Seeds of Fire: A People’s Chronology
Recalling events that happened on this day in history.
Memories of struggle, resistance and persistence.
Compiled by Ulli Diemer
July 19, 1848
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The first Women’s Rights Convention in the United States takes place at Seneca Falls, New York.
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July 19, 1893
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Birth of Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (1893-1930), Russian poet, playwright, and artist.
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July 19, 1898
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Birth of Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979), philosopher and socialist.
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July 19 - August 2, 1920
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The Second Congress of the Third (Communist) International is held in Petrograd and Moscow. A total of 218 delegates representing Communist and Socialist parties take part and discuss strategies for overthrowing the capitalist system.
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July 19, 1937
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Germany’s Nazi government opens an exhibition of “degenerate art” (“entartete Kunst”) seized from museums and art galleries. The exhibit is designed to arouse revulsion against art deemed to show a “Jewish influence”.
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July 19, 1953
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Prisoners in the Vorkuta forced-labour camp in the Soviet Union rebel. Some prisoners refuse to continue working; the walkout quickly spreads to other camps in the complex. Some 18,000 prisoners participate in the rebellion. After two weeks, troops move in, killing around 60 prisoners and injuring many more.
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July 19, 1958
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Several black teenagers, members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, sit down at the lunch counter of a Wichita, Kansas chain drug store and ask to be served. They are refused, but return twice a week for the next several weeks, sitting several hours, refusing to leave without being served. Within a month, the drug store changes it policy and instructs staff at all its stores to “to serve all people without regard to race, creed or color.” This is apparently the first instance of a sit-in to protest segregation.
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