| October 15, 1965 In demonstrations organized by the student-run National Coordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam, the first public burning of a draft card in the United States took place.  David Miller burning his draft card, 1965. These demonstrations drew 100,000 people in 40 cities across the country. In New York City, David Miller, a young Catholic pacifist, became the first U.S. war protester to burn his draft card, doing so in direct violation of a recently passed federal law forbidding such acts. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation later arrested him; he was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. Memoirs of a Draft-Card Burner |
October 15, 1966 Huey Newton and Bobby Seale formed the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in Oakland, California. Its revolutionary agenda, and the fact that its members, all U.S. citizens, were armed, prompted FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover to refer to it as as “the greatest threat to the internal security of the United States.”  First 6 members – Top Left to Right: Elbert “Big Man” Howard; Huey P. Newton, Sherman Forte, Chairman, Bobby Seale. Read the Panthers’ Ten Point Platform and Program:  Bobby Seale(L) and Huey Newton(R) Black Panther Party Legacy and Alumni Black Panther Party pin |
| October 15, 1966 The “Endangered Species Preservation Act” became law. It allowed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to identify plant and animal varieties threatened with extinction, and to acquire land to preserve their habitats. How the law has evolved |
| October 15, 1969 22 million took part in the National Moratorium, a protest against the continuing war in Vietnam. This was an effort by David Hawk and Sam Brown, two anti-war activists, to forge a broad-based movement against the war.The organization initially focused its effort on 300 college campuses, but the idea soon grew and spread beyond colleges and universities. Hawk and Brown were assisted by the New Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, which was instrumental in organizing the nationally coordinated demonstrations.   One of the largest of the many events involved 100,000 people converging on Boston Common, but activities nationwide also included smaller rallies, marches, and prayer vigils. The demonstrations involved a broad spectrum of the population, including many who had never before raised their voices against the war. This was considered unprecedented: Walter Cronkite (then CBS news anchor) called it “historic in its scope. Never before had so many demonstrated their hope for peace.” Later, a declassified Kissinger (then Nixon’s National Security Advisor) file revealed that these protests discouraged a plan by Nixon to use nuclear weapons in Vietnam. Read more Reissued: The original Vietnam Moratoium Peace Dove button |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryoctober.htm#october15
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