Today in Labor History April 30, 2026

 Everettville mine disaster

50,000 workers in Chicago were on strike, with 30,000 more joining in the next day. The strike brought most of Chicago’s manufacturing to a standstill. On May 3rd, Chicago cops killed four unionists. A mass meeting and demonstration was called for the 4th, in Haymarket Square, where a cop would be killed by an assailant who would never be identified. Ultimately, eight anarchists (many not even in attendance) would be tried for murder and sentenced to death. This event, known as the Haymarket Tragedy or the Haymarket Affair, would go on to be the inspiration for International Workers’ Day, celebrated on May 1st in every country in the world except the U.S. – 1886

The Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, miner’s strike continued, with 1,200 workers getting arrested and placed into specially erected bullpens until the strikes were broken. – 1889

An explosion at the Everettville mine in Everettville, West Virginia killed 109 miners, many of whom lie in unmarked graves to this day. – 1927

The TWU (Transport Workers Union) won $9.5 million in pensions for former Fifth Avenue Coach employees after a long court battle. – 1965

The Obama administration’s National Labor Relations Board implemented new rules to speed up unionization elections. The new rules were largely seen as a counter to employer manipulation of the law to prevent workers from unionizing. – 2012

Wednesday Afternoon in the Blogosphere

 Newsprint

Australia to tax Meta if it doesn’t pay news publishers - Press Gazette

Seven free AI-powered transcription tools for journalists - Journalism UK

Handle with care: AP style drops the hyphen in healthcare, childcare and daycare - Poynter

Local newsrooms have to pick a lane: A response to E&P’s newsroom debate - E&P Magazine

Like nailing Jell-O to a wall: Why unions are struggling to protect journalists’ rights in the age of AI - NL

Important Events From This day in History April 29

 

  

1992 Rioting in Los Angeles

1992: Rioting has broken out in Los Angeles following the decision by a jury to acquit four white police officers accused of beating black motorist Rodney King. The case centered on a video, taped by an amateur cameraman which caught the scene on film as the four police officers beat, kicked and clubbed unemployed laborer Rodney King while other officers looked on. The officers did face a second trial a year later, on federal charges of violating Rodney King's civil rights, 2 were found guilty and faced prison sentences of two years. The violence continued for 4 days in which 55 people were killed caused by revenge attacks against whites and Asians by the black rioters. Find More What happened in 1992

1958 Britain My Fair Lady

1958: The Broadway musical "My Fair Lady" opens for its first night in London, with Rex Harrison as Professor Higgins, and Julie Andrews playing Eliza Doolittle. Tickets for the show cost just over £1, the first month is sold out before opening night.

1922 USA Lower Louisiana Floods

1922: Starvation threatens victims of the overflow of flood waters in lower Louisiana with nearly 3,500 square miles underwater and fifty thousand people affected many losing their homes and all possessions.

1934 USA John Dillinger

1934: John Dillinger is still on the run from a nationwide hunt after escaping from a band of policemen with orders to catch him dead or alive 1 week ago in North woods Wisconsin, after escaping a dragnet was put up in surrounding countryside but again he escaped and is still Americas Public Enemy Number 1 and still running wild and free.

1934 Europe Growth of Fascism

1934: With fascist dictators in power across Europe now parading their might and power including Hitler in Germany and Italy's Mussolini democracy is challenged more in this decade than any other.

1941 Greece Conquest of the Balkans

1941: Hitler and Germany completed the conquest of the Balkans in 1941 when they swept across Southern Greece taking many thousands of prisoners including British, Australian and new Zealand.

1945 Germany Dachau Concentration Camp

1945: Dachau concentration camp was liberated today when troops of the U.S. Seventh Army cleared the enemy guards from the camp where gruesome torture rooms and gas chambers were located.

1956 Britain Plane Crash

1956: A transport plane loaded with servicemen and their wives and children crashed today at Stanstead Airport while taking off to go to war torn Cyprus.

1963 Saipan Typhoon Olive

1963: Typhoon Olive with 110 MPH Winds destroyed 95% of the homes on the Island of Saipan and all electric power and telephones were down , there were no reported deaths but most of the population of the Island are now homeless.

1970 US Troops Invade Cambodia

1970: Following 12 months of bombing by US during Operation Menu, On This Day the South Vietnamese troops invade Cambodia and US troops follow 2 days later. The operation to invade Cambodia lasted until the end of June when US and South Vietnam's troops pull back out.

1974 USA President Nixon Watergate

1974: President Nixon announced in a nationally broadcast address he will hand over 1200 pages of White House Transcripts that will tell it all about Watergate and will prove his innocence.

1986 England Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson

1986: The Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson, is laid to rest alongside her husband, the abdicated King Edward VIII, at Frogmore in Windsor. Members of the Royal family including the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince and Princess of Wales, Princess Anne, and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, as well as The Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher attended the ceremony.

1991 Bangladesh Cyclone

1991: A cyclone hits Bangladesh with winds in excess of 150 MPH and a 20 foot storm surge and kills more than 135,000 people in flat low lying Bangladesh.

1993 England Buckingham Palace

1993: Buckingham Palace will open its doors to the public in order to raise money to repair the fire-damaged Windsor Castle. The palace will only be open in August and September when the Queen is at her Scottish residence, Balmoral. The cost of entrance will be £8 for an adult.

2004 USA National World War II Memorial

2004: The National World War II Memorial between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument a monument to the 16 million U.S. men and women who served during World War II opened to the public in Washington D.C.

2007 Turkish Protest In Support of Secularism

2007: Hundreds of thousands of Turks have rallied in Istanbul in support of the country's secularism, amid rows on one of their presidential candidate's Islamic roots. The protesters are concerned that the ruling party's candidate, Abdullah Gul, is too loyal to Islam. Gul, himself, has said he would not quit, despite growing criticism from his opponents and from the army.

2007 Iran Bans Western Hairstyles

2007: Iranian police have been warning barbers not to give men Western hairstyles, or to use make-up on them. This is part of a fierce crackdown on what is known as bad hijab, or un-Islamic clothing. Iranian television has said that the crackdown on un-Islamic clothing has started its next phase, in which mobile police units will patrol Tehran in search of those who do not observe Islamic dress sense. Tehran's public prosecutor has suggested that women who violate dress rules should be exiled from the capital, and forced to live in remote areas of the country.

2009 First US Swine Flu Death

2009: A Mexican child has died of swine flu in Texas. He was twenty-three months old. The child is one of the 91 cases of swine flu that have been reported in the U.S. The World Health Organization has said that the virus was still spreading. Spain has said that it has confirmed its first case in a person who has not traveled to Mexico. The Mexican boy had arrived in the Texan border city of Brownsville on April 4th, and had developed flu symptoms within a few days.

2010 US Gulf Oil Spill

2010: The U.S. government has designated the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as an "incident of national significance". The Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has told reporters that this will allow resources to be ordered in from other areas of the country. Some five thousand barrels of oil a day are leaking into the water from the explosion that took place on a B.P.-operated rig. The Coast Guard has said that the oil is expected to start washing ashore on April 30th. Louisiana's coastline is the most threatened.

2010 US Navy Lifts Ban on Female Submarine Crew

2010: Women can now serve on U.S. submarines. The Defense Department had announced that the ban would be lifted in February, and the deadline for Congressional objections was passed at midnight on April 28th. Training women for their new duties and the creation of appropriate quarters will mean that it will be more than a year before women can take up their posts. The cramped conditions had previously precluded women, despite their being able to serve alongside men on surface ships.About 15% of Navy personnel are women.

Today in Labor History April 29th, 2026

 Coxey’s Army

Jacob Coxey led a group of 500 unemployed workers from the Midwest to Washington, D.C. His Army of the Poor was immediately arrested for trespassing on Capitol grounds. – 1894

The Return of Coxey’s Army (By Eddie Starr)

    When they busted all the unions,
    You can’t make no living wage.
    And this working poor arrangement,
    Gonna turn to public rage.
    And then get ready . . .
    We’re gonna bring back Coxey’s Army
    And take his message to the street.

Failing to achieve their demand that only union men be employed at the Bunker Hill Company at Wardner, Idaho, members of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) dynamited the $250,000 mill, completely destroying it. President McKinley responded by sending in black soldiers from Brownsville, Texas, with orders to round up the miners and imprison them in specially built “bullpens”. From 1899 to 1901, the U.S. Army occupied the Coeur d’Alene mining region in Idaho. – 1899

The special representative to the National War Labor Board issued a report, Retroactive Date for Women’s Pay Adjustments, setting forth provisions respecting wage rates for women working in war industries who were asking for equal pay. A directive issued by the board in September 1942 stated that “rates for women shall be set in accordance with the principle of equal pay for comparable quantity and quality of work on comparable operations.” – 1943

Refusing to accept a 9-cent wage increase, the United Packinghouse Workers of America initiated a nationwide strike against meatpacking companies Swift, Armour, Cudahy, Wilson, Morrell, and others. Packinghouse workers shut down 140 plants around the country. – 1948

Important Events From This day in History April 28

 

 

1947 Peru Kon-Tiki Expedition

1947: A Norwegian expedition including 5 Norwegians and a Swede headed by Thor Heyerdahl set out on the raft The Kon-Tiki from Peru in South America to cross the 4000 miles of Pacific Ocean to prove that the Polynesian Islands were settled in a similar way thousands of years ago, the raft is equipped with a square sail and paddles. Find More What happened in 1947

2008 New Zealand Colossal Squid

2008: A rarely found Colossal Squid 34 feet long, and weighing 1/2 ton squid is being dissected to help understand a little more about rare animal that lives largely in the cold Antarctic waters. The squid is believed to grow up to 50 ft long a similar length to the sperm whale they are believed to tussle with in the depths of the ocean.

1940 USA Glenn Miller Pennsylvania 6-5000

1940: "Pennsylvania 6-5000," by Glenn Miller and his orchestra, was recorded. The song's title refers to the oldest existing New York City phone number at the time belonging to the Hotel Pennsylvania. Many prominent acts played at this venue, including the Dorsey Brothers, Duke Ellington and the Glenn Miller Orchestra as well.

1789 Tahiti Mutiny On The Bounty

1789: Fletcher Christian leads a mutiny against the commanding officer William Bligh aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty. Mutineers set Captain Bligh and 18 crew loyal to the captain afloat in a 23-foot open boat. Captain Bligh and his fellow loyal crew made it after a 47-day voyage to Timor in the Dutch East Indies and returned to England and reported the mutiny. The Mutineers eventually settled in Pitcairn Island and Tahiti.

1926 Europe 5,000,000 Unemployed

1926: Unemployment in Europe is at an all time high with over 5,000,000 receiving doles from their governments with over 1 million in Britain and 2 million in Germany, causes are from many things including antiquated equipment, high taxes, and high production costs.

1935 USA 1,200,000 Face Starvation in Illinois

1935: Over 1,200,000 people face starvation in Illinois if the US Federal Government stops providing new deal funding, the reason is that the state must provide $3,000,000 of the $12,000,000 required each month to feed and house the unemployed indigents or the federal government withdraws it's funding and the state does not have the money and is not providing that funding.

1945 Italy Mussolini

1945: Italian partisans executed deposed dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci. Mussolini, who ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943.

1955 Vietnam Nigo Dinh Diem

1955: The American backed premier Nigo Dinh Diem in Vietnam is fighting for survival against rebel forces , the backing of the US is only in expression of support and is not providing military support in any way.

1965 Dominican Republic US Citizens Evacuated

1965: U.S. Marines evacuated American citizens in the Dominican Republic due to the current civil war.

1967 USA Muhammad Ali

1967: Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali appears for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces in Houston, he refused three times to step forward at the call of his name. He is then warned by an officer that failing to answer to his name was a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. He still refused to budge when his name was called. On the same day, the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and stripped him of his title. In 1964 he had failed the U.S. Armed Forces qualifying test because his writing and spelling skills were sub par. However, in early 1966, the tests were revised and Ali was reclassified as 1A. When notified of this status, he declared that he would refuse to serve in the United States Army.

1969 USA All Guns Banned From US Colleges

1969: Following a number of protests and armed students involving guns and weapons in colleges and universities across the US new laws are being sought to ban all guns from college compasses.

1969 France Charles de Gaulle Resigns

1969: The French President, Charles de Gaulle, resigns from President of France after 11 years, following his defeat in a referendum on governmental reforms.

1975 Vietnam Last US Citizens Evacuated

1975: US Involvement in Vietnam is now complete as helicopters and marines bring out the last US Citizens and parents of thousands of South Vietnamese children are begging the US to save the children as US Marines are using pistol and rifle butts to smash the fingers of Vietnamese trying to climb over the walls and enter the US Embassy compound.

1986 Soviet Union Chernobyl

1986: Two days after monitoring stations in Sweden, Finland and Norway began reporting sudden high discharges of radioactivity in the atmosphere. The Soviet Union via the official news agency, Tass, said there has been an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

1994 USA Aldrich Ames

1994: A CIA double agent Aldrich Ames is jailed for life after admitted selling secrets to the Soviet Union and then Russia.

1995 South Korea Gas Explosion

1995: A gas explosion beneath a busy city street in Taegu, South Korea, kills more than 100 people many of them children on their way to school.

1996 Australia Gunman Kills 32

1996: A gunman has shot and killed 32 people in the tourist town of Port Arthur, Tasmania. The gunman is now holding three people hostage in a local guest-house. The gunman "Martin Bryant" did kill the three hostages during the siege and is captured by police the next day and is found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole.

2004 USA Abu Ghraib Prisoner Abuse Scandal

2004: The first photos of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal were shown on CBS' "60 Minutes II." . The US army has all ready instituted and was already acting on these photographs prior to the 60 Minutes Showing and those involved are all in Iraq, awaiting court martial. The abuses were committed by some personnel of the 372nd Military Police Company of the United States together with additional American governmental agencies.

2006 Wiretapping Lawsuit Against AT&T

2006: The Bush administration has said that it will be trying to halt the lawsuit that is accusing AT&T of illegally helping the National Security Agency spy on Americans citizens. In an 8-page document that was filed with a federal court in a northern district of California, the U.S. Justice Department said that it would intervene in the lawsuit. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group based in San Francisco, had filed a class action lawsuit against the federal government in January. The suit claims AT&T's alleged cooperation violates the Constitution's free speech and privacy rights and contravenes the federal wiretapping law, which prohibits electronic surveillance "except as authorized."

2008 Supreme Court Approves Indiana’s Photo ID Voting

2008: The Supreme Court has issued a decision to uphold an Indiana law that requires citizens to provide photo identification when voting. It is hoped that this will guard against fraud. Critics of the law argue that it discriminates against poor voters, ethnic minorities and the elderly, who are less likely to carry ID, but the Court ruled that the law did not constitute a burden on voters. Other states have similar rules, and the court's ruling could prompt even more states to adopt the law.

Today in Labor History April 28th, 2026

 

181-192 (sources differ) workers died in a coal mine collapse disaster at Eccles, West Virginia. The mine was owned by the Guggenheim family. – 1914

A bomb plot was discovered in which over 30 dynamite bombs were to be sent people “on the anarchists’ enemies list,” including U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, who had been rounding up, imprisoning and deporting anarchists and union activists. Other targets included  J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. – 1919

119 died in a Benwood, West Virginia coal mine disaster. – 1924

The United Wallpaper Craftsmen & Workers of North America merged with the Pulp, Sulfite & Paper Mill Workers union. – 1958

The American Federation of Hosiery Workers merged with the Textile Workers Union of America. – 1965

Congress approved the creation of OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (only to watch idly as it was gutted by Reagan, and again by his successors). The AFL-CIO declared April 28 “Workers Memorial Day” to honor the hundreds of thousands of working people killed and injured on the job every year. – 1970.

The first “Take Our Daughters to Work Day” took place on this day, promoted by the Ms. Foundation. Its purpose was to boost the self-esteem of girls with invitations to a parent’s workplace. – 1993

Tuesday Morning in the Blogosphere

 Newspaper printing press 

Geospatial AI is reinventing the rainforest beat - Nieman Lab

Here are the winners of the 2026 Poynter Journalism Prizes - Poynter

Truth is not enough - journalism now needs more than facts - Journalism UK

Pew study examines why Americans hesitate to pay for news - E&P Magazine

What audiences want vs. what they need: E&P Reports on the road at NY Press - E&P Reports

Important Events From This day in History April 27

 

 

1954 USA Movie "White Christmas"

1954: The Movie White Christmas featuring the songs of Irving Berlin, including the Title Song White Christmas, starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, opens at Radio City Music Hall. The original song "White Christmas" was originally heard for the first time in the 1942 film Holiday Inn starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.

1938 US Average Incomes Down Up to 20%

1938: The national average income again dropped in comparison from 10 years ago in 1928 by 7% with some areas of the workforce earning up to 20% less than 10 years ago.

1938 USA Tommy Dorsey

1938: Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra recorded "I Hadn’t Anyone ’til You" with Jack Leonard as vocalist. Tommy Dorsey and his brother became two of the most famous big band leaders of their day and are still the model for many jazz and swing musicians today.

1941 Greece Nazi Occupation

1941: Nazis take and occupy Athens in Greece.

1945 Germany War Entering Final Phase

1945: The war in Europe is entering it's final phase as Russian and American troops join hands at the River Elbe in Germany. Ten Days later on May 7th Germany signs unconditional surrender.

1948 USA Rail Strike

1948: A Major Rail Strike country wide is due to start at midnight with much of the rail network closed down across the US.

1953 USA Executive Order 10450

1953: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10450: Hiring and Firing rules for Government Employment. Homosexuality, moral perversion, and communism were categorized as national security threats and could be used as a condition for firing a federal employee and for denying employment to potential applicants.

1958 Stop Nuclear Bomb Testing

1958: Scientists around the world are asking politicians to stop nuclear bomb tests including the Nobel Prize Winner Dr Albert Schweitzer.

1961 Sierra Leone Gains Independence

1961: Sierra Leone in West African gains independence, after more than 150 years of British colonial rule.

1968 Middle East Continued Fighting

1968: More fighting broke out along the Suez Canal and the River Jordan between Israel and Arab Troops with Egyptian and Jordanian and Israel Forces lined up against each other in a tense middle east.

1968 USA War in Vietnam

1968: Many thousands of diversified beliefs protested against the War in Vietnam and many antiwar demonstrators ended up in fights with local police forces around the country who were trying to keep the peace.

1971

1971: Eight members of the Welsh Language Society (the Society wishes to preserve the Welsh Language and part of that was to include all signs in Wales to be bilingual) they are accused of conspiring to damage, remove or destroy English language road signs in Wales.

1974 USA Calls For Impeachment Nixon

1974: Calls for the impeachment of president Nixon gathered pace as a march by thousands of protesters demanding Nixon to be impeached.

1978 Afghanistan Rebels Take Over

1978: Military rebels in Afghanistan murdered both the president and his brother during the coup and have taken over all news TV and radio stations in the capital Kabul and have sealed off the countries airports and roads.

1984 England Libyan Embassy Siege Ends

1984: Earlier in the week diplomatic ties are severed between England and Libya and Libyan embassy officials are given 7 days to leave the country. The British ambassador to Libya was given the same deadline to leave Tripoli. Today Libyan diplomats under diplomatic immunity are escorted to Heathrow and onto a plane out of the country which allows the person or persons unknown who shot and killed WPC Fletcher to leave the country and not have to face murder charge.

1992 England Betty Boothroyd

1992: Betty Boothroyd, is elected as Speaker in the house of commons becoming the first woman speaker in its 700-year history.

1994 South Africa Nelson Mandela

1994: South Africans vote in the country's first multiracial parliamentary elections. Nelson Mandela of the ANC is voted by a landslide to be the next president of South Africa and head the new coalition government.

2005 France Airbus A380

2005: The Airbus A380 makes it's maiden test flight in Toulouse, France. The Airbus A380 (Superjumbo) is the largest passenger airliner in the world, it is a double-deck wide-body, four-engine aircraft which is capable of carrying up to 853 people in all economy class configurations, This is about 300 more than the Jumbo Jet from Boeing which has been in service for nearly 40 years. The Airbus A380 has now been in commercial use since 2007, Boeing is working on a similar aircraft with similar passenger carrying capabilities.

2007 Saudi Arabia detains multiple terror suspects

2007: Saudi Arabia claims to have foiled a plot to carry out suicide air attacks on oil installations and military bases in the area. Foreign nationals are among the suspects that are being held from a series of raids. Large amounts of weapons and $32.4 million in cash were seized in these. The Saudi authorities have been battling al-Qaeda since 2003.

2008 Josef Fritzl Arrested for Imprisoning Daughter for 24 Years

2008: A 73-year-old Austrian, Josef Fritzl, has been arrested on suspicion of keeping his daughter locked in a cellar for 24 years, and fathering seven children with her. The existence of the woman, believed missing since 1984 and now 42, was discovered after her teenage daughter was taken to hospital. Both the woman and teenage girl are receiving medical treatment. The police investigation in Amstetten, Lower Austria Province, is continuing.

Today in Labor History April 27th, 2026

 Bread and Roses Strike

The first strike for the 10 hour day occurred on this date by Boston carpenters. – 1825

1,450 paroled Union POWs died when the steamer Sultana blew up in the worst shipping disaster in American history. The river steamer Sultana was overloaded. It was equipped with tubular boilers which were not well-suited for use in the muddy waters of the lower Mississippi. The boat blew up and sank near Memphis, Tennessee. Over 2,300 perished in all, many of them emaciated Union soldiers returning north after being released from a Confederate prison camp. – 1865

Congress extended the Chinese Exclusion Act indefinitely (first passed in 1882 and again in 1902), making it unlawful for Chinese laborers to enter the U.S. and denying citizenship to those already here. – 1904

James Oppenheim’s poem Bread and Roses was published in IWW newspaper Industrial Solidarity. – 1946

     As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
     A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
     Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
     For the people hear us singing: “Bread and roses! Bread and roses!”
     As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,
     For they are women’s children, and we mother them again.
     Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
     Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!
     As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
     Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
     Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
     Yes, it is bread we fight for — but we fight for roses, too!
     As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.
     The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
     No more the drudge and idler — ten that toil where one reposes,
     But a sharing of life’s glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses!

President Dwight Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10450: Security Requirements for Government Employment. The order listed “sexual perversion” as a condition for firing a federal employee and for denying employment to potential applicants. – 1953

A concrete cooling tower under construction at a power station at Willow Island, West Virginia, collapsed. All of the 51 construction workers on the scaffolding fell to their deaths. OSHA and the contractor agreed to settle the case for $85,500 (or about $1,700 per dead worker); no criminal charges were ever filed. The final OSHA rule on concrete and masonry construction was not issued for another 10 years and improved scaffolding rules, not until 1990. – 1978

The final strike of the education strike wave of 2018 happened in Colorado. Lasting until May 12th, this strike was not as successful as the previous three, ending with an agreement for a 2% pay raise. Just before the strike, Republican State Senator Bob Gardner introduced a bill that would terminate, fine, and even send to jail, any teacher going on strike. The bill was quickly struck down. – 2018

Sunday Morning in the Blogosphere

 

Two Pittsburgh newspapers press on after surprise deals - Arkansas Online

Newspapers face tight supply as mills cut newsprint production - Seattle Times

Wichita Falls woman sentenced for mailing drugs hidden in newspapers to prison inmates - MSN

The News-Gazette launches local radio show to expand its journalism into audio - E&P Magazine

UMN Hubbard students report from the front lines, proving campus journalism’s real-world impact - E&P 

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.

Today in Labor History April 26th, 2026

 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 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.

Today in Labor History April 25th, 2026

 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

Thursday Morning in the Blogosphere

Orange County Los Angeles Times 

Get rich stealing old newspapers and bottles! - AOL

Can journalists really make a living on Substack? - Poynter

Rules of the Road for Newsrooms Grappling With Prediction Markets - Second Rough Draft

The News-Gazette launches local radio show to expand its journalism into audio - E&P Magazine

Las Vegas Sun seeks order requiring Review-Journal to resume printing newspaper - Review Journal