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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The Weather Underground, or Weathermen, formed in the late 1960s as an offshoot of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), one of the largest student activist groups of the era.

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The SDS was active in organizing demonstrations across the United States protesting the Vietnam War and calling for greater social and racial equality.

The Weather Underground was a more militant faction and called for an armed struggle against the U.S. government. It received its name from the line in a Bob Dylan song, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."

The group was linked to a number of bombings between 1969-1975, mostly against police stations and government buildings. Three members of the group were killed in 1970 when a bomb they were building in a Manhattan townhouse accidentally exploded.

The Weather Underground also helped notable 1960s figure psychologist Timothy Leary's escape from prison in 1970.