JEAN MARAIS, French actor was born (d.1998); Marais was never much of an actor, and it is doubtful he would have achieved international fame had he not become Jean Cocteau’s lover, but he was, by universal acclaim, one of the most handsome men ever to appear in films. In the 1940s when he made most of his movies for Cocteau, actors were still slicking down their hair with Kreml and Vitalis. But he changed all that. His cheveaux fous and athletic good looks created a new style of postwar leading man.

When in 1946 he spent his time in Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast, trapped within an ape-like costume, waiting for Beauty’s kiss to turn him once again into Jean Marais, Gay moviegoers around the world secretly wished that they were Josette Day who actually got to kiss the handsome actor’s fur face. What is perhaps most astonishing about the friendship between Cocteau and Marais is that the actor’s face in profile bore an astonishing resemblance to the boys Cocteau had been sketching for thirty years before meeting him.

BIG MAMA THORNTON, American singer born (d. 1984) An American Texas Blues, R&B singer and songwriter. She was the original singer to record the hit song "Hound Dog" in 1952. The song was #1 on the Billboard R&B charts for seven weeks. The B-side was "They Call Me Big Mama," and the single sold almost two million copies

In the 1950s female singers such as Ruth Brown, Koko Taylor, Dinah Washington, and Big Mama Thornton revived the tradition of the remarkably gutsy, pioneering female performers. Thornton, a powerful performer who frequently dressed in masculine clothing, released "Hound Dog" in 1953, three years before Elvis Presley's rendition.  In a similar occurrence, she wrote and recorded "Ball n' Chain," which became a hit for her. Janis Joplin, a rock and roll singer from Texas, later recorded "Ball and Chain," and it became a huge success in the late 1960s. 

First organized discussion group of Harry Hay’s secret society, which would become known as THE MATTACHINE SOCIETY.

The Mattachine Society is usually regarded as America’s first Gay Rights advocacy group. They met in secret due to the atmosphere of the time, and organized in cells (Hay had been involved with the Communist Party in the U.S. -- along with actor Will Geer -- and he used their organizational model). 

In 1951 Dale Jennings was arrested on police entrapment charges. Police entrapment was a common form of harassment against homosexuals then. Suspects’ names were printed in the newspapers, which caused many to lose their jobs and become estranged from their families.

By standing up to defend Jennings, the Mattachine Society not only rose to the defense of one of their members, but also took on the notorious Los Angeles Police Department for its pattern and practice of homosexual harassment. Jennings’ charges were dismissed due to the judge catching the arresting officers in a lie. This victory was not reported in the newspapers, but the Mattachine Society took it upon themselves to publicize it through flyers distributed throughout Los Angeles to areas where homosexuals met. The result was a swelling of attendance at Mattachine Society meetings.

The origins of standing up to entrapment was one of the main underpinnings of the activism. When Rudi Gernreich died in 1985, he left the bulk of his estate to establish a defense fund for Gay men who were facing prosecution due to entrapment.