Word: 1860s
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Over the years, there have been repeated efforts to invest the U.S. government with the cachet of divine authority. "In God We Trust" was first stamped on currency in the 1860s. "Under God" was inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance during the McCarthyist 1950s. George Bush campaigned in 1988 to have the flag treated like a sacred object. And perhaps every revolution is doomed to be betrayed, sooner or later, by its progeny. It only adds insult to + injury, though, when the betrayal is dressed up in the guise of "traditional values...
Abortion has been illegal in Ireland since the 1860s. When pressure to moderate the law began rising in the 1970s and early '80s, the Catholic Church and antiabortion activists pushed the government to hold a 1983 referendum incorporating the ban into the constitution. After a bitter campaign, the pro- lifers won the vote by a two-thirds majority. The resulting constitutional amendment obliges the government "to respect . . . defend and vindicate" the right to life of the unborn. No exceptions are allowed except in some cases where the mother's life is in danger...
Serfdom in Russia and slavery in the U.S. were both abolished in the 1860s, but the legacy of serfdom has been even more enduring. No wonder; only about 12% of the inhabitants of the U.S. were enslaved in 1860, but almost two- thirds of the Russian empire's people were serfs at the time of emancipation. In 1918 the Bolsheviks instituted a totalitarianism more complete than that of the Nazis, in the judgment of Soviet sociologist Boris Grushin. "Even under Adolf Hitler, German industry was relatively independent of the system," says Grushin, "but in the Soviet Union, everything was swallowed...
Croquet originated in France during the late 1400s, migrated to England and Ireland in the 19th century and arrived in the U.S. in the 1860s. The game's popularity has waxed and waned over the years, but it is once again finding a serious audience. The U.S. Croquet Association, in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., boasts that sales of high-quality mallets and sets have doubled in the past three years, while the number of croquet clubs has grown from five in 1977 to over 300 this year. More people are buying backyard sets, and public courts are springing...
Another fairly constant feature has been therelative youth of the Corporation's appointees.Bok was 40 when chosen; only one president sincethe 1860s has been over...