#OtD 14 Jul 1912 influential populist US folk musician Woody Guthrie was born. Guthrie chronicled the difficult conditions faced by working class Oklahomans during the Dust Bowl and spoke out against class inequality and fascism https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8576/woody-guthrie-born

#OtD 14 Jul 1966 3 US GIs refused an order to deploy to Vietnam and became the Fort Hood Three, the highest-profile US refuseniks to date. They were court-martialled and jailed but they helped spark an anti-war GI movement. More info in our podcast: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e10-the-gi-resistance-in-vietnam-part-1/

#OtD 12 Jul 1921 the funeral of Tommaso Pesci, a farmer murdered by fascists, took place. His funeral procession was led by an armed column of the Arditi del Popolo, Italy's first militant anti-fascist group https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8404/tommaso-pesci-funeral

#OtD 11 Jul 1892 French anarchist François Claudius Koenigstein, better known as Ravachol, was guillotined at Montbrison for a series of bomb attacks on right-wing judges. More info here: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8306/ravachol-executed

#OtD 11 Jul 1974 a bomb went off in the boot of a car in Montbeliard, France. More bombs were found with anti-communist leaflets. They belonged to a mercenary hired by Peugeot bosses to infiltrate and destroy workers' organisation. More info: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8312/peugeot-mercenary-bomb

#OtD 10 Jul 1985 the French intelligence service blew up the @greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior, in a Aotearoa/NZ, killing Fernando Pereira, a photographer. The ship was headed to protest against French nuclear testing https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8208/rainbow-warrior-blown-up

#OtD 10 Jul 1981 rioting broke out in Brixton, London, an area known for police harassment of the Black population, following the arrest of a Rastafarian and a popular DJ who tried to intervene and was also arrested https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8207/brixton-riots

#OtD 8 Jul 1960 police in Palermo, Italy, shot and killed four people who were protesting other police murders. Those killed were Rosa La Barbera, 53, Giuseppe Malleo, 15, Andrea Gangitano, 19 & Francesco Vella, 45. In Catania police killed another https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10808/palermo-massacre

#OtD 7 Jul 1962 metalworkers in Turin, Italy, went on strike in support of Fiat workers. They confronted police and attacked the offices of a scab union. Despite over 1000 arrests and many injuries by police, clashes lasted for three days https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10713/piazza-statuto-riots

#OtD 6 Jul 1992 legendary Black trans activist and sex worker Marsha P Johnson's body was found in the Hudson River in a suspected murder. She was most famous for participating in the Stonewall riots, which participants talk about in our podcast: https://workingclasshistory.com/2019/05/13/e21-22-the-stonewall-riots-and-pride-at-50/

#OtD 6 Jul 1921 the Arditi del Popolo, an early militant anti-fascist organisation, was formed in Rome, Italy, to defend workers from escalating attacks by the fascist blackshirts of Benito Mussolini. Within a year it had over 20,000 members. https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10626/arditi-del-popolo-rally

#OtD 5 Jul 1777 the word 'scab', meaning 'strikebreaker', was used in print for the first time. One of the most important words in the working class vocabulary! https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10522/1st-use-of-%22scab%22-in-print

Only 39 hours left to get a discounted pre-order copy of our latest book, Be Gay, Do Crime: Everyday Acts of Queer Resistance and Rebellion, on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wrkclasshistory/be-gay-do-crime-a-history-of-queer-resistance

#OtD 4 Jul 1998 best friends Lin Newborn, an African-American skinhead, and Daniel Shersty, a white US air force serviceman, members of Anti-Racist Action were murdered in the desert near Las Vegas by white supremacists https://workingclasshistory.com/2021/01/11/e49-anti-racist-action-in-minneapolis/

#OtD 3 Jul 1988 the US Navy shot down Iran Air flight 655, a civilian plane with 290 people on board, all of whom were killed. The US was supporting Saddam Hussein's Iraq against Iran, and the crew who carried it out were decorated as heroes https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10195/us-shoots-down-iran-air-flight-655

#OtD 1 Jul 1943 gay Dutch anti-Nazi resistance fighter Willem Arondeus was executed after attacking the Amsterdam ID registry. Before his death Willem asked a friend to testify after the war that "homosexuals are not cowards" https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8082/willem-arondeus-executed

#OtD 1 Jul 1919 prohibition of alcoholic drinks in the US was due to come into force. Workers in New York and New Jersey voted to strike if the law was enforced, wearing "No beer no work" pins. We've reproduced the graphics to help fund our work: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/no-beer-no-work

#OtD 30 Jun 2013 200+ workers in Huizhou, China, surrounded their company's office, trapping five execs inside, to demand unpaid wages and protest planned layoffs. After four days, the bosses caved. More here: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10306/zhongji-pile-bossnapping

#OtD 30 Jun 1908 suffragists, fighting for votes for women, attacked and stoned the home of the British Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10302/suffragettes-attack-10-downing-street

Thank you to everyone who's supported our Kickstarter! But a special thank you to everyone choosing the 'Buy One, Donate One' reward, which lets us donate copies to groups for educational purposes.

Still 5 MORE DAYS to back the Kickstarter! More info: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wrkclasshistory/be-gay-do-crime-a-history-of-queer-resistance