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The great southwest Railroad strike
This spanned across Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Texas, took place from March to September 1886. It included some 200,000 strikers. -
The Pullman Strike
During the months of May to July, when some 250,000-factory workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago walked off the job. The workers had been enduring 12-hour workdays and reduced wages due in part to the depressed economy. -
World war 1
The Great War, this global fight centred in Europe lasted for four years. It resulted in the death of over 16 million combatants and civilians. The war can be attributed to a number of causes such as mutual defense alliances, imperialism, militarism and nationalism. -
The Rise of Labor Unions
The union share of the U.S. workforce rose gradually during the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. -
The Davis-Bacon Act
The Great Depression, requires that companies pay "prevailing wages" for work on federally funded or federally assisted construction, such as highway projects. The rules apply to contractors and subcontractors on all contracts in excess of $2,000. -
Holocaust
The Nazis, who rose to power in Germany in 1933, saw Jews as racially inferior. As part of the ‘Final Solution’ the Nazis killed 2 out of every 3 Jews. Their eugenics movement aimed to stop the weak from procreating. The barbaric means by which this was carried out was compulsory sterilisation, segregation or institutionalisation of anyone deemed to be unfit. -
National Labor Relations
Federal intervention in labor markets was ratcheted up further with the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. -
Attack on Pearl Habor
The Japanese military forces launched an attack without warning dubbed ‘Operation Z’ on Pearl Harbour, a United States naval base. This resulted in the death of over 2,000 U.S. combatants and civilians, wounding an additional 1,178. Franklin D. Roosevelt declared the date as one ‘that will live in infamy.’ The U.S. declared war on Japan the following day, the 8th of December 1941, leading them directly into WWII. -
United Mine Workers of America
During the months of April to December, rallying some 400,000 miners to walk off the job. The walkout became known as the Bituminous Coal Strike, and affected over 26 states. -
The U.S. Postal Strike
It was brought on by what the workers perceived as low wages, poor working conditions and meager benefits. -
Chernbyl Disaster
A reactor at a nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine exploded on 26 April, 1986. According to a report carried out by the BBC, the explosion released ‘at least 100 times more radiation’ than the atomic bombs detonated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The seriousness of the event was not immediately recognised. Two individuals died on the day of the explosion, followed by an additional 29 deaths due to radiation in the weeks following the accident.
