Today in history

April 5

1972
The Harrisburg Seven case ended in mistrial after 11 weeks. The Seven were charged with plotting to kidnap Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, among other alleged crimes. Only Phil Berrigan and Sister Elizabeth McAllister were declared guilty — of smuggling letters in and out of prison. They later married, co-founding Baltimore’s venerable Jonah House.

1982
Nuclear free zone declared by Dublin City Council.

1989
Solidarity (Solidarnosc in Polish) became the first independent labor union given legal status in Poland. It started out as a strike committee among shipyard workers advocating democratic reforms during the summer of 1980 in Gdansk. A very high percentage of the Polish workers became members despite the union’s having been declared illegal in October 1982.

1992
Nonviolent demonstration against war, Parliament building, Sarajevo.

1996
54 were arrested in a Good Friday protest at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Laboratory in California.