John Reed, American journalist and poet (d. 1920)
John "Jack" Silas Reed (October 22, 1887 – October 17, 1920) was an American journalist, poet, and communist activist. Reed first gained prominence as a war correspondent during the Mexican Revolution (for Metropolitan magazine) and World War I (for the magazine The Masses). He is best known for his coverage of the October Revolution in Petrograd, Russia, which he wrote about in his 1919 book Ten Days That Shook the World.
Reed supported the Soviet takeover of Russia, even briefly taking up arms to join the Red Guards in 1918. He hoped for a similar Communist revolution in the United States, and co-founded the short-lived Communist Labor Party of America in 1919. He died in Moscow of spotted typhus in 1920. At the time of his death he may have soured on the Soviet leadership, but he was given a hero's burial by the Soviet Union, and is one of only three Americans buried at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.
1887Oct, 22
John Reed (journalist)
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Events on 1887
- 20Jan
Pearl Harbor
The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base. - 2Feb
Groundhog Day
In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed. - 10Apr
Pope Leo XIII
On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII authorizes the establishment of the Catholic University of America. - 28Apr
Guillaume Schnaebelé
A week after being arrested by the Prussian Secret Police, French police inspector Guillaume Schnaebelé is released on order of William I, German Emperor, defusing a possible war. - 11Nov
Haymarket affair
August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer and George Engel are executed as a result of the Haymarket affair.