On August 14

On this day in ...
… 1980, shipyard workers in Gdansk, Poland, staged a successful strike (right) in protest over the dismissal of militant crane driver and a Polish trade unionist Anna Walentynowicz, who had been fired 5 months before she was due to retire in response to her participation in the illegal trade union. This strike in the Gdansk shipyard led to many more throughout Poland and, eventually, to the creation of Solidarity, the Polish trade union federation of which Walentynowicz became a prominent member. (photo credit)
… 1947, Danielle Fernande Dominique Schuelein-Steel, better known as Danielle Steel (left), American romantic novelist and author of mainstream dramas, was born in New York City. (photo credit) Steel has sold more than 550 million copies of her books worldwide, and 22 of her books have been adapted for television. Steel's novels have been on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 390 consecutive weeks, and every novel has been a bestseller.

(Prior August 14 posts are here and here.)

On June 14

On this day in ...
... 1940, as Parisians looked on (right), troops from Nazi Germany encountered no resistance marching into Paris. Allied forces already having withdrawn from the French capital city. Leader Adolf Hitler himself would visit the city less than a fortnight later. Allies returned to liberate Paris 4 years later, on August 25, 1944. (photo credit)
... 1872, Canada's Parliament passed the Trade Unions Act, which legalized labor unions. The bill had been introduced by Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, who declared himself the "working man’s friend." The move came a month after the country's 1st organized labor action, in quest of a 9-hour workday.