Alexander Clemons Wright (born 1869)

In 1869, in the year that Alexander Clemons Wright was born, on January 20th, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, speaking about women's rights - including the right to vote - was the first woman to testify before the US Congress. In May, she and Susan B. Anthony founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA).

In 1890, on December 29th, the Wounded Knee Massacre occurred in South Dakota on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation . The U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment said that they rode into the Lakota camp "trying to disarm" the inhabitants. One person, Black Coyote - who was deaf - held onto his rifle, saying that he paid a lot of money for it. Shots rang out and by the end at least 153 Lakota Sioux - some estimates say 300 - and 25 troops had died. The site of the massacre is a National Historic Landmark.

In 1922, on December 6th, the Irish Free State, a self-governing dominion of the British Empire, was officially proclaimed. While establishing some independence for the people of Ireland, it did not create a fully independent Ireland and the fighting continued.

In 1956, on May 20th, the U.S. tested the first hydrogen bomb dropped from a plane over Bikini Atoll. Previously, hydrogen bombs had only been tested on the ground. The Atomic Age moved forward.

In 1975, on September 5th, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme tried to assassinate President Ford in Sacramento, California. She failed when her gun wouldn't fire. President Ford escaped a second assassination attempt 17 days later on September 22 when Sarah Jane Moore tried to shoot him in San Francisco. A bystander saw her raise her arm, grabbed it, and the shot went wild.