National Typographical Union founded, Cincinnati, Ohio. It was renamed the Int?l Typographical Union in 1869, in acknowledgment of Canadian members. When the ITU merged into CWA in 1986 it was the oldest existing union in the U.S. - 1852
Haymarket massacre. A bomb is thrown as Chicago police start to break up a rally for strikers at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. A riot erupts, 11 police and strikers die, mostly from gunfire, and scores more are injured - 1886
(A People?s History of the United States: 1492-Present: If your last serious read of American history was in high school?or even in a standard college course?you?ll want to read this amazing account of America as seen through the eyes of its working people, women and minorities. Howard Zinn (1922-2010) was a widely respected historian, author, playwright, and social activist. In A People?s History of the United States: 1492-Present, he turns history on its head with his carefully researched and dramatic recounting of America and its people?not just its bankers, industrialists, generals and politicians.)
Four striking workers are killed, at least 200 wounded, when police attack a demonstration on Chicago?s south side at the McCormick Harvesting Machine plant. The Haymarket Massacre is to take place the following day - 1886
Chicago's first Trades Assembly, formed three years earlier, sponsors a general strike by thousands of workers to enforce the state's new 8-hour-day law. The one-week strike was unsuccessful - 1867