December 2·Every year

International Day for the Abolition of Slavery

December 2nd marks the adoption of the UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery in 1956. An estimated 40 million people remain in modern slavery globally — in forced labour, forced marriage, and debt bondage. The UK passed the Modern Slavery Act in 2015; the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act was renewed in 2022. The fight is not historical.

Category: Awareness
Observed in: United StatesofficialUnited KingdomofficialAustraliaofficialCanadaofficialFranceofficial

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Notable · 2016

Thirty-six people died when a fire broke out at an illegally converted warehouse in Oakland, California, the deadliest U.S. building fire since 2003.

2020Cannabis is removed from the list of most dangerous drugs of the international drug control treaty by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
2016Thirty-six people die in a fire at a converted Oakland, California, warehouse serving as an artist collective.
2015San Bernardino attack: Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik kill 14 people and wound 22 at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California.