Moscone and Milk Assassinated: Tragedy Ignites Gay Rights
Former San Francisco supervisor Dan White climbed through a window of City Hall on November 27, 1978, to avoid the metal detectors, and shot Mayor George Moscone in his office. He then walked down the hall and shot Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, five times, including twice in the head. White had resigned his seat, then asked Moscone to reappoint him. Moscone refused, partly at Milk's urging. White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter rather than murder after his defense argued diminished capacity due to depression and junk food consumption, a strategy the press dubbed the 'Twinkie defense.' He received a sentence of seven years and eight months. The verdict triggered the White Night riots, in which thousands of gay activists stormed City Hall. White committed suicide in 1985 after his release.
November 27, 1978
48 years ago
Key Figures & Places
San Francisco, California
Wikipedia
gay
Wikipedia
Dan White
Wikipedia
George Moscone
Wikipedia
Harvey Milk
Wikipedia
Moscone-Milk assassinations
Wikipedia
San Francisco
Wikipedia
George Moscone
Wikipedia
Gay
Wikipedia
Board of supervisors
Wikipedia
Harvey Milk
Wikipedia
Assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk
Wikipedia
Dan White
Wikipedia
Mayor of San Francisco
Wikipedia
Homosexuality
Wikipedia
United States
Wikipedia
Consejo de Representantes de Irak
Wikipedia
الاتفاقية العراقية الأمريكية 2008
Wikipedia
Iraq
Wikipedia
التيار الوطني الشيعي
Wikipedia
British
Wikipedia
Libya
Wikipedia
Pan Am
Wikipedia
Scotland
Wikipedia
Pan Am Flight 103
Wikipedia
1967
Wikipedia
سناء التكمجي
Wikipedia
محمد رضا آل ياسين
Wikipedia
باقر الهندي
Wikipedia
What Else Happened on November 27
Emperor Guangwu had just clawed back a dynasty from total collapse. After civil war shredded the Han empire apart, he didn't rebuild where his predecessors sat …
Commodus was fifteen. That's how old Marcus Aurelius trusted with command of Rome's entire military machine. The philosopher-emperor, famous for his restraint a…
Gothic mercenaries under the command of Gainas assassinated Flavius Rufinus, the praetorian prefect of the East, in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. This bruta…
King Clovis I died in Lutetia, leaving behind a unified Frankish kingdom that stretched across much of modern-day France and Germany. By converting to Catholici…
Four sons. One kingdom. Zero agreement on who gets what. Clovis I had unified the Franks through brutal conquest and shrewd conversion to Christianity, but his …
Usurper Phocas forces Byzantine Emperor Maurice to watch the execution of his five sons before beheading the deposed ruler himself. This brutal coup shattered i…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.