Good morning.
Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of twenty-eight. We’ll have 12h 12m of sunlight, 13h 8m of daylight, and a waxing gibbous moon.
On this day in 1965, Dr. King and over 3,000 marchers began trip from Selma to Montgomery – it was their third attempt, the first two having been met with violent state opposition:
Backed by the armed might of the United States, 3,200 persons marched out of Selma today on the first leg of a historic venture in nonviolent protest.
The marchers, or at least many of them, are on their way to the State Capitol at Montgomery to submit a petition for Negro rights Thursday to Gov. George C. Wallace, a man with little sympathy for their cause.
Today was the third attempt for the Alabama Freedom March. On the first two, the marchers were stopped by state troopers, the first time with tear gas and clubs.
The troopers were on hand today, but they limited themselves to helping Federal troops handle traffic on U.S. Highway 80 as the marchers left Selma.
Soldiers Line Highway
Hundreds of Army and federalized National Guard troops stood guard in Selma and lined the highway out of town to protect the marchers. The troops were sent by President Johnson after Governor Wallace said that Alabama could not afford the expense of protecting the march.
The marchers were in festive humor as they started. The tone was set by the Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, top aide to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, as he introduced Dr. King for an address before the march started.
Google-a-Day asks a science question: “What is the binomial name of the tiny mammal of the family Craseonycteridae, genus Craseonycteris and species C. thonglongyai that is “hog-nosed?”