On 25th September 1957 nine African-American students attended the Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. This is a rather more significant event than it sounds.

LRCHS was an all-white school and the admission of African-American students marked the end of segregation at the school. This was not met with joyous reactions by all. In fact, the US Federal Government had to get involved, and the nine students were escorted into the school by the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army - about 1,000 paratroopers all told - who were all armed and were backed up by the Arkansas National Guard - all 10,000 of them.

That many soldiers simply because people can be right idiots.

Image Source: Public Domain via Wikicommons (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:101st_Airborne_at_Little_Rock_Central_High.jpg