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Marian Anderson performs at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939. Anderson, an incredibly humble and soft-spoken performer, became the focal point of a much larger American reaction to lingering racist attitudes. (Smithsonian Magazine) On this day in 1939, Marian Anderson - a classical vocalist from Philadelphia - sang for a massive crowd at the Lincoln Memorial…
IJA troops move up alongside their Type-89 medium tanks during the initial offensive on Nanchang. (Pinterest) On this day in 1939, the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) launched a massive assault on Nanchang, the capital of China's Jiangxi province. Facing them were soldiers of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army, a worn down but well-armed force on…
The Graf Spee in Montevideo, heavily damaged and about to be scuttled. (Pinterest) On this day in 1939, the German Kriegsmarine (Navy) heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spree was on a "commercial raiding mission" off the coast of Uruguay and Argentina. Before WWII's start, the Graf Spee had been authorized to sail around the South Atlantic…
Finns prepare to defend their position against a Soviet advance during the Winter War. (source: Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1939, the Soviet Red Army fired seven artillery shells at Mainila, a Russian village 800 metres from the Russian-Finnish border. Claiming that Finnish units had fired on Russian civilians unprovoked, the Shelling of Mainila…
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