20 October

Eugene Debs, U.S. labor leader and socialist, dies in Elmhurst, Ill. Among his radical ideas: an eight-hour workday, pensions, workman’s compensation, sick leave and social security. He ran for president from a jail cell in 1920 and got a million votes – 1926

Death of Merle Travis, songwriter and performer who wrote “Sixteen Tons” & “Dark as a Dungeon” – 1983