🔨 Blood in Chicago (1886), or Why Labor Day in the USA is Celebrated in September

 

This is the story most people don't know — because the US government quietly tried to bury it.

The setup. In 1886, the average American worker labored 10 to 16 hours a day, six or seven days a week. Everywhere you heard the slogan: "Eight Hours for Work, Eight Hours for Rest, Eight Hours for What We Will!" A nationwide strike was set for May 1, 1886.

On that Saturday, 35,000 workers walked off their jobs in Chicago alone. It was enormous, electric, and — for a moment — peaceful.

It unraveled fast. On May 3, police intervened to protect strikebreakers at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. One person was killed and several injured. Enraged, labor leaders called a protest rally for the next evening at Haymarket Square.

That gathering was pronounced peaceful by Chicago's own mayor, Carter Harrison, who attended as an observer. After Harrison and most demonstrators departed, a contingent of police arrived and demanded the crowd disperse. At that point, a bomb was thrown by an individual never positively identified. Police responded with random gunfire. Seven officers were killed and 60 others wounded; civilian casualties were estimated at four to eight dead and 30 to 40 injured.

The rigged trial. Eight men were indicted — but all eight were convicted of conspiracy even though it was understood none of them had made or thrown the bomb. The Chicago Tribune even offered to pay money to the jury if it found the men guilty. Four were hanged. One committed suicide in prison. The bomber was never found.

The twist ending. In 1893, Illinois Governor Altgeld — after studying the full trial transcript — concluded the defendants had not received a fair trial: the judge was biased, the jury packed, and much of the evidence fabricated. He issued pardons. Industrialists and the conservative press condemned him for it.

And why is US Labor Day in September? Here's the buried part: in 1894, the president at the time feared that setting Labor Day in May would evoke memories of the Haymarket Affair in the public — so he deliberately chose September instead. The rest of the world kept May 1. America got a long weekend in September, safely scrubbed of its radical origins.

In 1889, the Haymarket Affair was commemorated in the designation of May 1 as International Workers' Day. May Day continues to be celebrated in most countries on Earth.

Top 5 Ways to Manage a Panic Attack (No Medication)

 

#1 — Diaphragmatic (box) breathing | Effectiveness: 9.5/10 Slow, controlled breathing directly counteracts hyperventilation — the primary physical driver of panic. The box breathing method (inhale 4s → hold 4s → exhale 4s → hold 4s) activates the parasympathetic nervous system within 60–90 seconds, lowering heart rate and restoring CO₂/O₂ balance. Works immediately, no tools needed, evidence-backed.

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#2 — 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique | Effectiveness: 9/10 Engages all five senses to anchor you to the present moment. Name 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 you hear, 2 you smell, 1 you taste. This interrupts the panic feedback loop by forcing the brain's attention away from the threat-response circuit toward sensory-processing regions. Works anywhere, stops dissociation, CBT-based.

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#3 — Cognitive reframing ("this will pass") | Effectiveness: 8.5/10 Panic is intensified by catastrophic thoughts ("I'm dying," "I'm losing control"). Reframing — reminding yourself "this is anxiety, not danger," "it always passes," and "I have survived this before" — reduces the secondary fear layer that prolongs attacks. Most effective when practiced regularly so the phrases feel automatic under stress. Core of CBT/ACT therapy.

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#4 — Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) | Effectiveness: 7.5/10 Sequentially tense and release muscle groups from feet to face (10 seconds tension, 20 seconds release each). Panic floods the body with adrenaline that causes muscle tension; PMR breaks the cycle physiologically. Works more slowly than breathing (~3–5 min) but produces deep physical calm and can stop an escalating attack from becoming full-blown.

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#5 — Cold water exposure (face/wrists) | Effectiveness: 7/10 Splashing cold water on the face or running it over wrists triggers the mammalian dive reflex — a hard-wired physiological response that slows heart rate rapidly, sometimes by 10–25% within seconds. This is a physical "override" of the panic state, bypassing cognitive effort. Highly effective in acute, severe attacks but requires water access and doesn't address underlying thoughts. DBT-derived.

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Note: For chronic panic disorder, professional therapy (CBT/ACT) is strongly recommended alongside these techniques.

 

Effectiveness ratings based on research evidence, speed of onset, and clinical use. For chronic panic disorder, professional therapy (CBT/ACT) is strongly recommended alongside these techniques.

 

A key thing to understand about all five: panic attacks, while intensely frightening, are not medically dangerous, and knowing that is itself part of the toolkit. The brain is triggering a false alarm — all of these methods work by persuading the nervous system to stand down.

The top two (#1 and #2) can and should be combined — start box breathing immediately while working through the 5-4-3-2-1 senses exercise. Together they address both the physical spiral (hyperventilation) and the mental one (detachment from reality).

Cognitive reframing (#3) is the one that pays the biggest dividends over time. It won't fully help in the first 30 seconds of an acute attack, but if you've practiced phrases like "I've felt this before and I'm always okay" they become automatic and cut attacks shorter the more you use them.

If you experience panic attacks frequently, working with a therapist trained in CBT or ACT is the most effective long-term strategy — the techniques above are exactly what they teach, but in a structured way tailored to your specific triggers.

Trump vs. Pope Leo: Will Catholics Choose MAGA or the Gospel?

 

The confrontation: what happened

Trump lashed out against Pope Leo XIV on Sunday night, calling him "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy" and accusing him of "catering to the Radical Left." The immediate trigger was the Iran war: Leo had denounced Trump's threat to destroy Iran's "whole civilization" as "truly unacceptable," and Trump fired back with a lengthy Truth Social post that went well beyond the war. Trump also claimed credit for Leo's election to the papacy, writing: "He wasn't on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American." He added: "If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican."

Leo responded by saying he had "no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly." Aboard his plane bound for Africa, Leo told reporters: "We are not politicians. We do not look at foreign policy from the same perspective that he may have. I will continue to speak out strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateralism."

This is historically unprecedented. Never before has the relationship between Washington and the Vatican revolved around two Americans — specifically, a 79-year-old politician from Queens and a 70-year-old pontiff from Chicago. Leo's direct criticism stands out from the Church's more general critiques of political and social systems — "it's never been this specific and localized," in the words of one Catholic theologian.

The symbolic dimension escalated further: Trump posted an AI image depicting himself as a Jesus-like figure, wearing a biblical-style robe and laying hands on a bedridden man as light emanates from his fingers, while admirers look on and eagles and military jets fill the sky above an American flag.

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The Catholic vote: how important was it to Trump's victory?

Critically important — arguably decisive. Trump won 55% of the Catholic vote, according to a Pew Research survey of validated voters. That represented a 12-point advantage over Kamala Harris, who won 43% of the group's vote. In 2020, the Catholic vote was split almost evenly — 50% for Biden, 49% for Trump.

The swing among specific groups was dramatic. White Catholics voted 61% Trump and 35% Harris, while Hispanic Catholics — historically a Democratic stronghold — supported Trump 53% to 46% over Harris. That was a massive swing: Biden had won Hispanic Catholics by 35 points in 2020, and Harris won them by only 12 — a 23-point shift in Trump's favor in just four years.

Catholics provided the margins of victory in the closely contested swing states. About 22% of those who voted for Trump were Catholic, making this group the single largest religious sub-bloc in his coalition.

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How much do Catholics support the Pope?

Overwhelmingly. Among Catholics, the pope's approval rating is 84%, according to the Pew Research Center. Even among the broader American public, Pope Leo is viewed favorably by a net positive of +34, placing him well ahead of Trump, who scores a net negative of -12 in the same poll. Leo was one of only two figures scoring a net-positive rating among all U.S. voters — the other being fellow Catholic and late-night comedian Stephen Colbert.

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Is Catholic support for Trump eroding?

Yes, measurably and across the board. A recent poll found that Catholic support for Trump has dropped below 50% for the first time since the start of his Iran war — only 40% of Catholics approve of how Trump has handled the Iran conflict, and 60% disapprove.

Approval for the way Trump handles his job is down to 52% from 59% in February 2025 among white Catholics, while it has collapsed to 23% from 31% among Hispanic Catholics. According to Fox News polling, Trump's approval among Catholics now stands at 48%, with 52% disapproving — a reversal from a February poll that found 52% approving and 48% disapproving.

As one Catholic scholar put it: "The Iran War is unpopular with the American public and Catholics reflect that. What may carry more resonance with Catholic voters are the strong and blunt statements about the war from Pope Leo. It is not unreasonable to assume that there is a higher level of cognitive dissonance among Catholics who support Trump but are hearing the words of the pope."

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Other significant trends

The U.S. bishops are turning. Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he was "disheartened that the president chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father," adding that "Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ." One Catholic historian noted that "Pope Leo has been able to reunite around the Vatican position more bishops, even those who were more sympathetic to Donald Trump."

The JD Vance tension. Vance is Catholic, has published a book on his conversion, and met Pope Francis the day before Francis died. His loyalty is now split between his faith and his boss — a genuinely unprecedented bind for an American vice president.

"Leo fever" and Catholic renewal. The erosion of Trump's Catholic support comes as Pope Leo enjoys a burst of popularity across the global Church, and as more Americans — particularly Millennials and Gen Z — join the Catholic Church. This past Easter, some archdioceses recorded their highest number of new Catholics in two decades.

The 2026 midterms stakes. Catholics make up a sizable share of the electorate in several of the most competitive Senate and House races on the 2026 ballot, meaning even small shifts could jeopardize GOP margins and have outsized effects in these close contests.

The snub of July 4. When the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary on July 4, the first American-born pope will not be in the U.S. — but instead at Lampedusa, the primary European entry point for migrants — a pointed symbolic message.

The structural limit of papal influence. History offers a caution here: the Holy See's position has repeatedly been insufficient to dictate how Catholics vote in the U.S. — Trump's 2024 victory came despite years of clashes with Pope Francis and his implicit criticism of immigration policies. Catholic voters are not a monolith, and many prioritize economics and immigration enforcement over papal guidance on war.

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Bottom line: The Trump–Pope Leo confrontation is the sharpest church-state rupture in modern American history, and it is visibly moving the numbers. Trump went from a 12-point Catholic lead in November 2024 to being underwater with that group today — a roughly 14-point swing in 18 months. Whether that represents a durable realignment or a temporary war-driven reaction depends heavily on how the Iran ceasefire holds, and whether Leo's American voice continues to carry moral weight that crosses the partisan divide.