Video: 'Invasion Of Albania (1939)'
(Good Friday, April 7, 1939, 4:50 a.m. Central European Time; during the Italian invasion of Albania, part of Interwar period) — Italian troops landed in Albania at dawn today, debarking from sixteen units of the First Italian Naval Squadron at Santi Quaranta, Valona, Durazzo and San Giovanni di Medua. Continue reading Mussolini’s Italy invades Albania 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Apr 7 1939)
Video: '1939 Invasion of Prague'
(Wednesday, March 15, 1939, 6:00 a.m. Central European Time) — The German Army poured into Bohemia and Moravia this morning as they began a complete occupation of Czechoslovakia in direct violation of the Munich Agreement signed Sept. 30, 1938. Continue reading Nazis begin complete occupation of Czechoslovakia 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 15 1939)
(Saturday, March 4, 1939) — “Deep Purple” by Larry Clinton and his Orchestra (with vocal by Bea Wain) peaked at #1 on today’s Your Hit Parade weekly music chart for seven consecutive weeks (Mar. 4/11/18/25, Apr. 1/8/15, 1939). Continue reading ‘Deep Purple’ by Larry Clinton peaks at #1 in USA 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 4 1939)
Video: 'Stagecoach' trailer
(Thursday, March 2, 1939, 11:40 a.m. EDT) — Stagecoach, an American Western film about a group of disparate passengers who battle personal demons and each other while racing dangerous Apache territory, opened this morning at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Continue reading ‘Stagecoach’ opens in New York City 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 2 1939)
Video: 'Bette Davis, Spencer Tracy and Deanna Durbin winning Oscars'
(Thursday, February 23, 1939, 8:30-10:36 p.m. PST) — You Can’t Take It with You, a 1938 American romantic comedy film about a man from a family of rich snobs who becomes engaged to a woman from a good-natured but decidedly eccentric family, won Outstanding Production tonight at the 11th Academy Awards at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Continue reading ‘You Can’t Take It with You’ wins Outstanding Production at 11th Academy Awards 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 23 1939)
Video: 'A Night at The Garden - Field of Vision'
(Monday, February 20, 1939, 8:55-11:00 p.m. EST) — 22,000 members of the German American Bund, a pro-Nazi group, packed Madison Square Garden tonight in New York City to hear Bund leader Fritz Kuhn, known as the “American Hitler,” criticize U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt by repeatedly referring to him as “Frank D. Rosenfeld,” calling his New Deal the “Jew Deal” and denouncing what he believed to be Bolshevik-Jewish American leadership. Continue reading 22,000 American Nazis rally in Madison Square Garden in New York City 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 20 1939)
Video: 'Earthquake In Chile (1939)'
(Tuesday, January 24, 1939, 11:32 p.m. Chile Standard Time) — Some 28,000 people were killed tonight when the 1939 Chillán earthquake occurred in south-central Chile with a surface wave magnitude of 8.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Continue reading 28,000 people killed by earthquake in in south-central Chile 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 24 1939)
(Saturday, January 21, 1939) — “Jeepers Creepers” by Al Donahue and his Orchestra (vocal chorus by Paula Kelly) peaked at #1 on today’s Your Hit Parade weekly music chart for five non-consecutive weeks (Jan. 21, Feb. 4/11/18/25, 1939). Continue reading ‘Jeepers Creepers’ by Al Donahue peaks at #1 in USA 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 21 1939)
Video: 'God Bless America, First Radio performance, Armistice Day November 10, 1938, Kate Smith'
(Thursday, November 10, 1938, 8:00-9:00 p.m. EST) — Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” on her CBS radio program tonight. Continue reading Kate Smith performs Irving Berlin’s ‘God Bless America’ for first time 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 10 1938)
Video: 'Night of Broken Glass - Decades TV Network'
(Wednesday, November 9, 1938, approximately 4:30 p.m. Western European Time) — German diplomat Ernst vom Rath, shot Nov. 7, 1938, at the German embassy in Paris by Herschel Grynszpan, 17, whose Jewish parents were among those recently deported from Germany to Poland, died this afternoon at the Clinique de l’Alma. Continue reading Death of German diplomat sparks Kristallnacht 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 9 1938)
