Tuesday, May 17, 2011

TODAY IN HISTORY

MAY 17
1954:The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rules that public school segregation is unconstitutional in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case, outlawing "separate but equal" facilities in public education. The decision comes one day before the 58th anniversary of the court's Plessy v. Ferguson decision, in which it had ruled 7-1 that racially segregated "separate but equal" railroad cars were constitutional. The Brown decision overturned the Plessy decision.

1875: African American jockey Oliver Lewis wins the first Kentucky Derby, riding the horse Aristides to a $2,850 purse in the first running of the prestigious race at the Louisville Jockey Club in Lexington, Ky.
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