Today in Labor History June 10, 1793: The Jacobins arrested Girondin leaders and took control of the Committee of Public Safety installing the revolutionary dictatorship of the French Revolution.
1800s-1830s
Today in Labor History June 10, 1801: Tripoli declared war on the U.S., for refusing to pay tribute to their pirates. As a result, the U.S. attacked, launching the Barbary Wars. U.S. forces attacked by land and sea, forcing Tripoli to accept peace in June, 1805.
Today in Labor History June 10, 1838: A group of twelve colonists slaughtered at least twenty-eight Aboriginal Australians in the Myall Creek massacre. Seven of the twelve colonists were convicted of murder and hanged. Eleven of the colonists where white former or current convicts. One was African. During the savage attack, they beheaded children. Many Australians celebrated the massacre. The Sydney Herald wrote, “the whole gang of black animals are not worth the money the colonists will have to pay for printing the silly documents on which we have already wasted too much time.” However, Irish-Australian poet, Eliza Hamilton Dunlop, wrote her famous poem, “The Aboriginal Mother,” to express her sympathy with the Aboriginal people.
1850s-1870s
Today in Feminist History June 10, 1854: Irish feminist writer Sarah Grand was born. At age 14, her family sent her to the Royal Naval School, Twickenham, but they expelled her for supporting the protests against the anti-prostitute Contagious Diseases Act. Her novels often explored themes such as the New Woman, oppressive marriages, or sexually transmitted disease.
Today in Labor History June 10, 1871: Captain McLane Tilton led U.S. Marines in a naval attack on Han River forts on Kanghwa Island, Korea. This was the first U.S. assault on Korea, also known as Sinmiyangyo, or the Korean Expedition. Officially, the expedition went to support diplomats who were there to negotiate trade agreements. However, according to the records of U.S. Ambassador Frederick Low, the actual purpose was to demonstrate U.S. military superiority. The Koreans saw through the ruse and attacked U.S. ships on June 1 for violating their sovereignty. The U.S. responded on June 10 by landing 650 marines, who killed over 200 Koreans and captured several forts.
1900s
Today in Labor History June 10, 1904: The National Guard deported 79 striking Colorado miners to Kansas, following a battle between the Colorado Militia and striking miners at Dunnville. The battle ended with six union members dead and 15 taken prisoner. Dozens were arrested without warrants and held without formal charges.
Today in Labor History June 10, 1909: IWW timber workers in Aberdeen, Washington and in Fortine, Montana went on strike.
1910s
Today in Labor History June 10, 1913: Over one thousand IWW timbermen struck against the ten-hour day and conditions in the camps around Missoula, Montana. And in Oregon City, Oregon, one thousand IWW workers walked out of the paper mills at midnight in protest against terrible conditions.
Today in Labor History June 10, 1916: Fishermen went on strike in San Francisco. With the help of the IWW they won. Meanwhile, in Seattle, the authorities sent in the National Guard to try and quell the strike on their waterfront. The International Longshoremen’s Association went on strike three days after the Seattle United Dockworkers went on strike.
Today in Labor History June 10, 1917: A massive citywide textile strike for better wages and working conditions began in Sao Paulo, lasting over a month. Workers tried to appeal to the sympathies of police and soldiers, but when this failed openly confronted them. By July they were joined by striking cab drivers, utility workers and craft workers, totaling over 20,000 on strike. The strike was part of a wave of strikes that occurred from 1917-1918, culminating in a failed anarchist uprising.
1920s
Today in Labor History June 10, 1924: Fascists kidnapped and killed Italian Socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti in Rome after he publicly accused the fascists of election fraud.
Today in Writing History June 10, 1925: Nat Hentoff, American historian, author, and journalist was born. He wrote a jazz column for the Village Voice for over fifty years. However, he also wrote for Down Beat, The New Yorker, Playboy, Harpers and numerous other publications. During the majority of his life, he espoused liberal views, but became conservative in the 1980s and went to work for the Cato Institute. The American Conservative called him the “only Jewish, atheist, pro-life, libertarian hawk in America.”
Today in Writing History June 10, 1928: Maurice Sendak, author of “Where the Wild Things Are,” was born in Brooklyn, New York. A little boy once sent him a card with a drawing on it. Sendak was so moved he sent the boy another letter with his own personal “Wild Thing” drawn on it. The boy’s mother sent Sendak a thank you note saying that her son loved the card so much he ate it. Sendak considered that one of the highest compliments he ever received. Sendak was an atheist Jew who lost numerous family members in the Holocaust. He was also gay.
1930s-1940s
Today in Labor History June 10, 1937: The mayor of Monroe, Michigan organized a vigilante mob of 1,400 men armed with baseball bats and teargas to break the picket line at Newton Steel. As a result, eight strikers were injured and hospitalized. The vigilantes also vandalized sixteen of the workers’ cars dumped eight of them into the river.
Today in Labor History June 10, 1940: Marcus Garvey died in London. Garvey was a Jamaican activist, writer and black nationalist. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League. In the 1910s he lived in Harlem and advocated for unity among all people from the African diaspora. He envisioned a unified Africa, run by a single party, with himself as the leader. And he developed relationships with white separatist organizations, like the KKK, toward a common goal of creating separate, racially pure nations.
1960s
Today in Labor History June 10, 1960: Thousands of council workers and revolutionary students surrounded the entourage of U.S. Presidential Press Secretary Hagerty at Haneda airport in Tokyo. Hagerty had to be rescued by a US marine helicopter, while the pro-imperialist government of Japan collapsed in embarrassment. President Eisenhower, fearing for his life, cancelled his July visit.
Today in Labor History June 10, 1963: JFK signed the Equal Pay Act. The law prohibits employers from paying men and women different wages for the same job.
Today in Labor History June 10, 1963: JFK signed the Equal Pay Act. The law prohibits employers from paying men and women different wages for the same job.
Today in Labor History June 10, 1964: United States Senate broke a 75-day filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, leading to the bill’s passage.
1970s-1990s
Today in Labor History June 10, 1971 – Mexican police and death squads killed 120 student protesters, including a 14-year-old boy, in the Corpus Christi Massacre. In 1968, the government massacred hundreds of students and bystanders in the Tlatelolco massacre
Today in Labor History June 10, 1997: Before fleeing his northern stronghold, Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot ordered the killing of his defense chief Son Sen and 11 of Sen’s family members.