history
Today in labor history: 1871 Great Fire ravages Chicago
October 8, 2012It burned for three days, killing 200-300 people, destroying 17,450 buildings, leaving 100,000 homeless and causing damages worth an estimated $200 million in 1871 dollars.
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Today in labor history: President Truman busts oil workers strike
October 4, 2012President Harry Truman ordered the U.S. Navy to seize oil refineries involved in a strike that stretched from coast to coast.
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Eric Hobsbawm, great Marxist historian who kept his cool
October 3, 2012I was saddened to hear of the death of Eric Hobsbawm, one of the great Marxist historians writing in the English language of my lifetime.
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Today in labor history: Singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie dies at age 55
October 3, 2012Guthrie traveled with workers and learned their traditional songs, earning himself the nickname "Dust Bowl Troubadour."
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Today in history: Thurgood Marshall sworn into Supreme Court
October 2, 2012Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as Supreme Court justice, making him the first African American in history to hold that position.
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