Video: 'BOB HOPE USO'
(Tuesday, May 6, 1941; seven months before America’s entry into World War II) — Comedian Bob Hope did his first USO before an audience of servicemen today as he broadcast his radio program from March Field (now known as March Air Reserve Base) in Riverside, California.
Continue reading Comedian Bob Hope does first USO show for servicemen at March Field, California 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (May 6 1941)
Video: 'Charles Lindbergh and the Rise of 1940s Nazi Sympathizers'
(Wednesday, April 23, 1941, event scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. EST; during World War II) — Charles Lindbergh, aviation hero-turned-isolationist, declared tonight at a mass meeting of the America First Committee in New York City that the United States “cannot win this war for England, regardless of how much assistance we extend.”
Continue reading U.S. ‘cannot win this war for England,’ Charles Lindbergh warns packed New York rally 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Apr 23 1941)
Video: '086 - Yugoslavia Crushed - Battle for Greece Continues - WW2 - April 18, 1941' (Apr. 17, 1941, at 3:54)
(Thursday, April 17, 1941, 9:00 p.m. Central European Time; during the Invasion of Yugoslavia, part of the Balkans Campaign of World War II) — Eleven days after a German-led attack by Axis powers, Yugoslavia formally surrendered today as Foreign Minister Aleksandar Cincar-Markovic and General Radivoje Jankovic signed an armistice with German and Italian representatives in Belgrade and unconditionally surrendered all Yugoslav troops.
Continue reading Yugoslavia surrenders to Axis powers in Belgrade 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Apr 17 1941)
Video: 'Roosevelt Signs! (1941)'
(Tuesday, March 11, 1941, 3:50 p.m. EST; during World War II) — President Franklin D. Roosevelt today signed into law the Lend-Lease bill, which was mainly aimed at helping Britain, then virtually alone in fighting Nazi Germany during a critical phase of World War II. Continue reading FDR signs Lend-Lease bill providing war supplies to countries fighting Axis powers 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 11 1941)
Video: 'The World at War: Occupation: Holland - 1940-1944 (18 of 26)' (February Strike at 14:20)
(Tuesday, February 25, 1941; during the era of The Holocaust, part of World War II) — The February Strike, a general strike in the German-occupied Netherlands organized by the then-outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands in defense of persecuted Dutch Jews, began today following a series of arrests and pogroms held by the Germans in the Jewish neighborhood of Jodenbuurt in Amsterdam.
Continue reading February Strike begins in the Netherlands to protest anti-Jewish measures of Nazi occupiers 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 25 1941)
Video: 'Four Freedoms Speech'
(Monday, January 6, 1941, 2:00 p.m. EST; during World War II) — U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his Four Freedoms speech today before a joint session of the new 77th Congress, proposing four fundamental freedoms that all the people of the world ought to enjoy: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.
Continue reading FDR outlines ‘Four Freedoms’ in State of the Union address 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 6 1941)
Video: 'Roosevelt Speaking About Cancer Of Nazis And Aid To Britain (1940)'
(Sunday, December 29, 1940, 9:30-10:00 p.m. EST; during World War II) — In a radio “fireside chat” directed primarily to the American people but broadcast throughout the world, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tonight promised to help the United Kingdom fight Nazi Germany by providing them with war supplies.
Continue reading ‘We must be the great arsenal of democracy,’ FDR declares 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 29 1940)
Video: 'LONDON FIRE BRIGADE DURING BATTLE OF BRITAIN MOVIE 28232A'
(Sunday, December 29, 1940, shortly after 6:00-10:30 p.m. BST; during the Second Great Fire of London, part of the Blitz, part of the Strategic bombing campaign of World War II) — London suffered its most devastating air raid when Germans dropped incendiary bombs tonight, setting off what came to be known as “The Second Great Fire of London.”
Continue reading ‘The Second Great Fire of London has begun,’ American correspondent declares 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 29 1940)
Video: '912 days of the Warsaw Ghetto' (Nov. 15, 1940, at 5:53)
(Friday, November 15, 1940; during The Holocaust, part of World War II) — The Warsaw Ghetto in occupied Poland, the largest of all the Nazi ghettos during World War II, was officially sealed today by a 9.8-foot high wall topped with barbed wire, cutting off 380,000 Jews from the rest of the world. Continue reading Germans seal off Warsaw Ghetto, cutting off 380,000 Jews 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 15 1940)
Video: 'Coventry Aka Coventry Cathedral (1940)'
(Thursday, November 14, 1940, 7:20 p.m.-Friday, November 15, 1940, 6:15 a.m. BST; during the Coventry Blitz on the Western Front of World War II) — A massive night time raid tonight on Coventry, England, by 437 German He 111 bombers, dubbed Operation Mondscheinsonate (Moonlight Sonata), killed 568 (the exact figure was never precisely confirmed) people, injured another 863 and destroyed 60,000 buildings (including the city’s 14th Century cathedral). Continue reading German planes destroy 60,000 buildings in English town of Coventry 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 14 1940)
