Today in Labor History December 19, 1900: French parliament gave to amnesty everyone who participated in the scandalous army treason trial known as the Dreyfus affair. The scandal began in 1894 when the state convicted Captain Alfred Dreyfus of treason. He was a 35-year-old French artillery officer of Jewish descent, falsely convicted for espionage and imprisoned in Devil’s Island in French […]
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1820s Today in Labor History December 18, 1829: Scientist Jean-Baptiste Lamark died. He was best known for his discredited theory of inheritance of acquired traits. This is the idea that characteristics acquired during the parents’ lifetime would be passed on to offspring. Scientists later discovered that traits of the parents are passed down to offspring
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Today in Labor History December 17, 1760: Deborah Sampson was born on this date in Massachusetts. Sampson disguised herself as a man in order to fight with the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. She called herself Robert Shirtliff (as in don’t lift my shirt) and stood 5’9”, taller than the average man in those
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Today in Labor History December 16, 1811: The first two in a series of 4 severe earthquakes happened in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri. The quakes ranged from 7.2-8.4 in magnitude. Because the area was sparsely populated, it is thought that there were few deaths. However, they were so powerful, they could be felt in an area of 50,000
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Today in Labor History December 15, 1792: The U.S. Bill of Rights was adopted. It promised freedom of speech, religion, the press, and “the right of the people peaceably to assemble. It also included the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” 1800s Today in Labor History December 15, 1869: Rebels proclaimed
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