Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 5, 2016
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The Jarrow March (5–31 October 1936) was a protest against the unemployment and poverty suffered in the Tyneside town of Jarrow, England, during the 1930s. Around 200 men marched from Jarrow to London to petition the British government, requesting the re-establishment of industry in the town following the closure in 1934 of Palmer's shipyard. Palmer's had seen the launching of more than 1,000 ships since 1852. In the 1920s, a combination of mismanagement and changed world trade conditions brought a decline which led to the yard's closure. When plans for its replacement by a modern steelworks plant were thwarted, the lack of any prospect of large-scale employment in the town led the borough council to organise the march on London to present their case to the government. The petition was received by the House of Commons but not debated, and the march produced few immediate results. The Jarrovians went home believing that they had failed. Nevertheless, in subsequent years the Jarrow March became recognised by historians as a defining event of the 1930s and helped to prepare the way for widespread social reform after the Second World War. (Full article...)