Working Class History#OtD toots & podcast. History isn't made by kings or politicians, it's made by billions of ordinary people. Supported and made possible by you: https://liberapay.com/workingclasshistory/
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Working Class History#OtD 28 Jan 1917 Carmelita Torres, a 17-year-old Mexican maid who worked in the US, refused to take a gasoline bath at the border. Protest spread and resulted in the bath riots. But fumigation of workers, including by Zyklon B, continued until the 50s https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10001/bath-riots
Working Class History#OtD 27 Jan 2010 American libertarian socialist historian, World War II air force bombardier, and huge inspiration to us at the Working Class History, Howard Zinn, died aged 87. Listen to our podcast about his life and work: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e69-70-howard-zinn-100/
Working Class History#OtD 27 Jan 1949 Italian fascist Felice Ghisalberti was assassinated by two former anti-fascist partisans of the Volante Rossa: Paolo Finardi, pictured right, and Elgio Trincheri, left. He had bragged about torturing women and murdering a partisan. https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e77-80-italian-resistance/
Working Class History#OtD 26 Jan 1913 50 waiters walked out while serving 300 guests at New York's Wurtzburger Hofbrau bar. Greeted with cheers from other strikers at their @iww@mastodon.social union HQ, they declared they wouldn't return to work. Learn more about the IWW in our podcast: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/05/23/wch-e6-the-industrial-workers-of-the-world-in-the-us-1905-1918/
Working Class History#OtD 25 Jan 2019 flights into NYC's LaGuardia airport were halted by a sick-out of air-traffic controllers during a govt shutdown by pres Trump to get funding for a border wall. IRS and TSA workers also called in sick. Just hours later, Trump caved https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9745/air-traffic-control-sick-out
Working Class History#OtD 25 Jan 1911 Kanno Sugako, Japanese writer and anarchist feminist, was executed for her part in a plot to assassinate the Emperor. Radicalised at 14 after being raped, she remains the only woman to be executed in Japan for treason https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9739/kanno-sugako-executed
Working Class History#OtD 24 Jan 1979 a 35-year-old teacher from India arrived in London to marry her British fiancé. The immigration officer ordered that she be given a "virginity test" – state sanctioned sexual assault. Public outcry then led to the practice being ended https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9654/uk-immigrant-%22virginity-testing%22
Working Class History#OtD 22 Jan 1971 25 homeless families occupied an empty apartment block in the working class neighbourhood of Quarto Oggiaro, Milan. They were attacked by over 2,000 police but the families' militancy forced the local council to rehouse them https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9476/quarto-oggiaro-occupation
Working Class History#OtD 22 Jan 2018 legendary anarchist author Ursula K Le Guin died aged 88 in Portland, Oregon. An ardent feminist and advocate for diversity in literature and publishing, she won numerous awards for her work. We have made available some of her books here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/all/ursula-k-le-guin
Working Class History#OtD 21 Jan 1921 striking workers in Santa Cruz, Argentina, seized 2 ranches demanding better pay and conditions. While there was a negotiated settlement, an army unit later arrived and killed up to 1500 workers by the following year https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9376/la-anita-ranch-seized