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A copy of Raczyński's Note. (Polish Government) On this day in 1942, the Polish government-in-exile delivered Raczyński's Note - an official report on the Holocaust - to 26 Western governments engaged in WWII. Polish resistance member Jan Karski had smuggled secret information documenting Nazi war crimes to London, where it was reviewed by horrified Polish…
A Supermarine Spitfire (front) and Hawker Hurricane (rear). The two fighter plane variants were the RAF's main weapons during the Battle of Britain. (Wikimedia Commons) In the summer of 1940, things looked very, very bad for the Allies of WWII. Poland and most of Eastern Europe were in Axis hands; France had just capitulated; and…
Marguerite Durand. (Jules Cayron) On this day in 1897, French activist Marguerite Durand founded La Fronde, a feminist newspaper based in Paris. Unlike most publications of the time that targeted women, Durand's paper covered more "masculine" topics: politics, sports, philosophy. Referring to the 1648 Fronde (slingshot) uprisings against French monarchy, the paper was run entirely…
An Afrika Korps tank advances during the North African Campaign. (Pinterest) Some of the very first action in WWII took place in North Africa and the Middle East. By the 1930s, most European powers - predominantly the Allies - had economic interests in the region. The new fascist powers of the era wanted a piece…
Secretary General Gorbachev (L) and President Reagan (R) sign the INF Treaty. (DOD) On this day in 1987, Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev and American President Ronald Reagan signed the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF. The treaty was a significant step towards cooperation and disarmament between the two Cold War superpowers. Under the treaty, all…
The American USS Shaw explodes in port at Pearl Harbour. (US Navy) On this day in 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the US Navy's Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. The attack - comprised of aerial bombardments on ships at port and the surrounding Army and Marines bases, as well concurrent attacks on US…
Ervin Zádor with members of his team, immediately after being punched by a Russian opponent. (VEOL) The scene: The Melbourne Olympics, 1956. Men from the USSR's water polo team face off against their Hungarian counterparts. They prepare for what seems like an ordinary match of water polo, but all is not as it seems. Mere…
French troops move on Fleury. (Wikimedia Commons) By late 1914, Verdun-sur-Meuse - a town on the Meuse river in Northeastern France - was surrounded on three sides by the German army. The lines of the Western Front bulged eastward around the town, and only La Route Sacrée, a medium-sized road, resupplied the French at Verdun.…
An M48 tank fires over the citadel's wall at VC positions. (MC.GR) By the end of 1967, Americans had been fighting the Vietnam War for nearly three years. Joined by allies from Australia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, US forces under American General Westmoreland had had some success in battling the communist Viet Cong…
A "Female" Mark IV tank rolls into position at Cambrai. (Rare Historical Photos) By 1917, WWI had ground on for several unpleasant years. With casualties mounting on both sides and little change in battle lines from month-to-month, both the Allies (England, France and Russia) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottomans) sought new…
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