Disclaimer: Many will argue this never happened. I wasn’t there so I wouldn’t know. The Anti-Hat Riots of 1973 The third day of protests The Anti-Hat Riots of 1973 were a series of violent protests that erupted in several major cities across the United States, primarily on the East Coast, in response to a proposed law that would have made it mandatory for men to wear hats in public. The riots lasted for several weeks and resulted in widespread damage to property and numerous injuries.