The man who really started the marriage trend: Henry VIII, how he dealt with the wives and what he had to do to get the woman he wanted (at the time he wanted her): Reformation.
posted by She Kisses Wyverns on Jun 18, 2009 - 27 comments

Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon were the first to wed in California -- again. Martin and Lyon are best known for founding the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian rights organization in the U.S. Congratulations, Del and Phyllis!
posted by fiercecupcake on Jun 16, 2008 - 53 comments

RelationshipFilter, 1873. An online archive of letters from a wife to her husband, which include an intimate look at their relationship crisis. [more inside]
posted by amyms on May 26, 2008 - 37 comments

Why aren't western marriages arranged? So the Church could make more money. (via fark)
posted by jeffburdges on Mar 6, 2006 - 20 comments

Only in 1967 did Loving v. Virginia overturn vigorously-enforced laws against interracial marriage in these 15 states--Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Only in 1964 did the Civil Rights Act overturn laws against equal access to voting, public accommodation, and public education. Only in 1963 did the Equal Pay Act mandate that men and women be paid the same wage for the same work at the same job. History isn't a superhighway, leading us in straight lines toward utopia. We fall back and we move forward, but over the past fifty years, the United States has become considerably more inclusive and equality of access to opportunity has widened. Take a look at this article from the Atlantic Monthly in 1956--1956!--if you don't believe me.
posted by Sidhedevil on Nov 4, 2004 - 190 comments