Working Class History
Working Class History#OtD 5 Feb 1885 King Leopold of Belgium declared his new colony the Congo Free State. What followed was one of the most horrific examples of European colonialism, with 8 to 10 million killed. More on colonialism in the Congo here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/books/products/lord-leverhulme-s-ghosts-colonial-exploitation-in-the-congo-jules-marchal
Working Class History#OtD 4 Feb 1869, "Big" Bill Haywood was born. A miner from childhood, he co-founded the revolutionary @iww@mastodon.social union. Once remarked: "I've never read Marx's Capital, but I've got the marks of capital all over my body." 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 3 Feb 1931 US anarchist Michael Schirru was arrested in his hotel room in Rome for coming to Italy with the intention to kill its fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. He was imprisoned and later executed by firing squad https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10173/michael-schirru-arrested
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/