The Knights of St. Crispin union is formed at a secret meeting in Milwaukee.
It grew to 50,000 members before being crushed by employers later that year
- 1867
Works Projects Administration (WPA) established at a cost of $4.8 billion --
more than $72 billion in 2011 dollars -- to provide work opportunities for
millions during the Great Depression - 1935
National Typographical Union founded, Cincinnati, Ohio. It was renamed the
International 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