The 1969 Curaçao uprising was a series of riots from 30 May to 1 June on the Caribbean island of Curaçao, then part of the Netherlands Antilles, a semi-independent country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. A protest rally during a strike by oil workers turned violent, leading to widespread looting and destruction in the center of Curaçao's capital, Willemstad, as well as two deaths and hundreds of arrests. The protesters achieved their demands for higher wages and the government's resignation. The uprising's leaders gained seats in parliamentary elections in September. A commission investigating the riots put the blame on economic issues, racial tensions, and police and government misconduct. The uprising prompted the Dutch government to undertake new efforts to fully decolonize the remnants of its colonial empire. Suriname, another constituent country of the Netherlands, became independent in 1975, but leaders of the Antilles resisted independence out of fear of economic repercussions.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Cura%C3%A7ao_uprising

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1776:

American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Fort Lee saw the invasion of New Jersey by British and Hessian forces and the subsequent general retreat of the Continental Army. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Lee_Historic_Park

1902:

While discussing how to promote the newspaper L'Auto, sports journalist Géo Lefèvre came up with the idea of holding a cycling race that later became known as the Tour de France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France

1969:

A group of Native American activists began a 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island (graffiti pictured) in San Francisco Bay. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Alcatraz

1994:

In accordance with the Lusaka Protocol, the Angolan government signed a ceasefire with UNITA rebels in a failed attempt to end the Angolan Civil War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusaka_Protocol

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

Nuremberg defense: 1. (ethics, international law, idiomatic) An explanation offered as an excuse for behaving in a criminal or wrongful manner, claiming that acted in this way because one was ordered by others (particularly superiors) to do so. 2. (US law, by extension) An explanation offered as a defense to criminal or wrongful behavior, claiming that one is justified in not obeying a governmental order or a domestic law because the order or law is itself unlawful. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Nuremberg_defense

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

If we would lead outside our borders, if we would help those who need our assistance, if we would meet our responsibilities to mankind, we must first, all of us, demolish the borders which history has erected between men within our own nations — barriers of race and religion, social class and ignorance. Our answer is the world's hope; it is to rely on youth. The cruelties and the obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. It cannot be moved by those who cling to a present which is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger which comes with even the most peaceful progress. This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.   --Robert F. Kennedy https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy