What is Brattleboros 20th Anniversary May Day Celebration?
Contributed by: Anonymous On Tuesday May 4, 1886 a group of nearly 2,500 people assembled at the Haymarket Square in Chicago, in response to the shooting of a striking McCormick repair plant worker by police the day before. When 176 armed police attacked, mayhem ensued and a stick of dynamite was thrown into the crowd, killing one policeman and injuring several others. Police shot into the crowd killing four workers and injuring many others, including their own men. In all, six police officers died and many protesters were seriously injured. In the martial law that followed, eight men were tired as organizers of the event, and on November 11, 1887 four of them were hung; one more was found dead in his cell in a dubious suicide involving dynamite. The remaining three were eventually pardoned in June of 1893. July 14th of 1889 the International Labor Congress convening in Paris voted to adopt May 1st as the international labor day in memory of the Haymarket martyrs. Only the U.S. and Can
