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) →

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) →

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) →

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) →

Video: 'Alaskan Highway documentary' (Nov. 20, 1942, at 33:45)

(Friday, November 20, 1942) — The Alaska Highway constructed during World War II to connect the contiguous United States to Alaska across Canada, was dedicated today at Soldier’s Summit in the Yukon Territory. Continue reading Alaska Highway dedicated at Soldier’s Summit in Yukon Territory 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 20 1942) →

Video: 'The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal: How the US Won a Strategic Victory | Battle 360 | History'

(Friday, November 13, 1942, 1:48 a.m. Solomon Islands Time) — The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the decisive engagement in a series of naval battles between Allied (primarily American) and Imperial Japanese forces during the months-long Guadalcanal Campaign, part of the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific Theater of World War II, began early this morning when the Japanese destroyers Akatsuki and Hiei turned on large searchlights and illuminated the American light cruiser Atlanta only 3,000 yards away – almost point-blank range for the battleship’s main guns. Continue reading World War II Naval Battle of Guadalcanal begins in Solomon Islands 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 13 1942) – all five Sullivan brothers killed →

Video: '168 - Axis and Allies Both Invade France - WW2 - November 13, 1942' (Operation Torch at 1:11)

(Sunday, November 8, 1942, during Operation Torch, part of the North African Campaign of World War II) — Operation Torch, an amphibious military invasion of French North Africa, in particular the French-held territories of Algeria and Morocco, began today as more than 400,000 U.S. and British forces went ashore in French North Africa. Continue reading Operation Torch: Allies invade French North Africa in first mass involvement of US troops in European–North African Theatre of World War II 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 8 1942) →