6/10/2007:
On this day in 1956, 5,000 onlookers gathered in the International Peace Gardens as Charlton Heston dedicated a monolith bearing the Ten Commandments.
"The Ten Commandments have become the basis for the whole code of human law,” said Heston, who played Moses in the film The Ten Commandments. “It is appropriate that on the border between the two countries, the United States and Canada, the Ten Commandments have an important place to show how men can live in peace."
The monolith was one of thousands that were dedicated across the country. The project was started by a Minnesota judge who was shocked when a 16 year-old miscreant did not know what the commandments were. The judge concluded they should be posted in schools and juvenile courts, and Cecil B. De Mille, who was filming the movie, joined his cause—although his intentions may have been more about promoting his movie than the actual Ten Commandments.
By Tessa Sandstrom
Sources:
Bravin, Jess. “Commandments on trial,” Chicago Sun-Times. April 24, 2001: findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20010424/ai_nl3906477/
Hoffman, Sue A. “The History of the Ten Commandments Project, of the Fraternal Order of Eagles.” Religious Tolerance.org. http://www.religioustolerance.org/hoffman01.htm.