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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April 14, 1930
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Hundreds of farmworkers in Imperial Valley, California, members of the Agricultural Workers' Industrial League, are arrested for the crime of attempting to organize a union. Eight are subsequently convicted of “criminal syndicalism”, with sentences ranging from deportation to 42 years in prison.
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April 14, 1968
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A massive demonstration in West Berlin protests the near-fatal shooting, three days earlier, of student leader Rudi Dutschke. The shooting was the culmination of a venomous hate campaign against Dutschke and the German Socialist Students Federation (SDS) by right-wing newspapers, which portray Dutschke and the SDS as evil extremists who must be ‘stopped’ at all costs. Demonstrators besiege the headquarters of the right-wing Axel-Springer publishing conglomerate and attempt to prevent its papers from being distributed.
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April 14, 1989
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Pro-democracy gatherings take place on university campuses in China, and in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. The impetus is the death of Hu Yaobang, a Communist Party leader who had been seen as a reformer. Students put up posters commemorating Hu and discussing issues such as corruption, freedom of the press, and democracy. The movement builds until it is eventually put down by military force on June 4.
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April 14, 2002
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is restored to office, three days after being overthrown in a military coup. Massive protests force the US-supported plotters to give up.
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