Hi there, and welcome to Today in History. I’m your host, Sen.

Are you ready for today’s historical events? Remember, try listening to them twice.

On this first listen, focus more on the sounds and rhythm of what is being said.

Let’s begin. So, what happened on this day in history?

On July 8, 1943, reproductive rights advocate Faye Wattleton was born in the United States. Wattleton began her career as a nurse and midwife. In 1978, she became the first Black president to lead the reproductive health care organization Planned Parenthood, as well as the youngest. Under Wattleton’s leadership, Planned Parenthood helped advance abortion rights and greatly expanded its services to make terminations of pregnancies safe and accessible.

On the same day in 2009, Malaysia’s government announced that it would be reinstating the national language Bahasa Melayu as the teaching language for math and science in state schools, renouncing a six-year initiative of teaching the subjects in English. The decision came after a protest of thousands took place in Kuala Lumpur in March 2009. Protesters argued that using English as a teaching language was a relic of British colonialism, and had hurt efforts to develop scientific Malay vocabulary and expand the language. The use of language in Malaysia remains a contentious debate and illustrates the challenges of navigating the multilingual and multi-ethnic realities of postcolonial society.

On July 8, 2016, Abdul Sattar Edhi, a Pakistani humanitarian, died at 88 years old. Edhi founded the largest welfare organization in Pakistan, providing free health care to lower-income communities. Among the services provided by the Edhi Foundation are nursing homes, orphanages, women’s shelters, and, notably, the world’s largest volunteer ambulance network. Despite the huge success of the foundation, Edhi himself was known for leading a simple, ascetic life.

Now, rewind, and have a second listen. You can focus on the words and phrases themselves this time. See if you can make more sense of the events.

That’s it for now. But, I’ll be back tomorrow with more historical facts. So join me then for another episode of Today in History.