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

March 12, 1795
Birth of William Lyon Mackenzie (1795-1861), Canadian journalist, publisher, reformer, politician, and rebel; leader of the 1837 Rebellion in Upper Canada. Further Reading: Rebellions of 1837 Related Topics: Rebellions of 1837 in the Canadas
March 12, 1912
Workers led by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) win the Lawrence, Massachusetts “Bread & Roses” textile strike after 32,000 workers, most of them young female immigrants, half of them under the age of 18, stay out on strike for nine weeks demanding a wage increase, double time for overtime, and safer working conditions. Further Reading: Steve Early: Cry for “Bread & Roses” Still Resonates Related Topics: Immigrants – Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) – Strikes: United States – Women's History – Workers' History
March 12 - April 6, 1930
A Salt Satyagraha (Salt March) led by Mohandas Gandhi protests the British-imposed tax on salt in India. Gandhi and thousands of others walk 388 kilometres from Ahmedabad to the sea, where Gandhi himself makes salt from the sea in violation of the British edict. Feeling their hold in India threatened by this mass disobedience, the British imprison more than 60,000 people. Related Topics: India/Independence Movement – Satyagraha
March 12, 1934
Nazi Germany annexes Austria (the Anschluss), the day after a coup d’état by the Austrian Nazi Party. Related Topics: Austria – Nazi History
March 12, 2011
Start of the March 2011 protests in Portugal (Movimento 12 de Março), a series of protests in over 10 cities of Portugal, bringing hundreds of thousands of people into the streets to protest government-imposed austerity policies and defend the rights of working people. Related Topics: Portugal – Protest – Workers' Rights