Today in history

1918
2,000 in Quebec, Canada, demonstrated against military conscription in the midst of World War I. Four died in the ensuing riot.

Anti-Conscription Parade in Victoria Square, Montreal, Quebec, May 24, 1917,
The gathering in this photo looks calm. Riots nearly a year later resulted in the death of four demonstrators in Quebec City.

1964
Three hundred were arrested during a sit-down protest at U.S. Air Force headquarters in Ruislip, England.

1979
In the worst nuclear disaster in US history, a cooling system on the Unit Two reactor failed at Three Mile Island in Middletown, Pennsylvania. This led to a partial meltdown that uncovered the reactor’s core. Radioactive steam leaked into the atmosphere, prompting fears for the safety of the plant’s 500 workers and the surrounding community.

1965
Martin Luther King, Jr.calls for boycott of Alabama.
1965
US Senators Frank Church & George McGovern come out against the Vietnam War.
1968
Spanish university students march against fascist government of Generalissimo Franco.
1968
Martin Luther King, Jr., leads a march by striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn. Violence at the march persuades King to return to Memphis the following week.