Let’s head back to the Russian Front for just a couple minutes. The German army, having been halted (and even pushed back a little) in the winter of 1941, came storming back the following spring. Adolf Hitler’s generals recommended a renewed assault on Moscow, where victory had been just a few miles away the previous December. Hitler instead focused [...]
Archive for January, 2009
Hitler Meets His Waterloo in Stalingrad
Posted in Russia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, Operation Blue, Operation Uranus, Stalingrad on January 31 | Leave a Comment »
Wilhelm Gustloff: More Titanic Than the Titanic
Posted in Europe, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Captain Alexander Marinesko, S-13, Wilhelm Gustloff on January 30 | Leave a Comment »
As we saw the other day, the beginning of 1945 was also the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany. At just about the same time the Russians were freeing the few remaining prisoners still alive in Auschwitz, they were also bearing down on Prussia. Rumors of Soviet brutality went ahead of the actual armies, [...]
“To Touch the Face of God”
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1986, Challenger, Christa McAuliffe, President Ronald Reagan, Space Shuttle, STS-51-L on January 28 | 1 Comment »
Well, sometimes history lessons involve events that are extremely well-known to us. Today’s History Lesson is one of those topics. I get a lot of my ideas from the books I’ve read, but this one I can pretty much do from memory. I clearly remember the excitement we had as kids when NASA launched its [...]
Oswiecim: The Little Town With a Big Secret
Posted in Europe, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Auschwitz, Final Solution, Oswiecim, Poland, Rudolf Hoess, Treblinka on January 27 | 1 Comment »
Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, so let’s talk, for just a few minutes, about something related to it. Oswiecim is a town in southwestern Poland. My talent with foreign languages is limited to a bit of Spanish, but I believe it’s pronounced “oss-vee-hay-chim“, with an emphasis on the “hay” and a mostly silent “h”. Anyone [...]
Solving a Problem Like Maria
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 1905, Anschluss, Austria, Maria von Trapp, The Sound of Music on January 26 | Leave a Comment »
Whenever I see the phrase “Based on a true story” at the beginning of a movie, I chuckle to myself. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that the producers and directors want to give us a peek, if only through a camera lens, into some event, or life, or situation they want us to see. But [...]
SAC’s Nuclear Garden Sprouts no Mushrooms
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1961, Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, Goldsboro, Mk39 Hydrogen Bomb, North Carolina, Strategic Air Command on January 24 | 2 Comments »
Several months ago, we learned about a “near-miss” atomic war with the Soviet Union when we discussed Stansilov Petrov’s actions (or rather, his inactions) back in 1983. Not to self-promote too much, but I go back and read that piece occasionally, and I still get goosebumps when I realize, that as a 15-year old kid, [...]
Guadalcanal Victory in Sight
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, Galloping Horse, Gifu, Guadalcanal, Sea-Horse, Solomon Islands on January 23 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve really enjoyed writing about the Battle of Guadalcanal. As the first real offensive action of the Pacific War (and of the war in general) for American forces, I think it’s pretty significant. Since our first discussions of the Solomon Islands campaign back in August, we’ve looked at a number of events, small and large, that [...]
The Allies Spell Relief A-N-Z-I-O
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Anzio, Cassino, Colonel William Darby, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, Gustav Line, Operation Shingle on January 22 | Leave a Comment »
January 22, 1944 marks the day of the landings at Anzio. If you recall, Allied forces had landed on Italian soil in September of the previous year. Coming up Italy’s boot, units from Britain, the U.S., and Canada had progressed northward with the main objective of capturing Rome…until running into the Gustav Line. The Gustav Line [...]
Wannsee: Reinhard Heydrich’s Power Play
Posted in Europe, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Adolf Hitler, Final Solution, Germany, Reinhard Heydrich, Wannsee, Wannsee Conference on January 20 | 1 Comment »
Wannsee. It’s a word that’s unfamiliar to many. Who is it? What is it? How do I say it? And what does it have to with history? All are good questions, and we’ll address each of them this evening…we’re going to have all kinds of lessons. First, some foreign language study. Wannsee is pronounced von-zay, [...]
Miami Ice
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1977, Florida, Miami, National Weather Service, Snow on January 19 | Leave a Comment »
As some of you know (or as you’ve probably figured out), I’m a wuss when it comes to cold weather. I simply can’t stand it. Heat and humidity?…fine by me. Rain?…bring it on. Storms?…oh yeah!! But cold?…no way. So you can imagine that when our temperatures plunged last week, I was hating it. Some giant [...]
Richard Burns: Born for Speed
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 1971, British Rally Championship, Juha Kankkunen, Richard Burns, Richard Burns Rally, World Rally Championship on January 17 | 2 Comments »
As we’ve journeyed down this road, I hope you’ve discovered that we share a common interest or two. Mine include reading (lots!), baseball, airplanes, and of course, history. But there’s another love of mine, and while it occupies less time now than it used to, it’s still worth mentioning today. Rallying. And what is rallying? [...]
Burmese Jungles Become Battleground
Posted in China/Burma/India, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Burma, Burma Road, Rangoon, Thailand on January 15 | Leave a Comment »
As I’ve mentioned before (and as many of you know), the time from December of 1941 until May of the following year was pretty much Japan’s “time on top”. They ran wild in southeast Asia. Thailand was invaded on the 8th (along with Malaya) and quickly fell, formally aligning with the Japanese on December 14, 1941. Hong Kong fell on [...]
“He Who Fights and Runs Away…”
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, General Alexander Patch, Guadalcanal, Operation Ke, Solomon Islands on January 14 | Leave a Comment »
The fight for the island of Guadalcanal had entered its sixth month, but the situation was vastly different than it had been when the 1st Marine Division walked ashore in August of 1942. Back then, the Marines were the newcomers, with a mission to dislodge a well-equipped, confident Japanese foe. But as 1943 began, the U.S. [...]
A Special Kind of Hero
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1982, Air Florida Flight 90, Arland Williams, President Ronald Reagan, Washington National Airport on January 13 | Leave a Comment »
Every once in a while a song gets in my head and just gets stuck there. And usually it’s some song I really hate, and I spend the next two or three hours trying to think of something (anything!) else while a hideous ditty rolls around my mind. Today, however, is an exception as I’ve [...]
Where Even Bad Days are Pretty Good
Posted in Twentieth century (1901-1960), United States, tagged 1915, Enos Mills, Estes Park, Joel Estes, President Woodrow Wilson, Rocky Mountain National Park on January 12 | 1 Comment »
©Erik Stensland Back in September, we took a vacation to Rocky Mountain National Park. When we got to Estes Park (just outside the park) after a 13-hour drive, it was cold and pouring down rain. But I’ve often said that a lousy day in RMNP is better than a good day just about anywhere else. It [...]
Kuala Lumpur Falls to the Japanese
Posted in China/Burma/India, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya, Mitsubishi A6M Zero, Pearl Harbor, Singapore on January 11 | Leave a Comment »
The Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor is the watershed event in World War II history for Americans. And rightfully so, as it brought the United States into the conflict. But from a Japanese perspective, it was a move largely designed to keep us out of the War and, as such, was merely an operation to protect the real [...]
Bathtub Toys Teach Current Events
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1992, Ducks, First Years Company, Friendly Floaties, Pacific Ocean on January 10 | Leave a Comment »
Today, let’s talk little plastic ducks. Every little kid plays with at least one at bathtime. He (or she) floats it through the bubbles, holds it under the water and lets it pop to the surface, or maybe pounds it against the water in a vain attempt to help mom wash the bathroom floor. So [...]
Andrew Jackson’s Alligator Antics
Posted in The War of 1812 (1812-1815), United States, tagged 1815, Battle of New Orleans, Johnny Horton, President Andrew Jackson, Treaty of Ghent on January 8 | Leave a Comment »
Fought on January 8, 1815, the Battle of New Orleans was the last engagement in the War of 1812. In fact, the treaty that officially ended the War had been signed more than two weeks earlier. But, of course, there was no Internet or 24-hour news service to broadcast details of the Treaty of Ghent from [...]
Chrysler Bailout Leads to Special K
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1980, AIG, Chrysler Corporation, Ford, GM, Lee Iacocca, President Jimmy Carter on January 7 | Leave a Comment »
There’s been no shortage of controversy concerning the government’s numerous multi-billion dollar cash infusions over the last several months. I don’t know all the details, but it started with $700+ billion and I’ve heard the number is going (or has gone) much higher. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, billions of dollars to AIG and, most recently, [...]
The First White House Wedding
Posted in Colonial history (1607-1775), United States, tagged 1759, Daniel Custis, George Washington, Martha Custis, White House Plantation on January 6 | 2 Comments »
On January 6, 1759, Martha Custis got married…for the second time. Her first marriage, to Daniel Custis, had lasted less than 10 years before his death in 1757. She was left with two children (two other children had died as toddlers) and a great deal of money. Her husband was a wealthy land-owner and their estate, called White [...]
