Zinn Education Project

Jeanette Rankin. Portrait by Robert Shetterly of Americans Who Tell the Truth.

Dec. 8, 1941: Jeannette Rankin Voted Against WWII

Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin was the only member of Congress to vote against declaring war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Newspaper article on the Vicksburg Massacre.

Dec. 7, 1874: Vicksburg Massacre

White people attacked and killed many Black citizens who had organized for a Black sheriff to remain in office during the Vicksburg Massacre.

A beautiful reworking of an iconic image from Elsipogtog, by artist Fanny Aishaa. The original photo was taken by Ossie Michelin, a reporter for APTN and the woman is Amanda Polchies.

Dec. 6, 2013: First Nations Water Warriors Block Fracking

A coalition of groups set up a series of road blockades preventing gas exploration in New Brunswick, Canada.

Dec. 6, 1929: Cayes Massacre

One of the worst massacres of civilians during the 19-year American occupation of Haiti took place in Les Cayes.

Dec. 6, 1865: 13th Amendment Ratified

The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution officially ended the institution of slavery.

Dec. 5, 1955: Montgomery Bus Boycott Began

The Montgomery Bus Boycott is one of the most powerful examples of organizing and social change in U.S. history.

Dec. 4, 1969: Black Panther Party Members Assassinated

Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were assassinated by police and FBI agents in Chicago, Illinois.

Dec. 4, 1865: Ex-Confederate States Blocked From Joining 39th Congress

After the Civil War, representatives from states recently in rebellion were blocked from being sworn-in at the 39th Congress.

Dec. 3: International Day of Persons with Disabilities

An international observance for persons with disabilities, which has been ongoing annually since 1992.

Dec. 3, 1860: Frederick Douglass Gives Speech on John Brown

In his 1860 speech commemorating radical abolitionist John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, Frederick Douglass argued that slavery would only end if the slave owner feared the violent retribution of the enslaved.

The North Star (News Clipping) | Zinn Education Project

Dec. 3, 1847: North Star Newspaper Launched

Frederick Douglass and Martin Delany launched the abolitionist North Star newspaper.

Dec. 2, 1980: Three Nuns and Lay Worker Killed in El Salvador

Three nuns and a lay worker were killed in El Salvador by members of the U.S.-backed National Guard.

Dec. 2, 1859: John Brown Executed

Abolitionist John Brown was executed by the state of Virginia for leading the infamous Harpers Ferry Raid.

Rosa Parks Highlander School | Zinn Education Project

Dec. 1, 1955: Rosa Parks Refuses to Give Up Her Seat

Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

Dec. 1, 1865: Shaw University Established

Shaw University was established as a co-ed campus with support from private donors and the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. It is the second oldest HBCU in the South.

Shirley Chisholm | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 30, 1924: Shirley Chisholm Born

Born on this day, Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress

Nov. 29, 1864: Sand Creek Massacre

A Colorado Cavalry unit, on orders from Colorado’s governor and ignoring a surrender flag, brutally attacked Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. White abolitionist Silas Soule was assassinated for reporting on the event.

Nov. 29, 1781: Zong Massacre

During the Zong Massacre, a ship captain ordered that 54 enslaved Africans be thrown overboard and killed.

Nov. 28, 1919: Jane Addams and Palmer Raids

The Palmer Raids began in November of 1919 and targeted suspected radical leftists, especially anarchists, and deported them from the United States.

Slave pension broadside | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 28, 1898: First National Convention of the Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty, and Pension Association

The Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty, and Pension Association was founded with a dual mission to organize mutual aid for its members and to pass federal pension legislation that would compensate every formerly enslaved person.

Nov. 27, 1955: Rosa Parks Attends Meeting About Emmett Till

Rosa Parks attended a mass meeting about Emmett Till days before her refusal to give up her seat on the bus.

Lawrence Textile Strike Acquittal | ZInn Education Project

Nov. 26, 1912: Lawrence Textile Strike Acquittal

Joseph James Ettor, Arturo Giovannitti, and Joseph Caruso were acquitted after one of the most important labor trials.

Sean Bell Memorial | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 25, 2006: Sean Bell Murdered

Sean Bell was murdered by New York City police on the day before his wedding.

Nov. 25, 1986: Amy Carter Among 60 People Arraigned for CIA Protest

Sixty people were arraigned on charges of disorderly conduct stemming from a sit-in to block CIA campus recruiting at UMass-Amherst, an act of protest of the CIA’s role in Central America.

The Mirabal Sisters from left, Minerva, Maria Teresa and Patria.

Nov. 25, 1960: Mirabal Sisters Murdered in Dominican Republic

The murder of the Mirabal sisters — who clandestinely opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic and were then brutally killed — has become an international symbol of resistance to violence against women.

“Mrs. Francis E. W. Harper,” portrait with Frances Harper’s name misspelled, taken from page 748 in The Underground Railroad: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters… printed by Porter & Coates (Philadelphia, 1872).

Nov. 25, 1859: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Writes to John Brown in Prison

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, a Black abolitionist and writer, wrote to John Brown as he awaited his execution.

Nov. 24, 1947: Hollywood 10 Held in Contempt of Congress

The “Hollywood 10” directors, producers, and writers who refused to testify at HUAC were held in contempt of Congress.

Nov. 23, 1887: Thibodaux Massacre

Between 30-60 striking Black Louisiana sugarcane workers were massacred.

Bogalusa, La. lumber mill | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 22, 1919: Bogalusa Labor Massacre, Attack on Interracial Solidarity

The Bogalusa Labor Massacre was an attack on interracial labor solidarity in Louisiana.

Martha Lum's class photo | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 21, 1927: Lum v. Rice Supreme Court Ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, in the case of nine-year old Chinese-American Martha Lum, her exclusion on account of race from school was justified.

These ads appeared in the Norfolk Beacon. Whose side was the white press on? Compare to coverage in abolitionist newspaper below.

Nov. 21, 1842: George Latimer Freed In Boston

A Boston judge stopped the extradition of George Latimer, who had escaped enslavement in Virginia, and allowed him to raise funds for his own manumission.

Nov. 20, 1969: Alcatraz Occupation

Native Americans took over and held Alcatraz Island as Indian Land during the Alcatraz Occupation.

Nov. 20, 1835: New York Committee of Vigilance Founded

Radical abolitionists organized to liberate kidnapped Black New Yorkers and fight racist police violence in the decades after New York abolished slavery.

Nov. 19, 1915: Labor Organizer Joe Hill Executed

The state of Utah executed Joe Hill, labor organizer, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

Nov. 18, 1909: U.S. War Ships Sent to Nicaragua

President William Howard Taft ordered U.S. warships to Nicaragua to defend U.S. corporate profits.

Nov. 17, 1961: Albany Movement

The Albany Movement engaged multiple civil rights organizations and students in the fight for desegregation and voting rights.

Salvadoran Jesuit Martyrs | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 16, 1989: Jesuit Scholars/Priests and Staff Massacred in El Salvador

Six Jesuit scholars/priests and two staff members were murdered by the U.S.-backed military in El Salvador.

San Francisco moratorium march | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 15, 1969: Second Anti-War Moratorium

The second anti-war Moratorium occurred with over 500,000 marching in Washington, D.C. and demonstrations throughout the country and the world.

Nov. 15, 1917: Suffragists Beaten and Tortured in the “Night of Terror”

Twenty women were subjected to beatings and torture at Occoquan Workhouse, a prison in Virginia, in what became known as the “Night of Terror.”

Nov. 15, 1842: Slave Revolt at Webbers Falls

The Slave Revolt of 1842 — when dozens of enslaved Black people in Webbers Falls, Oklahoma fought back and briefly escaped from their Cherokee overseers — was the largest rebellion of enslaved people in Indian Territory history.

Nov. 14, 1965: Battle of Ia Drang

The Battle of Ia Drang began between regulars of the U.S. Army and regulars of the People’s Army of Vietnam.

Dr. Charles Gomillion | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 14, 1960: Gomillion v. Lightfoot

SCOTUS ruled 9-0 that redrawing city boundaries in Tuskegee, Alabama to exclude African-American voters violates the 15th Amendment.

Nov. 14, 1889: Nellie Bly Embarks on Travel Around the World

Pioneering journalist Nellie Bly began a successful attempt to travel around the world in less than 80 days.

Nov. 13, 1969: San Marcos 10 Protested War

A group of students were suspended at Southwest Texas State University for peacefully protesting the Vietnam War.

Nov. 13, 1953: Call to Ban Robin Hood in Indiana Schools

Mrs. White of the Indiana Textbook Commission called for a ban of Robin Hood in all school books for promoting communism.

Nov. 13, 1909: Cherry Mine Disaster

A disaster in the Cherry Mine in Cherry, Illinois, killed 259 boys and men.

Nov. 12, 1991: Indonesian Massacre of East Timorese

Using arms from the United States, Indonesian troops fired on a peaceful procession in East Timor, killing more than 270 people.

Carolina Butler | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 12, 1981: Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and the Orme Dam Victory

The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation of Arizona stopped construction of the Orme Dam after ten years of organizing and protesting.

Nov. 11: Veterans Day

On Veterans Day, we share a collection of stories about African American veterans who fought in various wars abroad and, upon their return to the United States, were murdered in the fight for democracy and human rights at home. We also share resources for teaching about the veterans who speak out against war.

Nov. 10, 1995: Murdered by Shell

The Ogoni Nine were executed by the Nigerian military government for campaigning against the devastation of their homeland by oil companies.

Nov. 10, 1898: Wilmington Massacre

The elected and interracial Reconstruction era local government was deposed in a coup d’etat in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Jewish prisoners in Baden-Baden | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 9, 1938: Pogromnacht in Germany and Austria

Violent anti-Jewish demonstrations in Europe in which hundreds of synagogues were destroyed; 7,500 Jewish-owned businesses, homes, and schools were plundered; 91 Jews were murdered; and 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps.

Protesters at Ginwan rally | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 8, 2009: Okinawa Protest

Thousands of Okinawan protesters on the island of Okinawa demanded the removal of the U.S. base there.

Nov. 8, 1892: Massive Labor Strike in New Orleans

Thirty thousand factory and dock workers staged the 1892 New Orleans general strike.

Nov. 7, 1985: Court Ruling in Wrongful Case Against Rubin “Hurricane” Carter

U.S. District Court Judge handed down his decision to free Rubin “Hurricane” Carter who had been wrongfully accused of murder.

Nov. 7, 1861: The Port Royal Experiment Initiated

The Union Army occupied the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina, freeing approximately 10,000 people who had been enslaved, starting what became known as the Port Royal Experiment.

Nov. 7, 1841: The Creole Mutiny

Madison Washington and eighteen other enslaved people rebelled onboard the Creole, a ship involved in the U.S. slave trade.

Nov. 7, 1837: Elijah Parish Lovejoy Murdered

Minister, journalist, newspaper editor, and abolitionist Elijah Parish Lovejoy was murdered by a pro-slavery mob.

A giant puppet of a sea goddess made entirely of recycled materials walked through Glasgow during the COP26 climate change summit.

Nov. 6, 2021: Climate Justice Protesters Demand Reparations

An Indigenous-led rally at the site of the United Nations Climate Change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, drew more than 100,000 protesters to demand reparations for Indigenous communities and the Global South, investments in renewable energy instead of fossil fuels, and worker-led transitions to systems that would reduce poverty and injustice.

Protesters with pipeline replica. Source: Texas Standard

Nov. 6, 2011: Keystone XL Pipeline Protest at White House

Tens of thousands of people rallied outside the White House in opposition to the Keystone XL project.

Nov. 6, 1965: Draft Card Protest

Draft cards burned in solidarity with David Miller, a Catholic pacifist who was one of the first to publicly burn his draft card.

Nov. 5, 1867: Alabama State Constitution

Delegates gathered in Montgomery, Alabama, to draft a new state constitution during Reconstruction.

Nicaragua Literacy Campaign 1980 | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 4, 1984: First Democratic Nicaraguan Elections

Nicaragua held its first democratic elections in more than fifty years in 1984.

Nov. 3, 1986: Iran Arms Sales Revealed

Ash-Shiraa reported that the U.S. government had been secretly selling arms to Iran in a hostage release deal.

Greensboro Massacre Protest (photo) | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 3, 1979: Greensboro Massacre

Five people were killed when the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis fired on an anti-Klan rally in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Nov. 3, 1972: Trail of Broken Treaties Caravan Occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Protesters from the Trail of Broken Treaties Caravan occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) offices in Washington, D.C. for six days.

Salvador Allende | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 3, 1970: Salvador Allende Became President of Chile

Salvador Allende became president of Chile and adopted policies for the social good, such as raising minimum wage and increasing access to health care and education.

Nov. 3, 1883: Danville Riot

African Americans voters were threatened after the Danville Riot, leading to their loss of political power in this majority African American city in Virginia.

Nov. 3, 1874: Robert Smalls Elected

Robert Smalls was elected to Congress from South Carolina during Reconstruction.

Nov. 3, 1874: White League Attacks Black Voters

Deadly election “riots” took place in Barbour County, Alabama against African American politicians and voters.

Nov. 2, 1920: Imprisoned Eugene V. Debs Received One Million Votes for U.S. President

Eugene V. Debs received one million votes in the U.S. presidential election while in prison on the Socialist Party ticket.

Nov. 2, 1920: The Ocoee Massacre

More than fifty African Americans killed in the Ocoee Massacre after going to vote in Florida.

Nov. 1, 1890: Mississippi Constitution

Mississippi adopted a state constitution with poll tax and literacy tests to roll back the gains of the Reconstruction era.

historical marker for the Coal Creek War, 1891-92

Oct. 31, 1891: Coal Creek War

A labor uprising to protest convict leasing led to the Coal Creek War.

Newspaper headline reading "2 More Join List Of Miss. Victims"

Oct. 30, 1959: Luther Jackson Murdered

Luther Jackson was murdered by Philadelphia, Mississippi policeman Lawrence Rainey.

Oct. 30, 1956: Texas School District Found Guilty of Discriminating Against Mexican-American Students

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas Corpus Christi found a South Texas school district guilty of discriminating against Mexican-American students in one of the first cases that directly applied the ruling made in Brown v. Board of Education to Mexican-American students.

Mary McLeod Bethune, pictured in the 1920s, when her school became a co-ed institution and she became the president of the National Association of Colored Women.

Fall, 1922: Mary McLeod Bethune Confronts Klan to Defend Black Voting Rights

Mary McLeod Bethune faced off against the Ku Klux Klan in defense of Black voting rights in Daytona, Florida.

Oct. 30, 1870: Protest of Racist Policies on Streetcars in Louisville

Reconstruction era protest of racist discrimination on streetcars in Louisville, Kentucky.

Hurricane Sandy damages a pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey.

Oct. 29, 2012: Hurricane Sandy Hits the Eastern Seaboard

Hurricane Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, wreaked devastation in the Caribbean and United States for more than a week, causing hundreds of deaths and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless and without electricity.

Charles Hamilton Houston, portrait by Robert Shetterly of Americans Who Tell the Truth.

Oct. 29, 1969: Supreme Court Rules Schools Must Desegregate

The Supreme Court ruled that schools in the U.S. had to desegregate “immediately,” instead of the previous ruling of “with all deliberate speed.”

Sample page from "Vietnam: An Antiwar Comic Book" by Julian Bond.

Oct. 28, 1964: U.S. Officials Deny Bombing North Vietnam

U.S. officials denied any involvement in the bombing of North Vietnam.

Hate Will Not Define Us | Zinn Education Project

Oct. 24 and 27, 2018: Hate Crimes in Kentucky and Pennsylvania

Two hate crime shootings in one week, one of African American shoppers in Kentucky and the other of Jewish worshippers in Pittsburgh.

Oct. 27, 1994: U.S. Prison Population Exceeds One Million

The U.S. Justice Department announced that the prison population topped one million for the first time in U.S. history.

Oct. 26, 2001: PATRIOT Act Signed

President George W. Bush signed the USA PATRIOT Act, which rolled back civil liberties for U.S. citizens and immigrants.

Oct. 25, 1969: Opening of Malcolm X Liberation University

Opening of the Malcolm X Liberation University in Durham, North Carolina.

Harry Belafonte | Zinn Education Project

Oct. 25, 1958: Youth March for Integrated Schools

A. Philip Randolph, Jackie Robinson, Coretta Scott King, Harry Belafonte, Bayard Rustin, and more led a Youth March for Integrated Schools in Washington, D.C.

Oct. 25, 1868: St. Bernard Parish Massacre

The St. Bernard Parish massacre of African Americans was carried out by white men to terrorize the recently emancipated voters in Louisiana.

An “Earth ball” at a rally in Istanbul, Turkey, with the figure 350 — signifying the safe upper limit in parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Oct. 24, 2009: International Climate Day of Action

In the lead-up to an international conference on climate change in Copenhagen, climate activists organized a “day of action,” where millions of people gathered at thousands of events all over the world, demanding that governments and corporations work to slash CO2 emissions and enforce environmental protections.

Oct. 24, 1871: Los Angeles Chinatown Massacre

A lynch mob of 500 Anglo and Latino Los Angelinos rioted and murdered at least 17 Chinese residents after a white civilian died in a shootout.

Oct. 23, 1947: An Appeal to the World

The NAACP sent to the U.N. a document titled “An Appeal to the World,” to redress human rights violations the United States committed against its African-American citizens.

Chicago School Boycott | Zinn Education Project

Oct. 22, 1963: Chicago School Boycott

The Chicago Public School Boycott, also known as Freedom Day, was a mass boycott and demonstration against the segregationist policies.

John Earl Reese | Zinn Education Project

Oct. 22, 1955: John Earl Reese Murdered

In an effort to stop the implementation of Brown v. Board through terrorism, 16-yr-old John Earl Reese was killed in Mayflower, Texas.

Oct. 22, 1883: Frederick Douglass Denounces Supreme Court Ruling

In this speech, Frederick Douglass denounced the Civil Rights Cases of 1883, in which the Supreme Court held that the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments did not empower Congress to outlaw racial discrimination by private individuals.

Oct. 21, 1916: African American Landowner Anthony Crawford Lynched

Successful African American entrepreneur, landowner, and community leader Anthony P. Crawford was murdered by a lynch mob in South Carolina.

Southern Conference on Race Relations, Durham, N.C.: Statement of Purpose.

Oct. 20, 1942: Durham Manifesto

The Southern Conference on Race Relations (SCRR) was held in Durham, North Carolina to address dichotomy between African American soldiers fighting overseas in the name of democracy while in the U.S. they were facing racial violence and being denied basic human rights.

Oct. 19, 1870: First African Americans Elected to the House of Representatives

For the first time, African Americans were elected to the House of Representatives in 1870.

The Persons Case | Zinn Education Project

Oct. 18, 1929: The Persons Case

The Persons Case, a legal milestone in Canada, established the right of women to sit in the Senate of Canada.

U.S. flag raised on October 18, 1898 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Oct. 18, 1898: U.S. Troops Raised U.S. Flag Over Puerto Rico

U.S. troops raised the U.S. flag over Puerto Rico.

Oct. 18, 1587: Arrival of Filipinos in North America

Filipino American History Month is celebrated in the United States during the month of October.

Members of the Black 14 holding a sign during their protest

Oct. 17, 1969: 14 Black Student Athletes Fired at Hint of Protest

Fourteen Black football players at the University of Wyoming were fired when their coach learned they wanted to wear black armbands during a game against Brigham Young University.

Oct. 17, 1950: Empire Zinc Strike

The local chapter of the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers went on strike to protest their segregated housing and unfair wages and living conditions.

Oct. 17, 1920: Marie Equi Jailed

Marie Equi entered San Quentin prison to serve a one-year term for her anti-war protests.

Oct. 17, 1837: Petition to Repeal Black Codes in Ohio

The first general convention of African American Ohioans met in Columbus and pledged to continue raising their voices in order to repeal the Black Codes.

OPHR button - John Carlos and Tommy Smith | Zinn Education Project

Oct. 16, 1968: Olympics Black Power Salute

Tommie Smith and John Carlos made a symbolic protest while the U.S. national anthem was played in the Olympics.

Oct. 16, 1859: Abolitionist Raid on Harpers Ferry

An abolitionist raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in an attempt to start an armed revolt against the institution of slavery.

Oct. 15, 1968: Wyomia Tyus Sets Olympic Records

At the XIX Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968, Wyomia Tyus became the first person to win gold medals in the 100-meter sprint in two consecutive Olympics. She was also participating in Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) protest.

Oct. 15, 1966: The Black Panther Party Founded

The Black Panther Party sought justice for African Americans and other oppressed communities through a combination of revolutionary theory, education, and community programs.

Piedmont Leaf Protest | Zinn Education Project

Oct. 15, 1914: Clayton Antitrust Act Enacted

The Clayton Antitrust Act sought to end practices that limited competition throughout the economy.

A graphic showing the greenhouse effects on the climate.

Oct. 15, 1902: Chemist Warns Burning Coal May Lead to Boiling Earth

Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius calculated that burning fossil fuels (coal) will, over time, lead to a hotter Earth. His findings led the way for the emergence of modern climate science and a better understanding of the greenhouse effect.

Oct. 15, 1883: Civil Rights Act of 1875 Declared Unconstitutional

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1875, forbidding discrimination in hotels, trains, and other public spaces, was unconstitutional and not authorized by the 13th or 14th Amendments of the Constitution.

Oct. 14, 1916: Paul Robeson Excluded from Rutgers Football Team

As a sophomore, Paul Robeson was excluded from the Rutgers Football team because another team refused to play against a Black player.

Oct. 13, 1902: Ben Katz Born

Labor and cultural activist Ben Katz was born.

Close up of book cover for Clarence Lusane's The Black History of the White House.

Oct. 13, 1792: White House Cornerstone Laid

The White House cornerstone was laid. Among those who constructed the building were African Americans, both free and enslaved.

Oct. 12, 1925: U.S. Fights Panama Renters’ Strike

Protesting rising rents and unsanitary conditions, tenants in Panama City, Panama were met with swift force and violence by U.S. soldiers, with six killed during the weekend.

Oct. 12, 1898: Battle of Virden

A small band of striking coal miners in southern Illinois called out Chicago coal barons and stood their ground at Virden.

D.C. Jail Uprising | Zinn Education Project

Oct. 11, 1972: D.C. Jail Uprising

An uprising took place at a Washington, D.C. jail to protest conditions.

Oct. 10, 1942: Petition from Aleut Women

Aleut women from the Pribilof Islands Program wrote a petition about the dangerous internment camp conditions during World War II.

Statue of Octavius Catto with people gathered around it

Oct. 10, 1871: Octavius Catto Killed on Election Day in Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Black educator, baseball player, and civil rights activist Octavius V. Catto was murdered by a white supremacist on election day.

Che Guevara. Art by Ricardo Levins Morales.

Oct. 9, 1967: Che Guevara Executed

Che Guevara was killed by U.S. military backed-Bolivian forces, working with the CIA.

Wangari Maathai - Cancel the Debt Protest | Zinn Education Project

Oct. 8, 2004: Wangari Maathai Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

Wangari Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work on the environment and founded the Greenbelt Movement.

Image from an American Friends Service Committee traveling art exhibit called Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan.

Oct. 7, 2001: United States and U.K. Began War in Afghanistan

The United States and United Kingdom began the war in Afghanistan.

Oct. 7, 1998: Matthew Shepard Beaten and Left to Die

Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, was beaten, robbed, and left to die.

Oct. 7, 1873: Henry E. Hayne Accepted at USC Medical School

Henry E. Hayne was the first Black student to be accepted to the University of South Carolina’s medical school, a bold act which encouraged other Black students to apply. By 1875, Black men comprised the majority of the student body.

Oct. 6, 1917: Fannie Lou Hamer Born

Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights activist, was born in Montgomery County, Mississippi.

Oct. 5, 1986: Eugene Hasenfus Captured During Iran-Contra Scandal

The cover-up of the Iran-Contra scandal began to unravel when Eugene Hasenfus was captured by Nicaraguan troops.

Berglund Walkout McComb MS | Zinn Education Project

Oct. 4, 1961: Burglund High School Walkout

Burglund students walked out in response to the expulsions of their classmates and the murder of Herbert Lee.

Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez, publisher of the New Orleans Tribune.

Oct. 4, 1864: New Orleans Tribune Launched

The New Orleans Tribune was launched and published daily in French and English by Louis Charles Roudanez.

March in support of Ethiopia | Zinn Education Project

Oct. 3, 1935: Ethiopia Invaded by Italy

Ethiopia was invaded by Fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini.

Oct. 2, 1968: Tlatelolco Massacre

Student demonstrators and other civilians were killed by the military and police in Mexico in advance of the 1968 Olympic Games.

Oct. 2, 1937: Parsley Massacre

Under the orders of U.S.-backed Dominican dictator President Rafael Trujillo, the execution of more than 20,000 Haitians began in what is now known as the Parsley Massacre at Massacre River.

Oct. 1, 1964: Free Speech Movement

The Free Speech Movement was launched at UC–Berkeley.

Jerry Rescue Monument in Syracuse, New York.

Oct. 1, 1851: The Jerry Rescue

Abolitionists freed a man captured under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 in Syracuse, New York.

Elaine Massacre Defendants | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 30, 1919: Elaine Massacre

Black farmers were massacred in Elaine, Arkansas for their efforts to fight for better pay and higher cotton prices. A white mob shot at them, and the farmers returned fire in self-defense. Estimates range from 100-800 killed, and 67 survivors were indicted for inciting violence.

Sept. 29, 1951: “A Call to Negro Women” Sojourners for Truth and Justice

A decade before the March on Washington, a group of Black women known as the Sojourners for Truth and Justice gathered in Washington D.C. to advocate for their rights.

Sept. 29, 1943: Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary Hunger Strike

Conscientious objectors began a hunger strike at Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary.

A landscape painting of historic Sanford, Florida.

Sept. 29, 1877: City of Sanford Incorporated

Originally inhabited by Mayaca Indigenous communities and site of the Seminole Wars in the early-to-mid 1800s, the town of Sanford, Florida was incorporated during Reconstruction.

Photo of Will Brown from the "World-Herald," 1919.

Sept. 28, 1919: The Omaha Courthouse Lynching and Riot

A white mob of between 5,000 to 15,000 lynched African American Will Brown. The Army arrested mob ringleaders. Even though photographs identified them, all of the suspects were eventually released.

Palo Duro Amarillo | Zinn Education Project

Sept 28, 1874: Battle of Palo Duro Canyon

Encampments of Comanches, Kiowas, Kiowa Apaches, Cheyennes, and Arapahos were attacked by the U.S. military.

Opelousas Massacre | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 28, 1868: Opelousas Massacre

In response to the promotion of voter registration, a KKK-like group massacred hundreds of people, most of whom were African American.

An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World manuscript cover.

Sept. 28, 1829: An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World

David Walker published An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World, one of the most important documents of the 19th century.

Sept. 27, 1962: Silent Spring Published

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson was published.

Sept. 26, 1909: International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union Strike

Local 25 of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) declared a strike.

Sept. 25, 1961: Murder of Herbert Lee

Herbert Lee, a farmer who helped voting rights activists, was murdered by a Mississippi state legislator in broad daylight.

The Milwaukee 14 Bob Graf |Zinn Education Project

Sept. 24, 1968: Milwaukee 14 Burn Draft Files

Fourteen people removed and burned 10,000 draft cards from the Milwaukee draft board.

Sept. 23, 1968: Young Lords Founded

The Young Lords were established in Chicago, Illinois in 1968, led by a street activist named Cha Cha Jiménez, who organized the group to fight local gentrification, police brutality, and racism.

Coltrane at Blue Train session, 1957. By Francis Wolff.

Sept. 23, 1926: John Coltrane Born

John Coltrane was born. Also born #tdih: Mary Church Terrell (1863), Ray Charles (1930), and Bruce Springsteen (1949).

Sept. 22, 1862: Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation

Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Sept. 21, 2014: The People’s Climate March

Hundreds of thousands of people across 150 countries participated in protests on Sunday, September 21, 2014, collectively called “the People’s Climate March.”

Sept. 21, 1976: Sheridan Circle Car Bomb

Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt were killed in Washington, D.C. by a U.S.-backed Augusto Pinochet regime car bomb.

Sept. 20, 2017: Hurricane Maria Strikes Puerto Rico

Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico as a major Category 4 storm.

Sept. 20, 1962: James Meredith Attempts to Register at University of Mississippi

James Meredith attempted to register at the University of Mississippi.

Sept. 20, 1830: The First Meeting of the Colored Conventions Movement

Forty African Americans, elected by communities in nine states, met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1830 to organize for improving the lives of Black people in North America. That week, they founded the National Colored Conventions movement and held its first official series of formal meetings.

Affidavit of Philip Joiner, Albany, Georgia, Sept. 23, 1868.

Sept. 19, 1868: Camilla Massacre

As African Americans marched peacefully in response to their expulsion from elected office, more than a dozen were massacred near Albany, Georgia.

Sept. 18, 1850: Fugitive Slave Act Passed

The U.S. Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

U.S. Constitution | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 17, 1787: U.S. Constitution Signed

The U.S. Constitution was signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Sept. 16, 1968: Harrison High School Student Uprising

One third of the students at Harrison Technical High School staged a walkout to protest the lack of African American history classes, overcrowding and poor conditions, and more.

William Whipper. Published in The Underground Railroad by William Still, Philadelphia, 1879.

Sept. 16, 1837: Abolitionist William Whipper Advocated Non-Violence

William Whipper published “An Address on Non-Resistance to Offensive Aggression.”

Sept. 15, 2013: Lummi Nation Began Kwel hoy’ Totem Pole Journey

The Lummi Nation begin the Kwel hoy’ Totem Pole journey.

Sept. 15, 1963: 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing

The 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed in an act of terrorism in Birmingham, Alabama.

Sept. 14, 2013: Jonathan Ferrell Killed by Police

Jonathan Ferrell was killed by police in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Sept. 14, 1941: Rally Against Police Brutality

Following years of organizing against police brutality, four marches from different points in the city of Washington, D.C. converged at 10th and U Streets NW.

Sept. 14, 1911: El Primer Congreso Mexicanista Convenes in Laredo

El Primer Congreso Mexicanista (First Mexicanist Congress) met in Laredo, Texas in order to discuss social, labor, educational, and economic issues facing Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the United States.

Oberlin Rescuers | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 13, 1858: Oberlin Wellington Rescue

Eighteen-year-old John Price was arrested by a federal marshal in Oberlin, Ohio under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

Little Rock Schools | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 12, 1958: Little Rock Public Schools Closed

Governor Orval Faubus closed all Little Rock, Arkansas public schools for one year rather than allow integration.

Sept. 11, 2001: Orlando and Phyllis Rodriguez: “Not In Our Son’s Name”

Orlando and Phyllis Rodriguez spoke out against using September 11, 2001 as a pretext for war.

Sept. 11, 1990: Murder of Myrna Mack

Anthropologist Myrna Mack Chang was murdered in Guatemala by the U.S.-backed military due to her outspoken criticism of the Guatemala government’s treatment of the indigenous Maya.

Sept. 11, 1973: U.S.-Backed Coup in Chile

Chile’s democratically elected president, Salvador Allende was killed in a U.S.-backed coup.

Two-story farmhouse where the Christian Riot occurred in 1851 in Pennsylvania.

Sept. 11, 1851: Christiana Riot

A community of armed Black men and women in Christiana, Pennsylvania successfully defended four Black people from capture, serving as a catalyst for further armed self-defense within the abolitionist movement.

Lattimer Massacre | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 10, 1897: Lattimer Massacre

Nineteen mineworkers were killed and dozens were wounded in the Lattimer Massacre.

Sept. 10, 1895: South Carolina Constitutional Convention Convened

The South Carolina Constitutional Convention convened to disenfranchise Black voters.

Attica Prison Uprising | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 9, 1971: Attica Prison Uprising

The Attica Prison Uprising began when prisoners took control of part of the prison in Upstate New York.

Sept. 9, 1915: The Association for the Study of African American Life and History

ASALH was established by Carter G. Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland.

The Stono Rebellion Marker (photo) | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 9, 1739: The Stono Rebellion

Uprising by enslaved people in South Carolina.

Sept. 8, 1965: Delano Grape Strike Began

The Delano grape strike began in California.

Men searching through rubble after the Galveston hurricane. Source: Library of Congress

Sept. 8, 1900: Galveston Hurricane

An unexpected hurricane crashed into the Gulf Coast and devastated Galveston, Texas, leaving thousands of people dead and even more left houseless. The storm’s turmoil and destruction allowed white terror and fraud to flourish.

Sept. 7, 1977: Panama Canal

Treaties were signed to turn over control of the Panama Canal from the U.S. to Panama.

Sept. 6, 2017: U.S. Virgin Islands Hit by Hurricane Irma

The Virgin Islands were hit by Hurricane Irma. Also, on #tdih in 1928, Hurricane Okeechobee formed and hit Puerto Rico and Florida soon in mid-September.

Sept. 5, 1964: Heffners Forced Out of Town for Crossing Color Line

A white family (the Heffners) in McComb, Mississippi, left after a campaign of harassment, ostracism, and economic retaliation for having spoken to civil rights workers.

Justseeds poster showing dockworkers rolling a barrel.

Sept. 5, 1917: Federal Raids on IWW

Federal agents seized records, destroyed equipment and books, and arrested hundreds of activists involved with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

Sept. 4, 1949: Concert in Peekskill Attacked

Benefit concert for the Civil Rights Congress with Paul Robeson was held in Peekskill, New York.

Mine workers in Gary, West Virginia, 1908

Sept. 4, 1921: Battle of Blair Mountain Ends

The end of fighting at the Battle of Blair Mountain, which was the largest example of class war in U.S. history.

Sept. 4, 1875: Clinton, Mississippi Massacre

Nearly 50 African-Americans were killed by white mobs during the Clinton Riot.

Sept. 3, 1991: Fire at Food Processing Plant Kills 25 Workers

Chicken plant workers died when a preventable workplace “accident” trapped them in a burning building.

Sept. 3, 1868: Henry McNeal Turner Addressed the Georgia Legislature

Henry McNeal Turner addressed the Georgia Legislature on its decision to expel all Black representatives.

Sept. 2, 1966: Grenada, Miss. School Desegregation Battle

The Grenada, Mississippi school board shuttered school instead of opening its doors to registered Black students.

Sept. 2, 1945: Vietnam Declared Independence from France

Ho Chi Minh declared the independence of Vietnam from France.

Rock Springs Massacre | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 2, 1885: Rock Springs Massacre

White coal miners in Rock Springs, Wyoming, brutally attacked Chinese workers.

Sept. 1, 1987: S. Brian Willson’s Legs Amputated by Train During Nonviolent Protest

S. Brian Willson’s legs were amputated by a train during a nonviolent protest against the U.S. arming of El Salvadoran death squads.

Sept. 1, 1965: Klan Raid Family Home in Hayneville, Alabama

The Ku Klux Klan shot into the home of Freedom Library organizer Pattie Mae McDonald and her family to terrorize them.

Sept. 1, 1956: Clinton Desegregation Crisis

The White Citizens Council and Ku Klux Klan launched full-scale rioting in Clinton, Tennessee in response to school desegregation.

Sept. 1, 1946: Hawaiian Sugar Plantation Workers Stage Mass Strike

Led by the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union (ILWU), sugar workers on 33 of Hawai’i’s 34 plantations went on strike, which lasted almost three months and led to substantial improvements in pay, housing, and working conditions.

Headline of article from the Pine Bluff Daily Graphic, September 4, 1919.

Sept. 1, 1919: Lynching of WWI Veteran Clinton Briggs

Decorated WWI veteran Clinton Briggs was killed in Arkansas.

A sepia photograph of seven members of the Gainesville 8 and their attorneys.

Aug. 31, 1973: Gainesville 8 Acquitted

Members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) were arrested and erroneously charged with inciting violence at the 1972 Republican National Convention in Miami. They were all later acquitted after a lengthy and much publicized trial.

Aug. 31, 1921: Battle of Blair Mountain

The Battle of Blair Mountain was the climax of two mine wars fought in the West Virginia coalfields.

Aug. 31, 1895: Julius Taylor Publishes Broad Ax

Julius Taylor founded and ran Broad Ax, a Utah-based Black newspaper which challenged commonly accepted beliefs about politics and religion at the end of the twentieth century.

Aug. 30, 1967: People’s Tribunal in Detroit

People’s Tribunal on killing of three young men at Algiers Motel in Detroit.

Aug. 30, 1919: The Knoxville Riot

A group of white people rioted after forming a mob to lynch Maurice Mays, a Black man in custody on for the alleged (with no evidence) murder of a white woman in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Aug. 30, 1843: Liberty Party Convention

The Liberty Party held its second convention.

Photo of flooded New Orleans, Louisiana, September 11, 2005.

Aug. 29, 2005: Hurricane Katrina Strikes Louisiana

In September 2005, Hurricane Katrina, the third deadliest storm in U.S. history, took a disproportionate toll on the Gulf Coast’s Black residents. The impact of Katrina is still felt today for Gulf Coast residents.

Aug. 29, 1970: Chicano Moratorium and Murder of Journalist Ruben Salazar

The National Chicano Moratorium March was held to protest the Vietnam War and Latino journalist Ruben Salazar was killed.

Aug. 29, 1915: Two African Americans Lynched in Texas

Two African American men were burned at the stake in Sulphur Springs, Texas.

Aug. 29, 1786: Shays’ Rebellion

Massachusetts farmers arm themselves and rebel against taxation under the Articles of Confederation.

Jobs and Justice March | Zinn Education Project

Aug. 28, 1963: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Hundreds of thousands of civil rights activists marched on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Aug. 28, 1955: Murder of Emmett Till

Teenager Emmett Till was lynched.

Aug. 27, 1963: W. E. B. Du Bois Dies

W. E. B. Du Bois died in Accra, Ghana.

Aug. 27, 1960: Ax Handle Saturday

White supremacists violently attacked a Jacksonville youth-led lunch counter sit-in.

Aug. 26, 2016: Quarterback Colin Kaepernick Kneels in Protest

Colin Kaepernick, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, draws attention to his quiet protest against police brutality during an NFL pre-season game.

Suffragists White House | Zinn Education Project

Aug. 26, 1920: 19th Amendment Adopted

The 19th Amendment was formally adopted.

Aug. 25, 1925: Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was launched in New York.

Aug. 24, 1955: Old Fort School Desegregation Struggle

The struggle for school desegregation and racial justice during the 1950s in Old Fort, North Carolina was bitter and ongoing.

Aug. 24, 1922: Howard Zinn Born

Howard Zinn, a historian, author, professor, playwright, and activist, was born in Brooklyn, New York.

Fort Hood ASU Ellen Catalinotto (photo) | The Zinn Education Project

August 23, 1968: Forty-Three Black Soldiers Stage Sit-In at Ft. Hood

When the “Fort Hood 43” refused to board a plane to Chicago for riot-control duty against fellow African Americans, their non-violent act became one of the largest demonstrations of dissent in U.S. military history.

Aug. 23, 1927: Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco Executed

Italian-born immigrants, workers, and anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in Boston, Massachusetts.

Eunice Foote, a pioneering scientist and women’s rights activist. Art by Catherine Kwon.

Aug. 23, 1856: Women’s Rights Activist Eunice Newton Foote Confirms “Greenhouse Effect”

U.S. scientist and women’s rights activist Eunice Newton Foote confirmed Fourier’s theory that atmospheric gases like carbon dioxide trap heat in the atmosphere, a phenomenon that would come to be known as the “greenhouse effect.”

Aug. 22, 1964: Sharecroppers Demand Delivery of Full Suffrage in the U.S.

Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer, and the other members of the MFDP at the Democratic National Convention, questioned the nation about the lack of “one person, one vote” in the United States.

Aug. 22, 1781: Elizabeth Mumbet Freeman Secures Her Freedom

Elizabeth Mumbet Freeman won her freedom after she got an attorney and filed a “freedom suit” under the 1780 State Constitution for Massachusetts.

Aug. 21, 1971: Anti-war Protesters Raid Draft Offices

Twenty anti-war protesters were arrested for breaking into selective service offices and destroying draft records.

August 21, 1939. Arrest of five young Black men for peaceful protest at the whites-only "public" library in Alexandria, Va.

Aug. 21, 1939: African Americans Arrested for Going to Public Library

Five Black men were arrested for staging a peaceful sit-in at the Alexandria “public” library that denied access to African Americans, making this the anniversary of one of the earliest instances of this form of non-violent protest that became popular in the mid-20th century.

Aug. 21, 1831: Nat Turner Launches Rebellion

Nathaniel Turner launched one of the most historic revolts to end enslavement.

Aug. 20, 1965: Jonathan Daniels Killed

Jonathan Myrick Daniels was shot dead in broad daylight in Lowndes County after being released from jail for picketing stores that denied entry to African Americans.

Aug. 20, 1619: Africans in Virginia

On or about Aug. 20, 1619, the documented arrival of Africans—stolen from their homelands and brought to British North America—occurred at Point Comfort.

Clara Luper (photo) | Zinn Education Project

Aug. 19, 1958: Katz Drugstore Sit-Ins

Clara Luper and the NAACP Youth Council began sit-ins to desegregate lunch counters.

Aug. 19, 1953: U.S. and Britain Topple Democratically Elected Government of Iran

Democratically elected Iranian Premier Mohammad Mossadegh was removed from power in a coup.

Aug. 18, 1977: Steve Biko Arrested

Anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko was arrested at a police roadblock in South Africa.

Aug. 18, 1823: The Demerara Uprising

This was the largest uprising of the enslaved against their British overseers in Guyana. The uprising was ended after a few days, though it served as a catalyst for the abolition of slavery in British colonies soon thereafter.

Aug. 15 and 17, 1973: Two Striking United Farm Workers Killed

Two striking United Farm Workers (UFW) were killed on Aug. 15 and 17, 1973, while picketing.

Aug. 16, 1955: Paul Robeson Lost Court Appeal

Paul Robeson lost his court appeal to have the U.S. State Department grant him a passport.

Aug. 15, 1988: Food Not Bombs Volunteers Arrested

Nine volunteers were arrested for sharing food and literature at Golden Gate Park.

Aug. 15, 1975: Joan Little Acquitted

Joan Little used deadly force to resist sexual assault and was the first to successfully defend herself in court leading to acquittal.

Eatonville, Florida, road sign entering the city

Aug. 15, 1887: All-Black Town of Eatonville Incorporated

Eatonville, Florida is the oldest Black-incorporated municipality in the United States, incorporated toward the end of the Reconstruction era.

Aug. 15 – 22, 1829: The Cincinnati Riots

White mobs in Cincinnati, Ohio, rioted for a week, assaulting the city’s Black residents and destroying their property .

Aug. 14, 2017: Activists Topple Confederate Monument in Durham

Freedom fighter Takiyah Thompson looped a bright yellow strap around the neck of a Durham, North Carolina monument to Confederate soldiers, and a crowd of other activists pulled it down, inspiring other communities to take direct action in removing public symbols that glorify white supremacy, and to raise up new stories that celebrate all people.

Detail of the cover of one of the many pamphlets produced by the National Joint Action Committee in support of Congressman Ernest Lundeen’s social insurance bill. "What Every Working Woman Wants" was printed by Workers’ Library Publishers, NYC, 1935.

Aug. 14, 1935: The Social Security Act Passed

Due to the results of the strength of organized labor and other mass movements of the 1930s, the Social Security Act was passed.

Aug. 14, 1908: Springfield Massacre

This massacre was committed against African Americans by a mob of about 5,000 white people in Springfield, Illinois.

Aug. 13, 1955: Lamar Smith Murdered

Lamar Smith, 63-year-old farmer and WWI veteran, was shot dead in Brookhaven, Mississippi, for urging African Americans to vote.

Aug. 13, 1910: Ministers Appeal to President Taft After Slocum Massacre

A group of more than 150 ministers from Washington, D.C. wrote to President William Taft about the Slocum Massacre.

The 21 plaintiffs filing suit against the U.S. government.

Aug. 12, 2015: Filing of Juliana v. United States

The constitutional climate case Juliana v. United States was filed by 21 youth against the U.S. government. The defendants said that the government's policies are causing catastrophic climate change and constitute a violation of their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property.

Carter Children | Zinn Education Project

Aug. 12, 1965: Carter Family Insists on Rights Under Brown v. Board

Mae Bertha and Matthew Carter enrolled their children in schools in Sunflower County, Mississippi that had been illegally denied to African Americans. In retaliation, they were evicted from the land they sharecropped and their home was riddled with bullets.

When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop (Book) | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

Aug. 11, 1973: Hip Hop Born

Hip hop’s origins began at a dance party where DJ Kool Herc used two turntables to create a “break beat.”

"Prison Justice Day" by Rocky Tobey. Part of the Celebrate People's History Poster collection by the Justseeds Collective.

Aug. 10, 1975: Prisoner Strike Leads to Prisoners’ Justice Day

August 10 is recognized internationally as Prisoners’ Justice Day (PJD), a day of solidarity and organizing with the incarcerated, and remembrance of those who died behind bars, living in inhumane conditions.

Aug. 10, 1835: Destruction of Noyes Academy

Nearly 500 white men destroyed the integrated Noyes Academy in Canaan, New Hampshire.

Aug. 9, 2014: Michael Brown Killed by Police

Michael Brown was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

Aug. 9, 1970: The Mangrove Nine Arrested in London

Nine Black activists were arrested in London, England and charged with inciting a riot when they led over 150 protestors in a march against police harassment.

Aug. 8, 1964: Freedom Schools Convention

The Freedom Schools Convention was held in Meridian, Mississippi

Aug. 7, 1964: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed without a single dissent in the House of Representatives, and only two no votes in the Senate, leading to increased U.S. aggression in Vietnam.

The Sugar Shack | Zinn Education Project

Aug. 6, 1965: Voting Rights Act

The Voting Rights Act was signed into law.

Aug. 6, 1964: Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party Convention

The MFDP held a State Convention with 2,500 people in Jackson, Mississippi.

Aug. 6, 1945: The U.S. Dropped an Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima

The United States dropped an atomic bomb for the first time in war over the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

Aug. 6, 1855: Bloody Monday

On election day, in Louisville, Kentucky, Protestant mobs attacked German and Irish Catholic neighborhoods.

Visitors look at a memorial near the entrance of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin Wednesday, July 31, 2013, in Oak Creek, Wisconsin

Aug. 5, 2012: The Sikh Temple of Wisconsin Massacre

A white supremacist shot and killed six members of the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

Newspaper account of African Americans killed and wounded during labor strife in Polk County, from the New York Times; August 10, 1896.

Aug. 5, 1896: Polk County Massacre

White workers murdered Black workers in Arkansas who were coming to work on the railways.

photos of the three missing men during Mississippi Freedom Summer.

Aug. 4, 1964: Civil Rights Workers Bodies Found

The bodies of three lynched civil rights workers (James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman) were found in Neshoba County, Mississippi.

Aug. 3, 1981: Air Traffic Controllers Strike

The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) declared a strike.

Aug. 3, 1980: Reagan Gives “State’s Rights” Speech at Neshoba County Fair

Reagan appealed to the “George Wallace-inclined voters” and to white supremacy in his stump speech at the Neshoba County Fair, mere miles away from where three civil rights workers were murdered by the Klan in 1964.

Aug. 3, 1946: J. C. Farmer Killed

J. C. Farmer, a 19-year-old African American WWII veteran, was killed by a mob of 20 white men.

James Baldwin Freedom Day Selma 1964 | Zinn Education Project

Aug. 2, 1924: James Baldwin Born

James Baldwin was born in Harlem, New York.

Aug. 2, 1869: First “Redeemer” Government Established in Tennessee

The first “Redeemer” government is established in Tennessee after conservatives gain control of the state’s General Assembly, ushering in an era of Jim Crow segregation laws.

Aug. 1, 1952: Sarah Keys Refuses to Give Up Her Seat on a Bus

Sarah Keys refused to give up her seat on a state-to-state charter bus, prompting the landmark court case, Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company.

Detail of portrait of Frank Little by Nicole Schulman.

Aug. 1, 1917: Labor Organizer Frank Little Lynched

IWW labor organizer Frank Little was lynched from a railroad trestle.

Poster for an event in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1849, to commemorate the end of slavery in the British West Indies.

Aug. 1, 1834: Britain Passes Slavery Abolition Act

August First Day became a symbol of hope for enslaved people and abolitionists in the United States when Britain passed the Slavery Abolition Act in 1834, abolishing slavery throughout its colonies around the world.

Odawa Chief Pontiac Meets with Gladwin | Zinn Education Project

July 31, 1763: Chief Pontiac Wins Battle of Bloody Run at Fort Detroit

Fighting alongside Odawa Chief Pontiac, the unified Native warriors defeated 250 British soldiers during their siege at Fort Detroit during Pontiac’s War.

July 30, 1975: Massacre in El Salvador

Dozens of high school and university students in a peaceful protest were killed and injured by the U.S. backed Salvadoran police and National Guard.

July 30, 1920: Lynching of Sergeant Edgar Caldwell

Sergeant Edgar Caldwell, a Black man, was hanged before a crowd of spectators in the yard of the Calhoun County jail for riding in a white streetcar.

Painting by Robert Shetterly from Americans Who Tell the Truth

July 30, 1881: Major Smedley Darlington Butler Born

Anti-war activist Major Smedley Darlington Butler was born.

The New Orleans Riot at Mechanics' Institute | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

July 30, 1866: New Orleans Massacre

The New Orleans Massacre occurred when white residents attacked Black marchers near the reconvened Louisiana Constitutional Convention.

July 29, 1910: Slocum Massacre in Texas

Citizens in the small, predominately African American town of Slocum, Texas, were massacred.

July 29, 1835: Abolitionist Literature Removed from Post Office and Burned

Late night raid on the Charleston post office by a mob of white supremacists and the burning of abolitionist mail.

July 28, 1932: Bonus Army Attacked

The U.S. government attacked an encampment of Black and white WWI veterans with tanks, bayonets, and tear gas.

July 28, 1917: Silent March Down Fifth Avenue

W. E. B. Du Bois and the NAACP organized a silent march in New York City to protest the massacres and lynchings of African Americans.

The battlefield of Verdun is part of France's Zone Rouge, cordoned off since the end of WWI.

July 28, 1914: World War I Begins

The First World War killed roughly 20 million people. Fighting transitioned from mainly human- and animal-powered to fossil fuel-powered technologies and accessing and protecting fossil fuel supplies became part of sustaining a powerful military. The Earth and the environment have suffered ever since.

Riot Sweeps Chicago | Zinn Education Project

July 27, 1919: Red Summer in Chicago

Sparked by a white police officer’s refusal to make an arrest in the murder of a Black teenager, violence in Chicago lasted almost a week. At least 38 people were killed and thousands of Black homes were looted and damaged during Red Summer.

Warriors from Bondage. The attack of Negro Fort on the Apalachicola River, 1816.

July 27, 1816: The “Negro Fort” Massacre

The U.S. Army firebombed a fort on the Apalachicola River in Florida.

July 26, 1950: No Gun Ri Massacre

During the No Gun Ri Massacre, the U.S. Army ordered that all Korean civilians traveling and moving around the country must be stopped.

Moore's Ford Bridge | Zinn Education Project

July 25, 1946: Moore’s Ford Bridge Lynching

Two young African American couples — one of the men a WWII veteran — were lynched near the Moore’s Ford Bridge.

July 25, 1898: U.S. Invades Puerto Rico

U.S. troops invaded Puerto Rico at Guánica.

July 24, 1973: Twelve-Year-Old Santos Rodriguez Killed By Police

Twelve-year-old Santos Rodriguez and his 13-year-old brother David were pulled from their home in Dallas, Texas, handcuffed, and put inside a police car. Santos was killed when one of the officers played Russian roulette to try to force the boys to confess to a crime.

F.M.B. "Marsh" Cook | ZInn Education Project

July 23, 1890: F. M. B. “Marsh” Cook Killed

F. M. B. “Marsh” Cook, a white man, was killed for standing up against the white supremacist 1890 Mississippi Constitutional Convention.

July 22, 1966: Lawful Demonstrators Threatened by Klan and Police in Grenada, Mississippi

U.S. District Judge issued an injunction ordering police in Grenada, Mississippi to stop interfering with lawful protest. This ruling followed weeks of arrests and beating of demonstrators who had been attempting to desegregate businesses in the town.

Lucas Square St. Louis Rail Strike | Zinn Education Project

July 22, 1877: St. Louis Rail Strike

Rail workers and residents of St. Louis, Missouri briefly took over the city as part of the wider Great Railroad Strike of 1877.

July 21, 1656: Elizabeth Key Wins Her Freedom

In early Colonial Virginia, Elizabeth Key became the first woman of African descent in the North American colonies to sue for her freedom and win.

July 20, 1967: Newark Black Power Conference Begins

More than 1,000 delegates representing 286 organizations and institutions from 126 cities in 26 states, Bermuda, and Nigeria gathered at the National Conference on Black Power in Newark, New Jersey.

July 19, 1958: Dockum Drug Store Sit-In

Ron Walters, Carol Parks-Haun, and other leaders in the NAACP Youth Council organized a sit-in in Greensboro, North Carolina.

soldiers at a YWCA Hostess House | Zinn Education Project

July 19, 1919: White Mobs in Uniform Attack African Americans — Who Fight Back — in Washington, D.C.

White mobs, incited by the media, attacked the African American community in Washington, D.C., and African American soldiers returning from WWI. This was one of the many violent events that summer and it was distinguished by strong and organized Black resistance to the white violence.

July 19, 1881: Atlanta Washerwomen’s Strike

Black women in Atlanta who washed clothes for a living organized an effective Reconstruction era strike — with clear demands, strategic timing, and door-to-door canvassing.

July 18, 1966: Hough Uprising

Protest and civil unrest broke out in Cleveland following years of escalation of racial tension.

July 18, 1946: Murder of Maceo Snipes

WWII veteran Maceo Snipes was murdered after casting his vote in the Georgia Democratic Primary.

Newsboys Strike | Zinn Education Project

July 18, 1899: Newsboys Strike in New York

The Newsboys Strike of 1899 began in New York City.

July 18, 1890: George Washington Williams Pens Letter Exposing Atrocities in the Congo

Hoping to spark a movement in protest of the Belgian government’s role in its African colony, historian George Washington Williams wrote an open letter to Belgian King Leopold II exposing atrocities in the Congo.

July 18, 1863: Sgt. William Carney Earns Medal of Honor on Civil War Battlefield

A volunteer infantryman performed an act of courage that was the earliest event to earn an African American soldier the Medal of Honor.

July 17, 1944: Port Chicago Disaster and Mutiny

A deadly munitions explosion occurred at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California. When the surviving African Americans sailors demanded safer conditions before returning to work, they faced court martial and jail.

On July 16, 1960, seven students from Sterling High along with college freshman, Jesse Jackson, entered the library and were arrested. This group became known as the Greenville Eight.

July 16, 1960: Greenville Eight Stage Read-In at Local Library

In an act of civil disobedience against the whites-only Greenville County Public Library, eight young Black people entered the library, began reading, and were subsequently arrested. They became known as the Greenville Eight, and the library finally desegregated months later after many legal battles.

Relatives of the Groveland Four, including Carol Greenlee, right, gather at a monument that was unveiled in front of the Old Lake County Courthouse in Tavares, Fla., on Feb. 21, 2020.

July 16, 1949: Groveland Four Arrested

Four African Americans were brutally beaten and arrested after being falsely accused of a crime in Groveland, Florida.

July 16, 1944: Irene Morgan Refuses to Change Seats on Bus

Irene Morgan refused to change her seat on a segregated bus in Virginia.

Elizabeth Jennings Graham | Zinn Education Project

July 16, 1854: Elizabeth Jennings Graham

Schoolteacher Elizabeth Jennings Graham successfully challenged racist streetcar policies in New York City.

July 15, 1978: The Longest Walk

The Longest Walk, a transcontinental trek for Native American justice, ended.

July 15, 1964: Ozell Sutton Denied Service at Arkansas Capitol Cafeteria

WWII veteran Ozell Sutton was denied service at the Arkansas Capitol cafeteria after visiting the building to collect voter registration materials.

July 14, 1970: Young Lords Occupy Lincoln Hospital

The Young Lords occupied Lincoln Hospital’s major administrative building in response to deplorable treatment of people of color.

outline of black soccer ball with pink background.

July 14, 1969: Soccer War

In 1969, a brief war broke out between Honduras and El Salvador.

July 13, 1863: New York City Draft Riots and Massacre

The New York City Draft Massacre (“Riots”) were the largest civil insurrection in U.S. history besides the Civil War itself. White mobs attacked the African American community — committing murder and burning homes and institutions (including an orphanage.)

July 12, 1964: Henry Dee and Charles Moore Case

The bodies of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee, were found in the Mississippi River. They had been tortured and murdered by the Klan two months earlier.

July 12, 1917: The Bisbee Deportation

The Bisbee Deportation was the illegal deportation of more than 1,000 striking mine workers (IWW-led strike), their supporters, and citizen bystanders by 2,000 vigilantes.

July 11, 1964: Lemuel Penn Killed

Athens-area Ku Klux Klan members shot and killed WWII veteran and DCPS assistant superintendent Lemuel Penn.

Cicero Riot - Burning | The Zinn Education Project

July 11, 1951: Cicero Riot Over Housing Desegregation

Thousands of white people rioted after a young Black couple moved into an apartment in Cicero, Illinois, west of Chicago. They firebombed the building, overturned police cars, and threw stones at firefighters who tried to put out the fire.

July 11, 1947: Anguilla Prison Massacre

A camp warden and guards shot dead seven prisoners being held at the Anguilla Prison in Georgia. The Anguilla Prison Massacre Quilt Project tells that story, drawing on records from the NAACP.

Niagara Movement Founders, 1905. Top row (left to right): H. A. Thompson, Alonzo F. Herndon, John Hope, James R. L. Diggs (?). Second row (left to right): Frederick McGhee, Norris B. Herndon (boy), J. Max Barber, W. E. B. Du Bois, Robert Bonner. Bottom row (left to right): Henry L. Bailey, Clement G. Morgan, W. H. H. Hart, B. S. Smith. Reproduction. Detail.

July 11, 1905: The Niagara Movement

The Niagara Movement — starting as a conference of Black leaders in upstate New York — was formed, paving the way for the creation of the NAACP.

July 11, 1892: Coeur d’Alene Idaho Miners Strike

Miners in Coeur d’Alene held a strike and took on the Pinkertons.

July 10, 1985: Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior

Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior was bombed by two French agents and Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira was killed.

Shirley Chisholm '72 | Zinn Education Project

July 10, 1972: Shirley Chisholm at Democratic National Convention

Shirley Chisholm was an historic candidate at the Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach. Chisholm was outspoken on behalf of civil rights legislation, the Equal Rights Amendment, and a minimum family income; she opposed wiretapping, domestic spying, and the Vietnam War.

Daniel Hoskins with guns | Zinn Education Project

July 10, 1919: Beating of Samuel L. Jones and the Longview Riot

The Longview Riot is one example of white mob violence during the period known as “Red Summer.” Photo: Daniel Hoskins at gun repository required by U.S. Marshall to undermine African Americans’ ability to engage in self-defense.

July 10, 1902: Nicolás Guillén Born

Cuban poet of social protest and a leader of the Afro-Cuban movement, Nicolás Guillén was born.

July 9, 1868: 14th Amendment Adopted

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted.

The 1897 Petition Against the Annexation of Hawaii.

July 8, 1898: Hawai’i Annexation

Hawai’i was annexed to the United States.

Hamburg Massacre Marker | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

July 8, 1876: Hamburg Massacre

During a clear sign of Reconstruction era voter suppression, a Black militia was accused of blocking a road and punished with the Hamburg Massacre.

Edna Griffin served in the Women’s Army Corps at Fort Des Moines during WWII.

July 7, 1948: Katz Drug Store Denies Service to Edna Griffin

When WWII veteran Edna Griffin was denied service at a Des Moines drug store, she took the company to court and the lawsuit became a test case.

July 7, 1903: March of the Mill Children

Mary Harris “Mother” Jones began the “March of the Mill Children.”

Here is a synopsis of South Carolina testimonies at the hearings in July, 1871.

July 7, 1871: Testimony at Klan Hearings by Elias Thomson

Elias Thomson, an African American who lived in Spartanburg, South Carolina, bravely shared testimony detailing violence inflicted against him because he voted for the Republican ticket in the local election.

Philando Castile by Pollen | Zinn Education Project

July 6, 2016: Philando Castile is Killed by Police

Philando Castile, an African American, was shot to death by a police officer at a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Castile had worked as a nutritional supervisor at an elementary school.

Jackie Robinson | Zinn Education Project

July 6, 1944: Lt. Jackie Robinson Refuses to Give Up Seat on Bus

While stationed at Camp Hood in Texas, Lieutenant Jackie Robinson refused to give up his seat on the bus and was court-martialed.

July 6, 1892: Homestead Strike

Spies from the Pinkerton Detective Agency and striking steelworkers engaged in a major battle as part of the Homestead Strike.

July 5, 1935: National Labor Relations Act Passed

The National Labor Relations Act was signed into law.

Hell in a Very Small Space | Zinn Education Project

July 4, 1976: Marion Prisoners Stage Bicentennial Hunger Strike

Inmates at United States Penitentiary (USP) Marion staged a hunger strike on the U.S. bicentennial in protest of inhumane treatment by the prison administration.

July 4, 1965: First Annual Reminder Demonstration for Gay and Lesbian Rights

Gay and lesbian activists on the east coast protested in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia to demand equitable treatment and respect.

July 4, 1963: Hundreds Non-Violently Protest Gwynn Oak Amusement Park’s Segregation Policy

Hundreds of civil rights demonstrators amassed on Gwynn Oak Amusement Park in Baltimore, Maryland, to protest the park’s segregation policy.

July 4, 1963: Clyde Kennard Died

Clyde Kennard (June 12, 1927–July 4, 1963) bravely and righteously tried to pursue higher education in Mississippi. He faced the fatal wrath of the state as a result of his efforts to challenge white supremacy.

July 4, 1940: Black World’s Fair Held in Chicago

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the ending of slavery in the United States, the Black World’s Fair, also known as the American Negro Exposition, was held at the Chicago Coliseum from July through September 1940.

July 4, 1917: Hubert Harrison Urges Armed Self-Defense at Harlem Rally

Hubert Harrison urges armed self-defense at Harlem protest rally in the wake of two white supremacist pogroms against African Americans in East St. Louis.

Jack Johnson fighting Jim Jeffries, Reno, 1910. Source: Nevada Historical Society.

July 4, 1910: Jack Johnson Defeats James J. Jeffries

African American heavyweight champion Jack Johnson successfully defended his title by knocking out James J. Jeffries, who had come out of retirement “to win back the title for the White race” in Reno, Nevada.

People’s History of Fourth of July: Beyond 1776 - On July 4, 1876, suffragists crash the Centennial Celebration at Independence Hall to present the “Declaration of the Rights of Women” | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

July 4, 1876: Suffragists Crash Centennial Celebration at Independence Hall

Members of the National Woman Suffrage Association crashed the Centennial Celebration at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to present the “Declaration of the Rights of Women.”

Bisbee Arizona 1919 (photo) | Zinn Education Project

July 3, 1919: The Battle of Brewery Gulch

A battle between Black soldiers and the local white law enforcement who targeted them in Bisbee, Arizona during Red Summer.

July 3, 1835: Paterson Silkworkers Strike

In Paterson, New Jersey, 2,000 workers went on strike from 20 textile mills.

Protest of the proposed Byhalia Connection Pipeline.

July 2, 2021: Opposition Prevents Byhalia Pipeline Construction

Due to overwhelming opposition from activists and community members, construction of the Byhalia Connection oil pipeline in greater Memphis, Tennessee was canceled by its developers, Plains All American Pipeline.

The Court Scene 005 | Zinn Education Project

July 2, 1839: The Amistad Mutiny

Africans on the Cuban schooner Amistad rose up against their captors, seizing control of the ship, which had been transporting them to chattel slavery.

July 2, 1777: Vermont Officially Abolished Slavery

Vermont officially abolished slavery in its constitution.

Drawing by an elementary school student for the cover of the Lincoln Collective’s recruitment pamphlet.

July 1, 1970: The Lincoln Pediatric Collective Forms to Serve Bronx Community

Over three dozen young doctors bucked prestige and embraced justice in the summer of 1970 when they began work at Lincoln Hospital, a run-down, underfunded public hospital in the South Bronx that also the site of an occupation by the Young Lords.

July1 New Orleans Street car | Zinn Education Project

July 1, 1929: Streetcar Workers Strike in New Orleans

More than 1,000 streetcar workers went on strike in New Orleans.

Fort Hood Three Press Conference | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

June 30, 1966: Fort Hood Three Release Public Statement on Vietnam Refusal

The Fort Hood Three issued a public statement about their refusal to be sent to Vietnam.

June 30, 1966: Virginia Censorship Board Ceases Operations

The Virginia Division of Motion Picture Censorship, which racists used to promulgate white supremacy and negative stereotypes of African Americans since 1922, ceased operations.

Photo of environmental activist Jessica Reznicek

June 29, 2021: Environmental Activist Charged with “Domestic Terrorism”

Environmental activist and member of the Catholic Worker movement, Jessica Reznicek, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for “domestic terrorism” for acts of civil disobedience and property damage intended to stop the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Portrait of Edward Alexander Bouchet graduating from Yale College, class of 1874.

June 29, 1876: Physicist Edward A. Bouchet Receives Doctorate

Edward Alexander Bouchet graduated from Yale University as the sixth person to receive a Ph.D. in physics in the United States.

June 29, 1820: The Antelope Ship Arrived in Savannah

Two hundred and eighty one Africans aboard The Antelope ship were brought to Savannah by the U.S. Treasury.

June 28, 1969: Stonewall Riots

Police arrived at the Stonewall Inn and arrested anyone found to be cross-dressing, resulting in mayhem and what are now referred to as the Stonewall Riots. This was a milestone in a long history of LGBTQ+ activism.

June 27, 2015: Bree Newsome Removes Confederate Flag

While politicians debated the implications of taking down the Confederate flag after the white supremacist murder of nine African Americans at Emmanuel AME Church, Bree Newsome scaled the South Carolina state flag pole and took the flag down.

June 27, 1954: Elected Guatemalan Leader Overthrown in CIA-Backed Coup

Democratically elected Guatemalan president Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán was deposed in a CIA-sponsored coup.

June 27, 1880: Helen Keller Born

Helen Keller worked throughout her long life to achieve social justice.

June 26, 1959: Prince Edward County Closes Public Schools

Rather than desegregate, the Prince Edward County, Virginia Board of Supervisors refused to appropriate money from the County School Board to the public schools.

June 25, 2002: Tamir Rice Born

Killed by the police only twelve years later, today Tamir Rice was born.

Newspaper clipping of the Wayland Town Crier for June 1954. Headline reads: “Public Hearing on Hale is Scheduled for June 8; School Committee Makes Charges.”

June 25, 1954: Elementary School Teacher Fired in Red Scare

At the height of the anti-Communist Red Scare, Massachusetts second-grade teacher Anne P. Hale Jr. was removed from her position because of her prior membership in the Communist Party.

Marker stone at the Little Bighorn Battlefield, Montana.

June 25, 1876: Battle of the Greasy Grass (Battle of Little Big Horn)

Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho defended their land in the battle of the Greasy Grass (Battle of Little Big Horn).

June 24, 1980: General Strike in El Salvador Against Death Squads

A general strike was held in El Salvador against U.S.-funded death squads.

June 24, 1973: UpStairs Lounge Massacre

The largest LGBTQ massacre in U.S. history (until the Orlando Massacre) occurred at the UpStairs Lounge in New Orleans.

June 23, 1988: James Hansen Testified to Senate About Climate Change

NASA scientist James Hansen testified to Congress stating the greenhouse effect had been detected.

June 23, 1968: The Poor People’s Campaign Ended

The permit for the Poor People’s Campaign expired, ending the month long encampment.

GI Bill Denied LOC | Zinn Education Project

June 22, 1944: GI Bill Signed

President Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (USA), known as the GI Bill, to provide financial aid to veterans returning from WW II. White supremacy prevented equal access to those benefits.

Missing persons poster created by the FBI in 1964, shows the photographs of Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner.

June 21, 1964: Three Civil Rights Workers Murdered in Mississippi

James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman were tortured and murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in Neshoba County, Mississippi.

A Wichita Beacon article lists the ground rules for the game.

June 21, 1925: Black Baseball Team Beats Klan Players

The Wichita Monrovians bested a squad fielded by the white-supremacist Ku Klux Klan terrorist organization at the height of Jim Crow apartheid.

Southern Homestead Act | Zinn Education Project

June 21, 1866: Southern Homestead Act

The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 was signed, providing land to the formerly enslaved, lands which had been stolen from the Native American inhabitants.

Muhammad Ali June20 | Zinn Education Project

June 20, 1967: Muhammad Ali Convicted for Refusing the Vietnam Draft

Muhammad Ali was convicted for refusing induction in the U.S. armed forces.

Sugarcane during a controlled burn in South Florida.

June 19, 2015: Stop Sugar Field Burning Campaign Begins

The Sierra Club launched the Stop Sugar Field Burning Campaign to bring an end to the practice of sugarcane field burning which is harmful to the environmental and the health of local residents.

June 19, 1982: Vincent Chin Beaten to Death in Hate Crime

In Detroit, Michigan Chinese American man Vincent Chin was beaten to death in a hate crime by two white auto workers who blamed Chin for the massive lay-offs occurring in the auto industry. The judge gave the murderers three year’s probation.

June 19, 1865: “Juneteenth” Emancipation Day

Juneteenth — June 19th, also known as Emancipation Day — Juneteenth — is one of the many commemorations of people seizing their freedom in the United States.

June 18, 1964: St. Augustine Swim-In

Black and white protesters attempted to desegregate a pool in St. Augustine, Florida. The owner dumped acid into the protester-filled pool in an attempt to force them to leave. Police officers eventually dragged protesters out of the pool and took them to jail.

During the 1953 bus boycott in Baton Rouge, the African American community organized free carpools, enabling protestors to go about their daily business while simultaneously showing they would no longer accept second-class citizenship.

June 18, 1953: Baton Rouge Bus Boycott Begins

Black leaders in Baton Rouge, Louisiana formed the United Defense League (UDL) to protest bus segregation and persuaded thousands of Black residents to boycott buses until an agreed upon compromise was met.

June 17, 2015: Charleston Church Massacre

Nine African American churchgoers were gunned down inside a church in an act of white supremacist terrorism.

Side entrance to the Governor’s mansion on Capital Street in Jackson on June 17, 1965.

June 17, 1965: Protest for Voting Rights in Jackson, Mississippi

Five-year-old Anthony Quin and his mother and siblings protested against the election of five Mississippi Congressmen from districts where Black people were not allowed to vote. Refused admittance, they sat on the steps and police-instigated mayhem ensued.

South Africa anti-apartheid Youth Day poster

June 16, 1976: Soweto Uprising

Student-led protests in South Africa that began in response to the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in local schools.

June 16, 1918: Eugene V. Debs Speech Against WWI

Eugene V. Debs made his famous anti-war speech protesting World War I, which was raging in Europe at the time.

June 15, 1955: Protest of Nuclear Attack Drills

When the Civil Defense Administration attempted to hold a drill simulating a nuclear attack, 27 activists in New York refused to take cover. They handed out pamphlets reading: “We will not obey this order to pretend, to evacuate, to hide... We refuse to cooperate.”

June 14, 2001: U.S. Ends Bombing Exercises in Puerto Rico

After decades of protests from activists, the United States announced the end to its bombing exercises in Vieques, Puerto Rico.

June 14, 1943: Supreme Court Finds Compulsory Flag Salutes Unconstitutional

On Flag Day 1943, the Supreme Court invalidated a compulsory flag salute law in public schools and established that students possess some level of First Amendment rights.

June 13, 1866: 14th Amendment Passed

The 14th Amendment to the constitution was passed, granting citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.”

June 12, 1967: Loving Day

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mildred and Richard Loving in the historic Loving v. Virginia case.

June 12, 1963: Medgar Evers Murdered in Mississippi

Medgar Evers, WWII veteran and civil rights activist, was murdered by a white supremacist in Jackson, Mississippi.

June 12, 1956: Paul Robeson Testifies Before HUAC

Paul Robeson testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, where he was questioned about his political speech, associations, and party affiliation.

June 12, 1937: Oliver Law Became Brigade Commander

Oliver Law became first Black commander of a U.S. army, the integrated Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

June 11, 2002: African American Residents in Louisiana Win Their Fight Against Shell Oil

African Ameican residents of Diamond, Louisiana won their relocation fight with Shell Oil.

June 11, 1965: Chicago School Boycott

More than 100,000 students stayed out of school to protest inequality and segregation in Chicago, Illinois.

The closing words of the Port Huron Statement, the founding document of the Students for a Democratic Society, which met June 11-15 in Port Huron, Michigan.

June 11, 1962: Students for a Democratic Society Issue Port Huron Statement

Students for a Democratic Society held its founding convention in Michigan and issued the Port Huron Statement.

June 10, 2018: Ancestral Land Returned to Ponca Tribe

Along the “Trail of Tears” in Neligh, Nebraska, a farmer signed a deed to return ancestral land to the Ponca Tribe.

June 10, 1966: Ben Chester White Murdered

Ben Chester White, caretaker on a farm, was brutally murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in Natchez, Mississippi.

June 9, 1954: Joseph Welch Confronts Sen. Joseph McCarthy

Joseph N. Welch confronted Sen. Joseph McCarthy about allegations of communists in the U.S. Army.

June 9, 1952: Fred Ross Pitched Political Activism to Cesar Chavez

Fred Ross knocked on the door of Cesar Chavez.

June 8, 1961: Freedom Riders Arrested

Freedom Riders traveling from New Orleans, Louisiana to Jackson, Mississippi were arrested in 1961.

June 7, 1892: Homer Plessy Arrested for Violating Louisiana’s Separate Car Act

Homer Plessy was arrested for violating Louisiana’s Separate Car Act.

James Meredith and Stokely Carmichael. Photo by Bob Fitch.

June 6, 1966: James Meredith and the March Against Fear

Air Force veteran James Meredith began the March Against Fear from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi.

June 6, 1730: Revolt on the Little George

Approximately ninety-six Africans held captive on the British slave ship Little George revolted against the ship’s captain and crew, eventually taking control of the entire ship.

ACT UP New York Activists | Zinn Education Project

June 5, 1981: AIDS Epidemic Recognized by Medical Community

The CDC published a medical study about five gay men, plagued by a mysterious autoimmune disease (AIDS), in June 1981.

June 5, 1950: The Supreme Court and School Segregation Cases

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in three cases that weakened the structure of legalized segregation.

May 25 Norfolk Voters | Zinn Education Project

June 5, 1865: Norfolk’s Black Community Presents Address for Equal Rights

The Colored Monitor Union Club organized and released their address for equal rights in Norkfolk, Virginia, soon after the Civil War ended.

June 4, 2010: Haitian Farmers Burn “Gift” of Monsanto Seeds

Approximately 10,000 Haitian farmers protested the donation of 475 tons of Monsanto hybrid seeds.

June 4, 1967: Muhammad Ali Summit

African American athletes gathered to support Muhammed Ali’s refusal to serve in Vietnam.

June 4, 1919: Congress Passes 19th Amendment and Sends to States for Ratification

Congress passed the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

June 3, 1946: Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia

SCOTUS ruled against Jim Crow segregation on interstate commerce in Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia, leading to Journey of Reconciliation Freedom Rides.

June 3, 1943: The Zoot Suit Riots

White U.S. servicemen and police entered a majority-Mexican American neighborhood in East Los Angeles and attacked and detained hundreds of young people in the “zoot suit riots.”

June 2, 1863: Harriet Tubman Frees Nearly 800 People

Harriet Tubman planned and guided a significant armed raid (becoming the first woman to do so in the Civil War) against Confederate forces, supply depots, and plantations along the Combahee River in coastal South Carolina.

June 1, 1968: Founding of Drum and Spear Bookstore

First opened in 1968, Drum and Spear was the first endeavor of the Afro-American Resources, Inc. founded by SNCC organizers Charlie Cobb, Courtland Cox, and others. The bookstore quickly became a central hub of knowledge to “disseminate information by and about Black people in the African Diaspora.”

Vietnam Veterans Against the War | ZInn Education Project

June 1, 1967: Vietnam Veterans Against the War Founded

The Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) was founded in New York.

May 31, 1921: Tulsa Massacre

In one of countless white supremacist massacres in U.S. history, white supremacists destroyed a thriving Black community in Oklahoma, known today as the Tulsa Massacre.

May 30, 1942: Fred Korematsu Arrested

Fred Korematsu was arrested on a street corner in San Leandro, California for resisting Executive Order 9066, in which all people of Japanese descent were incarcerated in U.S. concentration camps.

May 30, 1937: Memorial Day Massacre

The Chicago Police Department shot and killed ten unarmed demonstrators in Chicago on Memorial Day.

May 29 Disney Strike | Zinn Education Project

May 29, 1941: Disney Animators’ Strike

Disney animators went on strike and demanded unionization.

May 29: Memorial Day

Learn about the people’s history of Decoration Day (Memorial Day) and the Memorial Day Massacre.

May 28, 1963: Woolworth Sit-in in Jackson, Mississippi

Students and faculty from Tougaloo College held a sit-in at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Jackson, Mississippi.

May 27, 1972: First African Liberation Day Demonstration on the National Mall

The first African Liberation Day drew some 60,000 demonstrators in cities across the United States and Canada, including one on the National Mall in Washington D. C.

May 27, 1958: Ernest Green Graduates from Little Rock

Ernest Green became the first African-American to graduate from Little Rock Central High School in 1958.

May 27, 1954: “Black Monday” Speech Incites White Supremacy

Future Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Tom P. Brady delivered a racist speech called “Black Monday” in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, inspiring many white leaders to join the White Citizens’ Council.

May 26, 1956: Tallahassee Bus Boycott Sparked by Students’ Protest

Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson sparked a city-wide boycott in Tallahassee, Florida when they were arrested for refusing to move from the whites-only seats of a segregated bus.

May 26, 1937: Battle of the Overpass

Union members were beaten by Ford Motor Co. reps for distributing leaflets in the Battle of the Overpass.

Pequot Massacre | Zinn Education Project

May 26, 1637: Pequot Massacre

Hundreds of Pequot villagers were massacred by the Puritans in Mystic, Connecticut.

May 25, 1934: Minneapolis Teamsters Strike

The Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934 was settled with union recognition and reinstatement for all fired workers.

May 25, 1865: Black Virginians Cast Freedom Ballots

African Americans tested their right to vote and when denied, cast their own “freedom ballots,” on election day in Norfolk, Virginia.

Flowers, toys, and other objects are seen at a memorial for the victims of the deadliest mass shooting in nearly a decade resulting in the death of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, May 29, 2022.

May 24, 2022: Uvalde School Shooting

Nineteen children and two teachers were shot dead at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

May 24, 1990: Judi Bari’s Car Bombed

Earth First! activist Judi Bari’s car was blown up by a bomb in Oakland, California.

Henry Dumas, just days before his death, by Clem Fiori.

May 23, 1968: Acclaimed Writer Henry Dumas Fatally Shot by Police

Henry Dumas, a critically acclaimed author, was fatally shot by the New York Transit police.

May 23, 1914: Indian Migrants on the Komagata Maru Denied Entry Into Canada

Nearly 400 South Asian immigrants — many of whom were Sikh — steamed into Vancouver’s harbor on the Japanese ship Komagata Maru in search of a new home, but were blocked from docking and disembarking due to racist immigration policies.

Elizabeth "Betsy" Brown Stephens, a Cherokee woman who walked the Trail of Tears.

May 23, 1838: The Trail of Tears Began

The forcible removal of Native American tribes, known as the Trail of Tears, began.

May 22: International Day for Biological Diversity

The United Nations proclaimed May 22 the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues.

May 22, 1843: “Great Emigration” of the Oregon Trail

Thousands of Native Americans were displaced when the “Great Emigration” on the Oregon Trail began.

May 21, 1881: Blanche K. Bruce Became Register of the Treasury

Blanche K. Bruce became Register of the Treasury, which placed his name on all U.S. currency.

A sign near the Liberty Bell tells the story of Ona Judge. Independence Historical Park, Philadelphia.

May 21, 1796: Ona Judge Escapes Enslavement by President George Washington

Ona Judge escaped enslavement by U.S. President George Washington.

May 20, 1963: Medgar Evers Speech on WLBT

Medgar Evers made a 17-minute speech on WLBT in a rare and historic exception to the white supremacist only voice on Mississippi radio and television.

May 20, 1943: The Battle of Attu

The Battle of Attu was fought between U.S. and Japanese forces, with Attu villagers taken as prisoners of war.

Peter Yew/Police Brutality Protests, 1975 | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

May 19, 1975: Peter Yew/Police Brutality Protests

Virtually every shop and factory in Chinatown was closed, with signs posted windows and on doors reading “Closed to Protest Police Brutality” to protest the beating of Peter Yew.

May 19, 1972: First Malcolm X Day Celebration in D.C.

In a personal essay about the longest-running, largest annual event to celebrate the legacy of Malcolm X, Charles Stephenson describes the celebration’s founding and impact of that day in history.

May 19, 1930: Lorraine Hansberry Born

Lorraine Hansberry was an author and activist who wrote “A Raisin in the Sun.”

Portrait of Yuri Kochiyama with raised fist.

May 19, 1921: Yuri Kochiyama Born

Political activist Yuri Kochiyama was born in San Pedro, California.

May 19, 1918: Mary Turner Lynching

Mary Turner, a young African American woman who was eight months pregnant, was lynched in Lowndes County, Georgia.

May 19, 1856: Charles Sumner Crime Against Kansas Speech

Charles Sumner delivered a speech denouncing slavery and the need for Kansas to become a free state.

May 18, 1896: Plessy v. Ferguson Ruling

Plessy v. Ferguson upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities.

Newspaper following the Miami Riots of 1980.

May 17, 1980: Miami Riots Begin

Following the acquittal of four Miami police officers in the brutal murder of Arthur McDuffie, Black residents rose up in protest at the injustice of these acquittals.

May 17, 1968: Catonsville Nine Burn Draft Records

Nine people entered the Selective Service Offices, removed and burned draft records, and were collectively arrested in protest of the Vietnam War — they became known as the Catonsville Nine.

Spottswood Thomas Bolling Jr. and his mother Mrs. Sarah Bolling of the Bolling v. Sharpe school desegregation case, decided on the same day as Brown v. Board. Image: © The Washington Post by permission from the Washingtoniana Division.

May 17, 1954: Brown v. Board Ruling

After decades of organizing and strategic efforts by parents, teachers, lawyers, and more — the U.S. Supreme Court issued the unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education on school segregation.

May 16, 1918: The Sedition Act of 1918 Enacted

The Sedition Act of 1918 was enacted to extend the Espionage Act of 1917. It forbade the use of “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the U.S. government.

May 16, 1912: Studs Terkel Born

Studs Terkel was an author, activist, historian, and broadcaster.

May 15, 2010: Kalief Browder Arrested, Held for Three Years with No Trial

Kalief Browder was arrested at the age of 16 for allegedly stealing a backpack weeks before in the Bronx.

May 15, 2005: Howard Zinn Gave Commencement Address at Spelman

Howard Zinn gave the commencement address at Spelman University, at the invitation of President Beverly Daniel Tatum.

May 15, 1970: Jackson State Killings

College student Phillip Lafayette Gibbs (21) and high school student James Earl Green (17) were killed by the police during an anti-war protest at Jackson State College.

Mama's Day (Campaign): Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

Mother’s Day: A Campaign for Peace with Justice

Mother’s Day began as a call to action for healthcare and against war. Activism continues today with #FreeBlackMamas and more.

May 14, 2022: Buffalo Massacre

After posting a racist manifesto online before targeting a majority-Black neighborhood, a white supremacist killed ten people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.

May 14, 1960: Firehoses Confront Free Speech in S.F. City Hall

Peaceful protesters formed a picket line at the House on Un-American Activities Committee hearings.

May 14, 1913: Longshore Strike in Philadelphia

More than four thousand Philadelphia longshoremen, organized by African American IWW leader Ben Fletcher, went on strike and shut down one of the busiest ports in the United States.

May 13, 2011: Scholastic Inc. Withdraws Coal Pamphlet

Amid overwhelming criticism that Scholastic Inc. was lying to students about the benefits of coal use, the education publisher cut ties with the coal industry.

May 13, 1985: Philadelphia Police Bomb MOVE

The Philadelphia Police Department dropped a C-4 bomb on the home of the MOVE organization, killing eleven people (including five children) and wiping out half a city block.

May 13, 1846: U.S. Congress Approves Declaration of War Against Mexico

The U.S. Congress overwhelmingly voted in favor of President James K. Polk’s request to declare war on Mexico.

May 12, 1968: The Poor People’s Campaign Began

The Poor People’s Campaign was a multiracial effort to gain economic justice for poor people.

portrait of Detroit educator Fannie Richards

May 12, 1869: Detroit Educator Fannie Richards Helps to Desegregate Michigan Schools

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled in favor of school desegregation in the case of Joseph Workman v. the Detroit Board of Education, almost 90 years before the United States’ landmark Brown v. Board of Education.

Pentagon Papers Charges Dismissed | Zinn Education Project

May 11, 1973: Pentagon Papers Charges Dismissed

Judge Byrne dismissed all charges against Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo in the Pentagon Papers trial.

May 11, 1894: Pullman Strike

The American Railway Union led the Pullman Strike.

May 10, 1967: Army Captain Howard Levy Refuses to Train Green Berets During Vietnam War

Army Captain Howard Levy was imprisoned for three years for refusing to train U.S. Special Forces soldiers during the Vietnam War.

Several Killed in Race Riot, El Paso Herald | Zinn Education Project

May 10, 1919: Charleston White Mob Riot

White sailors ignited violent rioting in Charleston, South Carolina during the Red Summer of 1919. African Americans fought back, in self-defense.

May 10, 1886: Lee Yick Wins Equal Protection Under the Law Case

Lee Yick won a Supreme Court case that said that all people — citizens and non-citizens alike — had equal protection under the law.

May 9, 1968: Ocean Hill-Brownsville Teachers’ Strike of 1968

Teachers went on strike for seven months, against community control, after Black and Puerto Rican parents organized for better schools for their children in New York City.

Helen Keller letter to German students. Click image for source page with transcription.

May 9, 1933: Helen Keller Writes to German Students

Helen Keller wrote a letter to the students who planned on burning all books deemed “un-German.”

A confrontation between a policeman wielding a nightstick and a striker during the San Francisco General Strike, 1934.

May 9, 1934: Longshore Strike

Starting in the spring of 1934, longshoremen across every port on the West Coast struck against the unfair hiring tactics that they experienced daily.

May 8, 1959: Mexican American Communities Evicted

Palo Verde, La Loma, and Bishop were close-knit Mexican American communities that were destroyed in the 1950s to make way for Dodger Stadium.

May 8, 1858: John Brown and Constitutional Convention

John Brown, Martin Delany, and others gathered for a Constitutional Convention in Chatham, Canada.

May 7, 1955: Murder of Rev. George W. Lee

Rev. George W. Lee, one of the first African Americans registered to vote in Humphreys County since Reconstruction and head of the Belzoni, Mississippi NAACP, was murdered.

May 7, 1954: Viet Minh Victory

The Viet Minh scored their final victory over the French at Dien Bien Phu.

May 6, 1922: Gloria Richardson Born

Civil rights activist Gloria Richardson was born in Baltimore.

May 6, 1882: Chinese Exclusion Act Signed

The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act was signed, prohibiting Chinese immigration to the United States.

May 5, 1905: Chicago Defender Founded

Robert Sengstacke Abbott founded the highly influential newspaper, the Chicago Defender, with the tagline “American Race Prejudice Must Be Destroyed.”

May 5: Rethinking Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is actually the Battle of Puebla Day, commemorating the defeat of Napoleon III in 1862.

Indigenous delegate David Close meets with Pope Francis during the Long March to Rome and Delegation Lead to the Mission in Rome.

May 4, 2016: Indigenous People March to Demand Revocation of the Doctrine of Discovery

A delegation representing Native nations marched upon the Vatican and were successful in convincing the Vatican to revoke the Doctrine of Discovery.

May 4, 1970: Kent State Massacre

During an anti-war protest at Kent State University, the Ohio National Guard shot unarmed college students, killing four. Students were also killed at Jackson State (May 15, 1970), and Orangeburg (February 8, 1968).

Portrait of 7 of the 8 Haymarket Martyrs.

May 4, 1886: Haymarket Tragedy

A peaceful demonstration in Chicago for the eight-hour day ended in tragedy when the police barged in and a bomb exploded.

May 3, 1919: Pete Seeger Born

Activist folksinger Pete Seeger was born in New York.

May 3, 1898: Septima Clark Born

Educator and civil rights organizer Septima Clark was born in South Carolina.

May 2, 1963: Children of Birmingham Fill the Jails

In disciplined groups and singing freedom songs, students “ditch” class to march for justice and fill the jails.

May 1, 1970: D.C. Sanitation Worker Strike Begins

Amidst a looming “garbage crisis” in Washington, D.C., on May 1, 1970, 1,700 sanitation workers went on strike to demand an end to racial discrimination, unsafe working conditions, low pay, and unequal pick-up routes.

May 1: International Workers Day

International Workers’ Day began as a commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket massacre in Chicago.

Scene from the Memphis, Tenn., massacre | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

May 1 – 3, 1866: Memphis Massacre

White civilians and police killed 46 African Americans and injured many more while burning houses, schools, and churches in Memphis, Tennessee.

April 30, 1967: “Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam” Speech

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made a speech criticizing the Vietnam War and praising Muhammad Ali.

Bristol Bus Boycott | Zinn Education Project

April 30, 1963: Bristol Bus Boycott

The Bristol Bus Boycott began in England, inspired by the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

April 29, 1962: Paulings Protest Nuclear Testing

Nobel Prize-winner Linus Pauling and Ava Helen Pauling joined a march in front of the White House to protest the resumption of U.S. atmospheric nuclear testing.

April 28, 1987: Benjamin Linder Murdered in Nicaragua

Ben Linder, a volunteer U.S. engineer in Nicaragua, was killed by the U.S.-funded Contras.

April 28, 1977: Disability Rights Sit-Ins Force Enactment of Section 504

Between April 5 and April 28, 1977, hundreds of disabled and handicapped activists organized, protested, and occupied government buildings around the country to pressure the U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Joseph Califano, to enact Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and publish regulations to guide its enforcement.

April 27, 1860: Harriet Tubman Helped Rescue Charles Nalle

Harriet Tubman helped rescue Charles Nalle, a fugitive from slavery in Virginia, in Troy, New York.

late April 1821: U.S. Attack on Maroon Community at Angola

After becoming governor of Florida in 1821, Andrew Jackson attacked the native and Black maroon community at Angola.

Apr. 26, 1968: Kiyoshi Kuromiya Led Protest of Vietnam War Napalm

Lifelong gay rights and anti-war activist Kiyoshi Kuromiya held a demonstration while in college against the use of napalm in Vietnam by announcing that a dog would be burned alive with napalm in front of the university library.

Bombing of Guernica | Zinn Education Project

April 26, 1937: The Bombing of Guernica

During the Spanish Civil War, the Nazis tested their new air force on the Basque town of Guernica in northern Spain.

April 25, 1846: U.S. Mexico War Begins

Today’s border with Mexico is the product of invasion and war. Grasping some of the motives for that war and some of its immediate effects begins to provide students the kind of historical context that is crucial for thinking about the line that separates the United States and Mexico.

Protestors at the Fridays 4 Future protest inside COP 25 in 2019 holding a sign reading "Indigenous Justice is Climate Justice."

April 24, 2009: Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit

Indigenous representatives from around the world met in Anchorage, Alaska, in April 2009, to share experiences and strategies for confronting environmental degradation. They issued a declaration that details their observations and demands from the front lines of the climate crisis.

April 24, 1971: Anti-War Protests in D.C. and San Francisco

500,000 people demonstrated against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C.

April 24, 1867: Richmond Streetcar Protest

African Americans in Richmond, Virginia organized protests against segregated streetcars.

April 23, 1968: Columbia Student Occupation

Students for a Democratic Society, Student Afro-American Society and others began a nonviolent occupation of campus buildings at Columbia University.

Moore was also an activist in his home state. Shown here, he marched to protest segregation at the General Assembly in Annapolis, Maryland.

April 23, 1963: White Civil Rights Activist Murdered on Racial Justice Walk in Alabama

William Lewis Moore, a white postal worker from Baltimore, was murdered on the road in Alabama during a one-person march for racial justice.

April 23, 1951: 16-Year-Old Barbara Johns Leads a Student Strike

Barbara Johns (16-years-old) led her classmates in a strike to protest the substandard conditions in Prince Edward County, Virginia.

April 23, 1866: Freedmen Demand Equal Medical Treatment

William Beverly Nash and several others asked the federal government to intervene to ensure equal medical treatment for all.

April 22, 2004: Football Star Pat Tillman Killed in Afghanistan

Football star and soldier Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan. The U.S. government used his death in pro-war propaganda.

A rally in New York for Earth Day, 1970.

April 22, 1970: First Earth Day

In April 1970, millions of people gathered around the country in one of the largest demonstrations in U.S. history to celebrate the first Earth Day and demand action be taken on a variety of environmental issues.

April 21, 1937: Congressman Ordered to Jim Crow Section of Train

Illinois congressman Arthur W. Mitchell was ordered to move to the Jim Crow car of the train once it entered Arkansas.

April 21, 1930: Inmates Burned Alive in Ohio State Penitentiary Fire

Three hundred and twenty-two inmates were killed in a fire at the Ohio State Penitentiary.

April 21, 1856: Workers Protest in Australia

Stonemasons and other construction workers protested for an eight-hour workday.

April 20, 1954: Virginia Interscholastic Association Established

The Virginia Interscholastic Association (VIA) was established to provide African American high school students in Virginia with athletic, artistic, academic, and leadership opportunities unavailable to them in segregated schools.

April 20, 1914: Ludlow Massacre

The National Guard fired on striking miners and their families in Ludlow, Colorado.

Congressman Robert Elliot of South Carolina.

April 20, 1871: Klan Enforcement Act Signed Into Law

President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the third of the Enforcement Acts, a Reconstruction-era bill that empowered the federal government to intervene when the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments are violated.

April 19, 1989: “Central Park Five” Arrested

The New York Police Department falsely accused four African American teenagers and one Latino teenager who became known as the “Central Park Five.”

April 19, 1960: Attempted Assassination of Nashville NAACP Attorney

Famed civil rights lawyer and politician Z. Alexander Looby’s North Nashville home was dynamited in an assassination attempt.

April 19, 1943: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Began

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began, on the eve of Passover, when Nazi forces attempted to clear out the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Poland, to send them to concentration camps.

Marriage certificate of Benjamin Manson and Sarah White, April 19, 1866 | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

April 19, 1866: Couple Receives Freedmen’s Bureau Marriage Certificate

Benjamin Berry Manson and Sarah Ann Benton White, formerly enslaved in Tennessee, receive an official marriage certificate from the Freedmen’s Bureau.

April 18, 1959: Students Petition and March for Integrated Schools

26,000 high school and college students came to Washington, D.C. to demand the end of segregated schools.

April 18, 1877: Nicodemus Town Company Founded

Six Black Kansans and a white developer created the Nicodemus Town Company. With the goal of establishing an all-Black settlement on the Great Plains, W. H. Smith and W. R. Hill advertised the town as a haven for Black migrants.

April 17, 1996: Landless Workers Movement Protesters Murdered by Brazilian Government

Brazil’s military police gunned down 19 peasant farm workers in the Via Campesina movement who were marching for land sovereignty in 1996.

April 17, 1965: Largest Anti-War Protest

One of the largest anti-war protest was held in Washington, D.C.

April 17, 1944: Modjeska Simkins Challenges SC Governor to a Debate

Prompted by South Carolina’s all-white political primary system, civil rights advocate Modjeska Monteith Simkins wrote a letter to Governor Olin D. Johnston of South Carolina challenging him to a debate on white supremacy.

April 17, 1863: Charlotte Brown Forced Off Streetcar

Charlotte Brown was forcibly removed from a horse-drawn streetcar in San Francisco.

April 16, 1862: Compensated Emancipation Act

The federal government compensated the “owners” of enslaved people for their “loss of property.” The people whose labor and families were stolen for generations were not compensated nor given any assistance for the transition to freedom.

1967 Spring Mobilization against the War in Vietnam | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

April 15, 1967: Massive Anti-Vietnam War Demonstrations

Amidst growing opposition to the U.S. war in Vietnam, large-scale anti-war protests were held in New York, San Francisco, and many other cities.

April 15, 1960: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Founding

Founding of the youth-led Civil Rights Movement organization, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

A broadside distributed by Benjamin Singleton advertising migration to Kansas, 1878.

April 15, 1878: Real Estate and Homestead Association Relocated

The Real Estate and Homestead Association helped organize travel and settlement for African Americans, “Exodusters,” who fled the South because of racial violence and “bulldozing” by white supremacist groups.

The 1850 Fugitive Slave Law Convention, Cazenovia, New York. The Edmonson sisters are standing wearing bonnets and shawls in the row behind the seated speakers. Frederick Douglass is seated, with Gerritt Smith standing behind him, and with Abby Kelley Foster the likely person seated on Douglass's left.

April 15, 1848: The Escape on the Pearl Schooner

Seventy-seven enslaved people attempted to flee Washington, D.C. by sailing away on a schooner called the Pearl.

April 14, 1947: Mendez v. Westminster Court Ruling

When Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez, two California farmers, sent their children to a local school, their children were told that they would have to go to a separate facility reserved for Mexican American students.

April 14, 1875: Frances Harper on Grassroots Organizing During Reconstruction

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper spoke in Philadelphia at the Centennial Anniversary of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, urging African Americans to continue organizing for justice.

April 13, 1919: Jenkins County Riot

A riot ensued after Louis Ruffin, an Army veteran, pulled out his gun to defend his family during an altercation between his father and two police officers.

Colfax Massacre in Colfax, Louisiana | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

April 13, 1873: Colfax Massacre

The Ku Klux Klan carried out the Colfax Massacre in response to a Republican victory in the 1872 elections.

Fort Pillow Massacre, by Katz & Allison. Source: Library of Congress via Equal Justice Initiative

April 12, 1864: Union Soldiers Massacred at Fort Pillow

Confederate troops massacred over 500 surrendering Union soldiers, majority African American, at the Civil War Battle of Fort Pillow.

April 12, 1787: Free African Society Founded

The Free African Society was a benevolent organization grounded in Christian religious faith and operating outside denominational differences to serve the social needs of Black Philadelphians.

April 11, 1968: Fair Housing Act Signed Into Law

The 1968 Fair Housing Act was signed into law after years of struggle and grassroots organizing.

April 11, 1835: Thaddeus Stevens Gives Speech in Defense of Free Schools Act

Thaddeus Stevens gave a speech in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in defense of the Free Schools Act of 1834, which moved the state House to vote against repeal and the Senate to take another vote in support of free public schools.

April 10, 2006: Immigrants’ Rights Protests Peak

During a Spring filled with pro-immigrant activism, on this day the largest number of people gathered in over 100 cities in the United States to protest new anti-immigrant legislation.

April 9, 1947: First Freedom Ride

The first freedom ride, the Journey of Reconciliation, left Washington, D.C. to travel through four states of the upper South.

April 9, 1898: Paul Robeson Born

Paul Robeson was one of the most important figures of the 20th century. He was a “renaissance man” — an acclaimed athlete, actor, singer, cultural scholar, author, lawyer, and internationally-renowned political activist.

Company E 4th U.S. Colored Infantry at Fort Lincoln Photo

April 9, 1865: Civil War Officially Ends

The U.S. Civil War ended when the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in south-central Virginia.

Apr. 8, 1911: Banner Mine Explosion

An explosion at the Banner Mine in Alabama killed 128 men, almost all of them African American prisoners of the state who were forced to work in the mine under the convict leasing system.

April 7, 1954: Norfolk’s African American Baseball Fans Win Desegregation Victories

A successful boycott of the Norfolk Tars by Black sports fans leads the team to desegregate both the players and stadium seating.

Billie Holiday (photo) | Zinn Education Project

April 7, 1915: Billie Holiday Born

Billie Holiday was a legendary jazz singer and songwriter. Also born today, Harry Hay and Daniel Ellsberg.

A Plaque in Jamaica commemorating Tacky's Rebellion

April 7, 1760: Tacky’s Rebellion Began

Inspired by the First Maroon War, a group of enslaved Ghanaian rebels in Jamaica sought to overthrow the British colonialists and create an independent Black nation on the island.

New Amsterdam Map | Zinn Education Project

April 7, 1712: Revolt by Enslaved Africans in New York

Twenty-four enslaved Africans launched a rebellion in Manhattan, New York.

Bobby Hutton (Art) | Zinn Education Project

April 6, 1968: Bobby Hutton Killed by Oakland Police

Little Bobby Hutton (age 17) of the Black Panther Party was shot dead by the Oakland police.

April 6, 1968: Tuskegee Student Uprising

The Tuskegee Student Uprising of 1968 was one of many instances when Black students fought to expand educational opportunities and create more equity on college campuses.

Bus Strike (photo) | Zinn Education Project

April 5, 1979: Boston University Strike

Boston University refused to approve negotiated contract, so the faculty union called a strike, with Howard Zinn as co-chair of strike committee. Other staff and librarians also went on strike that spring.

April 5, 1866: Black Grocers Protest Taxes Supporting Confederates

Robert Williams and other Black grocers wrote a letter to the Florida Freedmen’s Bureau calling for an end to high taxes levied against them to support former Confederates.

April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while in Memphis to support the striking sanitation workers.

April 4, 1967: Martin Luther King Jr. Delivers “Beyond Vietnam” Speech

Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his speech in opposition to the Vietnam War, calling for a “revolution of values.”

April 4, 1917: The Jobabo Massacre

In April 1917, soldiers entered the sugar town of Jobabo in eastern Cuba and, according to eyewitnesses, executed several British West Indian men.

April 3, 1969: Judge George Crockett Jr. Defends Equal Justice

In the face of white supremacists’ threats, a Black Detroit judge upheld the law and acted for equal justice for Black churchgoers detained unlawfully after a deadly police shoot-out.

April 3, 1934: Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union

The Southern Tenant Farmers Union broke away from a larger organization and became a racially integrated workers union.

April 2, 1917: Jeannette Rankin Takes Seat as First Woman Elected to Congress

Jeannette Rankin took her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives as the first woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress.

No #DAPL crowd | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

April 1, 2016: Standing Rock Sioux Oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline

The Standing Rock Sioux and allies founded a Spirit Camp along the proposed route of the Bakken oil pipeline, Dakota Access to protest the route's construction, and to raise awareness of its threat.

April 1, 1965: Blackwell v. Issaquena Board of Education

The civil rights suit of Blackwell v. Issaquena Board of Education was filed on behalf of 300 African-American students from several schools across Issaquena County in Mississippi who had been suspended for wearing and distributing “freedom” buttons.

April 1, 1955: ANC Protest Bantu Education Act

The African National Congress called on parents to withdraw their children from schools to resist the 1953 Bantu Education Act.

March 31, 1944: Frank S. Emi Interrogated

Frank S. Emi protested the draft during Japanese American incarceration and was interrogated.

March 30, 1952: Charlotta Bass Accepts U.S. VP Nomination

California newspaper owner and anti-Klan activist Charlotta Spears Bass became the first African American nominated to be a U.S. political party's vice-presidential candidate.

March 30, 1886: Black Civil War Veterans Secure a Cemetery in Norfolk

The West Point Cemetery in Norfolk, Virginia was established to provide a burial area for Black soldiers and sailors who fought to preserve the Union.

Thomas Mundy Peterson wearing the medallion he was awarded by the citizens of Perth Amboy.

March 30, 1870: Fifteenth Amendment

The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution was formally adopted.

March 29, 1973: Last U.S. Troops Depart South Vietnam

The last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam, ending direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (photo) | Zinn Education Project

March 29, 1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Convicted of Espionage

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of espionage.

Wong Kim Ark | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

March 28, 1898: Wong Kim Ark Wins Citizenship Case

The U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark.

A photograph of the Tougaloo Nine, Black activists who staged a read-in at the public library to protest segregation.

March 27, 1961: Jackson, Mississippi Library Sit-In

Nine Tougaloo College students and members of the Jackson Youth Council of the NAACP staged a sit-in to protest segregation at the Jackson Public Library in 1961 and were subsequently arrested.

March 27, 1867: Staged Ride-ins in South Carolina Streetcars

Staged ride-ins during Reconstruction in South Carolina were among the first (recorded) organized protests of segregation on a streetcar.

March 26, 1964: Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X met briefly by chance as they were waiting for a press conference.

March 26, 1839: End of The Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears removed Cherokee Indians from their ancestral home in the Smoky Mountains to the Oklahoma Territory.

March 25, 1965: Last Selma March

The Selma marches were three protest marches about voting rights, held in 1965.

March 25, 1965: Viola Liuzzo Murdered by KKK After Selma to Montgomery March

Viola Liuzzo (April 11, 1925 – March 25, 1965), Civil Rights activist, was murdered in 1965 by the KKK after the Selma to Montgomery March.

March 25, 1931: Scottsboro Nine

Nine young African Americans were falsely charged with rape and collectively served more than 100 years in prison.

March 24, 1982: The Sanctuary Movement Starts in Arizona

A network of religious congregations that became known as the Sanctuary Movement started with a Presbyterian church and a Quaker meeting in Tucson, Arizona.

Mothers of the Disappeared "Memorial Wall"

March 24, 1980: Archbishop Romero Assassinated

Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador was assassinated by U.S.-backed death squads.

March 24, 1966: Supreme Court Officially Abolishes Last Vestige of Poll Taxes

A U.S. Supreme Court decision bans poll taxes for state and local elections.

March 24, 1853: Mary Ann Shadd Cary Published “The Provincial Freeman”

Mary Ann Shadd Cary published the first edition of “The Provincial Freeman,” Canada’s first anti-slavery newspaper.

Stokely Carmichael talking with a local person about the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) in 1966.

March 23, 1965: Selma to Montgomery March Continues

The Selma to Montgomery marchers traveled into Lowndes County, working with local leaders to organize residents into a new political organization: the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO).

Protestors Dow Chemical | Zinn Education Project

March 22, 1969: DC 9 Protest Dow Chemical Production of Napalm

Nine protesters smashed glass, hurled files out a fourth floor window, and poured blood on files and furniture at the Dow Chemical offices in Washington, D.C.

March 22, 1968: March for Justice and Jobs

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Community on the Move for Equality called for a march in Memphis, Tennessee in solidarity with sanitation workers.

March 21, 1937: Ponce Massacre

Police shot peaceful protesters, killing 19 and wounding over 200 others in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

March 21, 1919: Associated Negro Press Launched

Entrepreneur Claude Albert Barnett launched the Associated Negro Press, or ANP, a nationwide and international news service that focused on current events, feature stories, opinions and other information important to African Americans but usually ignored by or unknown to white-owned mainstream media.

United States Marine Corps in the Iraq War

March 20, 2003: Iraq War Invasion

It’s worth pausing to note how profoundly corporate textbooks mis-educate our students on the years of warfare in Iraq.

March 20, 1969: Mexican-American Students Stage School Walkout

Mexican-American youth walked out of school to protest racial discrimination in Denver, Colorado.

March 19, 1968: Howard University Protest

Howard University students seized the Administration Building, demanding changes in the discipline policy, the addition of courses in African American history, and more.

March 18, 1970: Postal Workers Strike

The first mass work stoppage in the 195-year history of the Postal Service began with a walkout of letter carriers in Brooklyn and Manhattan who were demanding better wages.

Clarence Earl Gideon's handwritten petition for a writ of cert to the Supreme Court.

March 18, 1963: Gideon v. Wainwright

The ruling of Gideon v. Wainwright required states to provide counsel in criminal cases to represent defendants who are unable to afford to pay their own attorneys.

March 17, 1886: Carroll County Courthouse Massacre

The Carroll County Courthouse Massacre left 23 Black people dead when an armed white mob attacked an ongoing trial.

March 17, 1856: Laws Enacted to Thwart Freedom-seekers on Ships

With escalating escapes of the formerly enslaved, the Virginia General Assembly responded to lobbying from slaveholders and human traffickers by making it harder for enslaved African Americans to escape on ships and by increasing penalties for anyone helping such freedom-seekers.