Pete

Major forthcoming dates include the and round anniversaries for the French Revolution and . But what's the real point of recalling these events?

This is the third part of our series on the 1918 General Election. As well as for women and Ireland, the election was a landmark for the Labour Party. But some true radicals such as Scottish politician John Maclean have been forgotten. Until now.

Thomas Jefferson saw the good side of allowing in the new nation of America - he was referring to Shays' Rebellion of 1786 Typically, our radical tea towel designs are made up of a person's face and memorable statement by them.

When the scandal broke a few months ago and we discovered the Home Office was hounding long established members of the British Afro-Caribbean community, telling them they had to leave, countless people came to their defence.

and I'll say it again: there's something in the water in Chicago. For about 150 years, the city's been a non-stop carnival of American radical politics.

100 years ago, Britain was in election mode. It was the first in eight years - having disrupted the political routine - and it was going to be a big one. As I , it was the first time in British history when any women would be allowed to vote.

Ask a left-leaning Briton what the most momentous election of modern times was and they'd typically say 1945. That makes sense - was catapulted into office with a landslide unprecedented in Labour's history.

The 17th century poet laureate, , once wrote: "Nor is the people's judgement always true: The most may err as grossly as the few." It was a cautionary couplet on the principle of majority rule.

Today in 1940, was elected to a record third term as President of the United States with 55% of the vote.

'The Land of the Free' is how we're often introduced to the United States. Of course, there have been plenty of Americans who moved mountains to make America a freer place to live: Sojourner Truth, Abe Lincoln, Alice Paul, Muhammad Ali and many more.