Today I Learned
Richard Nixon, in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade and as recorded by himself on the Nixon tapes in 1973, said “I admit, there are times when abortions are necessary, I know that.” and gave as his example a pregnancy from:
“a black and a white”
—Richard Nixon, 1973
Chad Varah, a British priest, was the creator of the world’s first crisis hotline (the Samaritans, in 1953).
He created the hotline after assisting at a funeral at his first church service:
[…] for a fourteen-year-old girl who had taken her own life because she had begun to menstruate and …
Up until the late 19th or early 20th century, young boys in the western world generally wore gowns or dresses until an age that varied between 2 and 8.
When a young boy would first wear a pair of pants, a ceremony was often held. It was known as breeching …
Embalming became more common in the United States during the Civil War, as a service provided by a new profession of “embalmers” who could assist in body retrieval given that fallen soldiers were far away from their relatives.
After the war, the embalmers continued offering their services as a persisted …
The legality of slavery of prisoners is literally codified in the thirteenth amendment abolishing slavery, which states:
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their …