1707 – The Parliament of Great Britain convenes for the first time.
Following the Treaty of Union in 1706, Acts of Union ratifying the Treaty were passed in both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland, which created a new Kingdom of Great Britain. The Acts dissolved both parliaments, replacing them with a new parliament, referred to as the ‘Parliament of Great Britain’, based in the home of the former English parliament. All of the traditions, procedures, and standing orders of the English parliament were retained, as were the incumbent officers, and members representing England comprised the overwhelming majority of the new body. It was not even considered necessary to hold a new general election. While Scots law and Scottish legislation remained separate, new legislation was thereafter to be enacted by the new parliament.
1850 – The National Women’s Rights Convention beings in the state of Massachusetts.
The first National Women’s Right’s Convention met in Brinley Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts, on October 23–24, 1850. Some 900 people showed up for the first session, men forming the majority, with several newspapers reporting over a thousand attendees by the afternoon of the first day, and more turned away outside.[13] Delegates came from eleven states, including one delegate from California – a state only a few weeks old.
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1894 – American astronomer Emma Vyssotsky is born.
She received a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard College in 1930. She spent her career at the McCormick Observatory of the University of Virginia, where her speciality was the motion of stars and the kinematics of the Milky Way.
She married the Russian-born astronomer Alexander N. Vyssotsky in 1929. They had one son, Victor A. Vyssotsky (a mathematician and computer scientist), who was involved in the Multics project and creator of the Darwin computer game.
1915 – Appr. 30,000 women march on Fifth Avenue to advocate their right to vote in NYC.
On October 23, 1915, over 25,000 women marched up Fifth Avenue in New York City to advocate for women’s suffrage. At that point, the fight had been ongoing for more than 65 years, with the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 first passing a resolution in favor of women’s suffrage. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t find success for another five years.
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1959 – American music artist “Weird Al” Yankovic is born.
1981 brought Yankovic on tour for the first time as part of Dr. Demento’s stage show. His stage act in a Phoenix, Arizona, nightclub caught the eye of manager Jay Levey, who was “blown away”. Levey asked Yankovic if he had considered creating a full band and doing his music as a career. Yankovic admitted that he had, so Levey held auditions. Steve Jay became Yankovic’s bass player, and Jay’s friend Jim West played guitar. Schwartz continued on drums. Yankovic’s first show with his new band was on March 31, 1982.[7] Several days later, Yankovic and his band were the opening act for Missing Persons.
Yankovic recorded “I Love Rocky Road”, (a parody of “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” originally recorded by The Arrows) which was produced by Rick Derringer, in 1982. The song was a hit on Top 40 radio, leading to Yankovic’s signing with Scotti Brothers Records. In 1983, Yankovic’s first self-titled album was released on Scotti Bros. The song “Ricky” was released as a single and the music video received exposure on the still-young MTV. “Ricky” broke the top 100 videos on MTV at the time, which Yankovic took as a sign that his career was in music, quitting his job as a mailroom clerk at the local offices of Westwood One to pursue the music career.
