Word: macropodio
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Outrage is exactly what the strange craft was intended to provoke. The stunt of putting an outboard motor in a gondola was perpetrated by Gino Macropodio, who led his 350 fellow gondoliers in their latest protest against the growing encroachment of motorized craft in Venice. The motoscafi, strikers pointed out, violate the canals' 7-m.p.h. speed limit and kick up waves that further weaken the foundations of the slowly sinking city. Some motorboatmen also violate the city ordinance limiting their working hours from midnight to 6 a.m., carry passengers and small freight afterhours in competition with gondolas...
...gondoliers have gone on strike before (twelve times in the past 16 years), as their trade has dwindled steadily since the 18th century, when they reigned as kings over the Grand Canal. But this time Gondolier Macropodio inspired the strikers, instead of merely beaching their boats, to mock, not fight, the opposition...
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