2 March 2020

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 2 March 12020 is Labour Day in Australia. In Bangladesh it is National Flag Day, in Myanmar it is Peasants’ Day, and in Texas it is Texas Independence Day. It is, incidentally, 6 Adar 5780 on the Jewish calendar (a descendant of the calendar used in ancient Babylon), and 7 Rahab 1441 on the Islamic calendar. Eddie Lawrence was born today, and Thomas Bodley was born on this date in 1545 (12 March 11545).

On this day in history in 1877 the 1876 presidential election was finally settled when a special electoral commission selected Rutherford Hayes over Samuel Tilden just days before the inauguration. The election was marked by fraud and intimidation, with many Republican voters in the southern states effectively disenfranchised, and in the chaos a number of states submitted opposing certificates. If any of the disputed states were awarded to Tilden he would be the victor; if all of them went to Hayes he would win by one vote. All of them went to Hayes. Oregon’s ultra-racist governor, La Fayette Grover, whose uncalled-for meddling helped derail the Modoc peace process, played a small part in this farce. And that’s what I’ve got for today.