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

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July 19, 1848  
The first Women’s Rights Convention in the United States takes place at Seneca Falls, New York.
Related Topics: Women's History
July 19, 1893  
Birth of Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (1893-1930), Russian poet, playwright, and artist.
Related Topics: PlaywrightsPoets
July 19, 1898
Birth of Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979), philosopher and socialist.
July 19 - August 2, 1920
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.
July 19, 1937  
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”.
Related Topics: Art HistoryNazi History
July 19, 1953
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.
July 19, 1958  
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.



January  February  March  April  May  June  July  August  September  October  November  December
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For more information about people and events in Seeds of Fire, explore these pages: