(421) Venice, Italy founded at the stroke of noon
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Legend has it that the northern Italian city of Venice is created precisely at 12 noon with the dedication of its first church, San Giocomo, on the islet of Rialto. Venice will eventually spread across 117 small islands.. |
(1807) British Empire ends its slave trade
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Championed by religious groups and slavery abolitionist William Wilberforce, the Slave Trade Act becomes law in Great Britain and its colonies, ending the trading of slaves throughout the empire. It will be another 26 years before slavery itself will be abolished in the United Kingdom.. |
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(1911) Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire kills 146
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A Manhattan garment sweatshop is the scene of a horrific, and avoidable, tragedy as crowded conditions and an almost total lack of safety measures lead to the deaths of 146 workers after a fire breaks out. Legislation requiring factory safety standards will follow, as will sweatshop workers unions.. |
(1957) US Customs Office seizes ‘Howl’
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As 520 copies of Allen Ginsberg’s poem ‘Howl’ arrive in the US from a London publisher, customs officials seize the books on charges of obscenity. Ginsberg and his publisher, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, will fight those charges and win, the trial a publicity bonanza for ‘Howl’ and the cause of free speech.. |
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