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

January 11, 1887
Birth of Aldo Leopold (1887-1948), American ecologist and author. Related Topics: Ecology – Environmental Protection – Forest Conservation
January 11, 1894
The Donghak Peasant Revolution in Korea. Rebels defeat a government army on January 11. The peasants demand land redistribution, tax reduction, democracy and human rights. Taxes are so high that many farmers are being forced to sell their ancestral homesteads to rich landowners at pitifully low prices. Related Topics: Korea – Peasant Uprisings
January 11 - March 12, 1912
The start of the Lawrence textile strike, a strike by immigrant workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts led by the Industrial Workers of the World. Sparked by one mill owner's decision to lower wages, the strike spreads rapidly through the town, growing to more than twenty thousand workers at nearly every mill within a week. The strike, which lasts more than two months, succeeds in achieving its goals and also in proving that immigrant, largely female, and ethnically divided workers could organize successfully. Related Topics: Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) – Labour History – Strikes: United States – Textile Industry
January 11 - 12, 1923
French and Belgian armies occupy the Ruhr after Germany defaults on reparations payments. The German government urges ‘passive resistance’. Related Topics: German History – Occupied Territories
January 11, 1937
A key event in the Flint sitdown strike: Flint police, who are controlled by General Motors, attempt to enter the plant on January 11. Strikers inside the plant turn fire hoses on the police while pelting them with hinges and other auto parts, while members of the women’s auxiliary break windows in the plant to give strikers relief from police tear gas. The police make several charges, but withdraw after six hours. The strikers dub this “The Battle of Bulls Run,” a mocking reference to the police (“bulls”). Further Reading: Charlie Post: Introduction: The Flint Sitdown for Beginners Sol Dollinger: Flint and the Rewriting of History Related Topics: Factory Occupations – Labour History – Sitdowns/Sit-ins – Strikes: United States
January 11, 1943
Anarchist Carlo Tresca, an outspoken critic of the Mafia and fascists in the Italian-American community, is assassinated in New York. Related Topics: Anarchism – Assassinations – Fascism
January 11, 1998
Twenty-five thousand people occupy the site of one of 30 dams to be built on the Narmada River in India. They are protesting against a World Bank-funded project to build 30 large, 135 medium and 3000 small dams to harness the waters of the Narmada and its tributaries. Further Reading: Narmada Bachao Andolan Do or Die: The people versus development in the Narmada Valley Related Topics: Dams – Demonstrations, Marches, Protests
January 11, 2002
The first group of prisoners seized during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan are brought to the American incarceration and torture facility in Guantanamo Bay, a military base occupying land seized from Cuba. Related Topics: Guantanamo Naval Base – Incarceration – Indefinite Detention – National Security – Torture – War on Terrorism