80 Years Ago—Aug. 8, 1940: Luftwaffe intensifies bombing of British ports; 450 aircraft attack British convoy CW-9 off Sussex, the largest attack so far. Romania signs an economic treaty with Germany, ceding most of its oil and grain production to Germany. 75 Years Ago—Aug. 8, 1945: Soviet Union declares war on Japan. President Truman threatens… Read more »
80 Years Ago—Aug. 7, 1940: Germany annexes Alsace and Lorraine in France. 75 Years Ago—Aug. 7, 1945: Japanese first fly Nakajima J9Y Kikka jet fighter, essentially a copy of the German Messerschmitt Me 262. Marshal Tito bans return of King Peter to Yugoslavia.
80 Years Ago—Aug. 6, 1940: First meeting of US National Inventors Council, to screen ideas from scientists and amateur inventors that might have military use—200,000 ideas screened during the war; 560 were deemed to have value. In Luxembourg, Germans ban speaking French. 75 Years Ago—Aug. 6, 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima by US B-29… Read more »
80 Years Ago—Aug. 5, 1940: German Fw 200 Condor long-range bombers begin patrols over convoy routes around Britain. Germany requires citizens to carry Ahnenpass, proving “racial purity” back to 1800. Art “Donny” Donahue becomes the first American pilot to engage enemy aircraft in WWII (flying with the RAF in a Spitfire). 75 Years Ago—Aug. 5,… Read more »
80 Years Ago—Aug. 4, 1940: US journalist Varian Fry of the Emergency Rescue Committee arrives in Lisbon; in Marseille, France, he will work with US vice-consul Hiram Bingham Jr. to help 2000 anti-Nazi German refugees and Jews escape from southern France. 75 Years Ago—Aug. 4, 1945: Near Pegu Yoma, British destroy remnants of Japanese 28th… Read more »
80 Years Ago—Aug. 3, 1940: Italian troops under Gen. Guglielmo Nasi invade British Somaliland from Italian Ethiopia. New song in the Top Ten: “When the Swallows Return to Capistrano.” 75 Years Ago—Aug. 3, 1945: Czechoslovakia denies citizenship to ethnic Germans and Hungarians.
80 Years Ago—Aug. 2, 1940: British Royal Navy Swordfish aircraft bomb Italian naval base at Cagliari, Sardinia. Vichy French military court sentences Gen. Charles de Gaulle to death in absentia for organizing Free French in Britain. In Germany, Jews are banned from owning telephones and are only allowed to shop from 4-5 pm. 75 Years… Read more »
80 Years Ago—Aug. 1, 1940: Duke of Windsor (former King Edward VIII) sails from Portugal to Bahamas, foiling a German kidnapping attempt. 75 Years Ago—Aug. 1, 1945: Biggest air raid ever over Japan—836 US B-29 Superfortresses are dispatched at night. In US, penicillin is made available by prescription to civilians as tablets, ointment, and eye… Read more »
80 Years Ago—July 31, 1940: In Lithuania, Japanese Consul Chiune Sugihara begins writing thousands of visas for Jews to flee through the USSR into Japanese-controlled China. Japanese navy receives first Mitsubishi A6M Zeros. 75 Years Ago—July 31, 1945: Former head of Vichy French government, Pierre Laval, is sent from Spain to Austria under pressure from… Read more »
80 Years Ago—July 30, 1940: Act of Havana is signed by the US and twenty Latin American countries, agreeing to help any country threatened by the Axis in the Americas. 75 Years Ago—July 30, 1945: After having delivered the atomic bomb to Tinian, heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis is sunk by Japanese sub I-58 off Leyte,… Read more »
