August 5, 1895 – Friedrich Engels passes away due to throat cancer. He was a German revolutionary communist and Karl Marx’s closest friend and collaborator. His works include ‘The Origin of Family, State, and Private Property’, ‘Dialectics of Nature’, ‘Utopian and Scientific Socialism’, etc. He and Marx co-wrote ‘Manifesto of the Communist Party’. He also finished and published ‘Das Kapital’ after Marx’s death.
August 6, 1945 – The US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, followed by Nagasaki on August 9, killing over a lakh people and causing generations of radiation-related health issues. This came at a time when Japan was already willing to surrender to the Allied forces. Hiroshima Day honours the victims and calls for peace, and global awareness against nuclear weapons.
August 15, 1973- The Dalit Panthers organized a protest in Mumbai, calling it “Kala Swatantrya Din” or Black Independence Day. This demonstration, attended by around 200 people, marked the 27th independence day and challenged the narrative of a fully achieved independence for all Indians, particularly highlighting the continued oppression faced by Dalits.
August 23, 1791- Enslaved Africans in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) launched a powerful revolt, marking the start of the Haitian Revolution. It was the first slave uprising that led to the abolition of slavery and the establishment of the world’s first Black republic.
August 30, 1948 – Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party was born. He founded the anti-capitalist Rainbow Coalition, a multicultural political organization to help end infighting among gangs and work together for social change. Hampton considered fascism the greatest threat, saying, “nothing is more important than stopping fascism, because fascism will stop us all.” He was murdered by the FBI in 1969.
