Working Class History
Working Class History#OtD 31 Jan 1971 anti-fascists attacked the National Socialist Party HQ in Melbourne, Australia. The Nazis, dressed like storm troopers, were told by police to lock themselves inside, but over 500 people forced their way through and wrecked the offices https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/11141/melbourne-nazis-attacked
Working Class History#OtD 30 Jan 1962 a US general presented a plan for Operation Bountyin which the CIA would offer rewards of between $5000-100,000 to anyone who murdered Cuban communists. While the plan wasn't enacted, there were multiple attempts to kill Fidel Castro. https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10279/operation-bounty
Working Class History#OtD 30 January 1938 during the Spanish Civil War, fascist Italy's air force bombed the church and square of Sant Felip Neri, Barcelona, killing 42 people, 30 of whom were children. The church was also serving as an orphanage at the time https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10278/church-sant-felip-neri-bombed
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