On this day in ...... 1972, Radmila Šekerinska (right), former acting Macedonian Prime Minister and current leader of the opposition in the Macedonian Parliament, was born in the present-day Republic of Macedonia. Šekerinska was previously leader of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia as well as Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration and National Coordinator for Foreign Assistance of the Republic of Macedonia. During her term as a deputy Prime Minister responsible for European Affairs, the European Council decided to grant the Republic of Macedonia the status of candidate country for accession to the European Union. (photo credit)
... 1964 (45 years ago today), after a 75-day filibuster led by Southern Senators, the U.S. Senate voted 71-29 to close debate on the proposed Civil Rights Act, which passed the Senate 9 days later. This was the 1st time that the Senate was able to end a filibuster on a civil rights bill. The primary architect of this landmark was Minority Leader Everett Dirksen (left) of Illinois. (credit for 1964 Time photo) His tireless work, which included time spent in a hospital bed, led to cloture of the filibuster and the bill’s eventual passage. A last-minute addition to the bill was a prohibition against workplace discrimination based on sex, which may have been added to make the bill too controversial to pass. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, with this addendum giving women an opportunity to litigate disparate treatment in employment, was signed into law on July 2.(Prior June 10 posts are here and here.)
