This date in history

[Aktungbby]

1942 Bangka Island massacre: Japanese soldiers machine-gun 22 Australian Army nurses and 60 Australian and British soldiers and crew members from two sunken ships. Only one nurse and two soldiers survive.

Lieutenant-Colonel Vivian Bullwinkel, Mrs. Statham, AO, MBE, ARRC, ED, FNM 'Japanese soldiers came and killed the men, then motioned the nurses to wade into the sea. They then machine-gunned the nurses from behind. Bullwinkel was struck by a bullet which passed completely through her body, missing her internal organs, and feigned death until the Japanese soldiers left. She hid with British Army Private Cecil George Kingsley for 12 days, tending to his severe wounds, only then realizing the extent of her own wound, before being captured. They were taken into captivity, but Private Kingsley died soon after due to his having sustained such serious wounds. Bullwinkel was reunited with survivors of the (intended escape vessel) Vyner Brooke. She told them of the massacre, but none spoke of it again until after the war lest it put Bullwinkel, as witness to the massacre, in danger. Bullwinkel spent three and half years in captivity.... in 1947 she gave evidence of the massacre at a war crimes trial in Tokyo' Buildings and hospital wings are named for her. She passed in 2000, age 84. http://www.smh.com.au/world/australian-families-honour-nurses-lost-at-bangka-island-massacre-20170213-guc8c4.html As of 2 /16/ 2017 a plaque :

[Jimbuna]

1864 Confederate submarine HL Hunley sinks Union ship Housatonic.

1940 Crew of the British destroyer Cossack board German Altmark in Jøssingfjord, Norway, and realised 299 British prisoners after hand-to-hand fighting with bayonets and the last recorded Royal Naval action with cutlass.

1972 British Parliament votes to join European Common Market.

[Jimbuna]

1901 Winston Churchill makes his maiden speech in the British House of Commons.

1915 Germany begins a blockade of Britain.

1916 The last German garrison in the German colony of Cameroons surrenders.

1968 Britain commences a trial of year-round daylight saving time (BST - British Standard Time, one hour ahead of GMT).

1979 Snow falls in Sahara Desert

2016 Pope Francis questions US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump's Christianity over his call to build a wall on the Mexican border.

[Jimbuna]

1915 British fleet opens fire on Dardanelles coast.

1942 About 150 Japanese warplanes attack the Australian city of Darwin.

1944 U-264 sinks off Ireland.

1945 980 Japanese soldiers reportedly killed by crocodiles in 2 days on Ramree Island, Burma.

1945 US 5th Fleet launches invasion of Iwo Jima against the Japanese with 30,000 US Marines.

[Jimbuna]

1938 UK Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden resigns stating Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain has appeased Nazi Germany.

1942 Lt E H O'Hare single-handedly shoots down 5 Japanese heavy bombers, becomes America's first World War II flying ace.

1975 Margaret Thatcher elected leader of the British Conservative Party.

[Aktungbby]

1848 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish “The Communist Manifesto”
“Das Kommunistische Manifest” outlined the sociopolitical worldview today called “Marxism” and was translated from German into over 100 languages. The world has been a better more 'nlightened place ever since...

[mapuc]

I have lately been thinking about a thread called This day in USA's history.

I know many of my Americans friends love history and I'm pretty sure they would contribute with daily historical stuff to this thread.

Just a thought

Markus

[Aktungbby]

Well I had meticulously considered the same thing myself (logic 101) and finally arrived at the conclusion that ultimately: all history IS US history as people vote with their feet! Case in point: the almighty pyramid +- 2500 BC.... together with the eye of Horus.....ever the symbol of Ma'at : ....Willy~nilly by&by becomes..........The almighty Buck....+-1900 AD often the cause of so much.......Götterdämmerung! So...out of pure convenience and to save bandwidth 'buck$.....best leave it as is!

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by mapuc

I have lately been thinking about a thread called This day in USA's history.

I know many of my Americans friends love history and I'm pretty sure they would contribute with daily historical stuff to this thread.

Just a thought

Markus

Marcus, if you randomly read a few posts on this thread I think you'll find that the information contained within is not specific to any country but more a broad brush reference to many, the US included.

[Jimbuna]

1630 Indians introduce pilgrims to popcorn, at Thanksgiving.

1797 The Last Invasion of Britain by the French, begins near Fishguard, Wales.

1825 Russia & Britain establish Alaska-Canada boundary.

1915 Germany begins "unrestricted" submarine war.

1935 Airplanes are no longer permitted to fly over the White House.

1941 Nazi SS begin rounding up Jews of Amsterdam.

1967 25,000 US & South Vietnamese troops launch Operation Junction City against Viet Cong. Largest US airborne assult since WWII.

[Jimbuna]

1836 Alamo besieged for 13 days until 6th March by Mexican army under General Santa Anna; entire garrison eventually killed.

1916 French artillery kills entire French 72nd division at Samogneux Verdun.

1942 Japanese submarine fires on oil refinery in Ellwood, Calif.

1945 US Marines raise the flag on Iwo Jima, later a famous photo and Marine Corps War Memorial sculpture.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

1916 French artillery kills entire French 72nd division at Samogneux Verdun.

Since the end of the Battle of Verdun in 1916, it has been unoccupied (official population: 0) along with Bezonvaux, Beaumont-en-Verdunois, Louvemont-Côte-du-Poivre, Cumières-le-Mort-Homme and Fleury-devant-Douaumont.
During the war, the town was completely destroyed and the land was made uninhabitable to such an extent that a decision was made not to rebuild it. The area around the municipality was contaminated by corpses, explosives and poisonous gas, so no farmers could take up their work. The site of the commune is maintained as a testimony to war and is officially designated as a "village that died for France." It is managed by a municipal council of three members appointed by the prefect of the Meuse department. There is monument: They still make movies about the place; Don't worry about the French dialog; the pictures are clear enough:

[Jimbuna]

1875 The SS Gothenburg hits the Great Barrier Reef and sinks off the Australian east coast, killing approximately 100, including a number of high profile civil servants and dignitaries.

1923 Flying Scotsman goes into service.

[mapuc]

Speaking of US's history, while searching for some free audiobooks I found this page

http://www.loyalbooks.com/

In the History section there are some books about USA and its history.

Right now I'm listerning to History of the USA, I'm at Vol 4 part 5 - Jacksonian Democracy part 3 of 3.

There are many more books related to US's history I'm going to hear.

Markus

[Jimbuna]

1793 1st US cabinet meeting, held at George Washington's home.

1862 Paper currency (greenbacks) introduced in US by President Abraham Lincoln.

1932 Austrian immigrant Adolf Hitler gets German citizenship.

1945 US aircraft carriers attack Tokyo.

1964 Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) TKOs Sonny Liston in 7 for his first world heavyweight championship title.