Jan. 21. 1647: Margaret Brent becomes first American woman to ask for the vote (in Maryland Assembly). 1920: Palmer Raids target U.S. radicals for government repression. 1938: Emma Tenayuca leads pecan shellers' strike, San Antonio, Texas.

Jan. 22. 1905: Massacre of demonstrators for social reform, St. Petersburg, Russia. 1967: 200 killed by Somoza's National Guard during protest against state violence, Nicaragua. 1973: U.S. Supreme Court legalizes abortion in Roe v. Wade. 1991: 15 villagers massacred by U.S.-supported government troops, El Zapote, El Salvador. 1991: 14 ACT-UP AIDS activists are arrested disrupting CBS, NBC, and PBS evening newscasts with "Fight AIDS, not Arabs" banners. 1995: Over 2,000 demonstrate in Moscow protesting Chechen war. 1996: 15 are arrested at Rep. Norm Dicks' Tacoma office for protesting clearcut logging under the salvage logging rider.

Jan. 23. 1973: Pres. Nixon announced "Peace With Honor" accord with Vietnam. 1980: Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier, already sentenced to two life sentences, is given an additional seven years for escaping from a federal prison.

Jan. 24. 1848: Gold discovered at Sutters Creek, California. First strip mall soon follows. 1962: U.S. Navy confirms plans to build Polaris nuclear submarine at Bangor, Wash.

Jan. 25. 1961: Military coup deposes leadership of El Salvador. 1968: Alexander Dubcek ascends to power in Czechoslovakia and launches the "Prague Spring" of liberalization.

Jan. 26. 1945: Liberation of extermination camp, Auschwitz/Oswiecim, Poland. 1969: Edwin Pratt, director of Seattle Urban League, is assassinated; police involvement is widely suspected. An arrest is never made in the case. A lawsuit to open police records on the case was rejected earlier this month, on the grounds that the investigation is "ongoing." 1991: 100,000 march against Gulf War, New York City and San Francisco.