1916 - William George Barker, flying very low over the Ancre River, spots a large concentration of German troops massing for a counter-attack on Beaumont Hamel, and sends an emergency Zone Call brought to bear all available artillery fire in the area onto the specified target. The force of some 4,000 German infantry was effectively broken up, and Barker is awarded the Military Cross.

1939 - Nazis begin mass murder of Warsaw Jews.

1995 - Space shuttle Atlantis docks with orbiting Russian space station Mir.

1939 - Al Capone freed from Alcatraz jail.

1939 - German U-boat torpedoes tanker Sliedrecht near Ireland.

1940 - World War II: In response to Germany's leveling of Coventry, England two days before, the Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg.

1945 - UNESCO is founded.

1918 - Belgian troops re-enter Brussels, lost to the German invaders on 20 August 1914.

1939 - Neth KNSM passenger ship Simon Bolivar hits German mine, 86 die.

1941 - British troops open attack on Tobruk, North Africa.

1943 - 444 British bombers attack Berlin.

1943 - U-211 sinks in Atlantic Ocean.

1863 - US President Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg address beginning; "Four score & seven years ago..."

1940 - Belgian King Leopold III visits Adolf Hitler.

1940 - First major German air raid on Birmingham - about 440 bombers kill 450.

1943 - U-536 sinks in Atlantic Ocean.

1815 - 2nd Peace of Paris: France & allies after 2nd defeat and abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte.

1815 - Russia, Prussia, Austria & England signs Alliance "for the maintenance of peace in Europe" same day as Treaty of Paris.

1917 - First successful tank use in battle (Britain breaks through German lines) at Battle of Cambrai WWI.

1941 - Adm Nomura & Kurusu hands over Japanese last diplomatic note.

1941 - German "auxiliary cruiser" (armed merchant raider) Kormoran sinks near Australia.

1943 - U-538 sinks in Atlantic Ocean.

1945 - 24 Nazi leaders put on trial at Nuremberg, Germany.

1791 - Colonel Napoléon Bonaparte is promoted to full general and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the French Republic.

1916 - HMHS Britannic sinks in the Aegean Sea after a mine explodes, killing 30 people.

1918 - 2 German ammunition trains explode in Hamont Belgium, 1,750 die.

1918 - The German High Seas Fleet of 5 battlecruisers, 9 battleships, 7 cruisers and 49 destroyers surrendered to the British Grand Fleet and were shepherded into the Firth of Forth.

1906 - International Radio Telecommunications Com adopts "SOS" as new call for help.

1941 - British cruiser Devonshire sinks German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis.

1963 - American President John F. Kennedy assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas.

1942 - Col-gen Von Paul asks Hitler to surrender.

1942 - German 4th & 6th Army surrounded at Stalingrad.

1942 - Japans bombing of Port Darwin, Australia.

1943 - British Forces Broadcasting Service begins operation.

1914 - Benito Mussolini leaves Italy's socialist party.

1922 - Italian parliament gives Benito Mussolini dictatorial powers "for 1 year".

1941 - "Life Certificates" issued to some Jews of Vilna, the rest are exterminated.

1944 - US bombers based on Saipan begin 1st attack on Tokyo.

2012 - Gangnam Style becomes the most viewed youtube video surpassing 808 million views.

:dead:

^MY wake up call: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0:DWARNING: Excedrine required

1783 - Britain evacuates New York city, its last military position in United States.

1867 - Alfred Nobel patents dynamite.

1943 - U-600 sinks in Atlantic Ocean.

A disaster within a disaster
 

The newly-promoted KrvKpt. Zurmühlen was lost with the entire crew of 54 when U-600, participating in Wolfpack Weddigen, was sunk on 25 Nov 1943 in the North Atlantic north of Ponta Delgada by depth charges from the British frigates HMS Bazely and HMS Blackwood. "Wolf-pack Weddigen was formed in November 1943 off the coast of Portugal, to intercept convoys sailing to and from Gibraltar. It was composed of U-boats from the disbanded patrol group Schill, with reinforcements from the North Atlantic and from bases in occupied France.
Weddigen originally numbered seventeen U-boats, though two had been destroyed in recent actions, and two others had to withdraw with damage. On 22 November the thirteen U-boats remaining formed a patrol line west of Portugal to await warning of an Allied convoy.
On 23 November one of the Weddigen boats, U-648, fell in with the frigate HMS Blackwood, of 4th Escort Group accompanying KMS 30 and was destroyed. On 25 November U-600 also fell in with KMS 30, and was attacked by Blackwood and Bazely, and was destroyed by them. On 27 November the Weddigen boats intercepted (combined) convoy SL 140/MKS 31, and attacked it over the next five days, though without success. On 27 November the convoys were found again by aircraft, which brought in U-262. She commenced shadowing until other Weddigen boats could be homed-in. Also during the 27th the convoy was joined by 4 EG, a Support Group of five frigates led by HMS Bentinck (Cdr EH Chavasse). By evening the U-boats had gathered and started their assault. Franke, in U-262 was able to penetrate the escort screen into the convoy itself, he attacked the ships there from close range. However his boldness was not rewarded by any success; he fired and claimed hits on three ships, but no hits were confirmed. The three other boats that penetrated the screen, U-764, U-107, and U-238, also failed to make any hits. During the night the convoy was again reinforced by the arrival of 2 EG, a Support Group led by Captain F.J. "Johnnie" Walker, Britain's most successful killer of U-boats, in HMS Starling. This brought the total number of escorts for the convoy to seventeen warships. Escorts now outnumbered Uboats!!!:timeout: BdU ordered a halt to the attack.:salute: On 29 November U-86 was destroyed by aircraft from the carrier USS Bogue, while on 28th U-238 and U-764 had been attacked and damaged, also by aircraft from Bogue.
On 7 December Weddigen was disbanded, a number of U-boats returning to base, while others formed a cadre of a new patrol group, code-named Borkum." [wiki] Bottom line, Out of 17 boats: four U-boats lost and four damaged over 10 days for no comparable los$$ to the enemy. Franke at least was awarded the Knight's Cross 'for his tenacity'....:timeout: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convoy_SL_140/MKS_31

1914 - Battleship HMS Bulwark explodes at Sheerness Harbour, England, 788 die.

1916 - Addressing the Chamber of Commerce in Cincinnati, US President Wilson declares that 'The business of neutrality is over. The nature of modern war leaves no state untouched'.

1922 - English archaeologist Howard Carter opens Tutankhamun's virtually intact tomb in Egypt.

1941 - Japanese naval carrier force left its base & moves east toward Pearl Harbour.

1944 - Himmler orders destruction of Auschwitz & Birkenau crematoria.

1962 - Fab Four have their first recording session under name The Beatles.

1895 - Alfred Nobel's will establishes the Nobel Prize.

1942 - French navy at Toulon scuttles ships & subs so Nazis cannot seize them.

1943 - Conference of Teheran (Churchill-Roosevelt-Stalin).