler and trainer

1980 – Suzanna Choffel, American singer-songwriter

1981 – Helen Wyman, English cyclist

1982 – Cate Edwards, American lawyer and author

1982 – Ludmila Ezhova, Russian gymnast

1982 – K. Michelle, American singer

1984 – Raven Quinn, American singer-songwriter

1985 – Whitney Port, American fashion designer and author

1986 – Margo Harshman, American actress

1987 – Tamzin Merchant, English actress

1987 – Cameron Wood, Australian footballer

1988 – Laura Siegemund, German tennis player

1990 – Andrea Bowen, American actress

1993 – Jenna Boyd, American actress

1993 – Bobbi Kristina Brown, American singer and actress (d. 2015)

1995 – Chlöe Howl, English singer-songwriter

2001 – Freya Anderson, English freestyle swimmer

2007 – Miya Cech, American actress