... 1971, the 1st international meeting of representatives of the Roma peop
le (flag at right) was held near London. Since 1990 the date's thus been observed as International Roma Day in order to raise awareness of the needs of this people, whom the European Roma Rights Centre describes as "the most deprived ethnic group of Europe." Among the areas in which Roma suffer discrimination in various states of Europe is education -- an issue addressed, as IntLawGrrl Diane 
Orentlicher posted, in a recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights. Other areas of concern are jobs, health care, social services, and housing, according to the Centre.... 1899, 44-year-old Martha M. Place became the 1st woman to be executed in the electric chair, in New York's Sing Sing Prison (left). Said to have been "mentally unstable" since childhood, Place had been convicted of murdering her stepdaughter; then-Gov. Theodore Roosevelt rejected bids to pardon her.
