Today in Labor History April 26th, 2024

 

Child Labor in the coal mines

The Anti-Coolie Act of April 26th, 1862 was passed. It was titled “An Act to Protect Free White Labor.” The law was one of a series of xenophobic laws enacted specifically to block the immigration of Chinese to the U.S., particularly in California. – 1862

The U.S. Congress continued its xenophobic and racist practices by passing the second Chinese Exclusion Act, barring Chinese laborers from entering the U.S. for the next 10 years and denying citizenship to the Chinese already here. In 1904 the act was extended indefinitely. – 1902

The U.S. House of Representatives passed House Joint Resolution No. 184, a constitutional amendment to prohibit the labor of persons under 18 years of age. The Senate approved the measure a few weeks later, but it was never ratified by the states and is still technically pending, not having been ratified by the requisite three-quarters of the states. – 1924

After management at Montgomery Ward repeatedly refused to comply with an order by the National War Labor Board (created to avert strikes in critical war-support industries) to recognize the workers’ union and abide by the collective bargaining agreement that the board worked out, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the Army National Guard to seize the company’s property in Chicago and remove its chairman, Sewell Avery. – 1944

60,000 people marched on Washington, D.C., demanding jobs for all Americans. Angry people rushed the stage, which included mainstream politicians like Hubert Humphrey, and caused the rally to be shut down prematurely. – 1975

As the U.S. car industry tanked, the UAW agreed to concessions with Chrysler Corporation in return for a 55 percent stake in the company. The union then sold the shares to fund a trust that took over retiree health care costs. – 2009

Twenty thousand teachers walked out of Arizona schools to protest low pay and cuts to school funding. This was the third major education strike in a predominantly Republican state in 2018. By May 3rd, teachers had won another strike. While not getting everything they wanted, they went back to classes with a 19% raise over the next three years. – 2018

Important Events From This day in History April 26

 

1986 Ukraine Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

1986: An explosion and fire at the No. 4 reactor of Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine resulted in a nuclear meltdown sending radioactivity into the atmosphere. The Radiation fallout spread throughout Europe The Chernobyl disaster is considered the largest nuclear accident in history. Find More What happened in 1986

1986 United States Schwartzenegger/Shriver Wedding

1986: Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver, niece of President John F. Kennedy, in Hyannis, Massachusetts. On May 9, 2011, Shriver and Schwarzenegger ended their relationship after 25 years of marriage.

1927 Mississippi Flooding

1927: The Mississippi has now made over 150,000 homeless in 1927 due to flooding and in states as far away as Illinois the Government are to blow up dykes to relieve the flooding in New Orleans, this will mean some areas of farmland will be under water and the state troopers are to stop protests by local farmers and enforce the law.

1927 China Attacking Foreign Shipping

1927: Following a series of attacks by China on foreign ships approaching Chinese waters, 3 British warships have attacked and disabled a number of Chinese gun batteries thought to be attacking both British and American shipping in the area.

1928 United States Yo-Yo Factory

1928: Pedro Flores, a Filipino immigrant to the United States, opened the Yo-yo Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara, California. by November 1929, Flores was operating two additional factories in Los Angeles and Hollywood, which altogether employed 600 workers and produced 300,000 Yo Yo's daily.

1936 U.S.A. Unemployment

1936: 5000 to 7000 unemployed joined in a mass demonstration to pressure legislators to provide a relief program for the many jobless around the country, meanwhile states around the country are blocking entry from those looking for work by placing police patrols on main roads, states including Colorado and California are just two of those pursuing this policy.

1949 Germany Berlin Blockade

1949: Talks were underway to end the blockade imposed by Russia on Berlin with a meeting of Foreign Council Ministers and diplomats , and all are hoping some relief will come for the East-West cold war currently gripping Berlin and the rest of the world.

1954 USA Polio Vaccine

1954: The New Polio Vaccine is given for the first time in a nation-wide polio vaccine test.

1962 Ranger IV Crash Lands On Moon

1962: The first US rocket lands on the moon Ranger IV three years after the first Russian landing of Lunik II in 1959.

1972 USA Anti Vietnam War Protest

1972: Students protesting the continued war in Vietnam protested and caused some damage at Columbia University in New York and the University of Pennsylvania , In many other parts of the country protests were at military installations protesting the War in Vietnam.

1975 Great Britain Vote To Leave The EEC

1975: In the run up to the national referendum on June 5th, the British Labour Party votes by almost 2-1 to leave the European Economic Community. In the national referendum in June British voters back the UK's continued membership of the European Economic Community with just over 67% of voters supporting the campaign to stay in the EEC, or Common Market.

1977 United States Studio 54 Opens

1977: Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager open Studio 54 the world famous New York nightclub, it was renowned for being extremely difficult to get in unless you were famous / well known or considered one of the beautiful people over the years Frequent regulars at Studio 54 included Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli, Bianca Jagger, Elizabeth Taylor, Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall, Debbie Harry, Grace Jones, Michael Jackson, Calvin Klein, Elton John, Tina Turner, Truman Capote, Freddie Mercury, Tommy Hilfiger, Diana Ross, Al Pacino, Cher, Bruce Jenner, David Bowie, Salvador Dali, John Travolta, Lauren Hutton, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Geraldo Rivera, Brooke Shields, Ilie Nastase, Cheryl Tiegs. Studio 54 closed with a final party on February 4, 1980.

1984 China Ronald Reagan

1984: Ronald Reagan, has arrived in China for a six-day visit the first visit by an American president since Richard Nixon in 1972.

1989 Bangladesh Deadly Tornado Kills 1,300

1989: A deadly tornado destroys all structures in an area of 2.3 sq mi in Saturia, Bangladesh leaving 80,000 homeless and a reported death toll of 1,300 making it one of the most deadly tornadoes in modern times.

1991 Tornado Andover, Kansas

1991: A series of strong tornadoes struck parts of Kansas , with the most devastating hitting the town of Andover with wind speeds of over 260 mph. Hundreds of homes were destroyed with more than 30 twisters ripping through Kansas and 18 through Oklahoma.

1996 USA Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Auction

1996: The auction for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis with 5000 items ranging from a presidential rocking chair to a BMW raised 34.5 million at Sothebys Auctioneers over 4 days.

1997 USA Woolworths

1997: Woolworths announces losses for the first quarter of the new fiscal year of $24 million, this followed $37 million in losses during the previous fiscal year. These losses forced the Woolworths chain to close its remaining discount stores before the end of the year ending over 130 years of history.

2000 USA Same Sex Couples Civil Unions

2000: Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions.

2000 UK Illegal Immigration

2000: As new measures to curb illegal immigration are implemented at ports on the South Coast the British Home Secretary, Jack Straw on a visit to view new tougher checking witnessed nine people being caught attempting to illegally enter the UK as he inspected immigration procedures in Dover.

2002 Germany Student Shooting Rampage

2002: An expelled student (Robert Steinhäuser) went on a shooting rampage at the Johann Gutenberg Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany, killing 13 teachers, two students and a police officer before taking his own life. Robert Steinhäuser dressed in a black ninja-style outfit moved from classroom to classroom, shooting the teachers. According to students, he ignored them and aimed only for the teachers.

https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/april27th.html

Newspaper production in Chicago 1930

 

Thursday Morning in the Blogosphere

 

Early Thoughts on the New York News Subsidy - Second Rough Draft

Investigative journalism is not dying, it’s adapting - Tampa Bay Times

“Objectivity” in journalism is a tricky concept. What could replace it? - Nieman Lab

Most Americans say a free press is highly important to society - Pew Research Center

Trusted news brands matter more in the age of AI, say media executives - Journalism UK

Today in Labor History April 25th, 2024

 

Reverend Ralph David Abernathy

The New York Times declared the struggle for an eight-hour workday to be “un-American” and called public demonstrations for the shorter hours “labor disturbances brought about by foreigners.” Other publications declared that an eight-hour workday day would bring about “loafing and gambling, rioting, debauchery and drunkenness”. – 1886

IWW Marine Transport Workers began a West Coast strike. – 1923

The founding conference of the United Nations began in San Francisco, California. – 1945

The Reverend Ralph David Abernathy and 100 others were arrested while picketing a Charleston, South Carolina hospital in a demand for union recognition. – 1969

The Supreme Court ruled that employers may not require female employees to make larger contributions to pension plans in order to obtain the same monthly benefits as men. – 1978

Over one million marched in Washington, D.C. for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights. – 1993

Important Events From This day in History April 25

 

1953 England DNA The "Secret Of Life"

1953: Two Cambridge University scientists "James D Watson and Francis Crick" publish an article in Nature Magazine explaining the structure of DNA and that DNA is the material that makes up genes which pass hereditary characteristics in all life from one parent to another. They conclude that it consists of a double helix of two strands coiled around each other and could even be considered the "secret of life". Find More What happened in 1953

2003 Human Genome Project

2003: The Human Genome Project to determine the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA of the human genome consisting of 20,000-25,000 genes started in 1990 is published. The project started in the US with James D. Watson who was head of the National Center for Human Genome Research at the National Institutes of Health but over the next 10 years geneticists in China, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom all worked together on the project helping the project end two years earlier than planned. One of the most important aspects of this research is it available to available to anyone on the Internet and not owned or controlled by any one company or government.

1956 Elvis Presley "Heartbreak Hotel"

1956: Elvis Presley has his first number one on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart with "Heartbreak Hotel" staying number one for 8 weeks.

1923 Britain Royal Wedding

1923: The wedding of Albert Duke of York to Lady Elizabeth Rowes-Lyon in Westminster Abbey attracted large throngs of people to watch the pomp and ceremony associated with royal weddings.

1933 Diphtheria Inoculation

1933: Following the tests around the western world the inoculation in the fight against diphtheria is started with pre-school children and will include all children of school age.

1935 USA State Capitol Building Fire Oregon

1935: An immense fire ruined Oregon's state capitol building in Salem.

1954 Vietnam French Bombers

1954: French Fighters and Bombers with American supplied Corvairs had the heaviest air strikes so far in the Indochinese war against communist Vietnam troops dropping hundreds of tons in bombs.

1955 Canada St. Lawrence Seaway

1955: The St. Lawrence Seaway opened to ocean vessels seeking passage from Montreal to ports in the USA on the Great Lakes.

1960 Iran Earthquake

1960: A large earthquake has flattened the city of Lar in Iran with an estimated 400 deaths and another 450 seriously wounded.

1971 China United Nations

1971: The inclusion of China in the United Nations is urged by all sides due to it's growth and importance as a world power.

1974 Portugal Bloodless Coup

1974: A bloodless Military coup led by General Antonio de Spinola, in Portugal ends nearly 50 years of dictatorship. The Prime Minister, Dr Marcello Caetano has surrendered to General Antonio de Spinola and fled to the Portuguese island of Madeira.

1980 Canary Islands Plane Crash

1980: A Dan-Air Boeing 727 crashes into the side of a mountain due to foggy conditions and confusion between air traffic controllers and the ships captain. The aircraft was carrying British tourists to the Canary Islands and all 146 people were killed on impact.

1981 Northern Ireland Bobby Sands

1981: Nearly blind and close to death Bobby Sands in the MAZE Prison in Belfast refused to meet with Human Rights Activists , he is on hunger strike until the British Government recognize him as a Political Prisoner not as a criminal.

1982 Falkland Islands Marines Take South Georgia

1982: British Marines have retaken the remote island of South Georgia from Argentinean control as the beginning of taking back the Falkland Islands following the Argentine invasion in March of this year.

1983 Soviet Union Cold War

1983: The Soviet Union publishes a letter that Russian leader Yuri Andropov wrote to Samantha Smith, an American fifth-grader from Manchester, Maine. Andropov's letter came in response to a letter Samantha Smith had sent him in December 1982, asking if the Soviets were planning to start a nuclear war.

1992 Afghanistan Overthrow of Communist Government

1992: Islamic forces in Afghanistan take control of the country following the collapse of the Najibullah government. The country is made up of a number of War Lords and the country is plunged into civil war between the various militias, which had coexisted during the Soviet occupation. With the end of of their common enemy (Communist Rule), the militias, ethnic, clan, and religious differences took over, and civil war continued.

2006 Iran to Share Nuclear Technologies

2006: Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that his country is happy to share its nuclear technology with other nations. The Ayatollah made the offer during a meeting with the visiting Sudanese President. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has condemned the comments. Iran's top nuclear negotiator has threatened to suspend its cooperation with the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog if Iran is facing sanctions. The U.N. Security Council has set Iran a deadline of April 28th to freeze its uranium enrichment. The next day in a continued attack against sanctions and threats Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announces that U.S. interests around the world will be harmed if America launches an attack against Iran. "The Iranian nation will respond to any blow with double the intensity," he said on television. Addressing the workers at Tehran's International Labourers' Day, he warned that Iran would not pay attention to U.S. "threats and intimidation". "The Iranian nation and its officials are peace-seekers and the Islamic republic would not invade anybody."

2007 Discovery of Earth-like Planet

2007: Astronomers have discovered an Earth-like planet outside of this Solar System, which could have running water on its surface. The planet orbits a faint star, Gliese 581, which is 20.5 light-years away in the constellation of Libra. The discovery was made using the Eso 3.6m Telescope in Chile. The staff there have said that the planet's benign temperatures mean that water could exist there in liquid form, and that this meant that the planet could harbor life.

2008 NYPD Acquitted of Sean Bell’s Shooting

2008: A New York judge has acquitted three police officers of shooting an unarmed man hours before his wedding. Sean Bell, 23, was shot as he left a strip club in the suburb of Queens in November 2006. He died at the scene. Two detectives, Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora, had been facing manslaughter charges, and the third man, Marc Cooper, had been accused of reckless endangerment. The next day A protest has takes place in New York over the decision to clear three police officers of charges in the killing of an unarmed black man, Sean Bell. Civil rights activist Al Sharpton has told crowds in Harlem that the police had no right to shoot an unarmed man, and has called for a campaign of civil disobedience against the verdict. Sharpton went on to tell the rally he would be holding a meeting to "close this city down". Hundreds of people who packed the street front hall of his National Action Network offices were seen to chant: "Shut it down!"

2009 Calderon Decrees State of Emergency on Swine Flu

2009: The Mexican President Felipe Calderon has issued an emergency decree to give the government the power to run tests on its infected population and to isolate them for the prevention of the new swine flu spreading. Mexico City has shut its schools and museums, and has canceled sporting and cultural events. This outbreak of swine flu has killed up to sixty-eight people in the country, and is spreading north to infect the United States. Saturday's decree was published in Mexico's official journal. The decree allows the government to enter homes or workplaces, and to regulate air, sea and land transportation.

https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/april26th.html

US newspapers continue to die at a rapid rate

Around 7% of America's counties now have no local news outlets, and around 20% are at risk of their communities becoming news deserts.

Wednesday Morning in the Blogosphere

 

Newspapers have 20-plus year history in local classrooms - The Brunswick News

Another small-town Ohio newspaper closes, making information scarce - Ideastream

Iran arrests Kurdish editor-in-chief, Iranian cartoonist, sues several newspapers - Ifex

After 150-plus years, southwest metro braces for world without newspapers - SW News Media

Nonprofit’s new program to grow, improve independent student newspapers - The College Fix

Today in Labor History April 24, 2024

 

Mumia Abu Jamal

Mumia Abu Jamal, death row activist, journalist and former Black Panther, was born on this date. – 1954

The International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union halted shipping on the West Coast in solidarity with Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Philadelphia journalist whom many believed was on death row because he was an outspoken African-American. – 1999

An eight-story building that housed garment factories in Dhaka, India collapsed, killing 1,129 workers and injuring 2,515.  A day earlier, cracks had been found in the structure,  but factory officials, who had contracts with Benetton and other major U.S. labels, insisted the workers return to the job the next day. – 2013

Important Events From This day in History April 24

 

1980 US Embassy Hostage Crisis

1980: The mission to rescue the 52 hostages from the US embassy in Iran (Operation Eagle Claw) was aborted due to equipment failure. The Iranian foreign minister warned that any attempt by the US would be considered an act of War. Eight US Servicemen lost their lives in the aborted attempt. The hostages were held for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of students took over the American embassy in support of Iran's revolution. The crisis ended after The Algiers Accords are agreed on January 19, 1981 brokered by the Algerian government between the USA and Iran to resolve the situation. The Algiers Accords consisted of a number of stipulations which both parties agreed to including:

1. The US would not intervene in Iranian internal affairs.
2. The US would remove a freeze on Iranian assets and trade sanctions on Iran.
3. Both countries would end litigation between their respective governments and citizens referring them to international arbitration, namely the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal.
4. The US would ensure that US court decisions regarding the transfer of any property of the former Shah would be independent from "sovereign immunity principles" and would be enforced.
5. Iranian debts to US institutions would be paid.

1990 USA Hubble Space Telescope

1990: The Space Shuttle Discovery launched the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit. It is hoped that the Telescope will be able to see up to the edge of the known universe. Although Hubble had some problems in the beginning with the original mirror design after repairs consisting of a series of corrective mirrors which are carried out in space, Hubble has sent back a series of stunning photographs of deep space, and revolutionized thinking about the universe.

1800 USA Library of Congress

1800: The Library of Congress (the research library of the United States Congress) was established on This Day 1800 when then President John Adams signed an Act of Congress providing for the transfer of the seat of government from Philadelphia to the new capital city of Washington.

1898 Cuba Spain / America War

1898: Spain declares war on the United States after rejecting America's ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba.

1916 Ireland Easter Uprising

1916: The Easter uprising begins when some 1,600 militant Irish republicans who are members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood seize several key sites in Dublin hoping to win independence from British rule. British forces suppressed the uprising after six days, and its leaders were court-martialed and executed.

1920 Mexico Pancho Villa

1920: The rebels in Mexico led by Pancho Villa are to launch a major drive against federal forces and are continuing to gain ground.

1924 USA Governor of Indiana

1924: The Governor of Indiana Warren G. McCray has resigned after being found guilty of mail fraud . His sentence will be announced tomorrow and his time will be served at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary.

1936 USA Benny Goodman

1936: Benny Goodman and his trio recorded "China Boy." Benny Goodman was one of the most prominent jazz and big band musicians of his day, often being referred to as the "King of Swing," "The Professor" and "Swing's Senior Statesman."

1947 Germany Future of Berlin

1947: The four major powers Britain, France, Russia and The United States met in Berlin to discuss the Austrian treaty for Berlin but no agreement was reached for the future of Berlin.

1951 USA Korean War Drafts

1951: The US Army plans to cut it's draft call for the Korean war to 20,000 in June and to bring home 20,000 Korean Veterans.

1954 Kenya Mau Mau Rebels Rounded Up

1954: British Security forces round up more than 10,000 men suspected of being Mau Mau rebels who are part a guerrilla movement opposed to white settlers in the East African colony. The round up has come following a breakdown in law and order and a state of emergency which has been declared in Kenya.

1961 France Charles de Gaulle

1961: In France the backing for Charles de Gaulle continues to grow and he is now backed by the Army, Air Force and the people of France, the world waits to see if an all out civil war occurs in France and the Eiffel Tower was blacked out in Paris.

1968 USA Student Occupation Columbia University

1968: Students at Columbia University in New York City begin a week long occupation of several campus buildings protesting the Universities affiliation with the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), a weapons research think-tank affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Students had been demonstrating earlier in March but the Columbia Administration had placed on probation six anti-war Columbia student activists for violating the ban on indoor demonstrations, which in turn caused the students to become more hard line in their protests.

1975 Sweden Baader-Meinhof

1975: The hostage siege West German embassy in Stockholm has ended when a cache of dynamite is detonated by the terrorists, causing the death of at least three people. Five Baader-Meinhof guerrillas had been holding 11 people hostage and demanding the release of the 26 Baader-Meinhof group members currently in prison in Germany.

1982 Falklands

1982: The first British casualty in the Falklands campaign is Petty Officer Kevin Stuart Casey who is missing presumed drowned after the Sea King helicopter he was travelling in ditched into the sea.

1984 USA Apple IIc

1984: Apple released the Apple IIc portable computer costing $1,295.

1991 USA Portable Phones

1991: Due to the increase in Portable Phones many golf clubs have banned the use on the golf course because of the distraction to other players, they must now be turned off when starting the round of Golf.

1993 UK IRA Bomb City of London

1993: A massive bomb in a parked Van in Bishopsgate in the heart of the City of London explodes, killing one and injuring more than 40. The Police believe that the bomb was planted by the IRA, although the IRA has not said it carried out the attack.

https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/april25th.html

Fall of Newspapers, Rise of Misinformation

From 2013, Morley Safer's report on the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper's transition to a three-day-a-week publishing schedule in response to competition from the internet. From 2022, Jon Wertheim's report on local newsrooms being gutted by financial firms. From 2021, Scott Pelley's interview with a Facebook whistleblower who said the social media giant was misleading the public on progress against hate speech, violence and misinformation. And from March of this year, Lesley Stahl's report on efforts to combat the spread of misleading information on social media.

Tuesday Morning in the Blogosphere

 Johnathan and Kal

“The death of media is greatly exaggerated” - Media Makers Meet

What it takes to run a metro newspaper in the digital era - Nieman Lab

Labor Officials To Seek Injunction Against Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Huffpost

Delivering news during the war: reflections on EBU's visit to Ukraine - Journalism UK

Black women leaders in journalism: Breaking barriers, forging the future - Editor & Publisher

Today in Labor History April 23, 2024

 

Ida Mae Stull

Ida Mae Stull died on this date. She was nationally recognized as the country’s first female coal miner. – 1980

United Farm Workers of America founder Cesar Chavez died in San Luis, Arizona, at the age of 66. – 1993

Important Events From This day in History April 23

 

1984 USA Marvin Gaye

1984: Singer Marvin Gaye the Motown singer who had numerous hits including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" was shot to death by his father at age 45. His father was suffering from a brain tumor at the time and after pleading guilty to manslaughter was sentenced to six years of probation. Find More What happened in 1984

1985 USA Coca-Cola

1985: The Coca-Cola Company announced it has changed its formula for Coke and will known as New Coke Less than 6 months later they returned to the original formula.

1968 UK Decimalisation

1968: Decimal coins were introduced as part of decimalisation with the new 5p coin replacing 1 shilling (12 old pence) and the new 10p coin replacing 2 shillings Florin (24 old pence). The current system of pounds, shillings and pence will be replaced by Decimal currency on February 15th 1971.

1979 US Oil Company Windfall Profits Tax

1979: Major oil companies have been reporting sharp profit increases in profits , the profits have been made due to the large increases in supply prices and the President Carter is thinking of implementing a windfall profits tax on oil companies excessive profits . In 1980 The United States government did levy the tax on oil companies because of the profits they earned as a result of the sharp increase in oil prices brought about by the Arab oil embargo.

1898 Spain Declares War on United States

1898: Spain declares war on the United States on This Day 1898 after rejecting America's ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba. Following the declaration The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged the Spanish Pacific Squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón in Manila Bay, the Philippines and decimated the Spanish squadron.

1922 USA Bootlegging

1922: A Bootlegging scheme where liquor was smuggled into the US from Bermuda was broken up today when on former submarine chaser ships with officers wearing the uniform of the United States Navy was broken up today when the ships and crew were seized.

1932 England Royal Shakespeare Theatre

1932: The New Royal Shakespeare Theatre opens in Shakespeare's birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon, it had been rebuilt after a fire destroyed the original Shakespeare Memorial Theatre.

1938 Austria Persecution of Jewish People

1938: Jewish shopkeepers in Vienna were forced to picket their own shops with placards saying don't buy from Jews in 1938, they were forced to do this by members of the Hitler Youth Movement, at the same time the librarian of the national library was given a list of non Arian works to be removed from the library.

1939 Spain Franco Government Recognized

1939: Following the end of the civil war in Spain the United States recognizes the Franco government.

1940 USA Night Club Fire

1940: More than 200 African Americans died today when fire broke out in the Rhythm Night Club in Natchez , Mississippi.

1944 Germany World War II

1944: 2000 bombers and fighters from Britain and another 1000 launched from Italy launched an attack on German Plane Plants in Germany, Bucharest and Ploesti. General MacArthur isolated 100,000 Japanese Troops in New Guinea when beachheads were established at Hollandia and Aitape in New Guinea.

1945 Okinawa World War II

1945: The United States Tenth Army landed yesterday morning on Okinawa, 362 miles from the Japanese mainland. The landings and assault on the Island met with much less resistance than was expected from the Japanese.

1957 Radar Devices Used to Enforce Speed Limits

1957: More police forces throughout the United States are to buy and use a greater number of portable speed radar checking devices to enforce speed limits.

1967 Soviet Cosmonaut Dies in Accident

1967: Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is killed when his parachute fails to deploy during his Soyuz I spacecraft landing.

1970 USA Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act

1970: President Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act which would ban the advertising of cigarettes on television and radio beginning on January 2nd, 1971.

1979 UK National Front

1979: Thousands of protesters gathered to demonstrate against a National Front campaign meeting in Southall London and one protestor, a teacher, is killed.

1983 USA Renewable Energy

1983: A think tank in Washington predicted by the year 2000 50% of the worlds energy resources will be met from renewable energy sources. In 2004, oil accounted for 37.6%, natural gas for 25.6%, and coal for 23.1%. The total for Non-Renewable Energy Sources was 85.2%, so predictions were somewhat wrong.

1984 USA AIDS

1984: Researchers announced have discovered and isolated a virus they say is likely to be the primary cause of AIDS, the mysterious and deadly disease that destroys the body's protective immune system.

1998 USA James Earl Ray

1998: James Earl Ray, the convicted killer of the black American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, has died from a terminal liver disease while still incarcerated. He protested his innocence to the murder till the end.

2001 Serbia Slobodan Milosevic

2001: Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is arrested on suspicion of corruption, abuse of power, and embezzlement by Serbian authorities at his Belgrade villa.

https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/april24th.html

Monday Morning in the Blogosphere

 

Community newspapers are still vital, necessary - Hometown Source

Pending legislation could decimate newspapers - Southern Maryland News

Newsweek is making generative AI a fixture in its newsroom - Nieman Lab

Carpenter Media Group to acquire The Daily Iberian - America's Newspapers

Six newspapers serving Twin Cities metro area will publish last issue this week - Star Tribune

Today in Labor History April 22

 

Hazel Dickens

The first known slave revolt in America occurred, just eight years after the first slaves were brought from Africa to the Americas. – 1526

One of the worst disasters in Virginia mining history occurred at the Red Jacket Coal Corporation mine near Grundy in Buchanan County. All 45 men in the mine at the time died when coal dust ignited, causing blasts that were felt two miles away.- 1938

The first U.S. atmospheric nuclear bomb test occurred at Yucca Flat, Nevada. The test was observed by U.S. Marines who were used as human guinea pigs to test the effects of radiation on humans. – 1952

50,000 people marched in New York City against the wars in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Another 30,000 marched in San Francisco.  – 1972

Songwriter, musician and activist Hazel Dickens dies at age 75.  Among her songs: “They’ll Never Keep Us Down” and “Working Girl Blues.”  Cultural blogger John Pietaro: “Dickens didn’t just sing the anthems of labor, she lived them. Her place on many a picket line, staring down gunfire and goon squads, embedded her into the cause”. – 2011

Important Events From This day in History April 22

 

1964 USA World's Fair

1964: The third major World's Fair to be held in New York City opens (1853 / 1854) (1939 / 1940). It was the largest World's Fair ever held in the United States, occupying nearly a square mile (2.6 km²) of land. More fifty million people attended the Fair.

1889 USA Oklahoma Land Rush

1889: The Oklahoma Land run begins with an estimated 50,000 people lined up at noon hoping to stake a claim for a homestead. The claim could be up to 160 acres in size and it included most of the following Oklahoma Counties, Canadian, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne (in total about 2 million acres). This land had previously been occupied by Native Americans but the Indian Appropriations Bill approved the transfer of two million acres for settlement.

2000 USA Elian Gonzalez

2000: The six year old little boy Elian Gonzalez who survived a shipwreck in which his mother who was trying to enter the US as an illegal immigrant drowned, is taken by a swat team from other Cuban relatives in Miami. Following a number of court battles the little boy is returned to his father in Cuba.

1983 Germany Hitler Diaries

1983: The West German news magazine Stern publish the first of the Hitler Diaries they had discovered which included 60 volumes of personal diaries purportedly written by Adolf Hitler. However soon after publication, they were revealed by scientific testing to be forged.

1915 Belgium Poison Gas

1915: Poison gas is used by the Germans for the first time in World War I with devastating effect.

1928 Greece Major Earthquake

1928: Central Greece is in the grip of a major earthquake the town of Corinth has been virtually destroyed and a number of tremors have been felt in Athens.

1938 Japan Launches Offensive

1938: Japan has launched a second offensive against China in the Shantung offensive.

1943 USA Japanese Prisoners of War

1943: The US War Department has stated publicly that Japanese Prisoners of War will be treated decently.

1952 USA Live Atomic Bomb Test

1952: For the first time in history, viewers witnessed live the detonation of an atomic bomb at the U.S. testing site in Yucca Flat, Nevada on Television, The Atomic bomb tested was larger than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.

1961 Cuba Bay of Pigs

1961: President Fidel Castro of Cuba will make his first public announcements since the insurgent forces invasion on the bay of Pigs last week on TV and Radio nationwide, also the Russian leader Khrushchev has denounced the invasion and has stated publicly that he holds the United States directly responsible for this gangsterism against Cuba.

1970 USA Earth Day

1970: Earth Day was observed yesterday for the first time coordinated by "Denis Hayes" and 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. To understand the significance of this achievement we must remember that in the 60's cars were getting larger and one of the least important things looked at when buying a car was the MPG, and prior to 1970 environmental issues were discussed very little if at all by most people. But a U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson stated that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment. TV and Newspapers including the influential New York Times started discussing environmental issues and over the next few years from 1971 a realization dawned on ordinary people that what we did affected the Earth environment.

1971 Haiti Papa Doc

1971: Haiti's dictator, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, has died after 14 years in power.

1972 USA Anti-War Demonstrations

1972: Antiwar demonstrations draw 100,000 demonstrators in cities across America including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago.

1980 Liberia Military Coup

1980: Following a military coup a number of leading officials including former cabinet ministers of the ousted government in Liberia are publicly executed on the orders of the new military regime.

1988 USA Basketball

1988: Two new Florida basketball teams are announced the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic. .

1992 Mexico Guadalajara Sewer Explosions

1992: A series of sewer explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico caused by a build up of gas after an earlier gas leak, kill more than 200 people and damage 1,000 buildings.

1993 USA Holocaust Memorial Museum

1993: Holocaust Memorial Museum opens in Washington D.C. The Museum is dedicated to documenting, studying, and interpreting the history of the Holocaust and serves as the US official memorial to the millions of Jews and others killed during the Holocaust under directives of Nazi Germany.

1997 Peru Japanese Embassy Siege

1997: After a 126-day siege of the Japanese embassy in Peru, troops storm the embassy and free all but one of 72 hostages held inside, ending a four-month siege of the building by Tupac Amaru rebels.

2005 USA Terrorist Pleads Guilty

2005: Zacarias Moussaoui (a French citizen of Moroccan descent) pleads guilty to conspiring with other al-Qaeda members as part of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He was later sentenced to life in prison and is serving a life sentence at the Federal ADX Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.

2006 Chinese President Hu Jintao Visits Saudi Arabia

2006: The Chinese President Hu Jintao has begun a three-day trip to Saudi Arabia. Aimed at strengthening ties between China and its main oil supplier, he was following this from his visit to the United States. China's need for oil has pushed crude prices to above $75 a barrel in New York for the first time. Saudi Arabia has started to open its economy to the outside world, and is looking at its export opportunities in Asia. The kingdom had joined the World Trade Organization in December, 2005.

https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/april23rd.html

Friday Morning in the Blogosphere

A scene from years ago

 

Why you should be reading your college newspaper - The Triangle

City’s Student Journalists Press for More School Newspapers - City Limits

Newspaper boxes repurposed as 'Save a Life' naloxone dispensaries - Star Tribune

Lessons from Covering the Last Pandemic—and for the Next One - Second Rough Draft

Journal & Courier's print edition begins arriving by mail on Monday - Journal & Courier

Today in Labor History April 19

 

Oklahoma City bombing

More than 6,000 furniture workers went on strike in Grand Rapids, Michigan, over hours, wages, working conditions, and the right to bargain collectively. The strike – which affected nearly all of the 60+ furniture manufacturers in the city – lasted throughout the summer, bringing much of the city to a standstill for four months. A monument, “The Spirit of Solidarity,” was dedicated in 2007 to the striking workers. – 1919

An American domestic terrorist bomb destroyed the Oklahoma City federal building, killing 168 people, 99 of whom were government employees. – 1995

Important Events From This day in History April 19

 

1995 USA Oklahoma Bombing

1995: A truck full of explosives destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing 168 people. In 1997, Timothy McVeigh was convicted of the bombing and on June 11, 2001 he was executed by lethal injection.

1943 Poland Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

1943: On the eve of Passover, April 19, 1943, the police and SS auxiliary forces entered the Ghetto under the command of SS-Oberführer Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg, planning to clean out insurgents who had begun an uprising in January. But Jewish insurgents, who shot and launched Molotov cocktails and hand grenades at them from alleyways forced them to halt the exercise and withdraw. SS-Oberführer Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg was replaced by Brigadeführer Jürgen Stroop who proceeded with a better organized assault that included artillery support and on April 29, 1943, the Jewish resistance was crushed. Following two years of misery for thousands of Jews forced to live in the Warsaw Ghetto by the Nazi's where they had been starved, and living with disease and deportations to concentration camps and extermination camps which had dropped the population of the ghetto from an estimated 450,000 to approximately 71,000. The Nazi's planned effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to the Treblinka extermination camp caused the Jewish people to begin a revolt against the Nazi's beginning on January 18th, 1943.

1993 USA Waco Cult Raid

1993: An assault on the Waco cult headquarters of the Branch Davidian sect near Waco, Texas ends in a deadly fire (believed to have been started by those inside) and ends with the death of 70 cult members including the cults leader Mr Koresh. The buildings have been surrounded since February when four agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) were killed as they attempted to arrest Mr Koresh on firearms charges.

1897 USA Boston Marathon

1897: The Worlds oldest annual marathon run in Boston, Massachusetts, United States races for the first time. The Boston Marathon ranks as one of the world's most prestigious road racing events with an average of 20,000 taking part. The marathon is one of five members of the World Marathon Majors which include the cities of Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City.

1927 Mae West Sentenced

1927: Mae West was sentenced for an obscene stage performance to ten days in a work house and fined $500.

1928 China Civil War

1928: The combined nationalist Northern Armies under Chiang continue drive onto Peking as part of the Civil war continuing in China.

1934 USA Shirley Temple

1934: Shirley Temple appears in the American musical movie with many well known actors and actresses steals the show and goes on to appear in 10 movies in 1934 , including 4 starring roles in major feature-length films.

1936 German Military

1936: In the biggest show of military strength since World War I Germany pays homage to Hitler with a show of 300 tanks.

1940 Jimmy Dorsey

1940: Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra record the song "Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga."

1942 France Vichy Government

1942: The New Vichy Government Headed by Pierre Laval at the bidding of his German masters in an attempt to bring the insurgent french people back into line with Nazi ruling by promising to protect the people from the Nazi Regime by gaining concessions.

1945 Popular Musical Carousel

1945: The popular musical "Carousel" opens at the prominent Majestic Theatre in New York City. The production was based on the 1909 play by Ferenc Molnar about a man named Liliom and his lover, Julie.

1956 Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier Honeymoon

1956: Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier start their honeymoon on Deo Javante II 138 ft Yacht but due to heavy seas spent the night in the harbor.

1961 Cuba Bay of Pigs

1961: On April 17th 1,500 CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles invade southern Cuba at the "Bay of Pigs" by the 19th 118 are killed and 1,202 are captured by Cuban forces. President Kennedy inherited the operation from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower and approved the operation but it has to be one of the worst planned and executed covert invasions in modern times poorly thought out, as Cuban and Soviet Forces knew almost to the day where and when the operation would occur.

1969 Students Occupy Willard Straight Hall

1969: Militant black students at Cornell Univ. use force to take over Willard Straight Hall demanding a black studies program, after a deal was reached with the administration the news showed students leaving the hall carrying rifles although they were never used.

1972 Lunar Rover Apollo 16

1972: Apollo 16 the fifth mission to land on the Moon with astronauts John W Young and Charles M Duke are preparing to descend from lunar orbit and land on the moons surface in the Descartes Mountains, When landed they drove an electric powered Lunar Rover to explore fully the Descartes Plateau. Young and Duke spent three days exploring the Descartes highland region and testing the Lunar Rover getting up to a top speed of eleven miles per hour which still stands as the record speed for any wheeled vehicle on the Moon.

1987 USA The Simpsons

1987: The Simpsons which had originally been created as a series of shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show with the first showing on This Day 1987

1989 Central Park Attack on Jogger

1989: On the 19th approximately 30 teenage perpetrators committed several attacks, assaults, and robberies in the northernmost part of New York City's Central Park. Around the same time an attack on Trisha Meili occurred, who was jogging on her own on her usual path in Central Park shortly before 9 pm. She was raped and beaten almost to death, at 1:30 AM she was found naked, gagged, and tied up, covered in mud and blood. Five juveniles (called the "Central Park 5") were interviewed for hours about the crime and intimidated into confessions. Since no DNA evidence tied the suspects to the crime, the prosecution's case rested almost entirely on the confessions. They were all found guilty but the convictions were overturned in 2002 after Matias Reyes, a convicted rapist and murderer, confessed to the crime and was linked to it with DNA evidence. The city was forced to pay out $41 million in damages.

2001 South Africa Aids Drugs Profit Before The Lives Of Millions

2001: The world's biggest pharmaceutical companies bring legal action to fight legislation which would allow generic versions of their patented drugs being made in or imported to South Africa. Following uproar around the world and the pharmaceutical industry accused of putting profit before the lives of millions of people in the developing world, they have backed out of the court battle over cheap, non-branded anti-Aids drugs and also after dropping the case, agree to sell Aids drugs at cost price in developing countries - a discount of up to 90%.

2005 Vatican Pope Benedict XVI

2005: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has been elected as the successor to Pope John Paul II The new Pope has taken the name Pope Benedict XVI and is the head of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics.

https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/april20th.html