On this day in 1929 and 1975, Michigan AG rulings advanced women’s rights. And in 1940, the world’s tallest man, Robert Wadlow, died in Manistee at age 22.
TRANSCRIPT
On this day in 1929, Attorney General Wilbur M. Brucker ruled that since control over highways was vested in the state highway commission, Livingston County did not have the authority to prohibit women in suits from riding in cars.
Nearly 50 years later in 1975 was another symbolic step forward for Michigan women. On this day, Attorney General Frank Kelley ruled that when a woman married, she did not have to adopt the last name of her husband.
And in 1940, the world’s then-tallest man at the time died in Manistee, Michigan as a result of his leg braces causing an infection. Robert Pershing Wadlow was 8 feet, 11 inches tall, wore size 37 shoe, and only 22 years old. Over 40,000 people attended his funeral and his half ton coffin required 12 pallbearers to carry.