Press room clean up crew
Legacy media: A talk with George Hearst III - Times Union
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Wednesday Morning in the Blogosphere
Today in Labor History July 31, 2024
%20(1).jpg)
Pirate pitcher Luis Tiant reads about the end of the strike
Members of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) went on strike. The strike lasted only two days, but inaugurated the NFLPA as a real union. The new agreement won the right for players to bargain through their own agents with the clubs, and minimum salaries were increased to $12,500 for rookies and $13,000 for veterans. Also, players’ pensions were improved and dental care was added to the players’ insurance plans. Players also gained the right to select representation on the league’s retirement board and the right to impartial arbitration for injury grievance. – 1970
A crippling fifty-day baseball player strike ended. The strike divided the season into two as owners adopted a split-season format with increased playoff participants. Purists were enraged, as several teams whose first-rate records somehow failed to qualify the for the postseason. – 1981
The Great Shipyard Strike of 1999 ended after Steelworkers at Newport News Shipbuilding ratified a breakthrough agreement which nearly doubled pensions, increased security, ended inequality, and provided the highest wage increases in company and industry history to the nearly 10,000 workers at the yard. The strike lasted 15 weeks. – 1999
Important Events From This day in History July 31
1931 Australia Tasmanian Tigers
1931 : An expedition has left to find if any Tasmanian Tigers (Tasmanian Marsupial Wolf) are left, it is believed they have retreated to rugged western and south western parts of Australia as a last stand for the species but many believe they are already extinct.
1920 U.S.A. Illegal Booze Seized
1920 : A total of 2,000,000 quarts of Whisky have been seized in New York and Chicago this week in two raids on illegal drinking establishments.
1962 UK Sir Oswald Mosley
1962 : A rally of supporters of Sir Oswald Mosley and his anti-Semitic Blackshirt group in London's east end ends when missiles including rotten fruit, pennies and stones are thrown at him and police are forced to end the rally when he knocked to the ground by protesters.
1964 U.S.A. Ranger 7
1964 : Ranger 7 an unmanned lunar probe is sent to the moon it's main purpose is to discover what the moons surface would be like for the planned moon landing later in the decade, it's cameras start filming the surface 17 minutes before impact and the photos are beamed back to earth. The pictures showed that the lunar surface was not excessively dusty or otherwise treacherous to a potential spacecraft landing.
1978 Rhodesia Attacks Mozambique
1978 : Rhodesian troops, Jet fighters and Bombers attacked Guerrilla bases in Mozambique after crossing the border as they believe they are bases used by terrorists entering Rhodesia.
1982 Iraq Iran Invasion
1982 : Iran is continuing to make progress on it's push towards the capital of Iraq, Baghdad.
1987 Peter Wright's Spycatcher Book
1987 : The British Attorney General has filed charges against the Sunday Telegraph for publishing three articles repeating details from the Spycatcher book which is banned from publication in the UK. Spycatcher is banned in the UK because Peter Wright who worked for MI5 as a a Senior Intelligence Officer is in breach of his contract and could damage confidence in British security.
1991 Soviet Union Start Treaty Signed
1991 : The worlds two superpowers the United States and the Soviet Union sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) an historic agreement reducing their stockpiles of nuclear warheads by more than 30%.
1999 U.S.A. Linda Tripp
1999 : The only person who was involved in the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton who is facing criminal charges Linda Tripp, has been charged for illegal phone tapping.
1999 Great Britain Beef Export Ban Lifted
1999 : The British Beef export ban that has now been in place for three years following the BSE Crisis and it's link to its human form CJD. Since the ban in 1996 strict new hygiene and registration measures have been put in place to ensure British Beef is the best in the market, and British farmers are now seeking a great future for beef exports.
2001 Napster Closed Down
2001 : Napster is finally closed down by court order following an injunction on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) . Napster had grown in just two short years from just a few visitors and file swappers to multiple millions of visitors sharing music mostly in the form of MP3's depriving the music industry of millions of dollars. And in 2002 Napster was forced to file for Chapter 11 protection but an American bankruptcy judge forced Napster to liquidate its assets according to Chapter 7 of the U.S. bankruptcy laws.
2002 Uruguay Banking Crisis
2002 : Following a withdrawals hundreds of millions of dollars by locals and foreigners on the banks in Uruguay, the country's financial system cracks under the strain with the state bank branches and the countries ATM machines closed while the government decides what it can do. The government has applied to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for loans to keep the financial system afloat. The US stepped in on August 5 with a temporary loan of $1.5 billion.
2006 Somalia Commercial Flights Restart After 10 Years
2006 : The first commercial flight from Mogadishu in over ten years departed for the United Arab Emirates on this day. The advent of this flight demonstrated the steady control that Islamic courts and militia have over the capital. The flight took place during the same week that the official government’s cabinet resigned and the Prime Minister, Ali Mohamed Gedi faced a vote of no-confidence.
2007 Northern Ireland Operation Banner Ends
2007 : England’s Operation Banner officially ends after 38 years. The operation was originally an emergency operation sent for peacekeeping in 1969 when Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland clashed. The operation was considered the longest uninterrupted campaign in the British army’s history.
2011 Violence In Kashgar, China
2011 : Violent unrest erupts in Kashgar, a city in the Xinjiang region of China. The violence began after two men drove a truck into pedestrians and attacked them with knives. Six people were killed, along with the truck driver and one of the attackers. An explosion also killed three others, while police shot and killed four people they labeled as suspects. The region of Xinjiang has a population of mostly ethnic Uighur, who are Muslim, but there is much ethnic tension in the area as Han Chinese move into the region. The Chinese government blamed the Uighur activists for the violence, while the Uighurs blamed security forces.
2012 Michael Phelps Wins 19th Olympic Medal
2012 : Michael Phelps won his record-breaking 19th Olympic medal after winning gold as a part of the 4 x 200 m freestyle relay team for the USA. Phelps beat Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina, who had won a total of 18 medals during the 1950s and 1960s, for the title of most decorated Olympian in the history of the modern games.
2013 Scientists Grow Artificial Ear
2013 : Scientists in the United States have announced that they were able to grow an artificial human ear in a lab from animal tissue. They say this development brings them one step closer to being able to grow an ear from a patient's cells in order to help people who have deformed ears or lost them in an accident.
Tuesday, July 30, 2024
Today in Labor History July 30, 2024
%20(1)%20(1).jpg)
Jimmy Hoffa disappeared – and then his legacy took on a life of its own
Automobile tycoon and fascist Henry Ford was born on this date in Dearborn, Michigan. His introduction of the assembly line and other mass production techniques revolutionized profit-making not only by dramatically increasing worker productivity, and therefore reducing labor costs, but also by de-skilling the workforce and weakening the power of the workers. – 1863
President Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare Act, providing federally-funded health insurance for senior citizens. – 1964
Former Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa disappeared. Presumed dead, his body has never been found. Hoffa was a union activist with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from a young age, and was an important regional figure with the union by his mid-twenties. By 1952, Hoffa had risen to national vice-president of the IBT, and served as the union’s general president between 1958 and 1971. He secured the first national agreement for teamsters’ rates in 1964. During his term as leader, Hoffa played a major role in the growth and development of the union which eventually became the largest (by membership) in the U.S. with over 1.5 million members at its peak. – 1975
United Airlines agreed to offer domestic-partner benefits to employees and retirees worldwide. – 1999
Important Events From This day in History July 30
1966 England World Cup
1966 : England win the World Cup in extra time at Wembley Stadium 4 to 2 . At the end of full time the score is 2 to 2 and England's Geoff Hurst scored first to give England a 3 to 2 lead and in the dying seconds of extra time he scores his third goal, making the final score 4 to 2 and giving England the world cup, this was also the first time a world cup is televised live. Learn more in our History of Soccer section.
1920 U.S.A. California Census
1920 : The latest census on five California counties has been announced today in Washington:
El Dorado 6,246 Latest 2006 Census Info 2006 (178,066)
Glen County 11,850 Latest Census Info 2006 (28,061)
San Benito 8,895 Latest Census Info 2006 (55,842)
Siskiyo County 15,545 Latest Census Info 2006 (45,901)
Yolo County 17,105 Latest Census Info 2006 (188,085)
1931 New Long Distance Flying Record
1931 : Russel Boardman and John Polando land their Monoplane in Istanbul, Turkey today in 49 hrs and 20 minutes since leaving New York setting a new long distance non stop world record.
1935 First Penguin Paperback
1935 : The first Penguin paperback book costing 6d is published in England and started the paperback revolution, many believed it would not be profitable but following the purchase of 63,000 books by Woolworth within 12 months one million Penguin books are sold.
1943 Germany Adolf Hitler
1943 : Adolf Hitler is informed that Italy is planning to negotiate surrender terms with the Allies in light of Mussolini's fall from power.
1953 U.S.A. Communist Leaders Arrested
1953 : The FBI has seized 6 communist leaders from the city of Philadelphia on charges of teaching and advocating the overthrow of the government, this brings the total of those arrested for similar offences around the nation to 87.
1954 U.S.A. Elvis Presley
1954 : Elvis Presley, the "King of Rock 'n' Roll," made his first professional performance at the Overton Park Shell Concert in Memphis singing That's Alright Mama and Blue Moon of Kentucky as the opening act for Slim Whitman and Billy Walker.
1956 U.S.A. "In God We Trust" Added
1956 : President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a law officially declaring “In God We Trust” to be the nation’s official motto. The law, P.L. 84-140, also required that the phrase be printed on all American paper currency.
1965 U.S.A. Social Security Act
1965 : The Social Security Act of 1965 was signed by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson which established the nation's Medicare and Medicaid programs, financed by higher Social Security payroll taxes.
1971 Japan Mid Air Collision
1971 : A mid-air collision between a Boeing 727 and a fighter jet flying without radar in Japan kills 162 people.
1971 Lunar Rover Used For First Time
1971 : Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin land on the moon with the first lunar rover used to begin exploring the moon's surface.
1973 UK Thalidomide
1973 : Eleven years after the start of parents fight for compensation for children born with birth defects caused through the use of the thalidomide drug (1958 - 1961) to ease morning sickness during pregnancy, The Distillers drugs company who marketed thalidomide have agreed to pay more than £20 million in compensation.
1974 Cyprus Peace Deal
1974 : Following the invasion of Turkish troops on July 21st, Greece and Turkey and the British Foreign Secretary have signed a peace agreement to end the crisis in Cyprus.
1974 Nixon Releases Watergate Tapes
1974 : On July 30, under coercion from the Supreme Court, President Nixon finally releases the Watergate tapes to the House Judiciary Committee, within ten days of the tapes being handed over President Nixon Resigned on August 9.
1975 U.S.A. Jimmy Hoffa
1975 : Jimmy Hoffa the ex president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is last seen in Last seen in Bloomfield Township ( suburb of Detroit ) , MI. Although presumed dead, his remains have never been found. To this day, Hoffa's fate remains a mystery but was declared legally dead in 1982.
2002 Gold Double Eagle Sells At Auction
2002 : The World's Most Expensive Coin the 1933 Double Gold Eagle Sells At Auction for $6.6 million ($7.6m With Fees) to an unnamed buyer. The coin was made by the US mint in 1933 but due to restrictions put in place to stop Americans hoarding much needed gold during the Depression Years the coins were never issued to the public, and it is believed only three officially exist today two in the Smithsonian and this one. There are thought to be a few more in private collections that were not issued but stolen by a cashier from the US mint, but because the Secret Service had confiscated 8 1933 Gold Double Eagles by 1952, no more have come forward except this latest coin that has just been sold.
2003 Last Original Beetle Built
2003 : The last of original Volkswagen Beetle's rolled off the production line at VW’s Puebla, Mexico.
2006 Congo Elections
2006 : This day marked the first multi-party elections to take place in the Democratic Republic of Congo in forty years. The elections went relatively smoothly and there were few incidents. There were 32 presidential candidates, many of which were former leaders of armed factions. The elections were held and monitored by the United Nations in an attempt to end an on-going civil war in the country.
2006 Top of The Pops Finishes
2006 : The longest running popular music program Top of The Pops ends after over 40 years having featured the biggest names in music. The BBC who produce the show do not believe the TOTP can compete with the growth of 24-hour music channels available on TV and the changing world of instant downloads of the latest music.
2008 Tonga King George V
2008 : The coronation of King George V of Tonga began on this day. King George V had promised to help the country move towards a more democratic system.
2009 United States Honda Recalls
2009 : A total of 440,000 cars made by Honda are recalled in the United States. The majority of the models recalled are from the 2001 and 2002 Accord and Civic series. The car maker said that these models may have a defective airbag and offered to replace it free of charge for customers.
2011 Royal Wedding of Queen's Granddaughter
2011 : The Queen's granddaughter, Zara Philips, married rugby player Mike Tindall in Edinburgh. Many royals attended the wedding including the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince William, Catherine, and Prince Harry. The wedding was the first royal wedding in Scotland in nearly twenty years.
2012 Romanian President Survives Impeachment
2012 : Romanian president Traian Basescu has survived a referendum impeachment vote after voter turnout failed to reach the fifty percent that would have been needed to validate the vote. The president had been suspended by parliament and had been accused of exceeding his authority and meddling in government affairs.
2013 Explosions at Gas Plant
2013 : An explosion at a the Blue Rhino propane plant in Tavares, Florida injures at least eight people. Blasts blew the roof off of the building and explosions continued for over an hour, causing a large fire. The cause of the explosions was unknown and emergency crews were quick to contain the threat.
Monday, July 29, 2024
Monday Morning in the Blogosphere
Key findings from Pew’s Social Media Study - E&P Reports
In praise of The New York Times and The Washington Post - Poynter
'The Greer Citizen,' South Carolina Newspaper, Closes This Week - Publishers Daily
Today in Labor History July 29, 2024
%20(1).jpg)
Cesar Chavez, asked Americans to boycott the popular California fruit
The Coast Seamen’s Union merges with the Steamship Sailor’s Union to form the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific. – 1891
A preliminary delegation from Mother Jones’ March of the Mill Children from Philadelphia to President Theodore Roosevelt’s summer home in Oyster Bay, Long Island, publicizing the harsh conditions of child labor, arrives today. They are not allowed through the gates. – 1903
Following a five-year table grape boycott, Delano-area growers file into the United Farm Workers union hall in Delano, California to sign their first union contracts. The strike began on September 8, 1965. Due largely to a consumer boycott of nonunion grapes, the strike ended with a significant victory for the United Farm Workers as well as its first contract with growers. – 1970
Important Events From This day in History July 29
1981 UK Charles and Diana Marriage
1981 : Prince Charles marries Lady Diana at a royal ceremony at St. Paul's Cathedral, it is estimated 500 million television viewers in 74 countries tune in to witness the fairy tale marriage.
1932 U.S.A. Bonus Protesters
1932 : World War I Vets who are starving like many others due to the great depression march on Washington demanding that the bonus payment they are due to receive in 1945 is paid out early. Legislators refuse their requests so 20,000 vets set up camp in Washington trying to put further pressure on the government. President Herbert Hoover ordered the eviction and two veterans were killed, he then called on the army to disperse the remaining Bonus protesters and the Bonus Army headed home on July 29, 1932.
1945 USS Indianapolis Sinking
1945 : I-58 Japanese submarine sinks the American cruiser Indianapolis, killing 883 seamen in the worst loss in the history of the U.S. navy. More than 800 fell into the Pacific many died due to injuries during the sinking but the remaining seamen were left to flounder in the Pacific, fend off sharks, drink sea water it was 84 hours before help arrived and only 318 survived the rest were eaten by sharks or drowned. The USS Indianapolis had just delivered key components of the Hiroshima atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian prior to it's sinking by the submarine.
1953 Germany Hohenzollern Jewels
1953 : Thieves have stolen the Hohenzollern Jewels valued at over $7.5 million by climbing the walls of ancient Hohenzollern castle , these are better known as the Prussian Crown Jewels.
1958 U.S.A. NASA Created
1958 : NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is created by the National Aeronautics and Space Act to make sure America will win the space race and 11 years and billions of dollars later, Neil Armstrong stepped out of the lunar module Eagle and onto the moon's surface on July 20th, 1969.
1968 Vatican Pope Paul VI
1968 : Pope Paul VI banned the contraceptive pill as well as all other artificial means of birth control.
1976 U.S.A. Son of Sam
1976 : The so called "Son of Sam" pulls a gun from a paper bag and fires five shots at Donna Lauria and Jody Valenti of the Bronx while they are sitting in a car. Lauria died and Valenti was seriously wounded in the first in a series of shootings by the serial killer, who terrorized New York City over the course of the next year.
1976 Southend Pier Destroyed By Fire
1976 : The end of Southend Pier on Britain's south coast is destroyed by Fire, the pier was the longest pier in the world at close to 1 1/2 miles long. The original pier made of wood dates back to 1830 and in the 1880's the pier was rebuilt of iron.
1999 U.S.A. Woodstock 99
1999 : New York State Police have suspended an officer who posed with half naked women at Woodstock 99 while colleagues were quelling a riot at the festival, the officer is also facing criminal charges.
1999 U.S.A. Day Trader Goes On Killing Spree
1999 : Day Trader (Mark O. Barton) opens fire at the All-Tech Investment Group Inc Atlanta brokerage office, killing nine and wounding 13 others before shooting himself to death, he had earlier killed his wife and two children. It is thought he went on the killing spree after losing over $100,000 while day trading between June 9th and July 27th.
2006 Sudan Peace Agreement Broken
2006 : After signing a peace agreement on May 5 of 2006, the Sudanese government violated the agreement when they attacked the rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement, a group not involved in the peace deal, in the Jebel Moon mountains. The peace agreement between Sudanese government and the Minni Minnawi faction was used by both parties as a way to attack rebel groups who were not a part of the agreement.
2006 U.S.A. California Heat Wave
2006 : The Heat Wave in California which started on July 16th. and has reached temperatures of 115 degrees earlier in the week is now believed to have claimed the lives of over 140 people, and caused a massive toll to the state's agricultural industry with damage to peaches, plums, nectarines and walnuts and thousands of livestock lost. An additional burden to California residents has been the loss of power to over a million customers caused through equipment failures.
2007 Iraq Wins Asian Cup
2007 : Despite being a country torn apart by invasion and internal fighting, the Iraqi football team was able to win the Asian Cup against Saudi Arabia on this day. The game, played in Indonesia, ended with a 1-0 score. The victory was able to bring some temporary joy to the country which had been plagued with a surge of violence at the time.
2008 U.S.A. Ronald Gray
2008 : Former United States President and Commander in Chief, George W. Bush approved the first execution of an American soldier in over fifty years on this day. Ronald Gray a serial killer who was found guilty of the rape and murder of 4 victims, a member of the armed forces in the states of North Carolina was convicted of rape and murder in 1988 and sentenced to death. On November 26th, 2008, a federal judge granted Gray a stay of execution to allow time for further appeals which is still proceeding.
2009 India Gayatri Devi
2009 : Gayatri Devi, one of the last queens in India, died on this day. The ninety year old played an important role in politics and fashion in India and was once voted one of the most beautiful women in the world according to Vogue magazine.
2011 Car Makers Agree to Fuel Efficiency Standard
2011 : Major car makers agreed to a the new fuel efficiency standard proposed by the Obama administration. The new standard that was agreed upon would raise the average miles per gallon to 54.5 by 2025. The move was hoped to reduce reliance on foreign oil imports as well as reduce air pollution.
2012 Snoop Dogg Banned from Norway
2012 : US Rapper Snoop Dogg has been banned from Norway for two years after he was caught trying to bring a small amount of marijuana into the country in June. His lawyer stated that he would live with the ban and had no plans to appeal.
2013 China Orders Debt Audit
2013 : The Chinese government has ordered a nationwide audit of all government debt. The move comes after a concern that debt has slowed the economic growth in the country after government borrowing was used to sustain growth amid the global financial crisis.
Sunday, July 28, 2024
Today in Labor History July 28, 2024
%20(1)%20(1).jpg)
Troops, burned down a shantytown occupied by unemployed veterans
Women shoemakers in Lynn, Massachusetts created the Daughters of St. Crispin, the first national women’s labor union in the U.S. The union began with a strike of over a thousand female workers in 1860. By the end of 1869, it had a total of 24 local lodges across the U.S., the largest of which had over 400 members. Conventions of all the lodges were held annually in Massachusetts until 1872. The Name “Daughters of St. Crispin” was inspired by the contemporary men’s union of shoemakers, the order of the Knights of St. Crispin. Saint Crispin is the patron saint of cobblers, tanners, and leather workers. In 1870, a convention of the Daughters of St. Crispin unanimously adopted a resolution which demanded equal pay for doing the same work as men. – 1860
Harry Bridges was born in Australia. He came to America at age 19 and became a leader of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA). In 1937 he led several chapters in forming a new union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), expanding membership to warehouse workers. He led the ILWU for the next 40 years. – 1901
A strike by Paterson, New Jersey silk workers for an eight-hour day and improved working conditions ended after six months, with the workers’ demands unmet. During the course of the strike, approximately 1,800 strikers were arrested, including Wobblie leaders Big Bill Haywood and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. – 1913
General Douglas MacArthur, Major Dwight D. Eisenhower and their troops, burned down a shantytown occupied by unemployed veterans near the U.S. Capitol. 20,000 ex-servicemen had been camped out in the capital demanding a veterans’ bonus the government had promised but never given. Cavalry troops and tanks fired tear gas at veterans and their families and then set the buildings on fire. MacArthur and President Herbert Hoover said they had saved the nation from revolution. – 1932
Nine miners were rescued in Sommerset, Pennsylvania. after being trapped for 77 hours, 240 feet underground in the flooded Quecreek Mine. – 2002
Important Events From This day in History July 28
1932 "Bonus Army" World War I
1932 : Federal troops under the order of President Hoover forcibly dispersed the "Bonus Army" of (17,000 World War I veterans) who had gathered in Washington, D.C. on June 17th to demand money they weren't scheduled to receive until 1945. The troops under the command of General Douglas MacArthur and Major George S. Patton are ordered to charge into the veterans and were sent to destroy the temporary shacks in the Bonus Army's camps in Hooverville on the Anacostia Flats forcing the marchers out. By the end of the day hundreds of veterans were injured, and several were killed. The World War I Vets like every body else in the country were suffering with no jobs and money during these early years of the great depression and wanted the Service Certificates they had earned while fighting in World War I paid out early. More about the Bonus Army Protest
1914 World War I Begins
1914 : Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by Gavrilo Princip, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, within one month countries across Europe had formed alliances and declared war on other alliances. The main alliances in the early period of the war were: Entente Powers or the Allied Powers: consisted of British Empire, France, Russian Empire, Italy, United States. Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.
1920 Mexico Francisco Villa Surrenders
1920 : Francisco Villa the notorious bandit has surrendered unconditionally to the provisional government of Mexico.
1931 U.S.A. Monoplane Race
1931 : A race between two powerful monoplanes got under way today starting from New York, the race is to Istanbul over 5,500 miles away. They are also hoping to break the current long distance record of 4,912 miles non stop.
1945 Plane Crashes Into Empire State Building
1945 : A B-25 Mitchell bomber crashes into the into the 79th story of the Empire State Building killing 14 people. The freak accident was caused by heavy fog.
1956 U.S.A. Elvis Presley
1956 : Elvis Presley scores his second No. 1 hit with "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" following his April number 1 "Heartbreak Hotel."
1965 50,000 Extra Troops To Vietnam
1965 : President Johnson informed fellow Americans that he is adding 50,000 troops to the U.S. forces currently in Vietnam, for a total of 125,000 soldiers.
1972 UK Dock Strike Begins
1972 : 42,000 registered dock workers begin a national strike over container companies using cheap labor and concerns over compulsory redundancies. After one week the government under Edward Heath proclaimed a state of emergency which allowed the use of the British Army to unload cargo.
1976 China Earthquake Kills 1/4 Million
1976 : An earthquake measuring between 7.8 and 8.2 magnitude on the Richter scale flattens Tangshan, a Chinese industrial city with a population of about one million people. The quake killed an estimated 242,000 people in Tangshan and surrounding areas making the earthquake one of the deadliest in recorded history.
1978 Lebanon Syrian Attacks
1978 : The United States, Canada and Great Britain have advised nationals to leave Lebanon as quickly as possible due to increased Syrian attacks on Lebanon Christians and are leaving only a skeleton staff in their Embassy.
1978 Gold Reaches $200.00 Per Ounce
1978 : The Price of gold has reached an all time high on the Bullion Market of $200.00 per ounce , investors usually invest in gold during monetary instability and the steady decline in the value of the dollar has sent many US investors into the gold market.
1982 Israel Attack West Beirut
1982 : Israel Bombers and fighters are blasting large area's of West Beirut attacking any area or building they believe may house PLO Palestinian Liberation Army Guerillas. After nightfall the PLO Guerillas returned fire on Israeli positions using rockets and mortar fire.
1999 U.S.A. Y2K Compliance
1999 : Federal Regulators from the SEC have given until August 1 for Brokerage firms to prove compliance with Y2K or a court order will be obtained to close them down on December 31st.
2004 U.S.A. John Kerry
2004 : The Democratic National Convention in Boston Nominated John Kerry Democratic Nominee For President.
2005 IRA Announces End Of Armed Struggle
2005 : The IRA has formally ordered an end to its armed campaign and has announced the republican organisation will follow a democratic path ending more than 30 years of violence. The announcement is received on all sides as an important way forward following the Good Friday Agreement signed in 1997.
2006 Haiti Former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune Released
2006 : Yvon Neptune was released from prison in Haiti on this day. Neptune was a former Prime Minister of Haiti and was held in prison for two years without ever being convicted of a crime. Neptune had denied the charges he was held on. He had been charged in connection to the killings of opposition to the ex-president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
2008 Iraq Suicide Bombers
2008 : On this day three suicide bombings took place in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 28 people and injuring 90 people. The suicide attacks were carried out by female bombers and were aimed at disrupting a Shia Muslim pilgrimage to the Kadhimiya shrine.
2009 Tanzania Banking For Women
2009 : A bank opened in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania that was aimed at helping women with their savings. The bank, the first of its kind in Tanzania, made it easier for women to open accounts and encouraged the empowerment of women in the country.
2011 Bangladesh Bus Crash Kills Seventeen
2011 : At least seventeen people died and another twenty people were injured when a passenger bus crashed into a truck in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Survivors of the accident blamed the bus driver for the crash, stating that he was driving recklessly at high speeds.
2012 First Gold of the London 2012 Games Won
2012 : China's Yi Siling won the first gold of the London Olympic games in the women's 10m Air Rifle competition. Sylwia Bogacka won the silver medal while China's Yu Dan won the bronze.
2013 Brazil Pope Francis Holds Mass on Beach
2013 : Pope Francis held mass for over three million people who had gathered to hear him on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Pope Francis had been there on a five day trip to Brazil to visit a Catholic youth festival on his first foreign trip since he became the pope.
Saturday, July 27, 2024
Saturday Morning in the Blogosphere
Today in Labor History July 27, 2024
%20(1).png)
Mary Harris “Mother” Jones with children and adults beginning their “Children’s Crusade”
William Sylvis (1828-1869), founder of the Iron Molders’ International Union and head of the Nation Labor Union, the first such organization in US history, died on this date. – 1869
Mother Jones gave her famous “The Wail of the Children” speech during the “March of the Mill Children.” The march began on July 7 in Philadelphia and ended at Teddy Roosevelt’s summer home in Oyster Bay, Long Island. They were demanding a 55 hour work week for children. – 1903
“After a long and weary march, with more miles to travel, we are on our way to see President Roosevelt at Oyster Bay. We will ask him to recommend the passage of a bill by congress to protect children against the greed of the manufacturer. We want him to hear the wail of the children, who never have a chance to go to school, but work from ten to eleven hours a day in the textile mills of Philadelphia, weaving the carpets that he and you walk on, and the curtains and clothes of the people.
Fifty years ago there was a cry against slavery and the men of the North gave up their lives to stop the selling of black children on the block. To-day the white child is sold for $2 a week, and even by his parents to the manufacturers.
Fifty years ago the black babies were sold C. O. D. To-day the white baby is sold to the manufacturer on the installment plan. He might die at his tasks and the manufacturer with the automobile and the yacht and the daughter who talks French to a poodle dog, as you can see any day at Twenty-third Street and Broadway when they roll by, could not afford to pay $2 a week for the child that might die, except on the present installment plan. What the President can do is to recommend a measure and send a message to Congress which will break the chains of the white children slaves.
He endorsed a bill for the expenditure of $45,000 to fill the stomach of a Prince who went gallivanting about the country. We will ask in the name of the aching hearts of these little ones that they be emancipated. I will tell the President that I saw men in Madison Square last night sleeping on the benches, and that the country can have no greatness while one unfortunate lies out at night without a bed to sleep on. I will tell him that the prosperity he boasts of is the prosperity of the rich wrung from the poor.
In Georgia where children work day and night in the cotton mills, they have just passed a bill to protect song birds. What about the little children from whom all song is gone?
The trouble is that the fellers in Washington don’t care. I saw them last winter pass three railroad bills in one hour, but when labor cries for aid for the little ones they turn their backs and will not listen to her. I asked a man in prison once how he happened to get there. He had stolen a pair of shoes. I told him that if he had stolen a railroad he could be a United States Senator. One hour of justice is worth an age of praying.
You are told that every American born male citizen has a chance of being President. I tell you that the hungry man without a bed in the park would sell his chance for a good square meal, and these little toilers, deformed, dwarfed in body, soul, and morality, with nothing but toil before them and no chance for schooling, don’t even have the dream that they might someday have a chance at the Presidential chair.
You see those monkeys in the cages. They are trying to teach them to talk. The monkeys are too wise, for they fear that then the manufacturers might buy them for slaves in their factories. In 1800 the workingmen had the advantage in percentage of the country’s wealth. To-day statistics at Washington show that with billions of wealth, the wage earners’ share is but 10 per cent. We are going to tell the President of these things. Tomorrow we meet in Madison Square and Thursday we start for Oyster Bay.”
United Mine Workers organizer Ginger Goodwin died. Goodwin was a migrant coal miner who found work in the Cumberland mines, arriving on Vancouver Island in late 1910. Goodwin was unhappy with the working conditions and management’s disregard of labor. Wanting change, Goodwin became an advocate for workers’ rights, organizing and promoting trade unions. Goodwin increased in stature to become a highly prominent leader in the labor movement but died suddenly under controversial circumstances that have not been settled to this day. It is widely believed that Goodwin was murdered in an attempt to stifle collective bargaining. His death inspired the 1918 Vancouver general strike on August 2, 1918, Canada’s first General Strike. – 1918
Important Events From This day in History July 27
1949 De-Havilland Comet First Flight
1949 : The 500-mile-an-hour jet engine De-Havilland Comet designed as a commercial jet airliner flew for the first time with a test pilot at the controls.
1909 U.S.A. Orville Wright
1909 : The world's airplane record for two men, was broken in a flight of one hour, twelve minutes and forty seconds over fifty miles and at a speed averaging about forty miles an hour by Orville Wright and Lieutenant Frank P. Lahm, of the army signal corps, as passenger.
1921 Canada Housing Shortage
1921 : Landlords in the city of Toronto are now charging prospective tenants $2.00 to view apartments in the city , this is in part due to the lack of accommodation available in the city.
1953 Korea Armistice
1953 : An Armistice has been signed between Korea and Generals of the United Nations this is not a peace deal but a truce to end 37 months of fighting.
1974 Impeachment Charges Against Nixon
1974 : The House of Representatives charges President Richard M. Nixon with the first of three articles of impeachment for obstruction of justice.
1986 Tough New Anti Smoking Laws
1986 : A bill is to introduced to ban smoking on all public transport including trains, planes, buses and coaches with large fines up to $500 for those who break the law.
1996 U.S.A. Nail Bomb Olympics
1996 : In Atlanta, Georgia, a nail-laden pipe bomb is exploded in Centennial Olympic Park during the XXVI Summer Olympiad leaving 2 dead and many more injured.
2000 Fiji George Speight
2000 : The Rebel coup leader George Speight who led the coup to overthrow Fiji's democratically elected government in May by taking Fiji's Indian Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, and members of his multi-racial government hostage for 8 weeks has been arrested and will possibly face treason charges. He was found guilty of treason and is currently serving a term of life imprisonment for his role in the overthrow of the constitutional government.
2002 Ukraine Fighter Jet Crash Kills 85
2002 : A fighter jet crashes into a crowd of spectators during an air show in Ukraine killing 85 people and injuring hundreds more.
2006 World Trade Organization Talks Break Down
2006 : The (WTO) World Trade Talks which had been started in 2001 break down with blame shared equally around the world. The United States blamed because it saw no point in continuing the talks if developing countries would not open markets to US Companies. European Union blamed for protectionism and of using deliberate delaying tactics during the talks. The Developing Nations because they want state subsidies and import tariffs slashed in the EU and US so they can sell more of their produce abroad. What this means in reality is that the G8 nations will now turn to bilateral and regional free trade agreements, abandoning commitment to help developing nations increase their share of the global market.
2007 Mexico Drug Money
2007 : After a ninety day period, the unclaimed money that was seized from an alleged Mexican-Chinese drug trafficker, Zhenli Ye Gon’s home became the state’s property. Once in legal possession of the large sum of money, $205 million, Mexican officials would use the money to fund drug treatment programs, police equipment, and drug prosecution efforts. Zhenli Ye Gon was arrested in the United States the same week the announcement came from the Mexican government.
2007 India Nuclear Pact
2007 : A nuclear pact between the United States and India is officially confirmed on this day. This is the first of such agreements in thirty years due to sanctioning from the United States.
2008 China / Taiwan Relations Improve
2008 : The Olympic Village in Beijing opened on this day, twelve days before the start of the 2008 Summer Olympics. The Olympic Village housed 16,000 athletes during the games.
2009 China / Taiwan Relations Improve
2009 : China’s president, Hu Jintao congratulated President Ma Yong-jeou of Taiwan after his win of the presidential election. This exchange marked the first time leaders of the two countries directly communicated in over sixty years. The exchange marked a positive step towards better relations between the two nations after the 1949 civil war separated Taiwan from China.
2011 Hollywood Producer Dies
2011 : Polly Platt, a long time Hollywood producer, died at the age of seventy-two of a moto neuron disease. Platt was nominated for an Academy Award for art direction in the film Terms of Endearment. Platt had also worked on such films as What's Up Doc?, Paper Moon, and The Last Picture Show.
2012 London Olympics Officially Open
2012 : The 2012 London Olympics were officially opened during the opening ceremony by Queen Elizabeth II. The opening ceremony featured many musical and theatrical performances meant to represent British culture and the Olympic spirit. At the end, possible future athletes were given the honor of lighting the ceremonial flame.
2013 State Funeral for Murdered Opposition Leader
2013 : A state funeral was held for the Tunisian opposition leader Mohamed Brahmi who had been killed by gunmen in an assassination earlier that week. There were protests following Brahmi's death. Another opposition leader, Chokri Belaid, had been killed earlier in the year and it was said the Brahmi was shot with the same gun.
Friday, July 26, 2024
Friday Morning in the Blogosphere
Newspaper racks are slowly falling to the wayside
The Exchange: Bridging the racial wealth gap - E&P Magazine
Why “Sorry, I don’t know” is sometimes the best answer - Nieman Lab
Six noteworthy initiatives we saw in the media industry this month - Journalism UK
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
