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The Fort Dix Stockade Rebellion

Back in the day on June 5th, 1969, the Fort Dix Stockade Rebellion occurred in New Jersey. Exactly forty years ago, more than one hundred imprisoned soldiers rose up against deplorable and inhumane conditions on the base. An important event in the history of the GI Resisters Movement during the Vietnam War, …

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Arthur League and the Black Panthers in OC

Back in the day on June 4th, 1969, Santa Ana police officer Nelson Sasscer was shot while on duty and eventually died as a result. The shooting, which took place exactly forty years ago, resulted in the arrest of Black Panther Party member Michael Lynem the very next day. …

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The Iron Range Strike

Back in the day on June 3rd, 1916 the Iron Range Strike in Minnesota gained momentum when forty miners walked off the job. The largely unorganized European immigrant workers in the iron-rich mines of Mesabi were tired of the poor wages and long hours offered by employers like the Oliver Iron Mining Company. …

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The Taking of Fort Michilimakinac

Back in the day on June 2nd, 1763, Chippewa natives outsmarted the British in the taking of Fort Michilimakinac. Inspired by the rebellion of Ottowan chief Pontiac, the Chippewa devised a clever strategy to take the large and fortified British post. Under the utmost secrecy, the plot was carefully executed by chief …

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The End of the Tulsa Race Riot

Back in the day on June 1st, 1921, rioting by white mobs against blacks in Tulsa, Oklahoma ceased after the National Guard enforced martial law. In what was one of the most tragic episodes of racist violence in the U.S., the Tulsa Race Riot claimed the lives of three hundred …

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The 40th Anniversary of “El Cordobazo”

Back in the day on May 29th, 1969, a planned strike and protest demonstration in Cordoba, Argentina turned into an all out urban revolt. Known to history as “El Cordobazo,” the broad based uprising in the industrial city exactly forty years ago had been galvanized by the authoritarian dictatorship of General …

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The Show Trial of Antonio Gramsci

Back in the day on May 28th, 1928, the show trial of the influential Italian intellectual Antonio Gramsci commenced. As a journalist, political activist and parliamentarian, Gramsci was arrested in November 1926 after the fascist government of Mussolini issued so-called “Exceptional decrees.” As a person who helped co-found the Italian Communist …

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The Execution of Thomas Muntzer

Back in the day on May 27th, 1525 German religious reformer and theologian Thomas Muntzer was beheaded. Originally attracted to the Protestant Reformation as articulated by Martin Luther, Muntzer, however, came to reject it as insufficiently radical. In contrast to Lutheran principles, Munzter believed that prophetic inspiration came not from scripture alone, …

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The Battle of the Overpass

Back in the day on May 26th, 1937, the Battle of the Overpass took place between Union Auto Workers and “Ford Service Men.” After the UAW had organized effective sit-down strikes against Chrysler and General Motors, the union turned its sights on the notoriously anti-labor Ford Motor Company. Emboldened by the passage …

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The Dearborn Independent’s Anti-Semitism

Back in the day on May 22nd, 1920, the Dearborn Independent owned by Henry Ford ran an anti-Semitic cover story entitled, “The International Jew: The World’s Problem.” The first in a series that would consistently run for the next eighteen months, the article articulated a vast conspiracy theory that put forth the …

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