NOTE: The cartoon above is a typical example of the racist caricatures that were common in newspapers of the time. It shows a very typical fear; that large numbers of immigrants (notably Irish and Germans) would be able to sway elections to the detriment of 'native-born' Americans.
#OnThisDay 1855: The Lager #BeerRiot occurred in Chicago. #Anti-immigrantPolicies resulted in the arrest of many immigrants. When people took to the streets in protest the police responded by firing on the crowds. The politicians eventually relented but anti-immigrant sentiment remained.
#OnThisDay 1914: The #LudlowMassacre occurred; a mass killing perpetrated by an #antiunion militia from the Colorado National Guard and private troops employed by the CF&I Co. They attacked a tent city of striking coal miners and their families. 20 people were killed, primarily women and children.
#OnThisDay 1900…
One of the most famous “magical duels” in history occurred; the Battle of Blythe Road, between #AlisterCrowley and #WilliamButlerYeats, over who would control the #HermeticOrderOfTheGoldenDawn. Although a magical duel, it ended when Yeats kicked Crowley down a flight of stairs.
"...when a long train of abuses and usurpations... transporting people beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences... cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world...obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither..." etc.
#OnThisDay 1775: Angered by a #tyrannical government, the people of what would become the United States took to the streets to protest. The government sent troops to Lexington and Concord in order to forcibly pacify the people #resisted. These were the first shots of the #AmericanRevolutionaryWar.
#OnThisDay 1746: The Scots lost the Battle of #Culloden & the #Jacobite Rebellion. The British abolished the #Scottish Highland Clans, burned many Catholic meeting houses, outlawed the wearing of traditional Highland dress like #kilts, & forcibly banned and confiscated any an all “warlike” weapons.
Booth himself was shot in the head just 12 days later, by a soldier sent to arrest him. As he lay dying, he asked another soldier: “Tell my Mother I die for my country.”
#OnThisDay 1865: President #AbrahamLincoln was shot in the head while watching a play. The assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was part of a larger conspiracy to re-establish the Confederate States. Booth then jumped onto the stage, shouting “Sic semper tyrannis!”(Thus always to tyrants)
Contemporary accounts describe the event as as an aerial battle that lasted “over an hour,” followed by the appearance of “something like a black spear.” The combatants “fell from the sun down upon the earth "as if they all burned" and they then "wasted away on the earth with immense smoke.”
#OnThisDay 1561:
The people of #Nuremberg Germany witnessed SOMETHING in the sky above their city. The people at the time attributed this to a sign from God, although the meaning was unclear. Modern-day paranormal researchers consider this one of the earliest descriptions of a #UFO/UAP sighting.
#OnThisDay 1945: A train filled with 2,500 prisoners being taken to a #ConcentrationCamp further from the front lines was abandoned by the Nazis near #Magdeberg, Germany. U.S. troops of the 743rd Tank Battalion freed the prisoners, and escorted them to a nearby town for medical attention.
#OnThisDay 1204: #Constantinople was sacked by Christian soldiers of the 4th Crusade. This resulted in what the Crusaders called the Empire of Romania, but the Byzantines called the Frankokratia- or Latin Occupation. The #Byzantine splinter state, the Empire of Nicaea, would recapture it in 1261.
#OnThisDay, 1865: A Confederate army under the command of General Robert E. Lee fought against a U.S. army commanded by Ulysses S. Grant. Demoralized, hungry, and outnumbered, the Confederates lost the battle, and General Lee surrendered at the #Appomattox courthouse. #U.S.CivilWar
#OnThisDay 1783:
The #TreatyOfParis was ratified by King George III, officially ending the American Revolutionary War. The majority of the treaty is now irrelevant, as it established new national borders which were almost immediately extended at the expense of the numerous Native American nations.
#OnThisDay 1933:
Germany passed The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. It established ‘acceptability’ for jobs in government service. Loyalty to the government was paramount; ability to do the job wasn’t mentioned. Minorities, and political opponents were excluded.
According to one account, when a Colonel told the Germans from the nearby town that they were to blame, they replied that it was ‘done by a few people,’ and ‘you cannot blame us all.’ The Colonel replied: ‘This was done by those that the German people chose to lead them, and all are responsible.’
#OnThisDay 1968:
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered. The day before, he delivered his final public address, a speech called “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” If you have not heard or read this speech, then I encourage you to do so. www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlk...
#OnThisDay 1945:
The #Ohrdruf #ConcentrationCamp was liberated by U.S. forces. When they entered the camp, they discovered piles of bodies, some partially incinerated on pyres. General George Patton described it as "one of the most appalling sights that I have ever seen."
NOTE: The image above is part of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the Norman Conquest of England in the year 1066. The Normans themselves were descendants of Vikings -or "Northmen" as they were often called. They were given land in France after besieging Paris again in 911.
#OnThisDay 845:
#Vikings led by #Ragnar Lodbrok Sigurdsson besieged & sacked the city of Paris on Easter Sunday. In order to get them to leave, King Charles the Bald paid them a ransom of more than 5000 pounds of gold and silver. They would return to Paris again, multiple times.
#OnThisDay, in the final year of the Third Age, 3019 (1419 in Shire Reckoning)...
The #OneRing was destroyed, along with #Sauron and the #Nazgûl. This is recognized as the 1st day of the 1st year of the Fourth Age, under the new reckoning of King Elessar Telcontar.
#OnThisDay 1420:
The Battle of #Sudomĕř occurred. 400 #Hussites -mostly farmers, and including women- defeated a force of 2000 heavily armored Crusading Knights. The Hussites used superior tactics, such as heavy wagon forts and early firearms, to defeat their numerically superior enemies.
#OnThisDay 1911:
123 women and 23 men died in one of the worst industrial accidents in U.S. history, the #TriangleShirtwaistFire. Most of the victims were recent immigrants, aged 14 to 23. many jumped to their deaths due to locked doors. This led to legislation which improved safety standards.
HISTORICAL NOTE: The image above shows a group of uniformed SS and SA 'storm troopers' who were stationed in the room during the vote, ostensibly to "protect" the members of the Reichstag. (They were actually there in order to intimidate them.)
#OnThisDay 1933:
The #EnablingAct was passed, giving Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his cabinet the power to enact laws without the involvement of the legislature, thus making him a defacto #dictator. It was claimed to be a "temporary measure" to "protect the nation." In fact, it was neither.
#OnThisDay 1933:
The concentration camp at #Dachau, Germany was established.
Initial prisoners were political opponents, Social Democrats, trade unionists, and Communists. Also gay men, repeat criminal offenders, blacks, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and "asocials:" homeless, drug addicts, & prostitutes.
#OnThisDay 1765...
The #StampAct was passed by the British Parliament. It levied a tax on all materials printed for commercial and legal use. Along with other intolerable Acts, it was seen as an attempt by the government to undermine the economic strength and independence of the people.
Joyous Ostara, One and All!
As the Day and Night balance, let us all rejoice for the coming of Spring, and the Turning of the Wheel towards Summer!
Let us all hope and pray that the coming season of light and warmth will bring much needed hope, health, and healing, to one and all!