German-American activist, founded the Society for Human Rights (born 1892)

Henry Gerber

Henry Gerber was an early gay rights activist in the United States. Inspired by the work of Germany's Magnus Hirschfeld and his Scientific-Humanitarian Committee and by the organisation Bund für Menschenrecht by Friedrich Radszuweit and Karl Schulz, Gerber founded the Society for Human Rights (SHR) in 1924, the United States' first known gay organization, and Friendship and Freedom, the first known American gay publication. SHR was short-lived, as police arrested several of its members shortly after it incorporated. Although embittered by his experiences, Gerber maintained contacts within the fledgling homophile movement of the 1950s and continued to agitate for the rights of homosexuals.

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1972

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1972 Died

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What else happened on this day, through history

406 Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gaul.
535 Byzantine general Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Gothic garrison of Palermo (Panormos), and ending his consulship for the year.
870 Battle of Englefield: The Vikings clash with ealdorman Æthelwulf of Berkshire. The invaders are driven back to Reading (East Anglia); many Danes are killed.
1105 Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV is forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Henry V, in Ingelheim.

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The world in 1972

When Henry departed

april 10 Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu's Art of War and Sun Bin's lost military treatise, are discovered by construction workers in Shandong.
april 10 Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.
april 13 The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan.
april 13 Vietnam War: The Battle of An Lộc begins.

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