SUBSCRIBER WOW: JUNE WOWMANAC

'80s Religious Artifacts, Judy G, the Batusi, and the Flag that Harvey Milk inspired.

It’s June! You know what that means?

We celebrate the patenting of the saxophone in 1846 on June 23rd?
I mean, sure, I guess. But I was actually thinking…

The 45th anniversary of CNN’s debut on June 1st?
God, no.

The 78th birthday of Freddie Kreuger, on June 6th?
Do you mean actor Robert Englund? Because Freddie isn’t real.
Let’s see how you feel when you go to sleep tonight.
Yikes.

No, it’s Pride Month! And we’ve got plenty of Pride-themed wows to -manac!

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June 2

June 2^nd was the birthday of Gilbert Baker (above), who in 1978 designed the Rainbow flag for a Pride parade in San Francisco, at the request of his friend Harvey Milk. He and those who helped him had no clear idea what they were doing, but as soon as Baker saw people’s reactions to the rainbow flag, he knew it was the thing they were looking for. Gay activist and friend Cleve Jones later told the New York Times, “It needed no explanation. People knew immediately that it was our flag.”