On August 23, 1970, the Salad Bowl strike, led by the influential farm labor leader Cesar Chavez, began with between 5,000 to 10,000 workers walking off their jobs. This historic event became the largest farm worker strike in U.S. history.
In 1305, Sir William Wallace, the Scottish rebel leader, was executed by the English for his acts of treason.
In 1775, King George III of Britain officially declared that the American colonies were in a state of “open and avowed rebellion.”
On this day in 1914, Japan entered World War I by declaring war on Germany.
In 1927, despite global protests, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in Boston for the murders committed during a 1920 robbery. Fifty years later, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation stating that Sacco and Vanzetti had been unfairly tried and convicted.
In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a non-aggression treaty, in Moscow.
In 2000, a tragic event occurred when a Gulf Air Airbus crashed into the Persian Gulf near Bahrain, resulting in the loss of all 143 lives on board.
In 2003, former priest John Geoghan, a convicted child molester whose case was central to the sex abuse scandal that rocked the Roman Catholic Church across the United States, was killed by another inmate in a Massachusetts prison.
On August 23, 2011, the strongest earthquake on the East Coast since 1944, a magnitude-5.8, struck near Mineral, Virginia, causing significant damage, including cracks in the Washington Monument and harm to the Washington National Cathedral.
In 2013, a military jury found Maj. Nidal Hasan guilty of the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, which left 13 people dead. He was later sentenced to death.
In 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, seven times while attempting to arrest him on an outstanding warrant. The shooting left Blake partially paralyzed and ignited several nights of violent protests.
Finally, in 2022, a jury convicted two men of plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020. This was seen as a significant win for prosecutors, as the conspiracy, which was disrupted by the FBI, had been viewed by anti-government extremists as a call to incite a U.S. civil war.
Today in History: December 20
A Look Back At Today, December 20
The Louisiana Purchase was completed.
“It’s a Wonderful Life” premiered at the Globe Theater.
The United States launched Operation Just Cause.
The United States Space Force was established.
Today in History: December 19
Today in History: December 19
In 1777, General George Washington led an army of more than 12,000 soldiers to Valley Forge.
In 1972, Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, concluding the Apollo program.
In 2011, North Korean announced the death of Kim Jong Il and proclaimed Kim Jong Un as the leader.
In 2022, the House Jan. 6 Committee urged the Justice Department to bring criminal charges against the previous president
Today in History: December 18
Today in History: December 18
In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, was proclaimed in effect.
In 1892, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” publicly premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia; although now considered a classic, it received a generally negative reception from critics.
In 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went on line. (It was taken out of service in 1982.)
In 2011, the last convoy of heavily armored U.S. troops left Iraq, crossing into Kuwait in darkness in the final moments of a nearly nine-year war.
Today in History: December 17
Today in History: December 17
In 1903 The Wright brothers’ flight redefined the possibilities of travel and opened the skies to human exploration.
In 1933 The first NFL championship laid the foundation for professional football’s evolution into a national pastime.
In 1989 “The Simpsons” redefined animated television, blending humor with social commentary to leave an indelible mark on entertainment.
In 1992 NAFTA reshaped North American trade, fostering economic ties while sparking debates on globalization.
In 2014 The U.S.-Cuba rapprochement signaled a pivotal moment in the post-Cold War world, rekindling hopes for reconciliation.
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