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Working Class History

@workingclasshistory.com
53K followers 283 following 4.5K posts

History isn't made by kings or politicians, it's made by us: billions of ordinary people. patreon.com/workingclasshistory

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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 38m
#OtD 30 Sep 2014 Xu Lizhi, a poet and rural migrant who worked at the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, China, died by suicide at the age of 24. Learn more about Xu and other Chinese migrant worker poets in our podcast: workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wcl-...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 1h
Now out free for everyone! A preview teaser of our latest Fireside Chat, about the radical history of the weekend, and how the working class created this much loved holiday. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, like Spotify, or go to our website: workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e126...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 2h
#OtD 30 Sep 1918 a small unit of 36 Ukrainian revolutionaries in the anarchist Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine engaged in their first battle, crushing a much superior counter-revolutionary German force in the village of Dibrivki. Learn more: shop.workingclasshistory.com/en-gb/collec...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 2h
#OtD 30 Sep 1909 Maria Luisa Cobos was born in Spain. She organised domestic and textile workers with the anarchist @CNTsindicato union, survived the civil war, was arrested and jailed several times by Francoist authorities but kept up her activism stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1034...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 3h
#OtD 30 Sep 1919 the Elaine massacre began in Arkansas, US, when hundreds of African-Americans were murdered and tortured by white racists and security forces, after Black farm workers tried to organise for better pay stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1034...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 4h
#OtD 30 Sep 1918 bankers in Zürich, Switzerland walked out in their first ever strike amidst growing unrest over the rising cost of living. A local general strike then broke out in support of their demand for a pay rise and was successful stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1034...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 4h
#OtD 30 Sep 1977 Walter Rossi, a 20-year-old Lotta Continua activist, was shot dead by fascists in Rome. Though 17 fascists would go on trial for his murder, none would be convicted and no police would be punished despite accusations of collusion stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1035...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 7h
#OtD 30 Sep 1973 Chilean army death squad the Caravan of Death flew by helicopter from the south to the north of Chile, and began brutally torturing and murdering around 100 people and dumping them in unmarked graves on the orders of Augusto Pinochet stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1035...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 9h
#OtD 10 Oct 1889 a nationwide wave of schoolchildren's strikes was sparked in East London, when kids from a dozen schools walked out of class and took to the streets waving red flags, and banners emblazoned with "No cane" and "Shorter hours" stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8241...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 11h
#OtD 30 Sep 1919 compositors and pressmen working at The Daily Sketch newspaper in London, UK refused to print the paper until an editorial criticising an ongoing railway strike was deleted stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1034...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 11h
#OtD 30 Sep 1793 the Bristol Bridge massacre took place when militia killed 15 and wounded 55 Bristolians protesting against tolls as well as the destruction of some nearby houses in order to create an access road for the bridge. stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1034...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 12h
New daily podcast: 30 September 1919: Daily Sketch workers censorship
spreaker.com
30 September 1919: Daily Sketch workers censorship
On this day, 30 September 1919, compositors and pressmen working at The Daily Sketch newspaper in London refused to print the paper until an editorial criticising an ongoing railway strike was deleted. That same day, another newspaper had its publication delayed by its workers demanding that a government advert appealing to the public to resist the strike be thrown out. However they were persuaded by union leaders to withdraw their demand. Newspaper packers and delivery drivers also tried to delay and sabotage their distribution. Two days later, bosses at the far-right Daily Mail tabloid threatened to close the publication down rather than give in to a complaint from their print workers about their coverage of the railway strike.  More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10347/london-print-workers-black-anti-strike-editorial Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. * See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today * Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date * Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com * Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com * If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 13h
#OtD 11 Oct 2010 police officer, Epaminondas Korkoneas, was convicted of the ‘culpable homicide’ of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos, an act that in 2008 sparked some of the most serious riots and protests in recent Greek history stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8353...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 14h
#OtD 10 Oct 1889 a nationwide wave of schoolchildren's strikes was sparked in East London, when kids from a dozen schools walked out of class and took to the streets waving red flags, and banners emblazoned with "No cane" and "Shorter hours" stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8241...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 19h
#OtD 29 Sep 1943 11-year-old partisan Gennaro Capuozzo was killed in action fighting against German Nazi forces in Naples as he threw handgrenades at German tanks. Part of a successful four-day uprising against Nazi occupation. Learn more in our podcast: workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e77-...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 20h
#OtD 29 Sep 1928 2000 special constables had been sworn in in Adelaide, Australia, to break a strike of dock workers. A volunteer force was brought in and armed to fight striking workers stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7365...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 22h
#OtD 29 Sep 1931 Royal Canadian Mounted Police and local officers attacked a demonstration of striking miners and their families in Estevan, Saskatchewan, killing three and injuring many others stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1260...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 23h
#OtD 29 Sep 1918 the Bulgarian government launched an assault on 10,000 mutinous soldiers and defeated them, capturing 3,000 and executing many. Some rebels resorted to guerrilla warfare, which lasted until December stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1247...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 29/09/2026
#OtD 29 Sep 1920 Chilean anarchist poet and @IWW member, José Domingo Gómez Rojas, died at just 24 years old after having been arrested, tortured, and allegedly gone mad. More than 40,000 people attended his funeral. Learn more about the union in our pod: workingclasshistory.com/tag/iww/
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 29/09/2026
#OtD 29 Sep 1995 the Mersey docks dispute began when Liverpool dockers refused to cross a picket line and were all sacked. The dispute lasted until early 1998, when workers accepted some concessions but were largely defeated stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1014...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 29/09/2026
#OtD 29 Sep 1975 (cn: sexual violence) Rosaria Lopez (19, L) and Donatella Colasanti (17, R) were raped and tortured by wealthy fascists in Italy. Lopez was murdered but Colasanti managed to escape. Two perpetrators were jailed but released early stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1102...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 29/09/2026
#OtD 29 Sep 1908 the entire Polish Revolutionary Maximalists group in Lodz was sentenced to death at a court martial and executed. In their guerrilla struggle against the Tsarist regime, the group carried out armed robberies and expropriations stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1013...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 29/09/2026
Hey all, for our map we are trying to locate the old Hormel meat plant in Ottumwa in 1986. Can anyone figure out exactly whereabouts it was?
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 29/09/2026
#OtD 29 Sep 1909 the @IWW began their first free speech fight in Missoula, MT. Members spoke on the street in defiance of the law until arrested, followed by another, effectively filling the local jail. By Oct, free speech won and all charges dropped stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1013...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 29/09/2026
#OtD 29 Sep 1922 Irish postal workers who had been on strike since 10 September achieved concessions from the government and their union called off the strike stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1014...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 29/09/2026
#OtD 29 Sep 2007 tens of thousands of textile workers in Ghazl el-Mahalla, Egypt, went on illegal wildcat strike, eventually winning all their demands stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1014...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 29/09/2026
#OtD 29 Sep 1944 communist nurse and partisan Virginia Tonelli was burned alive in the San Sabba concentration camp in Italy. The fascists had tortured her for days, but were unable to get her to speak. Exasperated, her torturers then burned her alive workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e77-...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 29/09/2026
#OtD 29 Sep 1907 while addressing a meeting on Parliament Hill Fields in London, UK, Sam Mainwaring, Welsh machinist and libertarian socialist credited with coining the term "anarcho-syndicalism", collapsed and subsequently died. He was 65 stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1260...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 29/09/2026
New daily podcast: 29 September 1909: Missoula free-speech fight
spreaker.com
29 September 1909: Missoula free-speech fight
On this day, 29 September 1909, the revolutionary Industrial Workers of the World union began the first of what became known as the free speech fights, in Missoula, Montana. Members would publicly speak on the streets of the town in open defiance of a law banning public speaking. When one speaker was arrested another took their place, including well known organisers Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, who was pregnant at the time, and Frank Little. As a result, the local jail was filled with no end to the stream of workers coming in to speak. By 8 October the council declared the IWW could speak wherever they liked and dropped all charges against members who had been arrested for speaking. This campaign would be the first of many similar free speech fights throughout the United States. Learn more about the IWW and the free speech fights in our podcast: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/05/23/wch-e6-the-industrial-workers-of-the-world-in-the-us-1905-1918/ Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. * See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today * Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date * Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com * Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com * If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 29/09/2026
#OtD 29 Sep 1921 Jewish Lithuanian-born factory worker and anarchist, Fanya Baron, was executed by the Cheka (Bolshevik secret police). Having returned to Russia to join the revolution, she fell foul of the new Bolshevik authorities stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1014...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 28/09/2026
#OtD 28 Sep 1985 two days of rioting erupted in Brixton, London after police shot and paralysed Dorothy Groce, an innocent Jamaican mother, in her bed. The police did not apologise until 29 years later stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1006...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 28/09/2026
#OtD 28 Sep 1898 anarchist André Respaut was born in France. Active in solidarity work for the Spanish Civil War, he participated in the French resistance, imprisoned in Buchenwald concentration camp and survived to continue his activism after the war stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1005...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 28/09/2026
#OtD 28 Sep 1975 three Black liberation activists held up the Knights­bridge Spaghetti House restaurant in London, UK, hoping to steal the weekly takings. The robbery went wrong and turned into a five-day stand-off with police until they surrendered stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1006...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 28/09/2026
#OtD 28 Sep 1997 dockworkers in Oakland, CA, picketed the Neptune Jade ship in solidarity with Liverpool dockers in the UK. The ship had been loaded by scab labour, attempting to run a global blockade. Despite court action, the ship didn't unload stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1260...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 28/09/2026
Got a new query for any Spanish speakers, as you were all so helpful earlier! Would absolutely love to find the location of this building, the Centro de Estudios Germinal in San José, Costa Rica, in 1913. Any assistance would be much appreciated!
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 28/09/2026
#OtD 28 Sep 1907 socialist revolutionary and anti-colonialist Bhagat Singh was born in what is now Pakistan. An advocate of working-class uprising, he attacked Gandhi for his fear of the proletariat. He was executed by the British in 1931 stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1006...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 28/09/2026
#OtD 28 Sep 1991 leading labour organiser Shankar Guha Niyogi was assassinated in his sleep by hired gunmen at midnight in Bhilai, India. His successful organising efforts had angered many local industrialists, whose profits had suffered as a result stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1006...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 28/09/2026
Any Spanish speakers, or people who are good at reading old cursive, we are trying to identify as precisely as possible the birthplace this person. This is their birth certificate (page 8 here: web.archive.org/web/20190626... ). Many thanks for any assistance!
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 28/09/2026
#OtD 28 Sep 1864 the International Workingmen's Association was formed in London, UK. It was a gathering of socialist, anarchist and trade union organisations from around the world dedicated to the emancipation of the working class shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/the...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 28/09/2026
Today we've added some more from Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Peru, France, the Netherlands, and many others!
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 28/09/2026
#OtD 28 Sep 1955 as dictator Gen Franco visited Barcelona, anarchist resistance activist, Francesc Sabaté, took a cab, told the driver he worked for the Ministry of Information and fired anti-Franco leaflets through the sunroof as they drove around stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1006...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 28/09/2026
#OtD 28 Sep 1846 British troops opened fire on starving food rioters in Dungarvan, Ireland, killing one. The Great Famine lasted until the 1850s, killing around a million people and forced even more to emigrate, while food was exported for profit stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1005...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 28/09/2026
#OtD 28 Sep 1970 great US novelist John Dos Passos died in Baltimore. Though he had moved to the right by the end of his life, in his younger days he was a revolutionary and his novels covered radical and working-class themes stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1006...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 28/09/2026
New daily podcast: 28 September 1991: Shankar Guha Niyogi assassinated
spreaker.com
28 September 1991: Shankar Guha Niyogi assassinated
On this day, 28 September 1991, leading labour organiser Shankar Guha Niyogi was assassinated in his sleep at midnight in Bhilai, India. Niyogi, who had successfully led efforts to organize cement factory and contract coalminers, as well as establish health care and cultural programs for poor workers and peasants, had angered many local industrialists, whose profits had suffered as a result. He was murdered by a hired gunman, Paltan Mallah. In 1997, several capitalists were convicted of conspiracy to murder, along with Mallah himself. Although in 2005, in a judgement which caused widespread dismay in India, the industrialists’ convictions were all overturned by the Supreme Court. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10065/assassination-of-shankar-guha-niyogi Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. * See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today * Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date * Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com * Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com * If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History
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Reposted by Working Class History
Winnipeg Smokewad @wpg-nate.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Cool map! TIL:”4 August 1990, the term "Two-Spirit", for Indigenous people "who embody diverse (or non-normative) sexualities, genders, gender roles, and/or gender expressions", was adopted at the 3rd Annual Gathering of Native American Gays and Lesbians being held in Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada.”
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 27/09/2026
In recent weeks we've added dozens of new historical stories to our Map. So why not check it out, and see what stories we have for where you live, work, and vacation? It's free, interactive, searchable, and available at map.workingclasshistory.com/
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The Labor Radio Podcast Network @laborradionet.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
27 September 1973: UFW wins strike On this day, 27 September 1973, the United Farm Workers in California won their second strike in a jurisdictional dispute with the Teamsters union, when yet again the Teamsters were forced to concede the UFW's jurisdiction in organising farm workers. During the
spreaker.com
27 September 1973: UFW wins strike
On this day, 27 September 1973, the United Farm Workers in California won their second strike in a jurisdictional dispute with the Teamsters union, when yet again the Teamsters were forced to concede the UFW's jurisdiction in organising farm workers. During the dispute one UFW striker was killed, three others shot and wounded, and others were attacked or firebombed. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9967/united-farm-workers-win-second-jurisdiction-strike-against-teamsters Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 27/09/2026
#OtD 27 Sep 1928 two riots took place in Port Adelaide, Australia as 5,000 strikers and supporters besieged docks staffed by scabs. Workers used pipes, iron bars, sticks, stones and even baling hooks to attack the scabs at one dock stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9964...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 27/09/2026
#OtD 27 Sep 1917 study groups of Native and white radicals in South Africa formed the Industrial Workers of Africa, a revolutionary, multiracial union with a simple slogan: "Sifuna Zonke!" (We want everything!) stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9963...
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 27/09/2026
#OtD 27 Sep 1915 a strike of 5000 garment workers in Chicago was called by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America demanding better pay, shorter hours and the abolition of blacklisting. Employers called in police and fired hundreds stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9962...
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