Category Archives: 1940s

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt suffers massive stroke 80 years ago this hour (Apr 12 1945)

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


Video: 'FDR: A Presidency Revealed: Part 18' (Apr. 12, 1945, at 7:22)

(Thursday, April 12, 1945, approximately 1:00 p.m. Central War Time; during World War II) — U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 63, was stricken by a massive cerebral hemorrhage (stroke) today at his retreat in Warm Springs, Georgia, while artist Elizabeth Shoumatoff painted his portrait in the living room in the presence of Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd (with whom he had resumed an extramarital affair), two cousins and his dog Fala. Continue reading U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt suffers massive stroke 80 years ago this hour (Apr 12 1945) →

Nazi transit camp Westerbork liberated 80 years ago today (Apr 12 1945)

1940s, The Holocaust, World War II


Video: 'Camp Westerbork: the 'Perfect Camp' in German-Occupied Netherlands in World War II'

(Thursday, April 12, 1945; part of The Holocaust during World War II) — The Nazi transit camp Westerbork near Hooghalen, in the northeastern Netherlands, where Romani and Dutch Jews were assembled for transport to other Nazi concentration camps, was liberated today by Canadian troops. Continue reading Nazi transit camp Westerbork liberated 80 years ago today (Apr 12 1945) →

U.S. report concludes a Russian of Japan could be decisive 80 years ago today (Apr 11 1945)

1940s, World War II


Video: 'Peter Jennings - Hiroshima: Why the Bomb was Dropped (1995)' (Apr. 11, 1945, 34:59)

(Wednesday, April 11, 1945; part of the Pacific War during World War II) — A report from the U.S. Joint Intelligence Staff on Unconditional Surrender of Japan concluded today that a Russian invasion of Japan could be decisive in ending the Pacific War.

President Roosevelt drives former mistress to Dowdell’s Knob 80 years ago today (Apr 11 1945)

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


Video: 'American Experience FDR Parts 3 and 4' (Apr. 11, 1945, at 2:10:48)

(Wednesday, April 11, 1945, lunchtime EWT; during World War II) — U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt drove his former mistress Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd, who had arrived at Warm Springs, Georgia, on Monday (Apr. 9, 1945), to Dowdell’s Knob, overlooking a lovely valley, and talked about the future of the world and what he was going to do after the war had ended.

Nazi concentration camp Nordhausen-Dora liberated 80 years ago this hour (Apr 11 1945)

1940s, The Holocaust, World War II


Video: 'Mittelbau-Dora/Nordhausen - The camp where the Nazis built their V2-rockets'

(Wednesday, April 11, 1945 approximately 6:30 p.m. Central European Summer Time; part of The Holocaust during World War II) — The Nazi concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora (also Dora-Mittelbau and Nordhausen-Dora) near Nordhausen in Thuringia, Germany, which supplied labor for extending the nearby tunnels in the Kohnstein and for manufacturing the V-2 rocket and the V-1 flying bomb, was liberated today by U.S. troops. Continue reading Nazi concentration camp Nordhausen-Dora liberated 80 years ago this hour (Apr 11 1945) →

Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald liberated 80 years ago this hour (Apr 11 1945)

1940s, The Holocaust, World War II


Video: 'WWII Triumph and Despair' (Buchenwald at 18:53)

(Wednesday, April 11, 1945, 3:30 p.m. Central European Summer Time; part of The Holocaust during World War II) — The Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald near Weimar, Germany, where prisoners from all over Europe and the Soviet Union worked primarily as forced labor in local armaments factories, was liberated today by U.S. troops. Continue reading Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald liberated 80 years ago this hour (Apr 11 1945) →

German pastor, theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer executed by Nazis 80 years ago this hour (Apr 9 1945)

1940s, World War II


Video: 'Defying Hitler: The Story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer'

(Monday, April 9, 1945, at dawn, Central European Summer Time; part of The Holocaust during World War II) — German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 39, was executed by hanging today by the Nazis at the Flossenburg concentration camp for allegedly being associated with the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

Eleanor Roosevelt writes to FDR, ‘I am so glad you are gaining’ 80 years ago today (Apr 8 1945)

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


Video: 'American Experience FDR Parts 3 and 4' (Apr. 8, 1945, at 2:10:20)

(Sunday, April 8, 1945; during World War II) — First lady Eleanor Roosevelt, in Hyde Park, New York, today wrote a letter to her husband, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was recuperating from exhaustion in Warm Springs, Georgia: “I am so glad you are gaining. You sounded cheerful for the first time last night, and I hope you weigh 170 pounds when you return. Devotedly, E.R.”

‘My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time’ by Les Brown Orchestra peaks at #1 in USA 80 years ago today (Apr 7 1945)

1940s, Popular Music 1940s

(Saturday, April 7, 1945) — “My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time” by the Les Brown Orchestra (with a vocal by Doris Day) was the #1 song on today’s Billboard Best Selling Retail Records chart for seven consecutive weeks (Apr. 7/14/21/28, May 5/12/19, 1945).

Admiral Kantaro Suzuki becomes Japanese prime minister 80 years ago today (Apr 7 1945)

1940s, World War II


Video: 'The World At War: The Bomb 2/5' (Apr. 7, 1945, at 2:36)

(Saturday, April 7, 1945; during World War II) — Seven days into the Battle of Okinawa, the growing peace party of Japan secured the appointment of a new cabinet today led by Admiral Kantaro Suzuki following the resignation of Prime Minister Kuniaki Koiso.