Tag Archives: peace history

Today in history

May 14

Mother’s Day

1832
The Black Hawk War begins when untrained American recruits attack Sauk Indian peace envoys.

1941
The first groups of WWII conscientious objectors (COs) were ordered to report to camp at Patapsco, Maryland.


World War II COs

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Today in history

May 13

1888
Brazil, which imported more African slaves than any other Western Hemisphere country (including the U.S.), abolished slavery.

1908
President Theodore Roosevelt opened a conference on the conservation of natural resources saying, “the natural resources of our country are in danger of exhaustion if we permit the old wasteful methods of exploiting them longer to continue,” propelling conservation issues into the forefront of public consciousness.

1932
“We Want Beer” marches were held in cities all over America, with 15,000 unionized workers demonstrating in Detroit. Prohibition (the 18th amendment to the U.S. Constitution barring “the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors”) was repealed the following year.

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Today in history

May 12

1968
The Poor People’s Campaign, organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) began when contingents of the poor, mainly from the south, began pitching tents in a “Resurrection City” near the Lincoln Memorial. It was dismantled by police on June 24.

1975
Gonzalo Arias chains himself to Spanish gate in protest of closure of Spain/Gibraltar frontier.
1985
Amy Eilberg is ordained in New York as the first woman rabbi in the Conservative Jewish movement.

Today in history

May 11

1894</b.
Beginning of Pullman Railroad Strike, Chicago, Illinois. The largest industrial strike to date in US history, eventually broken by federal government troops.

1973
Charges against former Pentagon analyst Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the release of the Pentagon Papers (a comprehensive classified study of the origins and conduct of the Vietnam War) were dismissed by Judge William M. Byrne, citing government misconduct.

1975
80,000 turned out in New York City’s Central Park to celebrate the end of the Vietnam War.

1996
March against black on black violence, Birmingham, England.

Today in history

May 10

1857
Beginning of the Sepoy Rebellion in Meerat, India; becomes known as the Great Mutiny against British Imperial rule.
1872
Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for the U.S. presidency, by the National Equal
Rights party.
1910
British government jails Tom Mann for six months for urging soldiers not to shoot striking workers.
1920
England: Dock workers refuse to load armaments for use by Allies against Russia.
1940
The South registers its first full year without any reported lynching.
1967
Captain Howard Levy jailed three years for refusing to train U.S. soldiers for Vietnam.
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Today in history

May 9
1933

First Nazi-inspired mass public book-burning, Germany

1967
In April, Muhammad Ali refused induction into the U.S. Army due to his religious convictions. He angered many Americans after claiming, “I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong.” He was stripped of his heavyweight boxing title and his license to fight.
In June, a court found him guilty of draft evasion, fined him $10,000, and sentenced him to five years in prison. He remained free, pending numerous appeals, but was still barred from fighting.

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Today in history

May 8

1828
U.S. Peace Society founded.
1838
Founding of Chartist movement for British workers’ rights.
1882
The American Peace Society was established when the peace societies of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania merged to become a national organization. Based in Boston, the merger was a result of a suggestion by William Ladd. Read more.
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Today in history

May 7

1700
William Penn begins monthly meetings for Blacks advocating emancipation.
1844
Protestant mob in Philadelphia, shouting “Kill them! Kill them!” burns down over 30 homes in the predominantly Irish suburb of Kensington.
1955
The Rev. George Lee, one of the first black people registered to vote in Humphreys County and who used his pulpit and his printing press to urge others to vote, was murdered in Belzoni, Miss.
1965
“Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama as state troopers attack civil rights marchers.
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Today in history

May 6

1916
Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman started the No Conscription League in the U.S. This was prior to American troops’ being sent to Europe in what is known as World War I.
Read the No-Conscription League Manifesto


Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman

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Today in history

May 5


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