In the 1950s and 60s, homosexuality was widely thought of as a mental disorder at best and subversive and communist at worst. The FBI kept lists of homosexuals and police regularly raided gay bars.

At 1:20am on this day in 1969, the NYPD raids the crowded Stonewall Inn, a popular LGBTQ dancing spot in Greenwich Village. They arrest staff and cross dressers, giving some rough treatment. A growing crowd starts pushing back. The police barricade themselves in the bar as a mob starts battering the building. Riot police are called in while some in the crowd form a spontaneous kick line. Police beat people with clubs but cannot disperse the mob.

The uprising continues for six nights, changing the gay rights movement forevermore.

The Stonewall Inn will become a national monument in 2016.