Always a Lost Cause

A far more plausible theory is that any resemblance of a human face seen in the shells of the Heikegani crabs is the result of pareidolia, the human brain’s innate ability to recognize faces and human forms in a set of random stimuli. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the Virgin Mary on toast, and the man in the moon. (Source)

Serve with boiled potatoes and beetroot.

STATISTICS: Name: Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker Occupation: Terrorist Leader Base: Mobile Height: 6 ft 2 in Weight: 225 lbs Eyes: Blue Hair: None Powers: Can release the virulent Death Spore Virus from within his body at will. He wears the Satan Claw, capable of discharging electrical shocks, upon his right hand.

2018 - Oldest stone tools outside Africa discovered in Western China, estimated 2.12 million years old made by hominids

On this day, 11 July 1974, a bomb went off in the boot of a car in Montbeliard, France. A further stockpile of explosives was discovered nearby, with anti-socialist and anti-communist leaflets. They belonged to Bernard Roussillon, a mercenary team leader who had been hired by Peugeot bosses to infiltrate and destroy workers’ organisation in their Sochaux factory - but who also carried out a wave of crimes and robberies across the region. More info in this great pamphlet by Solidarity: https://ift.tt/2N1cyUA Pictured: the plant around this time https://ift.tt/2KNfB6k

On this day, 11 July 1917 in São Paulo, police beat to death Antonio Martinez (referred to as José by some sources), a 21-year-old shoemaker who happened to be a bystander to a workers’ demonstration against the high cost of living. Police later attacked his large funeral procession with swords. The working class responded with riots across the city, and the next day 12,500 people went on strike joined by a further 5,000 the following day, and then the stoppage became general. Workers only agreed to return to work for a widespread 10% pay increase. More info in this overview of the workers’ movement in Brazil in the early part of the 20th century: https://libcom.org/history/organized-labor-brazil-1900-1937-anarchist-origins-government-control-colin-everett https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1472752506243228/?type=3

On this day, 11 July 2002, German socialist and French resistance fighter Irene Bernard died aged 94. An office clerk and mother of three, Bernard lived in Saarland, which was independent of Germany in the early days of Nazi rule, and became home to many Germans fleeing the regime. There she and her husband, Leander, assisted refugees. When Saarland was annexed by the German Reich in 1935, the Bernards fled to France to escape the Gestapo. There, they kept up their anti-fascist activities and helped volunteers on their way to fight general Franco’s nationalists in the Spanish civil war. When the Wehrmacht occupied southern France in 1942, Irene joined Travail Antifasciste Allemand, a combat unit of the French resistance consisting of thousands of mostly German speakers. She then went underground, fought with the National Committee for Free Germany and gathered military intelligence. After the war, Bernard took care of wounded German soldiers who were prisoners of war. Later she returned to Saarland and became involved with women’s and anti-war movements, and remained involved with anti-fascism and advocating for victims of Nazism. Learn more about German resistance to Nazism in our podcast episodes 63-64 and 72. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, on our website, or on your favourite podcast app: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/working-class-history/id1355066333 https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=659809479525604&set=a.602588028581083&type=3

On this day, 11 July 1989, a huge strike began of miners in the Soviet Union demanding better food supplies, cleaner working conditions, adequate housing, better care of the environment in mining areas, and rights to share management of the mines. In March, two brief strikes occurred at the Lidiieka and Kirov mines in Donbass, Ukraine. In July a much bigger strike began in both the Donbass and the Kuznetsky basin in Western Siberia. Within a few days, the strike had grown to 100,000 workers, and threatened to become a general strike when sympathy strikes began. Most miners had returned to work by July 25, after officials agreed to most of their demands. These included more meat and soap, rights to share management and profits in the industry, and increases to pay, vacation time and other benefits. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7730/soviet-miners-strike https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=660198009486751&set=a.602588028581083&type=3

On this day, 11 July 1918, Jewish Ukrainian anarchist mechanic Simón Radowitzky escaped from the Ushuaia concentration camp on the island of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina (content note: sexual violence). Radowitzky was serving an indefinite sentence for assassinating the chief of Buenos Aires police, who had ordered the Red Week massacre of workers during a May Day demonstration in 1909. Previously, Radowitzky had become a spokesperson for prisoners, and had led hunger strikes and protests. In retaliation, prison authorities first tried to torture him with sleep deprivation, then the governor and three guards raped him in 1918. This enraged the anarchist movement in Buenos Aires, which began a campaign for his freedom, and songs about him were sung in workers’ meetings and assemblies around the city. In addition to the campaign, some anarchists decided to try to break out of prison, and used a smuggler’s ship to rescue him. But after 23 days he was recaptured by the Chilean navy and returned to prison. He was eventually released in 1930, then deported to Uruguay. He was then deported from Uruguay for his role in the struggle against the dictator, so he travelled to Spain to join the fight against general Francisco Franco in the civil war. He survived the war, only to be interned in a concentration camp in France, after which he moved to Mexico, where he spent the remainder of his life, working in a toy factory and remaining active in the revolutionary movement. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8308/simon-radowitzky-escapes https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=660013872838498&set=a.602588028581083&type=3

On this day in 1804, Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr and former Secretary of the Treasury and Founding Father Alexander Hamilton had a duel. The duel took place at Weehawken in New Jersey, and saw Burr fatally shoot Hamilton. Hamilton died the next day. Burr was acquitted of murder but the incident ended his political career and President Jefferson dropped him from the 1804 election ticket. The duel was a culmination of years of political and personal disputes between the two men.

On this day, 11 July 1937, Jack Sirai, a Japanese cook who went to Spain to fight the fascists during the civil war, was killed in combat. A volunteer in the American Abraham Lincoln Brigade, he was shot dead after volunteering to fetch supplies for his starving unit. He was buried that night beside Oliver Law, an African-American volunteer. In this podcast we tell the story of the Spanish civil war: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/07/29/spanish-civil-war-podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1164859590365856/?type=3

On this day, 11 July 1981, it was rumoured that fascists were planning to attack Asian communities in Bradford, England, so members of the United Black Youth League, which included Asian and Black members, decided to organise defence of the community and assembled a cache of petrol bombs. It occurred against a background of repeated racist attacks and firebombings. Police found the Molotovs, and 12 young Asian men were arrested and charged — the Bradford 12. Following a big campaign in their defence, they were all acquitted on the basis that their actions amounted to community self-defence. Learn more in our podcast episodes 33-34 with one of the defendants, Tariq Mehmood: https://workingclasshistory.com/2019/09/18/e28-29-asian-youth-movements-in-bradford/ https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/2032457646939375/?type=3

On this day, 11 July 1945, anti-fascist Spanish civil war fighter Agustín Soler, who had been jailed in an internment camp alongside Nazis in Britain, killed himself in protest. Scores of Spanish anti-fascist exiles, many of whom later fought in the French resistance, were detained by Allied forces after the defeat of the Axis and thrown into British prison camps alongside their former fascist enemies by the Conservative government. Upon its election, the Labour government continued the detention of Spanish anti-fascists, and defended it in parliament, claiming that they were “serving members of an enemy paramilitary organisation”. More info here: https://libcom.org/history/spanish-anti-fascist-prisoners-war-lancashire-1944-46 Pictured: some of the prisoners https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1164666523718496/?type=3

“Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”

STATISTICS: Name: Thundra Occupation: Warrior Base: Mobile Height: 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) Weight: 350 lbs (158.75 kg) Eyes: Green Hair: Red Powers: Thundra possesses superhuman strength, endurance, and durability as a result of genetic engineering. She is also a highly trained warrior, specializing in the use of a three-foot chain as a weapon. Allies: Arkon, Valkyrie, Red Hulk, the Thing Foes: Mahkizmo, Mad Thinker, the Nth Man

Researchers studied 215 bacterial strains from the Phoenix mission cleanroom and found 53 strains that represented 26 new species. Some had survival tricks linked to biofilms, DNA repair and resistance to harsh conditions.