On This Day In Labor History

July 3, 1835 - Children employed in the silk mills in Paterson, New Jersey, went on strike for the 11-hour day, six-day week. The first textile workers in the United States were all children, hired specifically by the mill owners because of their quick reflexes and nimble fingers. Many were maimed or died before reaching adulthood.

July 3, 1860 - Feminist and labor activist Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born. Her landmark study, Women and Economics, called for financial independence for women and proposed a network of child care centers.

July 3, 1968 - Figures released show that more Americans were killed during the first six months of 1968 than in all of 1967 and were a direct result of the communist Tet Offensive. Combined with heavy U.S. casualties and disillusionment with President Johnson's conduct of the Vietnam war his popularity with the people continued to decrease causing him to decide he would neither seek nor accept the nomination of his party for re-election.

July 3, 1971 - The lead singer of "The Doors " Jim Morrison is found dead in a bathtub in his apartment in Paris with heart failure aggravated by excessive drinking.

July 3, 2008 - The latest US employment figures show US companies have cut workers for the sixth month in a row (June 62,000 jobs cut) fueling fears that the world's largest economy is heading towards a recession.

July 3, 2009 : Sarah Palin, former running-mate for John McCain, announced that she will resign from her office of governor of Alaska. The announcement was unexpected and it was suspected that the announcement came in time for Palin to prepare herself to run in the 2012 presidential election. What a boob.

July 3, 2011 - An ExxonMobil pipeline in Montana ruptured and has spilled up to one thousand barrels of crude oil into the Yellowstone river. The pipe was shut down and the leak was isolated while clean-up crews tried to manage the spill.