Monday Open Line


On this date 90 years ago, Congress passed — and President Coolidge signed — the Indian Citizenship Act, which stated “all noncitizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby declared to be, citizens of the United States: Provided that the granting of such citizenship shall not in any manner impair or otherwise affect the right of any Indian to tribal or other property.” Prior to this act, about two-thirds of American Indians were already citizens by other provisions. Universal voting rights lagged until 1957, as various state laws were amended. Today, there are over 2 million single-race American Indians possessing this full citizenship and 566 federally recognized tribes. Profile America is in its 17th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sunday, June 1st. The first public phone booth was installed on this date in 1880 in New Haven, Connecticut, just four years after the telephone was invented. These first public telephones were supervised by attendants, while those operated by coins came along nine years later. Today, it’s rare to see a pay phone beyond transportation terminals, but the latest models have computer-like features, and worldwide, some booths are converting to wireless fidelity hot spots. Now, over 97 percent of U.S. households have telephone service, and the number of Americans using cell phones doubled to about 70 percent from 1998 to 2005 and to nearly 91 percent more recently. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy from the American Community Survey at <www.census.gov>.

Saturday, May 31st. One of the worst calamities to hit the U.S. happened on this date in 1889 — the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Flood. Torrential rains caused a nearby artificial lake, created for a fishing and hunting resort, to spill over and weaken its earthen dam. When the dam broke, it unleashed 20 million tons of water in a giant wave that roared through Johnstown, killing more than 2,300 men, women and children, and destroying the homes of thousands more. The flood remains one of the nation’s most costly, single weather-related disasters. While tornadoes take more lives, flooding is a constant threat. A national annual average of 89 deaths occurred in the years between 1983 and 2012. Johnstown has been spared since 1977, when 85 died. Currently, almost 21,000 people make Johnstown their home. http://famousdaily.com/history/benjamin-towne-publishes-first-daily-newspaper-us.html