This Day in History: 2017-12-04
December 8, 2009 – “U.S. Agrees to Settle Lawsuit Brought by Native Americans for $3.4 Billion”
The United States federal government announced that it intends to pay $3.4 billion to settle claims that it has mismanaged the revenue in American Indian trust funds. In 2012, it finalized this settlement, ending one of the largest and most complicated class-action lawsuits ever brought against the United States. The lawsuit lasted 15 years in total and involved hundreds of thousands of land trust accounts that date back to the 19th century. Specialists in federal tribal law described the suit as one of the most important in the history of legal disputes involving the government’s treatment of American Indians.
May 12, 1902 - "Joe Gans Becomes World's First African-American Boxing Champion" Joe Gans defeated Frank Erne to become the world's first African-American
to win World Championship in any weight class. He became a world champion a full six years before famed boxer Jack Johnson. This is because Johnson's attempts at challenging for the heavyweight title were thwarted as James J. Jeffries refused to face him. Gans and Johnson were two early champions in a sport dominated by African-Americans throughout the 20th century.