6 February, 1918 - 104 years ago today in the UK
In the long, global battle over women's right to vote, another victory is scored.
The British Parliament passed the Representation of the People Act, which, among others, gave the right to vote to women over age 30 who met the property requirements. 8.5 million women were added to the British electorate, 39% of all voters in the country.
A powerful new voting block was set to change British politics forever.
Since 1865, British women’s suffrage groups such as the Kensington Society, the Suffragettes, and the Women’s Social and Political Union had worked tirelessly for this first step towards electoral parity with men.
Their struggle continued through several more waves of reform.
Curiosity Corner:
What other women's suffrage victories happened around this time?
Did wide-scale reforms stemming from World War I help these victories?
Who was suffragist Millicent Fawcett?
What inroads has the modern womens suffrage movement made in other parts of the world?
What countries give women the most equality with men?
What were the most noticable impacts of giving women in Britain the right to vote?
Get curious:
Women's suffrage - February 1918, first women gain right to vote in parliamentary elections on The Guardian
The 1918 Representation of the People Act on HistoryLearningSite.
More about women's rights on GlobalIssues.Org.
10 countries that are leading the world for women in politics on GlobalCitizen.Org.
What else makes February 6th special around the world?
Today is Waitangi Day in New Zealand, the country's birthday celebrating the signing of the Waitangi Treaty in 1840.
In California, today is Ronald Reagan Day, celebrating the actor, state governor, and American president.
While Reagan didn't always agree with the United Nations, nor would any feminist label him a “champion of women’s rights”, I’d like to think he would be happy to know he shares today with the U.N. designated International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.
It’s a global human rights issue we don't hear nearly enough about here in the U.S.
And let's not forget it’s Maple Syrup Day in Canada, Scout Sunday (the first day of Boy Scout Week), the last day of the Saint Paul Winter Carnival in Minnesota, the Olympics in Beijing, Chin- oh wait…
…It’s Super Bowl Sunday - go Cowboys! 🏈🏟️🎉
Famous births on February 6, under the sign of Aquarius
America’s 3rd Vice President Aaron Burr (1756-1836),
baseball legend George “Babe Ruth" Herman (1895-1948),
American actor & politician Ronald Reagan (1911-2004),
German mistress and wife of Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun (1912-1945),
Jamaican musician Bob Marley (1945-1981),
and American singer Natalie Cole (1950-).
“You say you love rain, but you use an umbrella to walk under it. You say you love sun, but you seek shelter when it is shining. You say you love wind, but when it comes you close your windows. So that's why I'm scared when you say you love me.”
― Bob Marely
Today is the 37th day of the year on the Gregorian calendar. 328 days remaining.
It is 13.0.9.4.14 on the Mayan long count calendar.
It is day 10 - Jaguar, in the 13 day cycle of the Snake, in the solar year of the Rabbit on the Aztec calendar.
It is 5 Adar I, 5782 on the Jewish calendar.