(Aug. 16, 1819) Brutal dispersal of a meeting held on St. Peter's Fields in Manchester, Eng.
Called to protest unemployment and high food prices and demand parliamentary reform, the meeting drew about 60,000 people, including many women and children. Alarmed by its size, city officials ordered the city's volunteer cavalry to arrest the speakers. The untrained cavalry also attacked the peaceable crowd with sabres, and professional soldiers were sent to join the attack. After a 10-minute rout, about 500 people lay injured and 11 were dead. The incident (likened to Waterloo) came to symbolize Tory tyranny.