Today in History-September 25
Soldiers in full battle dress escorted nine schoolchildren to class1957: Troops end Little Rock school crisis
England have
Nine black children have finally been able to attend Central High School in
Little Rock, Arkansas. But they had to be surrounded by more than 1,000 US
paratroopers to protect them from segregationist whites.
On the orders of President Dwight D Eisenhower, the troops arrived last
night in full battledress with fixed bayonets and rifles and took over from
local police following three weeks of disturbances.
The children, six girls and three boys, had to walk through a cordon to get
to the school building.
Outside about 1,500 whites demonstrated and at least seven were
arrested.
Inside, students were warned by the commanding officer, General Walker,
that anyone who disrupted the school day would be handed over to local
police.
In 1954 the US Supreme Court ruled segregated schools were
unconstitutional.
The decision was prompted by a case brought by the NAACP (National
Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) on behalf of a black
schoolgirl from Kansas forced to attend a blacks-only school.
But Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus refused to abide by the ruling.
Little Rock became of symbol of southern resistance to government attempts
to desegregate American society.
On 2 September this year the governor ordered Arkansas state troops to stop
the nine black children attending school. Three weeks later he was forced to
withdraw them by a federal judge.
But a white mob took over the streets and the mayor of the city appealed to
the president to help to control the situation.
The southern governors are meeting today to find a way of persuading the
president to withdraw the troops.
After yesterday's disturbances, the city was calm.
But once the troops are gone it is feared the white mob may retaliate
against the 30,000 black residents at Little Rock, especially leaders of the
NAACP.
The British team took a difficult direct route up the mountain's south-west
face
1975: First Britons conquer Everest
Artificially 1969: FilmTheTheAA Dougal Haston and Doug Scott have become
the first Britons to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain.
The men arrived at the top of Mount Everest via the previously unclimbed
south-west face, 33 days after establishing their base camp.
The team succeeded on a difficult direct route which has repulsed five
other attempts and set a record for the fastest time up the peak.
Expedition leader Chris Bonington reported the pair had reached the 29,028
ft (8,848 m) summit safely and were now on their way down the mountain.
He also said they were ahead of schedule and hoped more of the 18-strong
group would be able to reach the top.
The south-west face of Everest has been regarded as one of the most
difficult challenges in mountaineering because of its length and exposure to
high-level winds.
Mr Haston, who runs the International School of Mountaineering in
Switzerland, and Mr Scott, a mountain lecturer from Nottingham, had failed twice
to conquer the route.
The Queen sent a message to the team offering her warmest congratulations
on a "magnificent achievement".
Jan Scott, who is planning to fly out to Nepal to meet her husband, said
she was overjoyed by his success.
"It's wonderful - I knew Doug would do it one day," she said.
Vocabulary:
segregationist: someone who believes the races should be kept
apart(隔离主义者)
retaliate: take revenge for a perceived wrong(报复)
repulse: force or drive back(使后退)
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