In the early 1900s, people got around Philadelphia on trolleys operated by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company.

On February 19, 1910, thousands of unionized trolley workers strike, demanding a 13-½% raise, the right to buy uniforms on the open market, and a maximum 10 hour workday. The company responds by hiring hundreds of strike breakers. Chaos ensues. A trolley being driven by an armed volunteer speeding through a crowd is derailed and the driver is dragged from the wreckage and killed. Mobs pile bricks on tracks and pulverize trolley cars. The National Guard is called in and struggles to contain the violence.

On this day, March 5, five to ten percent of the city’s population joins in a general strike, in solidarity with trolley workers, bringing the city to a standstill for the next 22 days, when the PRT finally agrees to increase wages.