Today’s History Lesson marks an event witnessed by none, assisted by few, but celebrated by millions. On April 30, 1945, Mr. and Mrs. Adolf Hitler (one day after tying the knot) committed suicide. Eva took a cyanide capsule, as did Adolf, who simultaneously shot himself. And thus was ended the life of one of history’s greatest [...]
Archive for April, 2008
Cue the Wagner…
Posted in Europe, World War II (1939-1945), tagged Adolf Hitler, 1945, Eva Braun, Suicide on April 30 | Leave a Comment »
Every Girl Should be Married
Posted in Europe, World War II (1939-1945), tagged Adolf Hitler, 1945, Eva Braun, Wedding, Chancellery on April 29 | 2 Comments »
The thought of a wedding conjures up all sorts of images. For some, it’s the bride’s white dress and a big church with an orchestra. For others, it’s a sunny island beach somewhere in the Pacific with a few guests milling around in the ocean breezes. Still others have in their mind’s eye a plateful of [...]
Arrivederci, Il Duce
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Benito Mussolini, Il Duce, Italy, Mezzegra, Otto Skorzeny on April 28 | 1 Comment »
April 28, 1945 marks the death of Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini. Il Duce had taken the reigns of Italy in 1922 and had served as its leader until his removal from office and subsequent arrest in July of 1943, when the Allied invasion of Italy began.
For two months he had been constantly moved around, as [...]
The Earl of Bowling
Posted in Twentieth century (1901-1960), United States, tagged 1938, Bowling, Earl Anthony, Professional Bowler's Tour, Wide World of Sports on April 27 | Leave a Comment »
©AP Images
I grew up watching ABC’s Wide World of Sports on Saturday afternoons, and one of the regular features of the show was the PBA Bowling Tour. For some, bowling isn’t the most exciting sport…roll a ball and knock down pins. And many will chuckle (or laugh out loud) at the thought of televising a game of [...]
Shall We Gather at the River…
Posted in Europe, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Elbe River, Torgau, Strehla on April 25 | Leave a Comment »
On April 25, 1945, elements of the U.S. 69th Infantry Division advancing from the west met up with Russian soldiers moving from the east. The meeting point, the Elbe River between Torgau and Strehla, was a scant 50 miles or so from Berlin.
The days preceding the link-up were filled with preparation and anticipation. Signals between the two forces were [...]
Bookworm Heaven
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1800, British Library, Library of Congress, President John Adams, President Thomas Jefferson on April 24 | Leave a Comment »
I doubt that bookworms go to Heaven, but I’m guessing that if they had their druthers, Heaven would look an awful lot like the Library of Congress. Located in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world (in terms of physical space) and, if you need a book to read, I’ll wager money that this massive [...]
Have a Coke and a…Frown?
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1985, Coke Classic, New Coke on April 23 | 1 Comment »
The Real Thing. I’d like to teach the world to sing… Have a Coke and a Smile. Coke is it! The slogans are as familiar to us as the bright red cans. And for years, Coke had been it. Since the emergence of carbonated drinks in the first half of the Twentieth Century, Coca-Cola had [...]
A Matter of “Take and Give”
Posted in Europe, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Leipzig, Line of Contact, Wilhelm von Grolman, Hans von Poncet, 69th Infantry Division, Yalta Conference on April 20 | 2 Comments »
By mid-April, one could safely say that World War II, from an Axis perspective, was going pretty badly. Italy had long ago capitulated. Japan was reeling and in the throes of its last major conflict on Okinawa. And Germany was feeling a tight squeeze from the Allied contingent converging on its capital from both east [...]
Ernie Pyle: Writer, War Hero
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Ernie Pyle, Ie Shima on April 18 | 1 Comment »
I just finished Bill Sloan’s recently published book on Okinawa called “The Ultimate Battle“, and it’s an outstanding read from start to finish. But since I’ve been composing pieces for Today’s History Lesson, I’ve been reading a little differently. While working through Sloan’s book, I started keeping pen and paper next to me, writing down dates [...]
Isn’t it Ironic…
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, G4M Betty, Guadalcanal, Irony, P-38 Lightning on April 18 | Leave a Comment »
The dictionary defines “irony” as the “incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result.“ When I was in the 2nd grade, we read a story about a dog that lived on a farm and was accused of killing some sheep (or goats or chickens or some other [...]
Yugo: Coup Worse than Sedan
Posted in Europe, World War II (1939-1945), tagged Tripartite Pact, 1941, Germany, Yugoslavia, Prince Paul, Coup on April 17 | Leave a Comment »
Many of us remember the Yugo’s that were sold here in the U.S. some years back. Priced at $3,990, they were Yugoslavia’s attempt to market cheap ”cars-for-everyman” in the States. Needless to say, it wasn’t a very successful venture. I’ve often wondered if any driveable examples still exist in the country.
On April 17, 1941, Yugoslavia signed an [...]
The Pride of Shakespeare
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Ie Shima, Ie Town, Major Masahi Igawa, Okinawa, William Shakespeare on April 16 | 1 Comment »
Well, sort of. William Shakespeare loved a good tragedy, and many of us enjoy the good tragedies he wrote. Stuff like…guy and girl fall in love, but come from feuding families, both end up dying…the end. But the famous playwright probably never heard of Ie Shima, and you probably haven’t either. But there’s a connection of [...]
Birth of the Maddog…
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1966, Atlanta Braves, Baseball, Greg Maddux, Maddog on April 14 | 3 Comments »
I’ve been a fan of the Atlanta Braves for more than 25 years and, believe me, I’ve watched some terrible baseball. The teams that were assembled in the mid/late 1980’s were so bad that they needed improvement just to reach the level of “stink”.
But, for anyone that’s followed them since then, it’s been a very [...]
Kettle, Say Hello to Pot
Posted in Europe, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, Katyn Forest, NKVD, Nuremberg Trials, Poland on April 13 | 1 Comment »
Often times, when thinking about Poland and World War II, we recall that the conflict started with Germany’s invasion of the country in September of 1939. But we usually forget that, just a couple of weeks later, the Russians followed suit and invaded Poland from the east.
Following the Russian army into Poland was the Narodny [...]
Roosevelt, the Soldier’s Ally
Posted in North America, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Fireside Chat, Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt, Warm Springs on April 12 | 1 Comment »
Today marks the death of our 32nd, and longest-serving, President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His life was conspicuously studded with grand achievements and honors, but was also beset with struggle and illness. On April 12, 1945, he suffered a stroke and passed away in Warm Springs, Georgia.
A lot could be said about [...]
The Lost Leader
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1963, Nuclear Submarine, USS Thresher on April 10 | Leave a Comment »
On April 10, 1963, the USS Thresher was performing some deep-water testing in the Atlantic. As the lead ship of the Thresher class, she signified the latest iteration of the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered attack submarines.
Now “deep-water” was something of a misnomer since, relatively speaking, submarines at that time didn’t go beyond 1,500 feet below the surface. [...]
Uff da!!
Posted in Scandanavia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1940, Adolf Hitler, Altmark, Denmark, Germany, Norway on April 9 | Leave a Comment »
After Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939, the War entered something of a quiet phase. The French and British, having often endured Adolf Hitler’s bluster and threats, expected their opponent’s territorial ambitions to continue unabated. When the Winter of 1939/40 passed without any major action, the Allies started to get a little cocky, referring to this time as the [...]
You Sank My Battleship!!!
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Musashi, Okinawa, USS Iowa, Yamato on April 7 | 2 Comments »
On April 7, 1945, the Japanese battleship Yamato was sunk by U.S. Navy dive- and torpedo-bombers. On a suicide mission to Okinawa, she was intercepted 200 miles from her destination, thanks to the U.S. military’s ability to read Japanese coded messages. She didn’t expire easily, requiring several hits with 1,000-pound bombs and nearly a dozen torpedoes.
The Yamato (shown [...]
Floating Chrysanthemums
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Battle of Leyte Gulf, Divine Wind, Kamikaze, Okinawa on April 6 | Leave a Comment »
It’s easy to think of The Battle of Okinawa as a vicious land battle, a very heavily entrenched force warring against an even larger dislodging force. But to think of the engagement solely in those terms is to miss a large part of the struggle, because there was an equally desperate fight going on at sea.
While the Japanese [...]
