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Today in “Hidden” History is a daily listing of important but little-known events illustrating the range of innovators, contributors, or incidents excluded from formal history lessons or common knowledge. Hidden history is intended not as an exhaustive review, but merely as an illustration of how popular narratives "hide" many matters of fundamental importance. Bookmark this page and check daily to quickly expand your knowledge. Suggest entries for Today in “Hidden” History by clicking the Contact Us link. Entries for September 06:

Date	Type	Event
1913		After twelve Black male inmates of a Richmond, Texas prison farm are placed in underground cell for nearly 24 hours as punishment for not picking cotton fast enough, eight die of asphyxiation. The cell was nine feet long, seven feet wide, and seven feet high, and temperatures outside neared 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The only ventilation in the cell came from four small holes connected to pipes in the ceiling that were “just large enough to admit a quarter.” The next day, inspectors found that one of the holes had been plugged. Three of the surviving men explained that they were each able to position themselves by one of the three working holes in the ceiling; the fourth survived by pressing his face against the crack at the bottom of the door. They cried out repeatedly throughout the night that men were dying, but were purposely ignored by the guards. Texas ultimately concluded that prison officials were not culpable because placing these men in this suffocating chamber, and failing to listen to their pleas for help, did not violate the law. Today, millions of Americans are incarcerated in overcrowded, violent, and inhumane jails and prisons operated with the same deadly indifference to human suffering that resulted in the suffocation deaths of these eight Black men in Texas over a century ago. Learn more.
1960		Rafer Johnson wins the gold medal in the decathlon in the 1960 Olympics. He had previously won silver in the 1956 Olympics and gold in the 1955 Pan American Games. He was the USA team's flag bearer at the 1960 Olympics and lit the Olympic cauldron at the Los Angeles Games in 1984. In 1968, Johnson, football player Rosey Grier, and journalist George Plimpton tackled Sirhan Sirhan moments after he had fatally shot Robert F. Kennedy. After he retired from athletics, Johnson turned to acting, sportscasting, and public service and was instrumental in creating the California Special Olympics. His acting career included appearances in The Sins of Rachel Cade (1961), the Elvis Presley film Wild in the Country (1961), Pirates of Tortuga (1961), None but the Brave (1965), two Tarzan films with Mike Henry, The Last Grenade (1970), Soul Soldier (1970), Roots: The Next Generations (1979), the James Bond film Licence to Kill (1989), and Think Big (1990). Learn more.
2018		Twenty-six year-old Botham Shem Jean is killed in his Dallas, Texas apartment by off-duty police officer Amber Renee Guyger, setting off nationwide protests from various organizations including Color of Change, a racial justice organization, and Black Lives Matter (BLM), about whether a black man can be safe even in his own home. Officer Guyger was headed home and mistakenly parked her vehicle on the fourth floor instead of on the third floor of the building where her apartment was located. Accounts vary on whether Jean’s apartment door was locked or ajar, but the evidence shows that Guyger entered Apartment 1478 and shouted verbal commands before firing her service weapon twice, striking Jean once in the torso as he sat on his couch eating ice cream. Guyger called 911 and stated, “I thought it was my apartment.” Jean was pronounced dead after being rushed to the Baylor University Medical Center. At trial, Assistant District Attorney Jason Hermus stated that Guyger went against her police training by missing obvious signs that the apartment was not her own, including the different apartment numbers and a bright red mat that she stepped over before entering the darkened room. She also did not call for backup from a police station two blocks away or try to administer CPR. Instead, she texted Officer Martin Riveria with whom she had a relationship and had been sexting prior to the shooting. On Tuesday October 1, 2019, Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison. On October 4, 2019, Joshua Brown, a neighbor and key witness, was murdered during a drug deal. On Wednesday October 16, 2019, attorneys for Guyger filed a notice to appeal her conviction. Learn more.