1781: Many wounded as mutinous Pennsylvania Revolutionary War troops at Morristown, New Jersey rush from their huts, seize arms, ammunition, and horses, secure six pieces of artillery, and--after subduing three regiments of loyal soldiers--march to Philadelphia to demand back pay from Congress.

1800: Socialist planner Robert Owen assumes control of mills at New Lanark, Scotland.

1804: Haitian slaves, led by Jean Jacques Desalines, declare independence. Haiti becomes first free black nation-state in the world; US refuses to recognize Haiti for the next 70 or so years.

1831: First issue of the Liberator, WIlliam Lloyd Garrison's abolitionist paper.

1832: First meeting of the New England Anti-Slavery Society.

1834: "On the first of January, 1834, I left Mr. Covey, and went to live with Mr. William Freeland, who lived about three miles from St. Michael's. I soon found Mr. Freeland a very different man from Mr. Covey. Though not rich, he was what would be called an educated southern gentleman. Mr. Covey, as I have shown, was a well-trained negro-breaker and slave-driver." Life changes in "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave," an autobiographical account of slavery by Frederick Douglass.

1863: The provision of the Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in rebel states goes into effect, although it has no legal weight since the rebel states are not under US authority. The actual proclamation, issued on Sep. 22, 1862, offered to let any rebel state that rejoined the union before this date keep slavery intact. The principle of what is today considered a document of freedom is that you cannot own another person unless you are loyal to the US.

1875: Women weavers form union in Fall River, Massachusetts.

1879: Birth of Hobo King and whorehouse doctor, anarchist sympathizer and one-time lover of Emma Goldman, Ben Reitman.

1881: Paris Commune leader Louis-Auguste Blanqui dies, Paris, France.

1883: Last peace talks held between natives and non-natives at Villarrica, Chile, forced Araucanians onto reservation in southern Chile.

1895: Birth of J. Edgar Hoover, founder and 50-year leader of America's political police force, the FBI, and one of the world's most famous cross dressing blackmailers.

1910: National Urban League founded.

1911: Opening of the Modern School, in New York, With the aid of Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman. Based on the ideas of the Spanish anarchist Ferrer.

1933: US troops leave Nicaragua.

1934: Prohibition (of alcohol) ends in US.

1941: In a speech decrying the war in Europe, Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt announces America's principles of "Four Freedoms" (freedom of speech, freedom of worship, and freedom from want and fear) desired for the world--freedoms which pointedly were not encouraged, then or later, for countries whose dictators were installed and/or supported by the US for Cold War purposes.

1942: Twenty-six states sign Declaration of the United Nations. Washington, DC.

1942: Rose Bowl played in North Carolina due to the Japanese threat to Pasadena.

1942: "Uncle Joe" Stalin proclaimed "Time" magazine's "Man of the Year."

1942: Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) founded by James Farmer.

1947: Canada: Saskatchewan government (CCF) introduces first hospital care program in North America.

1955: US begins training South Vietnamese army. How well they do.

1959: Cuban dictator Juan Batista flees the island; Fidel Castro's forces enter Havana the next day.

1960: The Man in Black--singer/ex-convict Johnny Cash--plays San Quentin, the first of many concerts he will perform for to prison inmates.

1968: Yippies founded and announce plans to conduct demonstrations the following summer at Democratic convention in Chicago.

1970: Menominee Indians seize unused Gresham, Wisconsin Roman Catholic novitiate (on February 4, the church promises to deed it to them for a tribal hospital.)

1970: A Twin-engine Cessna takes off from an airport outside Madison, Wisconsin, flies 35 miles north, and drops three bombs on the Badger Army Ammunition Plant. An anonymous phone call to the University of Wisconsin student newspaper, "The Daily Cardinal," identifies the bombers as members of (quote) "The Vanguard of the Revolution."

1981: Vancouver (Canada) Municipal and Regional Employees Union goes on the picket line for 13 weeks. Innovative strike tactics, including the complete shutdown of major tourist attractions like the Planetarium, and a propensity to sing labor songs at every rally and picket line, eventually won tremendous settlement.

1983: Women break into cruise missile base and dance on silos. Greenham Common, Britain.

1986: Arrest of ten anti-nuclear activists for trespassing at Nevada Test Site culminates a 54-day encampment at the main Test Site gate. The camp establishes momentum for what became a movement of over 10,000 arrests in numerous Test Site protests over the following years.

1986: USSR leader Mikhael Gorbachev asks for world ban on atomic weapons.

1992: Women dance on missile silos, US Air Force Base, Greenham Common, England.

1994: Indigenous army in Chiapas, Mexico rebels in reaction to implementation of NAFTA agreement. Briefly takes over four towns before receding into jungle and beginning a national dialogue on the future of genuine democracy in Mexico.