The Haymarket Massacre was an Anarchist riot in Chicago, USA. The troubles originated in labour troubles which culminated in an open-air meeting in Haymarket Square, Chicago on May the 4th, 1886. Violent speeches were made by the Anarchists Spies, Parsons and Fielden. A bomb was thrown among the police, causing great loss of life. Spies, Parsons, Fischer, Engel, Schwab, Lingg and Neebe were arrested and tried. The first four were hanged on November 11, 1887. Fielden and Schwab were imprisoned for life. Lingg committed suicide. Governor Altgeld, of Illinois, pardoned Fielden and Schwab in 1893. Research Haymarket Massacre
Jyllands-Posten is a Danishnewspaper. The newspaper shot to international fame in December 2005 and January 2006 after publishing twelve caricatures of the prophetMohammed after reports that Danish artists were refusing to illustrate works about Islam, out of fear of fundamentalist retribution. One particular caricature depicted Mohammed wearing a turban which was actually a classical cartoonbomb with a burning fuse, implying the connection between the prophet and terrorists. In December 2005, Louise Arbour the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights appointed two UN experts on racism to carry out a detailed investigation into what she characterized as a 'disrespect for belief.' By the newspaper. Following the publication of the cartoons, Muslims around the world violently protested, many carrying banners calling for the death of those who in their eyes insult Islam. Research Jyllands-Posten
The LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) popularly known as the Tamil Tigers are a Sri Lankan revolutionary force, formed in the mid-1970's, which has been involved in an armed struggle against the government of Sri Lanka in an attempt to gain independence for the Tamils of the island. The LTTE argue that the Tamils are a distinct people and their nation Tamil Eelam - should be recognised as independent and distinct. The LTTE were allegedly the first paramilitary organisation to employ 'suicide bombers' whereby a member delivered a bomb to a target, in person, and detonated it killing themselves in the process. Research LTTE More information about LTTE
Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave was a British intelligence officer and Conservative member of Parliament. He was born in 1916 and died in 1979. During the Second World War he escaped from Colditz, a German high-security prison camp. He became a Conservative MP in 1953 and as shadow undersecretary of state for Northern Ireland from 1975 and a close advisor of Margaret Thatcher, he became a target for extremist groups and was assassinated by an Irish terrorist bomb. Research Airey Neave
The Angry Brigade were a British anarchist group of at least three men and two women who carried out anti-establishment bomb attacks in London, Birmingham and Manchester in 1970 and 1971. Three men and two women, believed to be responsible for the attacks were arrested in August 1971. Research Angry Brigade
Freddie Harrison is an English air-raid hero. He was born in 1935. In 1941, at the age of six, he rescued his small sister from the bomb-wrecked bedroom of their house in London before returning to rescue his other sister during an air-raid. Research Freddie Harrison
Guy Fawkes (Guido Fawkes) was an alleged English terrorist. He was born in 1570 at York and died in 1606. Born a protestant, he converted to Catholicism while at school and was appalled at the state persecution of Catholics within England. Joining the Spanish army, he tried in vain to persuade the King of Spain to invadeEngland and replace the protestant government with a catholic king and government. He was subsequently allegedly recruited by a group of twelve other English catholic terrorists led by Robert Catesby who hired a cellar under the House of Lords and packed it with 36 barrels (between one and three tons) of gunpowder (an act known as the Gunpowder Plot), Guy Fawkes was assigned the task of lighting the fuse on the bomb on the 5th of November when the King and entire English nobility would be in attendance at the House of Lords. However, hours before the planned detonation the authorities, acting on a tip off - an anonymous letter received by Lord Monteagle (brother-in-law of one of the alleged conspirators) advising him not to attend the House of Lords on the day in question, searched the cellars and found and arrested Guy Fawkes who under subsequent torture revealed the names of his co-conspirators and they were executed, without a trial, but on the basis of confessions extracted under torture in 1606. There is serious doubt about the plot - it was for example too conveniently discovered in the nick of time, and the accused were not tried, but all confessed under torture, and it has been suggested that the entire plot was fabricated by the English authorities to discredit the catholic church and the Pope. Certainly following the alleged plot, persecution of the Catholics within Britain continued and increased. Research Guy Fawkes
Klaus Fuchs was a German physicist and Soviet spy (working for the NRU and later transferred to the NKGB with the codename 'Rest' which was later changed to 'Charles'). He was born in 1911 and died in 1988. During his studies at Kiel University, Klaus Fuchs joined the Communist party and in 1933 fled the Nazis to Britain. On the outbreak of the Second World War he was interned by the British as a German citizen, to be subsequently released and became a British citizen in 1942. In 1944 he went to the USA to work on the nuclear bombproject ('The Manhattan Project'), returning to Britain at the end of the war and becoming head of the Harwell Atomic Energy Research Station where he worked until his arrest in 1950 as a KGB spy. While at Harwell, he secretly passed on the secret lattice formulae for the stabilisation of plutonium to the British scientists developing nuclear power - something the Americans had refused to do - which he had obtained while at Los Alamos in the USA. This information enabled the British scientists to build their first electricity generating nuclear power stataion. Upon his release in 1959 he returned to Germany (then East Germany) and became an East German citizen. Research Klaus Fuchs
Melita Norwood (Melita Sirnis) was an English NKGB, GRU, MGB and KGB spy. She was born in 1912. Melita Norwood (codename Hola) worked for the Soviet intelligence services during the Second World War, first being recruited in 1937 and afterwards, refusing payment for her services, passing details of Britain's first atomic bomb to her Soviet controllers. Her first job was the Woolwicharsenal, where in 1938 all the other members of her spy ring were arrested, but her identity was not discovered by MI5 and she escaped. She was later identified in 1965 by the British Security Service but was not interviewed so as not to compromise other counter intelligence activities.
After the end of the Cold War in 1992 Vasili Mitrokhin defected to the West and brought with him confirmation of Melisa Norwood being a Soviet spy, but the British Security Services decided they didn't have enough evidence to prosecute her. In 1999 when Mitrokhin's memoirs were published news of Melisa Norwood became public and she was questioned by the police in 1999 during which she confessed fully - she said she would gladly do it again - but no action was taken against the then very elderly Melita Norwood perhaps because the manner of her confession mean that it was not admissible as evidence.
Speaking about why she spied for the Soviets, Melita Norwood said that 'she wanted Russia to be on equal footing'. Decorated with the highest KGB award, the Order of The Red Banner, Melita Norwood was one of the most important spies ever and undoubtedly prevented the American use of nuclear weapons against the USSR or its allies during the Cold War by equipping the USSR with its own nuclear weapons with which it could retaliate. Research Melita Norwood
Richard Somers was an American sailor. He was born in 1778 and died in 1804. He was given command of the Nautilus in Treble's squadron during the Tripolitan War from 1803 to 1804. He commanded a division of gunboats, and was distinguished for gallantry. He attempted to destroy the Tripolitan fleet by exploding a bomb-vessel in their midst, however, the vessel exploded prematurely killing all on board. Research Richard Somers
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