Important Events From This day in History June 7

 

1982 USA Graceland Opened to Public

1977 Netherlands Hostages held on Train In Assen

1977 : This is now the 16th day hostages have been held on a train in Assen by terrorists demanding the release of prisoners and a flight out of the country, they are also holding 4 teachers hostage in a local school.

1981 Iraq Israel Bomb Baghdad Nuclear Reactor

1981 : Israeli aircraft bomb and destroy a French-built nuclear plant near Iraq's capital, Baghdad.

1992 Brazil UN Conference on Environment and Pollution

1992 : The United States is causing a storm at the UN Conference on Environment and Pollution as standing alone among the westernized world by refusing to sign the document to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The current Bush administration believes global warming is not a problem that can be proved.

1998 USA James Byrd Jr

1998 : James Byrd Jr, a 49-year-old African-American man accepts a ride from three drunk men Shawn Allen Berry, Lawrence Russel Brewer, and John William King. Instead of taking him home, the three men beat up him behind a convenience store, tie him to their pickup truck with a chain and drag and kill him by dragging him for three miles.

https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/june8th.html

izing: inherit; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">1982 : Graceland is opened to the public for the first time, almost five years after the death of Elvis Presley.

1954 USA Ford Edsel

1954 : Ford Motor Company formed a styling team to take on the project of designing an entirely new car that would later be named the Edsel.

1977 England Silver Jubilee

1977 : The Queen of England "Queen Elizabeth II" celebrates 25 years as the monarch and more than one million people line the streets of London to watch the Royal Family on their way to St. Paul's at the start of the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations.

1923 USA Tucker Bill

1923 : The Wisconsin Assembly is the first state to oppose absolute Prohibition when the Tucker Bill to repeal the state dry enforcement law is passed. Wisconsin had some of the largest breweries in the US in the Twenties and still is a major center for beer today.

1929 Vatican City Lateran Treaty

1929 : Vatican City becomes a sovereign independent State. Vatican City is approx 110 acres with a population of around 800 and is ruled by the Bishop of Rome — the Pope. Vatican City also includes most of the area of St. Peter's Square. The Euro is the official currency of Vatican City with coins issued by the Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the Vatican City State featuring the effigy on the current pope on all coins.

1972 USA McGovern

1972 : McGovern, who had swept the Democratic Party spring primaries, was one of the earliest and most vocal opponents of American policy in Vietnam and he made the ending of the Vietnam war one of the central issues of the campaign.

Today in Labor History June 7, 2025

 

The Colorado state militia was sent to Cripple Creek (again) to suppress a Western Federation of Miners (WFM) strike. A brutal strike occurred in Cripple Creek in 1894, the only time a state militia was called out in support of striking workers. There had been numerous firefights between striking workers and the mine owners’ private security forces, including the use of dynamite. The private cops had been terrorizing union members, their families and even local residents unaffiliated with the mines. The WFM won that strike, but it was short-lived. The mine owners went on the offensive, particularly in 1903-1904, a period known as the Colorado Labor Wars. During this period, private detectives, goons, vigilantes, state militias and national guards were all used by the mine owners to attack the miners. On June 6, 1904, there was an explosion at the Independence mine that killed several nonunion miners. The Citizen’s Alliance brought in the National Guard, who on June 7 shot into the WFM’s union hall. The Citizen’s Alliance also set up kangaroo courts and convicted and deported nearly 240 miners who refused to renounce their union memberships. The Cripple Creek strike officially ended in December 1907. However, the WFM’s struggle in Colorado helped inspire the creation of the even more radical Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in 1905. One of the leaders of the WFM and Cripple Creek struggle, Big Bill Haywood, was also a founding member of the IWW. – 1904

A sole performance of Pageant of the Paterson (NJ) Strike occurred today, created and performed by 1,000 mill workers from the silk industry strike, New York City. – 1913

Striking textile workers battled police in Gastonia, North Carolina. Police Chief O.F. Aderholt was accidentally killed by one of his own officers. Six strike leaders were convicted of “conspiracy to murder” and were sentenced to jail for from 5 to 20 years. – 1929

The Steel Workers Organizing Committee, later to become the United Steelworkers of America, was formed in Pittsburgh. – 1936

This day marked the founding convention of the United Food and Commercial Workers. The merger brought together the Retail Clerks International Union and the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America. – 1979

The United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club announced the formation of a strategic alliance to pursue a joint public policy agenda under the banner of “Good Jobs, A Clean Environment, and A Safer World”. – 2006

Important Events From This day in History June 6

 

1944 Europe Operation Overlord / D-Day

1944 : Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of Allied Expeditionary Forces in World War II gives the go-ahead for a massive invasion of Europe called Operation Overlord / D-Day by British, Canadian and American forces and a million Allied troops land on the beaches of Normandy in northern France.

1923 USA One Piece Swimming Suits

1923 : Much debate and laws occur when one-piece swimming suits become the fashion for beach-bound women. Various cities ban the new style while others will allow it but only if the new suits are appropriate for swimming and not just for fashion.

1932 USA 1 Cent Federal Tax On Gas

1932 : The first federal gasoline tax (All US States had a gas tax prior to this starting in Oregon in 1919) was created with the enactment of the Revenue Act of 1932 with a tax of 1 cent/gal.

1933 USA Boulder Dam

1933 : The first concrete was poured today on creating the Boulder Dam and is work is expected to last for a further 3 years to create the tallest dam in the world. The base of the Dam will be 660 ft thick and will rise over 700 ft when completed. More about the Boulder Dam.

1933 USA Movie Theater

1933 : The first drive in movie theater is opened in Camden, NJ.

1934 USA Securities Exchange Act

1934 : President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Securities Exchange Act , this was in response to the 1929 stock market crash which was a major factor in the great depression years of the 30's. Up till that point the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) had been operating with little or no government control and the creation of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) was hoped to restore investor confidence in the market.

1962 Algiers Outbreak Civil Fighting

1962 : Muslim auxiliary police fired on French troops in Algeria. Three Muslims and one French lieutenant were killed as a result. According to police the outbreak began when a group of armed Muslim civilians attacked French troops and French troops opened fire. In response to the incident auxiliary Muslim police came to the scene and also opened fire.

1975 UK Referendum European Economic Community

1975 : The UK has it's first nationwide referendum over the continued membership of the European Economic Community. 2/3 of voters support the government's campaign to stay in the EEC, or Common Market.

1978 USA California Proposition 13 A

1978 : California voters overwhelmingly approve Proposition 13 A "People's Initiative to Limit Property Taxation,". Following the proposition 13 passage a cap is placed on property tax rates in the state, reducing them by an average of 57%.

1981 India Train Crash

1981 : A major rail accident when more than 500 passengers are killed is caused by an engineer who was reverential of cows causing the train to go over the bridge and sink in the river.

1984 India Golden Temple Compound

1984 : The Indian government sends army troops into the Sikh rebel held Golden Temple compound in Amritsar the holiest shrine of Sikhism where they kill at least 500 Sikh rebels. The army was also ordered to attack Sikh guerrillas besieged in three dozen other temples and religious shrines throughout the state of Punjab.

1999 USA Napster Peer To Peer Sharing Service

1999 : Napster the online music file sharing service starts as the first widely-used peer-to-peer sharing service allowing music fans to easily share MP3 format song files with each other. The service is shut down by court order in July 2001.

Today in Labor History June 6, 2025

 The US Employment Service was created. – 1933

A general strike by 12,000 auto workers and others in Lansing, Michigan shut down the city for a month in what was to become known as the city’s “Labor Holiday” The strike was precipitated by the arrest of nine workers, including the wife of the auto workers local union president whose arrest left three children in the couple’s home unattended. – 1937

Proposition 13 passed in California, allowing commercial property owners to maintain phenomenally low property tax rates and bleed the state of revenues for education and public services. – 1978

The Labor Party’s founding convention opened in Cleveland, Ohio. – 1996

Thursday Morning in the Blogosphere

 

The Future of Print is Data-Driven - Printing Impressions

Americans trust PBS because it’s publicly funded - Nieman Lab

The Folly of the Trump Tax Bill's Hit on Foundations - Second Rough Draft

A new chapter: Building the future of digital publishing together - Journalism UK

Built for journalists, not corporations: Inside Noosphere’s bold new model - E&P Magazine

 

Important Events From This day in History June 5

 

1967 Middle East The Six-Day War

1967 : The Six-Day War begins when Israel launches simultaneous attacks against Egypt and Syria, Jordan also joined the fray, but the Arab coalition was no match for Israel's proficient armed forces. In six days of fighting, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, the Golan Heights of Syria, and the West Bank and Arab sector of East Jerusalem, By the time the United Nations cease-fire took effect on June 11th, Israel had more than doubled its size.

1922 USA Unions

1922 : The Supreme Court decides that Union organizations are liable for damage or injury caused during strikes. The decision was regarded as one of the biggest blows to labor unions.

1930 USA Mobsters

1930 : The Illinois State Prosecutor made a public statement that gang murder in Chicago has taken a grizzly turn and mobsters are now cremating victims to stop identification and evidence.

1944 UK D-Day Preparations

1944 : Following a number of crushing defeats in Europe the Allies prepare for the D-Day landing when more than 1,000 British bombers drop 5,000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast, while 3,000 Allied ships cross the English Channel in preparation for the invasion of Normandy-D-Day. This proved to be the turning point for the war in Europe.

1945 Germany Borders Set

1945 : The United States, Great Britain, France, and Russia formally strip Germany of all conquests it acquired under Nazi rule. The "Big Four" reduced the country's borders to those of which it held in 1937. They also set up a military government over the country while getting the country's unconditional surrender.

1953 USA Fireworks Explosions

1953 : An Alco Fireworks and Specialty Company warehouse and factory exploded killing four people in Houston, Texas. Over 400,000 pounds of fireworks exploded in the factory which in addition to the deaths injured 73 people. The cause of the explosion was said to be due to a general manager hammering nails into a display.

1956 USA Elvis Presley

1956 : Elvis Presley introduces his new single, "Hound Dog," on The Milton Berle Show. and scandalized the audience with his suggestive hip gyrations.

1963 England Profumo Affair

1963 : British Secretary of War John Profumo resigns following revelations that he had lied to the House of Commons about his sexual affair with Christine Keeler, who was also involved with Yevgeny "Eugene" Ivanov, a Soviet naval attache who some suspected was a spy.

1968 US Senator Robert Kennedy Assassinated

1968 : Senator Robert Kennedy is assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California presidential primary, he died the following day on June 6th.

1974 Switzerland Peace Deal Golan Heights

1974 : Israel and Syria signed a disengagement agreement in regards to their conflict in Golan Heights. They agreed to begin pulling back forces within a day of the agreement. They also agreed to exchange prisoners of war. The United States Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger negotiated the deal.

Today in Labor History June 5, 2025

 

GM on Strike

Sixty-Seven anarchists were arrested and set up for deportation in the wake of a bomb explosion, marking the beginning of the infamous “Palmer raids” that ultimately led to the deportations and imprisonment of thousands of union members, communists, and anarchists. – 1919

Israel responds to a build-up of Arab forces along its borders by launching a preemptive aerial attack against Egypt. Jordan subsequently entered the fray, but the Arab coalition was no match for Israel’s armed forces. In six days of fighting, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, the Golan Heights of Syria and the West Bank and Arab sector of East Jerusalem, both previously under Jordanian rule. By the time the United Nations cease-fire took effect on June 11, Israel had more than doubled its size, including claiming the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordan - 1967

Thirty-five members of the Teamsters, concerned about the infiltration of organized crime in the union and other issues, meet in Cleveland to form Teamsters for a Democratic Union. – 1976

A strike began at a General Motors Corporation parts factory in Flint, Michigan that spread and ultimately forced the closure of GM plants across the country for seven weeks. The Flint workers were protesting the removal of key dies from their plant and feared their jobs would be lost. The company ended the dispute by assuring the plant would remain open until at least the year 2000. – 1998

Wednesday Morning in the Blogosphere

 

The Bulletin transitioning to postal delivery - The Bulletin

How political cartoonists are bringing AI into their work - Nieman Lab

McClatchy shuttering 4 magazines, including In Touch and Life & Style - USA TODAY

Understanding the consumer buyer’s journey: Your key to selling smarter - E&P Magazine

I vowed no journalist would go to their grave again not knowing their true value - Journalism UK

Important Events From This day in History June 4

 

1989 China Tiananmen Square

1989 : In May nearly a million Chinese students and others held mass protests calling for greater democracy and an end to corruption at Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing, but on June 4th Chinese troops with tanks and armored cars stormed Tiananmen Square killing hundreds of protesters when firing into the crowd indiscriminately and arresting thousands of pro democracy protesters some of who are still in jail.

1919 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

1919 : The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, is passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification.

1934 USA "Dust Bowl"

1934 : Following severe droughts lasting from the mid Twenties which caused large areas of farming land to turn into a giant "Dust Bowl" mainly in the great plains region of the Midwest. Farmers were leaving the land and FDR provided drought relief as part of His “New Deal” policies , and other badly affected areas with major unemployment.

1937 Huge Dust Storm Sweeps from Oklahoma

1937 : Unusual early summer weather was experienced throughout the western half of the United States. A huge dust storm sweeps from Oklahoma westward . The extreme weather continued with a blizzard around the Colorado and Montana area and extreme cold temperatures. The southwest experienced flood conditions turning the dust bowl into a mud bowl.

1940 World War II Dunkirk

1940 : The evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk ends as German forces capture the beach. The nine-day evacuation, the largest of its kind in history and an unexpected success, saved 338,000 Allied troops from capture by the Nazis. More about the Dunkirk Evacuation

1942 USA Promotional Records

1942 : Glenn Wallichs for Capitol Records came up with the idea of sending out "promotional" copies of records to radio announcers around the U.S.

1942 World War II Battle of Midway

1942 : The Battle of Midway began when the Japanese navy attacked Midway thinking the US forces would quickly be wiped out but due to clever reconnaissance and by letting the Japanese believe there would be little resistance The US were able to send 55 U.S. dive-bombers which took full advantage of the poor strategy, and sunk three of the four Japanese carriers, all cluttered with aircraft and fuel. The attack on Midway resulted in the loss of 322 aircraft and 3,500 men from the Japanese Navy.

1944 Italy Allies Enter Rome

1944 : The United States Army enters Rome during World War II, which leads to the liberation of the city.

1958 Mexico Plane Crash

1958 : The bodies from one of Mexico's worst air disasters were brought to Guadalajara, Mexico to await identification. A plane carrying at least 45 people crashed into El Picacho Peak two days before during its takeoff in an electrical storm. The army searched many houses in a nearby village, looking for looted belongings of the victims of the crash.

Today in Labor History June 4th, 2025

 

Jimmy Hoffa shows up for trial

Massachusetts became the first state to establish a minimum wage. – 1912

The Zoot Suit riots began on this date in Los Angeles, with white soldiers attacking blacks and Hispanics. – 1943

The House of Representatives approved the Taft-Hartley Act. The legislation allowed the President of the United States to intervene in labor disputes. President Truman vetoed the law but was overridden by Congress, – 1947

The AFL-CIO opened its new headquarters building, in view of the White House. – 1956

Jimmy Hoffa and seven other members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters were indicted on charges of fraudulently obtaining $20 million in loans from a Teamsters Union Pension Fund, – 1963

Governor Jerry Brown signed the landmark California Agricultural Relations Act, establishing collective bargaining rights for the state’s farmworkers. Agricultural workers’ collective bargaining rights were excluded from the federal National Industrial Recovery Act and the National Labor Relations Act and efforts throughout the years for inclusion had been unsuccessful. – 1975

Tuesday Morning in the Blogosphere

 

Star Tribune offers employees buyouts - Minnesota Reformer

Todd Handy’s playbook for sustainable local media - E&P Reports

Why some towns lose local news — and others don’t - Nieman Lab

Newsrooms called to up their commitment on mental wellbeing - Journalism UK

Some NYC Teens Have a New Hobby: The School Paper - Columbia Journal Review

Important Events From This day in History June 3

 

1968 USA Andy Warhol

1968 : Andy Warhol the American artist and a major driving force in the movement known as Pop art is shot and wounded in his New York film studio, The Factory, by actress Valerie Solanas who founded the "group" called S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting up Men).

1928 France Flight To Constantinople

1928 : Captain Arrachart and Major Rignot are forced to stop during their flight in Constantinople. They were on their way to India while trying to set a long distance record. Bad weather was stated as the reason for their early landing.

1932 USA "The Band Wagon"

1932 : The Broadway musical "The Band Wagon" opened in New York City. The comedic musical film about an aging star that tries to revive his career in a Broadway production. The film ranked #17 in the American Film Institutes list of best musicals in 2006.

1937 Former King Marries Wallis Simpson

1937 : The former King of England King Edward VIII of Great Britain and Northern Ireland marries Wallis Warfield Simpson, the American divorcee for whom he abdicated the British throne in December 1936.

1940 France Germany Bombs Paris

1940 : Germans bombed Paris killing mostly civilians, including school children as part of it's reign of terror to keep the French under control.

1943 Russia World War II

1943 : The Russian army takes down 162 of 500 Nazi planes in one of the biggest air battles of World War II. The German attack lasted nearly 10 hours over Kursk.

1959 Ecuador Street Riots

1959 : A riot takes place in one of the country's largest cities, Guayaquil, with a population of 275,000. The government blamed the riot on Communist influences. President Ponce instated martial law throughout the country earlier, while the Communist Party challenged the President's decree.

1961 USA Clarence Gideon

1961 : Clarence Gideon is arrested and charged with breaking into a poolroom in Florida. His case managed to change one the chief principles of American criminal justice. In Gideon v. Wainwright, in the Supreme Court it was ruled that a fair trial "cannot be realized if the poor man charged with [the] crime has to face his accusers without a lawyer to assist him." Due to Clarence Gideon's perseverance, every criminal suspect is entitled to representation by a lawyer.

1962 France Plane Crash

1962 : An Air France Boeing 707 crashes on take-off at Orly Airport in Paris, killing 130 people on board.

1963 Vatican Pope John XXIII

1963 : Pope John XXIII the 261st Pope of the Roman Catholic Church died at age 81 less than 5 years after becoming Pope.

1965 USA Major Edward H. White II

1965 : Following in the wake of Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei A. Leonov, who was the first man ever to walk in space, Major Edward H. White II becomes the first American astronaut to walk in space during the flight of Gemini 4.

1966 USA Gemini 9

1966 : The Gemini 9 spacecraft is set to take off at 7:30 am. The crew of astronauts were scheduled for a 3 day journey in space.

Today in Labor History June 3rd, 2025

 

International Ladies Garment Workers Union

The International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) was formed.  At its founding convention, delegates represented roughly 2,000 members.  The ILGWU grew to become one of the largest unions in the US, with 450,000 members at its peak in 1969.  It merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union in 1995 to form the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE). – 1900

A federal child labor law that had been enacted in 1916 was declared unconstitutional. A new version was enacted on February 24, 1919, but was also later declared unconstitutional. It was not until the 1930s that child labor provisions were enacted as part of sweeping labor law reforms, through the exploitation of children continues to be a problem in the United States today. – 1918

On June 3, an altercation between U.S. Navy sailors and young Mexican Americans on the streets of Los Angeles led to several days of clashes known as the Zoot Suit Riots, during which white mobs attacked Mexican Americans across the city, injuring more than 150 - 1943

Monday Morning in the Blogosphere

 

A New Era for Tribune - Tribune Magazine

Todd Handy’s playbook for sustainable local media - E&P Reports

‘It’s thrilling’: almost three centuries of the Belfast News Letter go online - The Guardian

Icon of Black-owned publishing, presses forward with a page from its past - Eyewitness News

25 public media stations to begin training in Advanced Digital Transformation Program - Poynter

Important Events From This day in History June 2

 

1953 England Queen Elizabeth II

1953 : Following the death of her father Queen Elizabeth II is formally crowned as The Queen in England with hundreds of millions listening on radio and for the first time watched the proceedings on live television. After the coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey , millions of rain-drenched spectators cheered the 27-year-old queen born in 1926 and her husband, the 30-year-old duke of Edinburgh, as they passed along a five-mile procession route in a gilded horse-drawn carriage.

1935 USA Babe Ruth Retires

1935 : Babe Ruth, retires ending his Major League playing career after 22 seasons, 10 World Series and 714 home runs.

1921 USA Colorado Flash Floods

1921 : Flash Floods caused by Torrential rains leaves more than 100 people dead and millions of dollars in property damaged Pueblo County in Colorado.

1924 USA Indian Citizenship Act

1924 : The Indian Citizenship Act, which confers citizenship on all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the country is passed in Congress.

1924 Canada Japanese Immigrants

1924 : The Canadian government considers making an agreement with Japan that would essentially ban the majority of Japanese immigrants coming into the country. The Canadian government would permit a total of 150 Japanese immigrants to come into he country each year to work as farm laborers or household servants.

1931 France Suspension Bridge Collapses

1931 : Ten people were killed in France during the testing of a new suspension bridge that was built. Nine trucks fell into the Gironde river when the bridge collapsed at its opening. The builder of the bridge was included among the dead.

1949 USA Uranium-235 Missing

1949 : An atomic bottle holding one ounce of uranium-235 that was missing was found. Seven-eighths of the uranium-235 that was in the bottle was accounted for, while one-eighth was still missing. The laboratory in Chicago which originally lost the bottle reported it lost in February.

1956 USA Matthew Woll

1956 : Matthew Woll, a man associated with the American labor movement dies at age 76. He was a leader in the labor movement for nearly 50 years and served as Vice President of the AFL-CIO and International Photoengravers Union.

1965 Vietnam Australian Troops Arrive

1965 : The first contingent of Australian combat troops arrives by plane in Saigon as Australia takes a more active role in the Vietnam War.

1966 Space Surveyor 1 Moon Landing

1966 : First US space probe to land on the moon, "Surveyor 1" has a soft landing on Moon. The Soviet Union was the first when the Russian probe Luna 9 had a successful soft landing on the moon on February 3rd earlier in 1966.

1972 USA United Airlines Plane Hijack

1972 : In Reno, Nevada a United Airlines jet was hijacked by one man. He demanded a $200,000 ransom while the plane remained grounded. His only hostages were crew members since passengers had not boarded yet.

1979 Poland Pope John Paul II

1979 : Pope John Paul II returns home to his native Poland as the first Roman Catholic pontiff to visit a Communist-ruled country.

Today in Labor History June 2

 

Printers in Philadelphia began what was to be a successful strike to protest a reduction in their wages from 45 shillings to 35 shillings a week.  According to Henry Rosemont, the International Typographical Union’s unofficial historian, “these were the first American workers who deliberately voted to stand out for a specific wage and to provide mutual assistance in maintaining it.” – 1786

The Western Federation of Miners (WFM), which organized the 1907 Mesabi Range Strike, was uninterested in organizing miners in 1916. This left a vacuum that the much more radical IWW gladly filled. The Wobblies sent many of their top organizers to help and succeeded in recruiting many of the people who served as strikebreakers in 1907 to join the current strike. Carlos Tresca, an IWW leader, was arrested for murder in conjunction with the strike but was released without trial. Tresca went on to oppose Mussolini and the fascists, as well as the Stalinists in the USSR. He was assassinated in 1943. The Mesabi Strike was suppressed violently by police and vigilantes, with numerous strikers being jailed. The struggle was a precursor to the infamous labor deportations in Bisbee, Arizona in July 1917, in which 1,300 Wobblies, their supporters, and even innocent bystanders, were rounded up, forced into cattle cars, and dumped in the desert after 16 hours without food or water. – 1916

Anarchists carried out a series of coordinated bombings across the Eastern United States, damaging the homes of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, who had launched the first Red Hunt against unionists, commies, and anarchists, as well as then-Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt. – 1919

A constitutional amendment declaring that “Congress shall have the power to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons under eighteen years of age” was approved by the Senate on this day, following the lead of the House five weeks earlier. But only 28 state legislatures ever ratified the amendment, the last three in 1937, so it has never taken effect. – 1924

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Harry Truman had no authority when he seized control of the nation’s steel mills on April 8, the day before a nationwide steelworkers’ strike was set to begin in order to keep them in production for the Korean War effort. 600,000 steelworkers went on strike on June 3, effectively ending production for the next six weeks. – 1952

The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and the Textile Workers Union of America merged to form the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. – 1976

Important Events From This day in History May 31

 

31 May, 2005 U.S.A. Watergate Mole Goes Public

2005 : The former member of the FBI "W. Mark Felt" stepped forward as "Deep Throat," the secret Washington Post source who worked with reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that helped bring down President Richard M. Nixon during the Watergate scandal.

31 May, 1859 UK Big Ben

1859 : Big Ben rings out over the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London, England for the first time.

31 May, 1889 U.S.A. Dam Break Johnstown, Pennsylvania

1889 : A dam breaks at a lake above Johnstown, Pennsylvania causing a tidal wave over twenty feet in height to sweep over Johnstown, PA eight miles below. Sweeping everything before the avalanche of water including houses, factories, and bridges. The death toll is estimated to be in the thousands as there was very little warning for residents.

31 May, 1916 World War I The Battle of Jutland

1916 : A German naval fleet consisting of 24 battleships, five battle cruisers, 11 light cruisers and 63 destroyers were just off the Jutland Peninsula, were attacked by a British fleet of 28 battleships, nine battle cruisers, 34 light cruisers and 80 destroyers in one of the greatest sea battles in History known as The Battle of Jutland or the Battle of the Skagerrak, a total of 100,000 men aboard 250 ships were involved in the battle.

31 May, 1921 U.S.A. Tulsa Race Riots

1921 : Following an accusation of improper conduct between a Dick Rowland, a black shoeshiner and Sarah Page, a white elevator operator, hundreds of white people gather and start to form what looks like a lynch mob which ends with the traditionally black district of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma being burnt to the ground with many black citizens choose or were forced to relocate after the riot which ended on June 1st 1921 after the National Guard troops from Oklahoma City declare martial law.

1917 Japan Builds Up War Machine

1917 : Japan spends nearly $130 million dollars on expanding their naval might during World War I at the same time that America and European nations expanded their naval forces. Due to Japan's inability to import large guns from England at this time, the country faced difficulties in building their own.

1935 India Earthquake

1935 : At 3 AM an earthquake hits Northwestern India leaving an estimated 20,000 people dead in Quetta. Among the dead were 44 members of the Royal Air Force. The Punjab government was quick to send relief in the form of relief supplies, workers, and health professionals. While railways suffered minimal damage, many heavily populated areas were greatly destroyed.

1938 China Japanese Bombing

1938 : 30 Japanese bombers have bombed the Chinese cities of Canton and Hankow and also shot down 18 Chinese planes in dogfights over the cities.

1941 Crete World War II

1941 : The German Army using over 22,000 Paratroopers conquer Crete.

1952 France Communists

1952 : Police throughout the country raided many Communist organization's headquarters and seized documents and weapons. It was likely that party members had previous knowledge of the raids according to reports indicating that much paper burning and barricading took place before the 7:35 am raid.

1957 U.S.A. Arthur Miller

1957 : The House for Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) convicts the playwright Arthur Miller of contempt of Congress for refusing to reveal the names of alleged Communist writers with whom he had attended five or six meetings in New York. Among his many well known plays was Death of a Salesman, he is also remembered for being married to Marilyn Monroe ( 1956 - 1961 ) and what many do not know is he wrote the Screenplay for "The Misfits" which starred Marilyn Monroe (1961) and was her last film before her death in 1962.

Today in Labor History May 31, 2025

 

Rose Will Monroe, Rosie the Riveter

The Johnstown Flood occurred on this date.  More than 2,200 died when a dam holding back a private resort lake burst upstream of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.  The resort was owned by wealthy industrialists including Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick.  Neither they nor any other members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club were found guilty of fault, despite the fact the group had created the lake out of an abandoned reservoir. – 1889

The infamous trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, in which the two Italian anarchists were railroaded for a crime they did not commit, began in Dedham, Massachusetts. Judge Webster Thayer’s anti-worker and anti-immigrant opening remarks set the tone for the trial. – 1921

Some 25,000 white autoworkers walked off the job at a Detroit Packard Motor Car Company plant heavily involved in wartime production, when three black workers were promoted to work on a previously all-white assembly line.  The black workers were relocated and the whites returned. – 1943

Rose Will Monroe, who became known as “Rosie the Riveter” died at the age of 77.  Rose worked at an aircraft parts factory during World War II, and was “discovered” by filmmakers producing a film promoting war bonds.  The song and the iconic poster were already well known and a real-life Rosie who was a riveter “proved too good for the film’s producers to resist,” said Monroe’s daughter. – 1997

Friday Morning in the Blogosphere

 The press room clean-up crew 1976

29 English-language news outlets in Europe to follow - Journalism UK

This owner thinks newspapers are better off diminished than dead - Nieman Lab

Minden Press-Herald reintroduces paywall to support local journalism - Minden Press-Herald

Striking the pose, missing the form: The business case for honest self-reflection - E&P Magazine

Bluesky has caught on with many news influencers, but X remains popular - Pew Research Center

Important Events From This day in History May 30

 

30 May, 1911 U.S.A. Indianapolis 500

1911 : The first ever running of the Indianapolis 500 is won by Ray Harrounat at an average speed of 74.59 miles an hour.

30 May, 1922 U.S.A. Lincoln Memorial

1922 : The Lincoln Memorial built to honor Abraham Lincoln the 16th president of the United States, is dedicated by Former President William Howard Taft in Washington, D.C.

30 May, 1937 U.S.A. Memorial Day Massacre

1937 : The Memorial Day Massacre takes place when Ten union demonstrators are killed and 84 are wounded when police opened fire in front of the South Chicago Republic Steel plant.

30 May, 1959 England Hovercraft

1959 : The first full size hovercraft , the SR-N1, designed by Sir Christopher Cockerell, is launched and tested at Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

30 May, 1937 Spanish Civil War

1937 : For the first time in the Spanish Civil War a foreign power has been openly involved in the bombing of the Spanish port of Almeria, Four German War ships bombed the city causing the loss of 400 lives. There are growing concerns that this could lead to a full scale war in Europe and the British foreign secretary Anthony Eden has appealed to Germany to take no further action.

1967 Biafra Independence

1967 : Biafra proclaims its independence from Nigeria, but war breaks out in July and Nigerian forces take control of oil fields leaving the country no form of revenue which causes mass starvation of over 1,000,000 people. In January 1970 Biafra surrenders to Nigerian forces and becomes part of Nigeria once again losing it's independence.

1954 U.S.A. Tornado's Nebraska

1954 : A series of tornadoes and torrential rain has struck Nebraska leaving 6 dead and many more injured and homeless 10 miles southeast of Norfolk.

1967 Egypt Destruction of Israel

1967 : President of Egypt President Nasser states in a public statement that his basic objective is the destruction of Israel. King Hussein of Jordan together with other Arab Countries have now signed a pact that any attack on either of them is an attack on all and will take measures including the use of armed forces to repulse such an attack".

1967 Soviet Union to support Arab countries against Israel

1967 : Following the statement by the Soviet Union to support Arab countries against Israel, 10 Additional Soviet Warships are travelling through the Dardanelles on the way to the Mediterranean sea where the US 6th Fleet is based, together with the very fragile peace in the middle east many are hoping this is a political mover rather than a military buildup by the soviets.

1967 U.S.A. Evel Knievel

1967 : Evel Knievel the motorcycle daredevil stuntman successfully clears sixteen cars in Gardena, California.

1971 U.S.A. Mariner 9 Launched

1971 : The US space probe Mariner 9 was launched on its mission to Mars. Where it will send more than 7,000 pictures of the planet back to Earth.

1979 U.S.A. DC 10's Grounded

1979 : Following the Crash of an American Airlines DC 10 in Chicago earlier this week with the loss of 274 lives all DC 10's are currently undergoing inspections of the engine mountain bolts by government inspections prior to use.

Today in Labor History May 30

 The Memorial Day Massacre

The Ford Motor Company signed a “Technical Assistance” contract to produce cars in the Soviet Union, and Ford workers were sent to the Soviet Union to train the labor force in the use of its parts. Many American workers made the trip, including Walter Reuther, a tool and die maker who later was to become the UAW’s president. Reuther returned home with a different view of the duties and privileges of the industrial laborer. – 1929

In what would become known as the Memorial Day Massacre, police opened fire on striking steelworkers, their families, and supporters who were marching to the Republic Steel plant in South Chicago to set up a picket line. The Police killed ten people and pursued those fleeing the attack, wounding over 160. No one was ever prosecuted. – 1937

The Ground Zero cleanup at the site of the World Trade Center was completed three months ahead of schedule due to the heroic efforts of more than 3,000 building tradesmen and women who had worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for the previous 8 months. – 2002

Thursday Morning in the Blogosphere

 

Business Insider lays off 21% of staff - The Wrap

Why explainers matter: Building trust through clarity in chaotic times - E&P Magazine

Questions for “Multi-Local” News—And the Need for Clear Answers - Second Rough Draft

The autocrat's playbook: How democracy dies and what we can do to stop it - Journalism UK

Termination notices expected to go out to all remaining Voice of America employees - Politico

Important Events From This day in History May 29

 

29 May, 1980 U.S.A. "Dallas" Who Shot JR

1980 : The guessing game continues over who shot JR in the hit television series "Dallas" with speculation including Dusty, Sue Ellen and just about anybody in the show. But viewers will have to wait for the fall before the cliff hanger is resolved as the cast and CBS are giving nothing away.

29 May, 1953 Tibet Conquest Of Mount Everest

1953 : Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal become the first explorers to reach the top of Mount Everest . Due to the amount of time it took to descend the mountain it was June 2nd before the rest of the world were told about the conquest.

29 May, 1985 Belgium Heysel Stadium Disaster

1985 : Minutes before the start of the European Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, crowd Violence Erupts which causes a wall to collapse killing 39 football fans and injuring at least another 400.

29 May, 1914 Canada The Empress of Ireland

1914 : The Empress of Ireland and A Norwegian coal freighter, the Storstad, crash in St. Lawrence River in thick fog causing the deaths of 1,073 passengers and crew, this was one of the worst maritime accidents in history.

29 May, 1928 North Pole Italian Dirigible Italia

1928 : The fate of the Italian Dirigible Italia (airship) is not looking good and rescue parties are searching for any remains 1 week after she set out on the heroic trip to reach the North Pole.

29 May, 1932 U.S.A. World War I Vets

1932 : As the great depression of the 30s continue World War I veterans known as the " Bonus Army " begin arriving in Washington to demand cash bonuses they weren't scheduled to receive for another 13 years be paid early to allow them to survive, by late June over 20,000 World War I vets were camped in vacant government buildings and open fields around the capitol.

More about the Bonus Army Protest

1942 U.S.A. Bing Crosby / White Christmas

1942 : Bing Crosby records the world's top selling record White Christmas, for the soundtrack of the film Holiday Inn.

1943 U.S.A. "The Million Dollar Band"

1943 : "The Million Dollar Band" was heard for the first time on NBC radio.

1944 Italy World War II

1944 : The allies are pounding the last ditch defenses of the German 10th Army as they surround Rome in Italy and are now only 17 miles from Rome.

1960 England Sophia Loren

1960 : Sophia Loren has called in Scotland Yard after a million dollars of Jewels had been stolen which included Diamonds, Rubies and emeralds. She is in England shooting the film version of George Bernard Shaws "The Millionaires."

1968 Manchester United win European Cup

1968 : Manchester United beat Portuguese side Benfica 4-1 to become the first English club to win the European Cup. The Manchester United team include the legendary George Best, who was named European Footballer of the Year.

1968 U.S.A. Truth In Lending Act

1968 : The (TILA) Truth In Lending Act passes into law with regulations designed to protect consumers in credit transactions requiring clear disclosure of key terms of the lending arrangement and all costs. It is part of the "Consumer Credit Protection Act".