Nov
23
2009
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Von Ossietzky’s Peace Prize
Back in the day on November 23rd, 1936, the Nobel Committee chose to award its Peace Prize for the previous year to pacifist and journalist Carl von Ossietzky. The honor was announced at a time when the German anti-fascist was hospitalized and kept under constant surveillance by Gestapo forces.Von Ossietzky’s health had seriously declined …
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Nov
20
2009
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The Occupation of Alcatraz
Back in the day on November 20th, 1969, a group of nearly eighty Native peoples sailed to the abandoned island of Alcatraz and occupied it. Once upon the grounds of the former federal penitentiary, the activists issued a proclamation to the ‘Great White Father and his People.’ The words of the document read, “We …
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Nov
19
2009
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Buenaventura Durruti Falls in Battle
Back in the day on November 19th, 1936, a bullet struck Spanish revolutionary Buenaventura Durruti. As civil war engulfed his country, the dedicated anarchist arrived with a column to reinforce the defense of Madrid against the fascists. The wound Durrutti sustained during the ensuing street battles proved to be fatal as he died …
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Nov
18
2009
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U.S. Warships in Nicaragua
Back in the day on November 18th, 1909, President William Howard Taft ordered two U.S. warships to Nicaragua. The show of force was in response to the execution of two Americans, Lee Roy Cannon and Leonard Groce. The pair had joined the “Estrada Rebellion” that had broken out against Nicaraguan President Jose Santos Zelaya. …
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Nov
13
2009
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Supreme Court Rules Against Segregated Buses
Back in the day on November 13th, 1956, the United States Supreme Court ruled against segregated seating on public buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Affirming a federal court ruling on Browder v. Gayle, the decision was a victory for the longstanding Montgomery Bus Boycott that had begun the year before. Organizers had been …
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Nov
12
2009
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The Durand Line Agreement
Back in the day on November 12th, 1893, the Durand Line Agreement was signed between Afghan Amir Abdur Rahman and British colonial officer Henry Mortimer Durand. The seven articles of the agreement were signed in Kabul and set a 1,519 mile line of demarcation between Afghanistan and British colonial India. The Durand Line was …
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Nov
11
2009
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Aboriginal Protection Act of 1869
Back in the day on November 11th, 1869, the Aboriginal Protection Act was passed by the Victorian colonial government of modern-day Australia. The legislation enacted exactly one-hundred and forty year ago today claimed “to provide for the protection and management of the Aboriginal Natives of Victoria.” In actuality, the act gave white dominated …
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Nov
10
2009
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The Wilmington Race Riot of 1898
Back in the day on November 10th, 1898, the Wilmington Race Riot occurred in North Carolina. At least twenty-two blacks were killed by white racist members of the Democratic Party as a municipal coup d’etat was staged. Emboldened by a post-reconstruction general election that brought the party back in power in the …
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Nov
09
2009
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the entire program
The Abduction of Calvin Fairbank
Back in the day on November 9th, 1852, Reverend Calvin Fairbank was kidnapped from Indiana and taken to Kentucky. The abolitionist minister was promptly incarcerated in Louisville for assisting the escape of a so-called fugitive slave and her assistant. Fairbank had already been imprisoned previously for similar supposed “crimes,” serving five years of …
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Nov
06
2009
Tricky Dick Couldn’t be Kicked
Back in the day on November 6th, 1962, Richard Nixon lost the race for Governor of California. Despite the fact that tricky dick had fallen just short of 120,00 votes to his opponent John F Kennedy two years prior in the national Presidential election, his margin of defeat to Governor Brown in the statewide …
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