1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,680 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all were rerunning two episodes today, which means that 2 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:06,320 Speaker 1: you'll hear two hosts me and Tracy V. Wilson. Enjoy 3 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:10,160 Speaker 1: the show. Welcome to this Day in History Class from 4 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:12,479 Speaker 1: how Stuff Works dot Com and from the desk of 5 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:14,800 Speaker 1: Stuff You Missed in History Class. It's the show where 6 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:17,119 Speaker 1: we explore the past one day at a time with 7 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: a quick look at what happened today in history. Welcome 8 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and it's August. 9 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: Emmett Till was murdered on this day in n He 10 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: had just turned fourteen. Emmett was visiting his cousins outside 11 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: of Money, Mississippi. He had been living with his mother 12 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: in Chicago, Illinois, and on August, Emmett and his cousins 13 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 1: drove into Money because they wanted to buy some gum 14 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: and candy at Bryant's grocery store. Witnesses, including Emmett's cousins, 15 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,520 Speaker 1: say that while he was in the store, he whistled 16 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: at Caroline Bryant, who was the proprietor's wife. She was 17 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: working at the store that day. His mother thought that 18 00:00:57,920 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: he might have whistled because that was a trick that 19 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: he had learned to cope with his stutter. He was 20 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: having trouble getting his words out, he would whistle and 21 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: that would help. His cousin's thought that maybe Emmett was 22 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: trying to impress them. Caroline, though, told her husband Roy 23 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:14,759 Speaker 1: that Emmett had been lewed with her, that he had 24 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: menaced her, he had grabbed her. So Roy Bryant and 25 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: his brother in law J. W. Milam showed up at 26 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: the home of Emmett's uncle mos Right, where he was staying, 27 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: at about two thirty in the morning on August. Mos 28 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:29,960 Speaker 1: Right and his wife Lizzie both tried to persuade these 29 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: men not to take Emmett away from them. They even 30 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,959 Speaker 1: offered to pay them, but the men were armed and 31 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,520 Speaker 1: they would not be dissuaded. None of his family ever 32 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: saw Emmett alive again, and his mother got the call 33 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: that two white men had taken Emmett away from his 34 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: uncle's house at about nine thirty in the morning on August. 35 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: She and the rest of the family were obviously distraught. 36 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: They tried to work with authorities in both Illinois and 37 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: Mississippi to find her son, but a fisherman found his 38 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: body in the Tallahatchee River on Gust thirty one. He 39 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: had been tortured, he had probably been shot, and his 40 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: body was weighed down with a fan from a cotton gin. 41 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: Authorities in Mississippi tried to rush through a funeral for him, 42 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: but his mother refused to allow it. She demanded that 43 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,799 Speaker 1: he be returned to Chicago, and then once he was there, 44 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:20,920 Speaker 1: she made the brave decision to share photographs of his 45 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: body and two publications that had a predominantly black leadership. 46 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:28,120 Speaker 1: They were The Chicago Defender and Jet Magazine. In her words, 47 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: she wanted to quote, let the world see what I've seen. 48 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 1: Those pictures and the thousands of people who attended Emmett's 49 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:40,800 Speaker 1: funeral on September three helped reinvigorate the civil rights movement. 50 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: Although Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam were indicted for 51 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: murder and everyone knew that they had done it, they 52 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,640 Speaker 1: had basically bragged about it. A jury returned and not 53 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:56,360 Speaker 1: guilty verdict on September ninety five. They later gave interviews 54 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 1: where they admitted and even bragged about having done this. 55 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 1: In Caroline Bryant now Caroline Bryant Dunham admitted that her 56 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: allegations that Emmett had been threatening and crude to her 57 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: had been false. Today, Emmett Tell's casket is in the 58 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. 59 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 1: The photos of his body have been named one of 60 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: Time magazines hundred most Influential Pictures of all time, and 61 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: his mother spent a lot of the rest of her 62 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,080 Speaker 1: life trying to make sure that his death would have 63 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:30,520 Speaker 1: some kind of meaning. When talking about that effort, she said, quote, 64 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,240 Speaker 1: if it can further the cause of freedom, then I 65 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: will say that he died a hero. In March, of 66 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: the United States Department of Justice stated in a report 67 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: to Congress that it was reopening the investigation into Emmett 68 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: Till's murder, sixty three years after it happened, citing quote 69 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: the discovery of new information. This made headlines in July. 70 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: It's not clear, as of when I'm recording this exactly 71 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: what that new and nation is, although there's been a 72 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 1: lot of speculation that it's the admission of Caroline Bryant 73 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 1: Dunham that she lied about Emmett's behavior in the grocery 74 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: store that day. You could learn more about Emmett Till 75 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: and about his mother's lifelong work to make meaning out 76 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 1: of his death in the August episode of Stuff You 77 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:21,160 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class called The Motherhood of Mamie Till Mobley. 78 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:24,840 Speaker 1: Thanks to Tari Harrison for her audio work on this podcast, 79 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,160 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to the Day in History Class 80 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:31,360 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, Google podcast and wherever else you get podcasts. 81 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 1: Tomorrow we will have a landmark moment in the movement 82 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: for gay rights. Welcome to this day and History Class 83 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:59,159 Speaker 1: where history waits for no One. The day was August 84 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:05,840 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty nine. Astronomers began noticing sun spot clusters and 85 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 1: auroras began appearing in the sky electric currents charged through 86 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: telegraph systems around the world. Sun Spots are darker, cooler 87 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,480 Speaker 1: spots that appear on the Sun's surface that are caused 88 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: by interactions with the Sun's magnetic field. Solar flares and 89 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: coronal mass ejections usually originate from the magnetically active areas 90 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:33,839 Speaker 1: around sun spots. A coronal mass ejection happens when a 91 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: cloud of energetic and highly magnetized plaza is ejected from 92 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:42,799 Speaker 1: the Sun, which can cause radio and magnetic disturbances on Earth. 93 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:48,159 Speaker 1: Coronal mass ejections that struck Earth's magnetic sphere led to 94 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: one of the largest geomagnetic storms on record. On September one, 95 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:57,479 Speaker 1: amateur astronomer Richard Carrington went into his private observatory on 96 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,279 Speaker 1: his estate outside of London. He earned his telescope towards 97 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: the sun and noticed a group of sun spots, and 98 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: he drew a picture of the sun spots. Eighteen in 99 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: the morning, he saw a white light flash at two 100 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: places in the sun spot group. He later wrote this 101 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,039 Speaker 1: in a paper published in the Monthly Notices of the 102 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: Royal Astronomical Society. My first impression was that by some chance, 103 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:25,719 Speaker 1: a ray of light had penetrated a hole in the 104 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: screen attached to the object glass by which the general 105 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: image is thrown into shade. For the brilliancy was fully 106 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: equal to that of direct sunlight. That same day, amateur 107 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: astronomer Richard Hodgson also observed a large sun spot group 108 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:46,239 Speaker 1: and white light flare. The sun activity faded away after 109 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:50,280 Speaker 1: a few minutes, but about seventeen hours after Carrington observed 110 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,720 Speaker 1: the flash, Aurora's lit up the sky around the world 111 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: as far south as Panama. People woke up late at 112 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: night thinking the sun had risen, the sky looked blood red. 113 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:07,200 Speaker 1: In some places, Telegraph systems failed, and there were reports 114 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: that sparks from telegraph machines shocked operators and set papers 115 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: on fire. Telegraph polls and receiving stations also reportedly caught 116 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: on fire. Some operators found that they could transmit messages 117 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: without battery power, only using a rural current. The auroral 118 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: displays that appeared on September two and third happened only 119 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:33,600 Speaker 1: several months from the peak of the sun spots cycle. 120 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: The number of sun spots and other signs of solar 121 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: magnetic activity fluctuate over an eleven year cycle. At the time, 122 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: scientists did not understand how Aurora's work. Some guess that 123 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 1: the auroras were caused by falling debris from active volcanoes 124 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 1: or by reflections from icebergs, but many thought that the 125 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: displays were a sign of a disaster that was about 126 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 1: to happen, or a message from God, even though Carrington 127 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: advised against linking the flare he had seen to the 128 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: events that followed. But since then it has been determined 129 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: that auroral displays are the result of solar winds that 130 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: caused disturbances in the magnetosphere. The geomagnetic storm that occurred 131 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty nine, also known as the Carrington event today, 132 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: was one of the biggest solar storms ever recorded. The 133 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 1: Sun had sent off two coronal mass ejections that reached Earth. 134 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 1: Based on ice core samples, it was the biggest solar 135 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: storm in the last five hundred years. It has been 136 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: estimated that the solar storm cost the global telegraph system 137 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:46,319 Speaker 1: around three hundred thousand dollars, plus other costs related to businesses, 138 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: stock markets, and individual families. Usually these solar storms do 139 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 1: not hit Earth, but if a geomagnetic storm like the 140 00:08:55,800 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty nine one happened today, damages would be more 141 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:04,200 Speaker 1: were extensive, and cost would be a lot higher. Similar, 142 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 1: but less severe geomagnetic storms have hit Earth since the 143 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:12,560 Speaker 1: fifty nine event. I'm Eve Jefcode and hopefully you know 144 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 145 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:21,079 Speaker 1: Get more Notes from History on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook 146 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: at t d I h C podcast. We'll be back 147 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: with more history tomorrow. For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, 148 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 149 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.