Word: mid-19th
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...just hotter than the girl next door, they are the girl next door? Though Americans have been exposed to vampire lore for centuries in the form of Germanic, Slavic, and African myths, vampires did not really enter the American psyche in earnest until the Victorian Gothic Period in the mid-19th century. The sexual violence and racial miscegenation associated with vampires excited the fears and fetishes of Victorian audiences; the vampire’s bite is often depicted as a sexual kiss and embrace, and the victim’s demise as orgasmic ecstasy.The depiction of vampirism as a blood...
...Disorderly conduct has its roots in the mid-19th century, when police officers needed a way to quell street brawls that erupted frequently between recent immigrants and already established residents, often regarding labor issues. Crowds would gather and cops needed to restore order in public places. According to the Cambridge police report, Gates exhibited "loud and tumultuous behavior, in a public place" that "caused citizens passing by this location to stop and take notice while appearing surprised and alarmed...
...July 17, the California legislature quietly approved a landmark bill to apologize to the state's Chinese-American community for racist laws enacted as far back as the mid-19th century Gold Rush, which attracted about 25,000 Chinese from 1849 to 1852. The laws, some of which were not repealed until the 1940s, barred Chinese from owning land or property, marrying whites, working in the public sector and testifying against whites in court. The new bill also recognizes the contributions Chinese immigrants have made to the state, particularly their work on the Transcontinental Railroad. (Check out a story about...
...Past governments have had their chances. Lured by good rail and river links, new industries poured into Canning Town in the mid-19th century. The Thames Ironworks Ship Building and Engineering Co. opened a 30-acre site at Bow Creek in 1846, bashing out ships for much of Europe. Eager for jobs, workers from all over the country poured in. The seasonal or casual work on offer meant few could afford comfortable places to live, though; landlords, well aware of the fact, threw up cheap housing without toilets, bathrooms and oftentimes drinking water. The over-crowding and disease appalled visitors...
...then, cigars were exploding in popularity around the world. The U.S. consumed some 300 million cigars by the mid-19th century, and many Cuban cigar-makers migrated to nearby Florida, where Tampa became known as "Cigar City" by the early 20th century. "If I cannot smoke in heaven, then I shall not go," Mark Twain declared. Though the boom was partly lit by the cigar's affordability, they soon become a must-have accessory for debonair gentlemen - men like King Edward VII, who, upon assuming the British throne in 1901, famously announced a break with the smoke-free policies...