The Nation : Haymarket Riot Recalled
About 500 union members held a rally in Chicago to mark the 100th anniversary of the Haymarket Square riot in which 11 people died in a violent watershed incident for the fledgling American labor movement. On May 4, 1886, a package of dynamite tossed on the street just off Haymarket Square near the city’s Loop ignited the riot during a rally by striking union members, who were pushing for shorter hours. Seven policemen were killed and 74 wounded by the bomb that exploded as they were breaking up the rally. Four demonstrators were killed by ensuing gunfire. The rally on North Michigan Avenue featured various speakers and skits of the historic riot of 1886. Both labor and police have planned other ceremonies during the week.
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