The fourteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1868. Here is the exact wording of the first section of that amendment:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
On June 18, 1873 – exactly 135 years ago today – Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election. Her defense was that she was protected under the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution (what do you think?). She lost the case, but there was a silver lining: The judgement against her had roughly the same positive effect that being banned by the Pope had on the films of Monty Python. That court case may well have been the definitive turning point in the struggle for the right of U.S. women to vote.
On June 18, 1928 – exactly 80 years ago today – Amelia Earhart became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by air. And of course four years later she made history by flying across the Atlantic solo.
On June 18, 1983 – exactly 25 years ago today – Sally Ride became the first American woman to travel into outer space.
June 18 seems to be a very auspicious day for crossing oceans, don’t you think?
you have to ask yourself, “do you feel lucky?”
And June 18th is my birthday. Of course, the only relevance to oceans is that I sometimes find myself living on the wrong side of one. 🙂