December 2021

1860s Today in Labor History December 26, 1862: The U.S. military hanged 38 Native Americans in Mankato, Minnesota, for participating in the “Sioux Outbreak,” in the nation’s largest public mass execution. They built the gallows in a square shape, with ten nooses per side. They buried the victims in a mass grave along the bank of the Minnesota River. […]

1500s-1700s Today in Labor History December 25, 1553: Mapuche Chief Lautaro led rebels in the Battle of Tucapel. They defeated the Spanish conquistadors and killed the governor of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia. Today in Labor History December 25, 1766: The Mapuche uprising of 1766 began with a series of surprise attacks against the Spanish on this date. The uprising was the

1800s Today in Labor History December 24, 1800: The Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise failed to kill Napoleon Bonaparte. However, the bomb killed five other people and injured twenty-six. The plotters used a Machine Infernale, an explosive device made from a barrel bound with iron hoops and filled with gunpowder, flammable materials and bullets. They set it off

1500s Today in Labor History December 23, 1598: During the Arauco War, Chief Pelantaru led the Mapuches in the Battle of Curalaba. During the battle, they killed Martín García Óñez de Loyola, Governor of Chile, as well as nearly every other person fighting with the Spaniards. The victory led to a general Mapuche uprising that resulted in

Today in Labor History December 22, 856: The Damghan earthquake in Persia killed an estimated 200,000 people. It was the sixth deadliest earthquake in recorded history December 22, 1731: There was a Dutch revolt against a meat tax on this date. Today in Labor History December 22, 1894: The Dreyfus affair began in France, when Alfred Dreyfus, was wrongly convicted