Jan. 31 1996: U.S. Customs officials near San Diego attack Pastors for Peace activists attempting to carry donated computers across border to Mexico for humanitarian shipment to Cuba.

Feb. 1. 1960: Four black students sit in at a Woolworths' lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina to protest segregation. 1988: Two Native American activists, Eddie Hatcher and Tim Jacobs, occupy a newspaper office in Lumberton, NC to highlight racism issues.

Feb. 2. 1972: In response to the Bloody Sunday killings, an Irish mob torches the British Embassy in Dublin. 1990: South African President deKlerk lists ban on opposition groups.

Feb. 3. BC 3114: Reciprocal date for Mayan Creation, the laying out of the ecliptic. 1973: President Nixon signs Endangered Species Act, now itself endangered.

Feb. 4. 1990: Colombian government recognizes native rights to 69,000 square miles (slightly larger than area of state of Washington) in Amazon Basin, home to 55,000 native people.

Feb. 5. 1970: U.S. troops invade Laos. 1991: 49 German troops conscientiously object to going to Turkey for Gulf War.

Feb. 6. 1973: 200 American Indian Movement protesters clash with police for three days in Custer, SD, over murder of Wesley Bad Heart; 37 arrested. 1976: Native American activist Leonard Peltier is captured in Canada and, on the basis of fictitious affidavits generated by the FBI, is later extradited to the U.S.

Feb. 7. 1965: U.S. Air Force begins saturation bombing of North Vietnam. 1993: Women's tribunal against rape in war, Zagreb, Croatia.

Feb. 8. 1968: Police kill four and wound 33 as black students protest at a segregated bowling alley in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

Feb. 9. 1964: Beatles appear on Ed Sullivan show. 1971: Protests led by the Oriental Student Union briefly close Seattle Central Community College.

Feb. 10. 1971: National protests against U.S. invasion of Laos include 1,500 protesters and 9 arrests at the Univ. of Washington.

Feb. 11. 1790: Long after colonists had invaded upstate New York and natives had fought back successfully (including in alliance with the British during the American Revolution), U.S. signs first treaty with Iroquois. 1990: Nelson Mandela released after being held 27 years in prison without trial by the U.S.-supported apartheid government of South Africa.

Feb. 12. 1947: Between 400 and 500 veterans and conscientious objectors from World Wars I and II burn their draft cards in 2 demonstrations--in front of the White House in DC and at the Labor Temple in New York City--in protest of a proposed universal conscription law. First draft card burning in US. 1974: After 10 years of direct actions to claim treaty fishing rights, Washington state tribes win court decision giving them 50% of allowable salmon catch. Legislators have sought to undermine or overturn the ruling ever since.

Feb. 13. 1641: Iroquois Confederacy begins war against Canada.