Portal:Freedom of speech/Selected anniversaries

6 January 1941 – Four Freedoms speech given by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
18 January 2012 – Series of coordinated Protests against SOPA and PIPA (Wikipedia blackout pictured)
21 January 2010 – Decision reached in Supreme Court of the United States case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
25 January 2011 – Beginning of 2011–2012 Egyptian revolution

5 February 1857 – Ratification of the Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1857, establishing individual rights such as freedom of speech; freedom of conscience; freedom of the press; freedom of assembly; and the right to bear arms
8 February 1957 – Death of Zechariah Chafee, an American judicial philosopher, civil libertarian and advocate for free speech
20 February 1943 – Freedom of Speech painting published in The Saturday Evening Post
25 February 2005 – Harriet Freezerring Emancipation Prize awarded to Ayaan Hirsi Ali (pictured) by Cisca Dresselhuys, editor of the feminist magazine Opzij

7 March 2007 – Courts in Turkey imposed a ban on YouTube due to a speculative video that intentionally insulted Atatürk
10 March 2006 – Westboro Baptist Church picketed the funeral of U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Matthew A. Snyder, triggering U.S. Supreme Court case, Snyder v. Phelps
19 March 1997 – Congressman Jerrold Nadler (pictured) supports "Free Speech on the Internet" on the floor of the United States House of Representatives
21 March 2006 – Decision reached in Keith-Smith v Williams, a 2006 English libel case that confirmed that existing libel laws applied to internet discussion

3 April 1968 – "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech by Martin Luther King Jr.
17 April 1790 – Death of Benjamin Franklin (pictured), a strong proponent of freedom of speech
17 April 1982 – Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms signed into law by Queen Elizabeth II of Canada
26 April 1968 – 19-year old Paul Robert Cohen was arrested for wearing a jacket bearing the words "Fuck the Draft" inside the Los Angeles Courthouse, leading to Supreme Court of the United States case, Cohen v. California

9 May 1943 – Birth of Kiyoshi Kuromiya in an internment camp; he was a leader in the struggle to maintain freedom of speech on the Internet, participating in the successful lawsuit against the Communications Decency Act
12 May 2011 – PROTECT IP Act introduced in the United States Senate by Patrick Leahy
14 May 1940 – Death of Emma Goldman (pictured) an anarchist known for her political activism, writing, and speeches
20 May 2010 – Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, held in support of free speech and freedom of artistic expression of those threatened with violence for drawing representations of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad

3 June 1926 – Birth of Allen Ginsberg (pictured); an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s
15 June 1917 – Passage of U.S. Espionage Act of 1917; originally prohibited any attempt to interfere with military operations, to support U.S. enemies during wartime, to promote insubordination in the military, or to interfere with military recruitment
24 June 2010 – United States House of Representatives passed the DISCLOSE Act
27 June 2011 – Decision reached by Supreme Court of the United States in case Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association

1 July 1997 – Beginning of Hong Kong 1 July marches
1 July 2011 – "Friday of Retribution" as part of 2011–2012 Egyptian revolution
4 July 2012 – Teddybear Airdrop Minsk 2012; dropping of pro-freedom of speech messages attached to teddy bears (pictured) over Belarus
26 July 1945 – Release of the Potsdam Declaration by United States President Harry S. Truman, United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chairman of the Nationalist Government of China Chiang Kai-shek calling for establishment of freedom of speech by Japanese Government

8 August 1942 – Passage of Quit India Resolution relating to Quit India Movement at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC)
10 August 2010 – U.S. President Barack Obama (pictured) signed SPEECH Act into law
11 August 1919 – Weimar Constitution signed into law by Republic's first President, Friedrich Ebert
12 August 1998 – Death of C. Dickerman Williams; American lawyer who was known as a freedom of speech advocate

12 September 2006 – Release of documentary Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing (conference pictured); tagline of film is "freedom of speech is fine as long as you don't do it in public"
22 September 1950 – U.S. President Harry Truman vetoed McCarran Internal Security Act, calling it "the greatest danger to freedom of speech, press, and assembly since the Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798", a "mockery of the Bill of Rights" and a "long step toward totalitarianism"
24 September 2011 – First add appeared in the Toronto, Canada National Post Ad Controversy
25 September 1789 – As part of the United States Bill of Rights, First Amendment to the United States Constitution submitted to the states for ratification

3 October 1978 – Broadway theatre production of First Monday in October opens at Majestic Theatre
6 October 2009 – Oral arguments heard in the Supreme Court of the United States case of United States v. Stevens
16 October 2012 – Release by hip hop recording artist Freeway (pictured) of mixtape Freedom of Speech
17 October 1970 – Death of Pierre Laporte, Canadian lawyer, journalist and politician who was the Deputy Premier and Minister of Labour of the province of Quebec before being kidnapped and assassinated by members of the group Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) during the October Crisis

12 November 1968 – Case of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District argued before the Supreme Court of the United States; majority decision written by Justice Abe Fortas (pictured)
13 November 1969 – Birth of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Somali-Dutch feminist and atheist activist, writer and politician who is known for her views critical of Islam
16 November 2011 – Hearing before United States House of Representatives over the Stop Online Piracy Act
20 November 1789 – New Jersey became first state to ratify United States Bill of Rights

4 December 1967 – 500 protesters witnessed 88 draft cards collected and burned
9 December 2001 – American Civil Liberties Union files lawsuit on behalf of Sierra over Katie Sierra suspension controversy
20 December 2006 – Stolen Valor Act signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush; later ruled unconstitutional by Supreme Court of the United States as an abridgment of the freedom of speech under the First Amendment
26 December 2006 – Early development in AACS encryption key controversy (Free Speech Flag pictured) — person using the alias muslix64 published a utility named BackupHDDVD and its source code on the DVD decryption forum at the website Doom9