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The flag of the GDR. (Wikimedia Commons) Erich Honecker, head of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1971 to 1989, once remarked that “Our GDR is a clean state. The standards for ethics […], decency and morality, are set in stone.” While he may have tried to apply this honourable standard to dealings in the public…
Delta Force assaulters preparing for the rescue mission. Operators dressed in civilian clothes and concealed their weapons and ammunition beneath black-dyed BDU jackets. (Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1980, Operation Eagle Claw - the US mission to rescue the 52 hostages held at the American embassy in Tehran, Iran - began after months of…
In footage from Operation Delirium, a US soldier experiences a "controlled" mental breakdown in a secret Army test. The Army cooperated with the CIA throughout the duration of MK-Ultra, sharing the findings of their own dubious experiments. (The New Yorker) On this day in 1953, the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) began work on Project…
PRC player Zhuang Zedong, at right, in 1961. On his bus ride with Glenn Cowan, Zedong hesitated before speaking to the American as he remembered a lifetime of anti-Western propaganda. His curiosity got the better of him, however, and "the rest is history". (Timetoast) On this day in 1971, the American Ping-Pong team began a…
Communist guerillas of the Vietcong, or Viet Minh, on the Saigon river. The presence of this irregular but formidable force in Vietnam caused untold anxiety in Washington - and resulted in millions of deaths in the region. (Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1954, American president Dwight D. Eisenhower - a war hero and mastermind…
An American political cartoon depicting the Soviet Russian effort to starve the Western half of Berlin. (Tes) On this day in 1948, Soviet officials in the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) began aggressively holding up and searching supply trains heading to West Berlin. Soviet officials were upset about efforts amongst the Western Allies…
Some of the 12 million Poles on the morning of March 27th. Government officials were alarmed to learn that a huge proportion of Communist Party members took part in the strike. (Teller Report) At 8 AM on this day in 1981, 12 million Poles laid down their tools and walked away from their jobs. Armbands…
Ginsberg in San Francisco - site of a variety of American counter-culture movements - in the 1950s. (The Times of Israel) On this day in 1957, United States Customs authorities confiscated 520 print copies of Howl, a poem by American writer Allen Ginsberg. Howl - a groundbreaking poem written in "breath-length" form, a new style…
Gorbachev (R) meeting with American president George H. W. Bush in 1991. (The Times of Israel) On this day in 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected General Secretary of the Soviet Union (USSR). A former tractor driver, Gorbachev joined the Communist Party in his youth and attained a law degree during the Khrushchev Thaw of the…
JFK greeting young members of the Peace Corps in 1961. (Peace Corps) On this day in 1961, American president John F. Kennedy ordered the foundation of the Peace Corps, a volunteer organization dedicated to providing various sorts of aid to developing (or Third World) nations. Concerned by stereotypes that Americans were a violent and greedy…
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