The June Democracy Movement emerges in South Korea
The June Democracy Movement was a nationwide democracy movement in South Korea that forced the ruling government to hold elections and institute other democratic reforms.
Citizens
The United Democratic Front emerges in South Africa
The United Democratic Front was a major anti-apartheid organisation of the 1980s. The non-racial coalition of about 400 civic, church, students’, workers’ and other organisations was formed to fight the new Tricameral Parliament.
17,000 workers go on strike in Poland, marking the beginning of the Solidarity movement
In the 1980s, Solidarity was a broad anti-bureaucratic social movement, using methods of civil resistance to advance the causes of workers’ rights and social change in Poland.
The first Earth Day is celebrated
Earth Day was the brainchild of U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, a staunch environmentalist who hoped to provide unity to the grassroots environmental movement and increase ecological awareness.
Rachel Carson’s “sea trilogy” helps inspire the “marine revolution”
Carson began her career as an aquatic biologist in the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, and became a full-time nature writer in the 1950s. Her widely praised 1951 bestseller The Sea Around Us won her a U.S. National Book Award. Its success prompted the republication of her first book, Under the Sea Wind (1941), in 1952, which was followed by The Edge of the Sea in 1955 — both were also bestsellers. The sea trilogy explores the whole of ocean life from the shores to the depths and is credited with inspiring a major shift in public awareness on marine conservation.
Civil rights movement begins in the United States
With roots starting in the Reconstruction era during the late 19th century, the movement resulted in the largest legislative impacts after the direct actions and grassroots protests organized from the mid-1950s until 1968.
The Antigua Trades and Labour Union is formed
Poor labor conditions in Antigua and Barbuda persisted until 1939 when a member of a royal commission urged the formation of a trade union movement. The Antigua Trades and Labour Union, formed shortly afterward,
The Rastafari movement thrives in Jamaica
Rastafarianism is an Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much diversity exists among practitioners.
Amelia Earhart becomes first woman to complete transatlantic flight
In 1932, piloting a Lockheed Vega 5B, Earhart made a nonstop solo transatlantic flight, becoming the first woman to achieve such a feat. She received the United States Distinguished Flying Cross for this accomplishment.
Mahatma Gandhi begins historic protest march against the British salt tax
The twenty four day march lasted from 12 March 1930 to 5 April 1930 as a direct action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly.