Today in History
What went down and why you should care.
aug 05 Learn More Ronald Reagan Fires 11,359 Air Traffic Controllers
President Ronald Reagan fired 11,359 air traffic controllers on this day in 1981. What gives? Well, two days earlier 13,000 air traffic controllers went on strike. They wanted better pay, shorter shifts, and more benefits. The president stepped in and told everybody to get their butts back to work or they'd get canned—and then he made good on his promise. The American people took Reagan's side, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) learned that they didn't actually need that many air traffic controllers after all. In other words, the strike was pretty much grounded before takeoff.
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