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The Hawthorne Bridge during the rally

Hands Across Hawthorne was a rally held at the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, Oregon, on May 29, 2011, in response to an attack on a gay male couple one week earlier for holding hands while walking across the bridge. News of the attack spread throughout the Pacific Northwest and the United States. According to the couple and the Portland Police Bureau, a group of five men followed Brad Forkner and Christopher Rosevear along the bridge before they were physically assaulted. The assault was condemned by Portland's gay mayor, Sam Adams, and its police chief, Mike Reese. The attack prompted volunteers from the Q Center, an LGBT community center and non-profit organization, to form street patrols to monitor Portland's downtown area. Several LGBT and human rights organizations sponsored Hands Across Hawthorne in response to the attack, linking hands across the entire span of the Hawthorne Bridge to show solidarity. More than 4,000 people attended the rally. (Full article...)

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Bridal Veil Falls in Réunion National Park
Bridal Veil Falls in Réunion National Park

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Rodrigo Duterte in 2016
Rodrigo Duterte

On this day...

May 29: International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers; Democracy Day in Nigeria; Memorial Day in the United States (2017)

Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind

G. K. Chesterton (b. 1874) · John F. Kennedy (b. 1917) · Joyce Yakubowich (b. 1953)

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Audie Murphy in full dress U. S. Army uniform
Audie Murphy in full dress U. S. Army uniform

Audie Murphy was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II, receiving every U. S. Army combat award for valor available at that time, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. He served in nine World War II campaigns, receiving the Medal of Honor after single-handedly holding off an entire company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France. After his 1945 discharge at the end of the war, he advocated for combat stress disorder treatment for veterans. He later became a successful film actor, and joined the Texas National Guard during the Korean War, serving as a reserve officer until 1969. Murphy died May 28, 1971 in a plane crash in Virginia, and was interred with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. The Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital in San Antonio was dedicated in 1973 in his honor. The Texas government recognized Murphy's National Guard service by awarding him the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor in 2013. (Full list...)

Part of the Audie Murphy series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

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Charles II of England

Charles II of England (1630–1685) was king of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was king of Scotland from 1649 from his father's execution until being deposed by Oliver Cromwell in 1651, and king of England, Scotland and Ireland from the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 until his death. Internationally, Charles became involved in the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars. Domestically, Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it.

Painting: John Michael Wright or studio

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