Today in history

May 19

1850Four thousand Mexican miners gather in Sonora, California, to protest the Foreign Miners’ Tax, which was enacted to drive them from gold fields.
1881
Clara Barton founded the Red Cross
1920
The Battle of Matewan (W.Va.).
1932
U.S. Congressman Claude Fuller introduces a resolution requiring all Civil Service employees to “sing, write or recite the words to the ‘Star-Spangled Banner'” by memory.
1934
10,000 participate in “No More War” march, New York City.

1952
Author and activist Lillian Hellman advised the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) that she refuses to testify against friends and associates, saying: “I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions.”

1997
Two international human rights workers, Mario Calderon & Elsa Alvarado, plus Alvarado’s parents, are shot dead in Bogota by paramilitaries.