Dec. 8. 1987: Protestor Hatem Abu Sisseh, 16, killed by Israeli soldiers, igniting the Intifadah for self-rule. In the seven years to follow, 1,306 Palestinians slain by Israelis, 192 Israelis killed by Palestinians.

Dec. 9. 1640: Settler Hugh Bewitt is banished from colony of Massachusetts when he declares himself to be free of original sin. 1961: Committee of 100, including Bertrand Russell, hold demonstrations at various US air and nuclear bases in Britain.

Dec. 10. 1902: Elie Ducommun awarded Nobel Peace Prize for creating International Peace Bureau. 1984: South African Bishop Desmond Tutu receives Nobel Peace Prize.

Dec. 11. 1960: Thousands protest segregation in Atlanta. 1972: New Zealand Prime Minister Kirk announces withdrawal of his country's troops from Vietnam, and phase-out of draft.

Dec. 12. 1098: First Crusaders capture and plunder for God, Mara, Syria. 1982: Thirty thousand women encircle US cruise missile base, Greenham Common, Britain.

Dec. 13. 1971: Namibian workers strike against contract labor system imposed by South African colonial government. Marks beginning of popular support for liberation struggles.

Dec. 14. 1852: Birth of Daniel DeLeon, Curacao, West Indies. One of the founders of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), socialist scholar and labor organizer.

Dec. 15. 1791: Bill of Rights ratified as first ten amendments to US Constitution. Numerous modern polls have shown that, with questions couched in law and order terms, most Americans oppose the Bill of Rights.

Dec. 16. 1976: Government swine flu inoculation program halted after 535 cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (and numerous deaths) result. 1991: Activists in Brussels, Belgium, protesting Vatican funding for an observatory desecrating sacred Apache site at Mount Graham, AZ, pull a bulldozer up to a prominent local cathedral.

Dec. 17. 1760: Birth of Deborah Sampson, US Revolutionary War soldier who fought dressed as a man. 1966: Against US wishes, UN General Assembly approves an international treaty banning nuclear weapons in space.

Dec. 18. 1830: Trial of Swing Rioters, peasants and workers who fought for minimum wage. 1946: Birth of Steven Biko, South African/Azanian leader of the Black Consciousness Movement; murdered by South African police in 1977.

Dec. 19. 1675: Colonial forces escalate King Phillip's War by burning 300 old men, women, and children alive in their village, and later attack the Narragansetts in the Great Swamp, killing over 1,000 Indians. 1940: Birth of folk music protester Phil Ochs, El Paso.

Dec. 20. 1968: American social activist writer John Steinbeck dies, New York City. Wrote "Grapes of Wrath," "East of Eden," and was a script writer for "Zapata!" 1990: Reservist Dr. Yolanda Huet-Vaughn refuses orders for Gulf War, Kansas. She is later sentenced to prison, and the Kansas medical board strips Huet-Vaughn of her license to practice, because of her conscientious objection.

Dec. 21. 1892: Birth of Rebecca West, London. Writer, feminist, critic; companion for 10 years of author and socialist H.G. Wells. "People call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute." 1969: Seven hundred supporters visit jailed war resisters, Allenwood Federal Penitentiary, PA.