Today in History- May 5th IRA'S BOBBY SANDS DIES: May 5, 1981 On May 5, 1981, imprisoned Irish-Catholic militant Bobby Sands dies after refusing food for 66 days in protest of his treatment as a criminal rather than a political prisoner by British authorities. His death immediately touched off widespread rioting in Belfast, as young Irish-Catholic militants clashed with police and British Army patrols and started fires.Bobby Sands was born into a Catholic family in a Protestant area of Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1954. In 1972, sectarian violence forced his family to move to public housing in a Catholic area, where Sands was recruited by the Provincial Irish Republican Army (IRA). The Provincial IRA, formed in 1969 after a break with the Official IRA, advocated violence and terrorism as a means of winning independence for Northern Ireland from Britain. (The Provincial IRA, the dominant branch, is generally referred to as simply the IRA.) After independence, according to the IRA, Northern Ireland would be united with the Republic of Ireland in a socialist Irish republic. In 1972, Sands was arrested and convicted of taking part in several IRA robberies. Because he was convicted for IRA activities, he was given "special category status" and sent to a prison that was more akin to a prisoner of war camp because it allowed freedom of dress and freedom of movement within the prison grounds. He spent four years there.After less than a year back on the streets, Sands was arrested in 1977 for gun possession near the scene of an IRA bombing and sentenced to 14 years in prison. Because the British government had enacted a policy of "criminalization" of Irish terrorists in 1976, Sands was imprisoned as a dangerous criminal in the Maze Prison south of Belfast. During the next few years, from his cell in the Maze, he joined other imprisoned IRA terrorists in protests demanding restoration of the freedoms they had previously enjoyed under special category status. In 1980, a hunger strike lasted 53 days before it was called off when one of the protesters fell into a coma. In response, the British government offered a few concessions to the prisoners, but they failed to deliver all they had promised and protests resumed. Sands did not take a direct part in the 1980 strike, but he acted as the IRA-appointed leader and spokesperson of the protesting prisoners.On March 1, 1981--the fifth anniversary of the British policy of criminalization--Bobby Sands launched a new hunger strike. He took only water and salt, and his weight dropped from 155 pounds to 95 pounds. After two weeks, another protester joined the strike, and six days after that, two more. On April 9, in the midst of the strike, Sands was elected to a vacant seat in the British Parliament from Fermanagh and South Tyrone in Northern Ireland. Parliament subsequently introduced legislation to disqualify convicts serving prison sentences for eligibility for Parliament. His election and fears of violence after his death drew international attention to Sands' protest. In the final week of his life, Pope John Paul II sent a personal envoy to urge Sands to give up the strike. He refused. On May 3, he fell into a coma, and in the early morning of May 5 he died. Fighting raged for days in Belfast, and tens of thousands attended his funeral on May 7.After Sands' death, the hunger strike continued, and nine more men perished before it was called off on October 3, 1981, under pressure from Catholic Church leaders and the prisoners' families. In the aftermath of the strike, the administration of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher agreed to give in to several of the protesters' demands, including the right to wear civilian clothing and the right to receive mail and visits. Prisoners were also allowed to move more freely and no longer were subject to harsh penalties for refusing prison work. Official recognition of their political status, however, was not granted. ------------------------------------------------------------------ MORE GENERAL INTEREST 1821 Napoleon dies in exile 1862 Cinco de Mayo 1945 Six killed in Oregon by Japanese bomb 1961 The first American in space historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=general&month=10272957&day=10272970 AUTOMOTIVE 1914 "Cannonball" begins journey across continent historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=automotive&month=10272957&day=10272970 CIVIL WAR 1864 Grant and Lee clash in the Wilderness forest historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=civil&month=10272957&day=10272970 COLD WAR 1955 Allies end occupation of West Germany historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=coldwar&month=10272957&day=10272970 CRIME 1990 An inhumane execution sparks a new debate historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=crime&month=10272957&day=10272970 DISASTER 1995 Hail storm surprises Dallas residents historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=disaster&month=10272957&day=10272970 ENTERTAINMENT 1936 Bette Davis wins Oscar historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=entertainment&month=10272957&day=10272970 LITERARY 1816 The Examinerpublishes John Keats' first poem historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=literary&month=10272957&day=10272970 OLD WEST 1877 Sitting Bull leads his people into Canada historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=oldwest&month=10272957&day=10272970 PRESIDENTIAL 1985 Reagan visits concentration camp and war cemetery historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=presidential&month=10272957&day=10272970 VIETNAM WAR 1972 North Vietnamese turn back South Vietnamese relief column historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=vietnamwar&month=10272957&day=10272970 WALL STREET 1895 Silver strike in the House historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=wallstreet&month=10272957&day=10272970 WORLD WAR I 1919 Italian delegates return to Paris peace conference historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=worldwari&month=10272957&day=10272970 WORLD WAR II 1941 Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie returns to his capital historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=worldwarii&month=10272957&day=10272970