This Day in History - Zinn Education Project

Feb. 23, 1868: W. E. B. Du Bois Born

W. E. B. Du Bois, sociologist, historian, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor, was one of the most important activist scholars of the 20th century.

Themes: African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Education, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity

Feb. 22, 1943: White Rose Members Executed

Student activists Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst were executed for urging students to rise up and overthrow the Nazi government.

Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements

Feb. 22, 1974: Sam Lovejoy Topples Nuclear Plant Tower

Sam Lovejoy, slipped onto the Montague Plains and sabotaged the 500 foot weather tower Northeast Utilities had erected to test wind direction at the site.

Themes: Environment & Food

Feb. 21, 1965: Malcolm X Assassinated

El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) was assassinated, just weeks after speaking in Selma.

Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Racism & Racial Identity

CORE members during sit-in at Woolworth's lunch counter in Tallahassee.

Feb. 20, 1960: Patricia Stephens Due Called for “Jail, No Bail”

Patricia Stephens Due was arrested for a sit-in in Florida and refused to pay bail.

Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements

Executive Order 9066 | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 19, 1942: Executive Order 9066

Executive Order 9066 issued by President Roosevelt authorized the incarceration (internment) of U.S. citizens of Japanese descent.

Themes: Asian American, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements

Feb. 19, 1968: Florida Teachers’ Strike

Teachers and administrators from the Florida Education Association (FEA) walked out in what is reported to be the first statewide teachers' strike.

Themes: Education, Organizing

Feb. 18, 1946: Courts Ruled in favor of the Mendez family

The courts ruled in favor of the Mendez family and their co-plaintiffs, finding segregated schools to an unconstitutional.

Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Education, Latino, Laws & Citizen Rights

Members of the 55th Massachusetts | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 18, 1865: Black Soldiers March into Charleston

The Union Army moved into Charleston, S.C., the the city where the Civil War had begun four years earlier.

Themes: African American

Feb. 17, 1942: Huey P. Newton Born

Huey P. Newton was co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.

Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship

Photo of striking rubber workers clashing with police in Akron Ohio, 1936

Feb. 16, 1936: Akron Rubber Strike

Rubber workers began a sit-down strike at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. in Akron, Ohio.

Themes: Labor

Shadrach Minkins | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 15, 1851: Shadrach Minkins Arrested by U.S. Marshals Under Fugitive Slave Act

U.S. Marshals arrested Shadrach Minkins, who had escaped from slavery in Norfolk, Virginia.

Themes: African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Slavery

School Desegregation | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 15, 1848: Benjamin Roberts Filed the First School Desegregation Suit

Benjamin Roberts filed the first school desegregation suit after his daughter Sarah was barred from a white school in Boston, Mass.

Themes: African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Education

Belinda Sutton Petitions for a Pension as Reparations | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 14, 1783: Belinda Sutton Petitions for a Pension as Reparations

Belinda Sutton petitioned the Massachusetts legislature for a pension as reparations for the wealth she produced and was stolen from her while she was enslaved.

Themes: African American, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery

Feb. 14, 2011: Wisconsin Workers Strike

The Wisconsin Workers strike involved as many as 100,000 protesters opposing the 2011 Wisconsin Act 10.

Themes: Economics, Labor, Organizing

Feb. 13, 1937: Founding of Southern Negro Youth Congress

The first Southern Negro Youth Conference (SNYC) conference was held in Richmond, Virginia.

Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Organizing

Feb. 13, 2013: Keystone Pipeline Protesters Circle White House

Activists circled the White House to protest the Keystone Pipeline, an oil system that transports crude oil from Canada to various locations in the U.S.

Themes: Environment & Food, Organizing