Video: 'Alcatraz Island - 1934 | Movietone Moment | January 1 2021'

(Saturday, August 11, 1934, 9:40 a.m. PDT) — The first group of federal prisoners, classified as America’s most dangerous felons, arrived today at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on Alcatraz Island, a 22-acre rocky outcrop 1.5 miles offshore in San Francisco Bay in California. Continue reading First federal prisoners arrive at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco Bay 90 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Aug 11 1934) →

Video: '30th June 1934: Hitler purges the Nazi party in the Night of the Long Knives'

(Saturday, June 30, 1934, starting between 6:00-7:00 a.m. Central European Time) — Reich Chancellor of Germany Adolf Hitler launched a three-day “blood purge” of political and military rivals today in Germany in what came to be known as “The Night of the Long Knives.” Continue reading German Führer Adolf Hitler begins ‘blood purge’ of political, military rivals 90 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 30 1934) →

Video: 'Prohibition in the United States: National Ban of Alcohol'

(Tuesday, December 5, 1933, 3:32 p.m. MST; during Prohibition in the United States) — The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, repealing the Eighteenth Amendment which had made the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol illegal across the U.S., was ratified today by the 36th of 48 states, bringing the necessary 3/4ths majority necessary to take effect. Continue reading Prohibition era ends as Twenty-first Amendment to U.S. Constitution is ratified 90 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 5 1933) →

Video: 'Today In History: Adolf Hitler Bans Political Parties In Germany'

(Friday, July 14, 1933) — The Law Against the Formation of Parties (German: Gesetz gegen die Neubildung von Parteien), sometimes translated as the Law Against the Founding of New Parties, was a measure enacted by the government of Nazi Germany today that established the Nazi Party (NSDAP) as the only legal political party in Germany. Continue reading Nazi Party becomes Germany’s only legal political party 90 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jul 14 1933) →

Video: 'FDR Signs the Tennessee Valley Authority Act'

(Thursday, May 18, 1933, 3:15 p.m. EDT; part of the New Deal in response to the Great Depression) — U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt today signed into law the Norris-Hill bill, creating the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, regional planning, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley, a region that had suffered from a lack of infrastructure and poverty during the Great Depression, relative to the rest of the nation. Continue reading U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs measure creating Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), largest public utility in the country 90 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (May 18 1933) →

Video: 'Burning The Books - Germany 1933 (1933)'

(Wednesday, May 10, 1933, 11:00 p.m. Central European Time (CET); during Nazi book burnings) — The Nazis staged massive public book burnings tonight in Germany, including Berlin where some 40,000 people heard Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda, delivered an address at 11:00 p.m. CET before students burned upwards of 25,000 volumes of “un-German” books in the square at the State Opera. Continue reading Nazis stage massive public book burnings in Germany 90 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (May 10 1933) →

Video: 'The Enabling Act gives Hitler total power : 24 March 1933'

(Thursday, March 23, 1933) — By a 441-94 vote, Germany’s Reichstag today passed the Enabling Act (Ermächtigungsgesetz), entitled “Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the Nation,” which gave Chancellor Adolf Hitler the power to enact new laws by decree, without the need of legislative approval. Continue reading Germany’s Reichstag gives Chancellor Adolf Hitler dictatorial power to rule by decree 90 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 23 1933) →