#OtD 19 Nov 1984 one of the world's worst industrial disasters ever occurred when tanks in a PEMEX petroleum facility in San Juanico, Mexico, exploded, killing over 500 and burning over 5,000 people. The plant's safety features were woefully inadequate
Working Class History
#OtD 18 Nov 1953 the British Royal Air Force began aerial bombing of Kenya in an effort to crush the "Mau Mau" anti-colonial insurgency. Over the next year and a half they dropped nearly 6 million bombs on the country
Working Class History
#OtD 17 Nov 2018 the gilets jaune or yellow vest movement staged their first protest in France and colony of RΓ©union, angry over the rising cost of living. A populist mass movement encompassing many political views, including a prominent rural element
Working Class History
#OtD 17 Nov 1932 Korean anarchist and activist Lee Hoe-yeong died in the Lushun prison in the hands of Japanese authorities. He spent a good portion of his life fighting against the Japanese occupation of Korea
Working Class History
#OtD 16 Nov 1989 six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter were killed by the US-backed military in El Salvador for being "subversive". Troops then tried to make the murders look like the work of left-wing guerrillas
Working Class History
#OtD 15 Nov 1922 between 300 and 1000 workers were massacred by the state during a general strike in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Power and trolley workers had walked out at worsening economic conditions and were joined by most other workers
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#OtD 11 Nov 1887 4 of the Haymarket martyrs were executed in Chicago. They were anarchist labour organisers framed for a bombing because of their role in the fight for the 8-hour day. Learn more in this history of May Day, which commemorates them:
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The Incomplete, True, Authentic, and Wonderful History of May Day – Peter Linebaugh
β€œMay Day is about affirmation, the love of life, and the start of spring, so it has to be about the beginning of the end of the capitalist system...
#OtD 9 Nov 1938 a pogrom occurred against Jewish people throughout Nazi Germany carried out by the fascist Brownshirts and antisemitic civilian supporters. Nazis dubbed it "Kristallnacht". 30k Jews were arrested and hundreds killed in the coming weeks
Working Class History
#OtD 6 Nov 1986 the Iran-Contra scandal β€” where the US sold arms to Iran to fund right-wing paramilitaries in Nicaragua β€” began to break. Acting Pres Ronald Reagan said the revelations had "no foundation", which turned out to be a lie
Working Class History
#OtD 4 Nov 1811 Luddites attacked machinery in Bulwell, England. While 'Luddite' is used today to mock those who don't like/know how to use technology, the Luddites didn't oppose technology as such, but how capitalists used it to make them unemployed
Working Class History