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Historic Speeches

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Address to the American People on Civil Rights by President John F. Kennedy Digital History ID 4306
In 1963, civil rights protests became increasingly violent with two events in Alabama that drew national attention. During seven climatic days in May, Birmingham's police commissioner, Eugene "Bull" Connor, crushed a nonviolent protest with extreme force. In June, Governor George Wallace refused to allow two black students to enter the University of Alabama. President Kennedy made the following speech on national television a week before he proposed a Civil Rights Bill to Congress.
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Engines of Our Ingenuity

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Ray Dolby Digital History ID 4513
Who's the most famous name in music today, asks Forbes writer Jeffrey Young. Pavarotti? Madonna? His candidate may catch you by surprise. But first, some background. Our mystery candidate did his Ph.D. in physics at Cambridge University in 1961. Later he recorded native Indian music for UNESCO. He had to haul a big reel-to-reel tape recorder all over India. That was frustrating. His tapes overlaid the already delicate sounds of sitars and tablas with a hiss. What could he do? Since he was in India, he began by meditating.
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Earlier Than We Think Digital History ID 4515
I've just found Vannever Bush's book, Science is Not Enough. (Well, no one thought it was.) But engineer-scientist Bush was one of the fascinating thinkers of the mid-twentieth century. I look to him for a new take on an old idea. This was 1967; Bush was 77 years old; and, sure enough, his last essay pulls me in. The title, It is Earlier Than We Think, is at odds with our thinking. We're constantly told that, if we don't act now, the chance will be gone!
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