Seeds of Fire, January 17 January 17, 1888: Death of Big Bear (Mistahi-maskwa) (c.1825-1888), Cree leader in the Northwest Rebellion of 1885. January 17, 1893: Queen Lili’uokalani of the independent kingdom of Hawai’i is arrested at gunpoint by U.S. Marines and overthrown. The Queen had been working on a new constitution that would restore voting rights to native Hawaiians. American businessmen, particularly sugar plantation owners, want Hawai’i annexed to the United States. A new provisional government with Sanford B. Dole as president takes over. Five years later, U.S. President William McKinley signs a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress authorizing the annexation of Hawai’i. Hawaiians are not asked whether they want to be annexed. January 17, 1906: A political mass strike takes place in Hamburg as workers demand the extension of the right to vote. January 17, 1953: The radical journalists I.F. Stone starts I.F. Stone’s Weekly (published until 1971) January 17, 1961: Murder of Patrice Lumumba, Congolese independence leader, first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after it gained its independence from Belgium. Considered too radical by the Western powers and their local allies, Lumumba was seized in a coup orchestrated by the American and Belgian governments a few weeks after becoming prime minister, tortured, and executed by firing squad. January 17, 1966: An American nuclear-armed B-52 bomber collides with the fuelling boom of an Air Force jet tanker while refuelling over the coast of Spain. Two 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs rupture when they hit the ground, scattering radioactive material including plutonium dust; a third lands intact near the village of Palomares; the fourth is found, also intact, by a submarine after weeks of searching. The U.S. tries first to cover it up, then downplays the seriousness of the incident. January 17, 1991: The United States and its allies start bombing Iraq. Seeds of Fire: A People’s Chronology - compiled by Ulli Diemer for Connexions – connexions.org/CxLibrary/Docs/SeedsofFire.htm
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 04:05:35 +0000
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