1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,599 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, Eve's here. We're doubling up today with two 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:05,440 Speaker 1: events in history, one from me and one from former 3 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:09,960 Speaker 1: host Tracy V. Wilson. On with the show. Welcome to 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:12,479 Speaker 1: this day in History Class from how Stuff Works dot 5 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: Com and from the desk of Stuff You Missed in 6 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: History Class. It's the show where we explore the past 7 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:19,240 Speaker 1: one day at a time with a quick look at 8 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 1: what happened today in history. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 9 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and it's October nineteen. Members of 10 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: the military attacked the National Palace in Guatemala on this 11 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: day in nineteen forty four during the Guatemalan Revolution. This 12 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: revolution had started earlier in nineteen forty four, as students 13 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:46,879 Speaker 1: and young military officers rose up against President Jorge Ubiko. 14 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: He had been elected president in nineteen thirty one, and 15 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: his early presidency had included a campaign against government corruption, 16 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:59,639 Speaker 1: improvements to public health, an overhaul of Guatemala's infrastructure, and 17 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: help being to stabilize the country's economy. But by ninety 18 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,760 Speaker 1: four he had gotten rid of all political opposition and 19 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: he was governing as a military dictator. His policies had 20 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:15,960 Speaker 1: also increasingly favored elite landowners and corporations, especially the US 21 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: based United Fruit Company, which owned a lot of the 22 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: arable land in Guatemala, but wasn't actually using most of 23 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:26,039 Speaker 1: that land, meaning it wasn't available for anyone else to 24 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:30,560 Speaker 1: use either. He had also implemented things like Decree eighteen sixteen, 25 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 1: which exempted landowners from prosecution if they used violence to 26 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: defend their land, up to and including murdering someone. He 27 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 1: had also abolished a series of forced labor laws, but 28 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: then replaced them with vagrancy laws that were very similar, 29 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: and these really amounted to indentured servitude, and a lot 30 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: of cases the so called vagrants who were being forced 31 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: to work were from Guatemala's Maya people's Ubico also developed 32 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: close ties with the United States, and the United States 33 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: was providing Guatemala with armaments and with favorable tariff terms. 34 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,359 Speaker 1: This whole situation, though, was not unique at all to Guatemala. 35 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: Other nations in Central America had very similarly unyielding dictators 36 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: in control, with similar social and economic effects, similar reliance 37 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: on one food crop for most of the economy, similar 38 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 1: connections to the United States and United States based business interests, 39 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: and one dictator Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez was overthrown in neighboring 40 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:38,799 Speaker 1: El Salvador in nineteen forty four. This overthrow became an 41 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 1: inspiration for a similar campaign against Ubiko and Guatemala, not 42 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: just inspiring the students and other young people to rise up, 43 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: but also inspiring in Ubiko a fear that the same 44 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: thing might happen to him, so he cracked down on 45 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 1: civil liberties. He put people who were loyal to him 46 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: in charge of the university. He basically tried to do 47 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: what he could to ensure his own power. This had 48 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: the opposite effect of what he wanted. A series of 49 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: protests followed, with students at San Carlos University petitioning for 50 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 1: changes to the university teaching staff and other reforms. Lawyers 51 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: were petitioning for biased judges to be removed from the bench, 52 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,520 Speaker 1: teachers were demonstrating for pay increases, and all these initial 53 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: demonstrations were non violent. They included things like boycotts and strikes. 54 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:28,919 Speaker 1: The Guatemalan government responded to all this by deploying tanks 55 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: and troops and using tear gas on the demonstrators, placing 56 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:36,680 Speaker 1: the capital under martial law. But the demonstrations spread, even 57 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: as the government was placing participants under surveillance and deporting 58 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: foreign supporters of the movement. Finally, at the end of June, 59 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: tens of thousands of demonstrators were gathered at the capitol 60 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: and Obiko's support was really eroding. He resigned on July one, 61 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: nine and placed the government under the control of a 62 00:03:55,760 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: military triumvirate, although he allegedly remained in charge. The National 63 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: Assembly elected one of the triumvirate, General Frederico ponce Vitis, president. 64 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: He promised that a free election was going to follow, 65 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: but by October it was obvious that it just was 66 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: not going to happen, and Guatemala was sliding farther and 67 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: farther away from democracy. The protests continued. Students and teachers 68 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 1: called for a general strike on October six Students and 69 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: members of the military began taking control of the capital. 70 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: On October eighteenth, there was an attack on the National 71 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: Palace by members of the military. As I said at 72 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: the top of the show. On October nineteen, violence spread 73 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:39,919 Speaker 1: through the capital. The presidential guard rebelled, and the general 74 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 1: finally surrendered on the twentie This didn't put a total 75 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: end to the violence or the unrest, but new elections 76 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 1: did follow in December, and they were one of the 77 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:54,599 Speaker 1: freest elections that Guatemala had seen in decades. A new 78 00:04:54,640 --> 00:05:00,040 Speaker 1: constitution was drafted in nineteen This constitutional rule last and 79 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: for just less than a decade before President Jacobo Arban's 80 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: was elected in nineteen fifty one, and he had been 81 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,279 Speaker 1: part of the revolution. He instituted a lot of land reforms, 82 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: including redistributed a lot of that unused land that United 83 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: Fruit Company had been buying up. The United States didn't 84 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: like that. The United States was also threatened by the 85 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: fact that he legalized the Communist Party in Guatemala, so 86 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: so the CIA helped overthrow the democratically elected government of 87 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,599 Speaker 1: Guatemala in ninety four. Thanks to Eves Jeff Cope for 88 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:36,599 Speaker 1: her research work on today's podcast and Tara Harrison for 89 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: her audio work on this show. You can subscribe to 90 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class at Apple Podcasts, Google podcast 91 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: and wherever you get your podcasts, and you can tune 92 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:55,919 Speaker 1: in tomorrow for a political purge. Hi, everyone, welcome to 93 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: the show. I'm Eve and you're listening to This Day 94 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:02,919 Speaker 1: in His Three Class, a show that uncovers a little 95 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:11,719 Speaker 1: bit more about history every day. The day was October nineteenth, 96 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:16,719 Speaker 1: nineteen o nine. French nuclear chemist and physicist Marguerite Parae 97 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: was born in Vila Mambla, France, a suburb northeast of Paris. 98 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: Parae is known for discovering franci um element of the 99 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: periodic table and being the first woman elected to the 100 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: French Academy of Sciences. Parae was born into a middle 101 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 1: class Protestant family. As a child, she took an interest 102 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: in science and wanted to study medicine, but her father 103 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 1: died in nineteen fourteen, leaving her mom to take care 104 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 1: of her and her four siblings. Her mother gave piano lessons, 105 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: but the family still faced financial hardship and Marguerite could 106 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 1: not go to a university. She did, however, attend La 107 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: Cote d'An signment techniqu Feminine, a school for female technicians. 108 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,719 Speaker 1: Her education there qualified her to become a chemistry technician, 109 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,480 Speaker 1: and after she completed her studies, she became a lab 110 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 1: assistant at the Radium Institute in Paris, where physicist and 111 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 1: Nobel Prize winner Marie Curry was director. Currie acted as 112 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: a mentor to Parae. Radio activity was the focus of 113 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: Paray's work. Her job was to purify actinium, a radioactive 114 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 1: element that was discovered in eighteen by chemist Andre de Bien. 115 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: Paraye was skilled when it came to preparing radioactive sources, 116 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: and she eventually became Curie's personal assistant. After cry died 117 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty four, Andre debian became the director of 118 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: the institute, and Parae continued researching the properties of actinium. 119 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 1: She also studied the spectrum of the radioactive elements barium 120 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 1: and strontium. By this time, Paray's work in radio chemistry 121 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: was well recognized others in her field, but the discovery 122 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: she's best remembered for what happened in nineteen eight Scientists 123 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 1: were trying to find element eighty seven on the periodic table, 124 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: one of just a few elements that they thought were 125 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 1: missing from the periodic table. In her research, Paray realized 126 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 1: that the actinium she had purified was emitting unexpected radiation. 127 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 1: After a series of tests, she came to the conclusion 128 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:29,440 Speaker 1: that she had discovered a new element, one that was 129 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: predicted by Dmitri Mendeleev's periodic table. It was element eighty 130 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:38,720 Speaker 1: seven with an atomic weight of two three. She initially 131 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:41,560 Speaker 1: called the element actin um k, but it was later 132 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: renamed francium after her home country. Jean Perrin announced the 133 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: discovery to the French Academy of Sciences in early January 134 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine. Parae began working on the chemical and 135 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: nuclear properties of francium and studying artificial radioactivity. She got 136 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 1: a grant to study at the Sorbonne in Paris, and 137 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty six she got her doctorate of physics. 138 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: Paray went on to work at Francis National Center for 139 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:12,679 Speaker 1: Scientific Research, and she studied the biological effects of francium 140 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,920 Speaker 1: at the University of Strasbourg, where she was made head 141 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,080 Speaker 1: of the Department of Nuclear Chemistry in nineteen forty nine. 142 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: By the late nineteen fifties, a nuclear chemistry lab she 143 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: directed at Strasbourg had become a part of a larger 144 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: nuclear research facility. In nineteen sixty two, she was elected 145 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: as the first female corresponding member of the French Academy 146 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:39,119 Speaker 1: of Sciences. She remained head of her lab in Strasbourg 147 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: until her death. In her last years, she continued to 148 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: receive awards and the press recognized her as a notable scientist. Unfortunately, 149 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 1: her story was also a cautionary tale about safety measures 150 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: that are necessary when working with radiation. Paray was diagnosed 151 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,560 Speaker 1: with cancer in the nineteen sixties. At your years of 152 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:03,320 Speaker 1: dealing with that diagnosis, which was a result of her 153 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 1: prolonged exposure to radiation, she died in France in May 154 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:12,000 Speaker 1: of nineteen I'm each Deepcote and hopefully you know a 155 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,959 Speaker 1: little more about history today than you did yesterday. Feel 156 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: free to share your thoughts or your innermost feelings with 157 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 1: us and with other listeners on social media at t 158 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:28,440 Speaker 1: d i h C podcast. If emails your thing, send 159 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,040 Speaker 1: us a note at this Day at i heeart media 160 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:34,960 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks for listening to today's episode. We'll see 161 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 1: you again tomorrow. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, 162 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:47,439 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 163 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:48,640 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.