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92 years ago today, on April 26th 1933, Nazi Germany's secret police, the Gestapo, (Geheime Staatspolizei) was founded. Led by Göring and later Himmler, it used terror, surveillance, and torture to target Jews, student resisters, and political enemies, playing a major role in Holocaust deportations.

submitted 7 hours ago • 1 comment

80 years ago today, on April 25th 1945, the Italian Resistance rose against Nazi-Fascist forces. Cities like Milan and Turin were freed, Mussolini was captured and executed, and Italy moved toward liberation. April 25th is now celebrated as Liberation Day.

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Barbra Streisand is 83 years old today. In this 2023 interview she said “Why on earth would people want to entrust our country to a narcissist whose lack of experience, recklessness, and blatant disregard for the truth made him completely unfit to be president?”

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

Five years today since Presinfectant Trump suggested it might be possible to inject bleach in order to deal with coronavirus.

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

The last time someone who crashed the economy attended an important funeral they were out of office 36 days later.

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115 years ago today, on April 21st 1910, Mark Twain died. A fierce humanist, he fought for justice, supported women’s rights and opposed racism. He upheld the dignity of the individual. In 1900, he warned against US imperialism: “I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land.”

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

86 years ago today, on April 20 1939, Billie Holiday recorded the song Strange Fruit. It is a protest song that condemns the brutal racism and lynching of Black Americans in the U.S. South. The song is a powerful symbol of the fight against racial oppression and injustice. youtu.be/bckob0AyKCA?...

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

It is 250 years today since Paul Revere alerted Americans to the existential threat posed to them by an enemy. Tomorrow, performing the same task, millions of Paul Reveres will take to the streets of the US.

submitted 8 days ago • 1 comment

70 years ago today, on April 18th 1955, Albert Einstein died in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1929 he had written a letter to Dr. Siegfried Hessing, a German-Jewish psychiatrist and friend. He wrote that “Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.”

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

670 years ago today, on April 17th 1355, Marino Faliero, Venice’s 55th Doge, was executed for plotting a coup. His plan failed, and he was beheaded. After his death, he was condemned to "damnatio memoriae," and his portrait in the Doge's Palace was replaced with a black shroud.

submitted 9 days ago • 1 comment

40 years ago today, on April 17th 1985,The Handmaid’s Tale was published. It portrayed a U.S. dystopia where women’s rights were erased. Reduced to roles like handmaids, they were denied autonomy, education, and freedom, facing control, fear, and violence under a repressive right-wing regime.

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

Charlie Chaplin was born in London 136 years ago today, on April 16th 1889. He used his movie The Great Dictator to denounce fascism and promote peace, unity, and freedom. Its climax is a moving plea for kindness, democracy, and resistance to tyranny. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7GY...

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223 years ago today, on April 15th 1802, William Wordsworth and his sister walked alongside Lake Ullswater, at which moment he saw the "host of golden daffodils" that inspired his famous poem.

submitted 11 days ago • 1 comment

80 years ago today, on April 15th 1945, British troops liberated Bergen-Belsen, uncovering mass death and horrific conditions. The nazi camp’s horrors shocked the world, revealing the true extent of fascist inhumanity and the Holocaust, prompting calls for justice and remembrance.

submitted 11 days ago • 1 comment

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen”. The opening line of George Orwell's Nineteen-Eighty-Four.

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80 years ago today, on April 12th 1945, Harry S Truman became president of the US following the death of Roosevelt. Truman had a reputation for honesty and plain dealing. After leaving office, he famously refused to profit from his presidency, even paying for stamps out of his own pocket.

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

80 years ago today, on April 11th 1945, U.S. troops liberated Buchenwald concentration camp. Established in 1937, it held Jews, Roma, and others who faced forced labour and brutality. Today, it stands as a memorial to those who suffered and died.

submitted 15 days ago • 1 comment

The Great Gatsby, published 100 years ago today on April 10th 1925, explores the failure of the American Dream through Gatsby’s pursuit of love and status. Despite wealth, he faces rejection, and finds that the Dream is corrupted by greed and illusion and is ultimately unreachable.

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85 years ago today, on April 9th 1940, nazi Germany invaded Denmark and Norway in Operation Weserübung, securing key naval routes. Denmark fell in hours, Norway in two months. The invasion would lead to Churchill becoming prime minister.

submitted 16 days ago • 1 comment

1808 years ago today, on April 8th 217 AD, the Roman Emperor Caracalla was assassinated by one of his soldiers. His reign was brutal - he killed his brother Geta for power and ordered mass executions of Geta’s supporters. His rule was marked by fear, paranoia, domestic instability and harsh taxes.

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

70 years ago today, on April 5th 1955, Winston Churchill resigned as UK Prime Minister due to poor health. The wartime leader returned in 1951 but struggled with declining health. His resignation marked the end of a historic era in which he had played a crucial role in the battle against fascism.

submitted 21 days ago • 0 comments

On August 28th 1963, over 250,000 people joined the largest civil rights protest led by MLK Jr, where he gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. This (and other protests) led to major U.S. policy changes. About 1 in 750 Americans attended. Today, a protest of equal scale would need around 437,500 people.

submitted 21 days ago • 0 comments

Three days ago, Russell Brand discussed his conversion to Christianity on Fox News with Sean Hannity. Today, Brand was charged with rape. www.foxnews.com/media/russel... www.foxnews.com/media/russel...

submitted 21 days ago • 1 comment

Jane Goodall is 91 today. A zoologist, she is the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees. She says that Donald Trump’s behaviour is like that of a male chimpanzee seeking to display its dominance, using aggression, intimidation, and exaggerated displays to assert control and attract followers.

submitted 23 days ago • 1 comment

Émile Zola was born 185 years ago today on April 2nd 1840. A critic of corruption in government, he sought to expose political greed and manipulation. In “J’Accuse”, he denounced judicial deceit and the conviction of Alfred Dreyfus, saying “Truth is on the march, and nothing will stop it.”

submitted 24 days ago • 0 comments

101 years ago today, on April 1 1924, Adolf Hiler was sentenced to 5 years for an attempted coup. He served 9 months, writing Mein Kampf, outlining the “Big Lie” technique (extreme claims becoming accepted as truth, creating confusion). Ivana Trump claimed DJT kept Hiler’s writings by his bed.

submitted 25 days ago • 1 comment

44 years ago today, on March 30th 1981, John Hinckley Jr. tried to assassinate President Reagan in order to impress Jodie Foster. He shot four people, including Reagan, who survived. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity. The attack led to stricter gun laws and better security.

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

80 years ago today, on March 29, 1945, nazi Germany launched its last V rocket attacks on Britain, ending a campaign that had terrorised cities since 1944. Part of Hitler’s Vergeltungswaffen program, 10,000 V-1s and 3,000+ V-2s hit London, Antwerp, and Liège, killing and injuring tens of thousands.

submitted 28 days ago • 1 comment

90 years ago today, on March 28th 1935, the fascist propaganda film ‘Triumph of the Will’ was released. It was a visual record of the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg. It captures the hysterical adoration of thousands of white men for their dictator as he sought to Make Germany Great Again.

submitted 29 days ago • 1 comment

Diana Ross is 81 today. Here’s my piano version of the Theme from Mahogany.

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments

76 years ago today, on March 25th 1949, the Soviet Union began deporting over 90,000 Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians to Siberia in order to crush resistance. Families were sent in cattle trains, many perishing. After 1953, some managed to return. March 25th is now a Baltic day of mourning.

submitted 32 days ago • 1 comment