Vichy propaganda poster featuring Marshal Pétain and Vichy motto “Travail, Famille, Patrie” (work, family, fatherland) [Public domain via Wikipedia]

Dutch Jews are required to register their addresses with the police.

Italian tanks near Fort Mechili, Libya, 1941 (public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—Jan. 26, 1941: British take Mechili, Libya, but Italians have already evacuated.

Kenyan troops in 7th Battalion of the Kings African Rifles (KAR) parading in Mogadishu, June 1941 (public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—Jan. 25, 1941: British troops and African colonial troops invade Italian Somaliland from Kenya.

Japanese massacre 1200 residents of Panjiayu, Hebei, China for suspicion of harboring communist guerrillas.

Matilda tank en route into Tobruk, Libya, 24 Jan 1941; note British soldiers displaying a captured Italian flag (Imperial War Museum: 4700-32 E 1772)

80 Years Ago—Jan. 24, 1941: In Libya British armored forces divide Italian forces at Mechili.

Romanian army crushes the fascist Iron Guard uprising, and the Iron Guard’s leader flees to Germany.

Artie Shaw playing “Concerto for Clarinet” in “Second Chorus,” 1940 (public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—Jan. 23, 1941: Before Congress, Charles Lindbergh suggests the US negotiate a neutrality pact with Hitler.

Bulgaria passes law that bans Jews from public service, professions, and commerce, and bans marriage between Jews and Gentiles.

Artie Shaw records “Dancing in the Dark” and “Moonglow.”

Troops of the 11th Infantry Battalion, Australian 6th Division at Tobruk, Libya, 22 Jan 1941 (Australian War Memorial: 005392)

80 Years Ago—Jan. 22, 1941: In Libya, Australians take Tobruk—and 25,000 Italian prisoners.

Registration for the US draft is held in the Territory of Alaska.

Leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu and the Iron Guard in Bucharest, Romania, 1937 (public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—Jan. 21, 1941: In Legionary Rebellion in Romania, the fascist Iron Guard attempts to overthrow Prime Minister Antonescu and burns synagogues.

Movie premiere of High Sierra, starring Humphrey Bogart & Ida Lupino.

Inaugural program of Franklin Roosevelt and Henry Wallace, 20 Jan 1941 (public domain via USMC Thaddeus Sandifer Collection)

80 Years Ago—Jan. 20, 1941: President Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for his third term.

The US Senate has 28 Republicans, 66 Democrats, 1 Progressive, and 1 Independent; the House of Representatives has 162 Republicans, 267 Democrats, and 6 from smaller parties.

Britain institutes Compulsory Fire Watch duty for men aged 16-60.

Ethiopian camel troops transporting supplies through the bush, Ethiopia, 22 January 1941 (British government photo)

80 Years Ago—Jan. 19, 1941: British launch offensive in East Africa, invading Italian-occupied Eritrea and Ethiopia.

80 Years Ago—Jan. 18, 1941: In San Francisco, 2000 people protest the raising of the Nazi flag at the German consulate; two American sailors climb up nine stories and cut it down, creating an international incident.