Category Archives: 1940s

FDR, Churchill demand unconditional surrender of Axis powers at wartime conference in Casablanca 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 24 1943)

1940s, U.S. Presidents, World War II


Video: '179 - Time to Fire Rommel? - WW2 - January 29, 1943' (Jan. 24, 1943, at 6:04)

(Sunday, January 24, 1943, 1:05 p.m. Western European Summer Time; during the Casablanca Conference, part of World War II) — U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill concluded a wartime conference today in Casablanca, Morocco, announcing to the few correspondents permitted to go along on the secret trip that the Allies would accept nothing less than the unconditional surrender of the Axis Powers. Continue reading FDR, Churchill demand unconditional surrender of Axis powers at wartime conference in Casablanca 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 24 1943) →

Soviets announce they’ve broken through long Nazi siege of Leningrad 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 18 1943)

1940s, World War II


Video: 'That Shock Army that Broke the Most Brutal Siege of WW2'

(Monday, January 18, 1943, 9:30 a.m. Moscow Standard Time; during Operation Iskra, part of the Siege of Leningrad on the Eastern Front of World War II) — The Red Army of the Soviet Union today broke the German Wehrmacht’s 515-day siege of Leningrad a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) on the Eastern Front of World War II. Continue reading Soviets announce they’ve broken through long Nazi siege of Leningrad 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 18 1943) →

Jewish insurgents in Warsaw Ghetto launch initial armed resistance 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 18 1943)

1940s, The Holocaust, World War II


Video: 'Total War Coming to Germany - WAH 51 - January 1943, Pt. 2' (Warsaw ghetto 16:49)

(Monday, January 18, 1943, 7:00 a.m. Central European Time; part of The Holocaust during World War II) — The first Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began today as Nazi soldiers began their second deportation from Warsaw’s Jewish ghetto in German-occupied Poland. Continue reading Jewish insurgents in Warsaw Ghetto launch initial armed resistance 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 18 1943) →

‘There Are Such Things’ by Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra peaks at #1 in USA 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 16 1943)

1940s, Popular Music 1940s

(Saturday, January 16, 1943) — “There Are Such Things” by Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra (vocal refrain by Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers), was the #1 song on today’s Billboard National List of Best Selling Retail Records chart for the first of five weeks (Jan. 16/23/30, Feb. 6/27, 1943). Continue reading ‘There Are Such Things’ by Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra peaks at #1 in USA 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 16 1943) →

The Pentagon, headquarters building for U.S. Department of War, completed 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 15 1943)

1940s, World War II


Video: 'The Pentagon - Decades TV Network'

(Friday, January 15, 1943; during World War II) — The Pentagon, headquarters building of the United States Department of War (now Defense), was completed today only 16 months after ground was broken in Arlington County, Virginia. Continue reading The Pentagon, headquarters building for U.S. Department of War, completed 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 15 1943) →

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt arrives in Casablanca, Morocco for wartime conference with UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 14 1943)

1940s, U.S. Presidents, World War II


Video: 'Churchill - Roosevelt Casablanca Conference Aka Churchill - Roosevelt Casablanca Meeting (1943)'

(Thursday, January 14, 1943, FDR’s plane landed at Medouina Airport, Casablanca, Morocco, at 6:20 p.m. Western European Summer Time; during the Casablanca Conference) — U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt arrived in Morocco tonight to join British Prime Minister Winston Churchill for a 10-day conference in Casablanca that would map the course the Allies would pursue in fighting World War II, including the “unconditional surrender” demand of their enemies. Continue reading U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt arrives in Casablanca, Morocco for wartime conference with UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 14 1943) →

Red Army launches final assault on Germans trapped at Stalingrad 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 10 1943)

1940s, World War II


Video: '177- Food for Leningrad, Breaking the Siege! - WW2 - January 15th, 1943' (Operation Koltso at 0:57)

(Sunday, January 10, 1943, 8:05 a.m. local time; during the Battle of Stalingrad on the Eastern Front in the European theatre of World War II) — The Red Army today launched Operation Koltso under the command of General Konstantin Rokossovsky, the final annihilation of the tattered remnants of Germany’s Sixth Army, which was surrounded at Stalingrad and refused surrender terms on Jan. 8, 1943, by its commander, Friedrich “José” Paulus. Continue reading Red Army launches final assault on Germans trapped at Stalingrad 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 10 1943) →

Monkees singer and guitarist Michael Nesmith born in Houston, Texas 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 30 1942)

1940s, The Monkees


Video: 'Michael Nesmith Of ‘The Monkees’ Dies | 10 News First'

(Wednesday, December 30, 1942) — American musician, songwriter, and actor Michael Nesmith, best known as the quiet member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series The Monkees (1966–1968), was born Robert Michael Nesmith today in Houston, Texas. Continue reading Monkees singer and guitarist Michael Nesmith born in Houston, Texas 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 30 1942) →

Scientists demonstrate first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction at at the University of Chicago 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 2 1942)

1940s, World War II


Video: '1942: UChicago’s race to the first nuclear reaction'

(Wednesday, December 2, 1942, 3:25 p.m. CST, part of the Manhattan Project, during World War II) — The Atomic Age was born today when scientists at the Metallurgical Laboratory demonstrated the first artificially created, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction at a laboratory inside an enormous tent on a squash court under the stands of the University of Chicago’s Stagg Field. Continue reading Scientists demonstrate first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction at at the University of Chicago 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 2 1942) →

492 people killed as fire engulfs Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 28 1942)

1940s


Video: 'The Cocoanut Grove Disaster | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror'

(Saturday, November 28, 1942, 10:15 p.m. EST; during the Cocoanut Grove fire) — Fire engulfed the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston tonight, killing 492 people in the deadliest nightclub blaze ever. Most victims suffocated or were trampled to death. Continue reading 492 people killed as fire engulfs Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 28 1942) →