Tag: #History

D-Day: The Allied Invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944

Operation Overlord: U.S. soldiers watch the Normandy coast from a Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel ( LCVP ) heading towards Omaha Beach Easy Red sector. Several vehicles are already present and white smoke can be seen in the distance. (June 6, 1944). (Photo by Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images)

What Was D-Day?

In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, the Allies launched an attack by sea, landing on the beaches of Normandy on the northern coast of Nazi-occupied France.  The first day of this major undertaking was known as D-Day; it was the first day of the Battle of Normandy (code-named Operation Overlord) in World War II.

On D-day, an armada of approximately 5,000 ships secretly crossed the English Channel and unloaded 156,000 Allied soldiers and nearly 30,000 vehicles in a single day on five, well-defended beaches (Omaha, Utah, Pluto, Gold, and Sword). By the end of the day, 2,500 Allied soldiers had been killed and another 6,500 wounded, but the Allies had succeeded, for they had broken through the German defenses and created a second front in World War II.

The Nazis knew the Allies were planning an invasion. In preparation, they had fortified all northern ports, especially the one at Pas de Calais, which was the shortest distance from southern Britain. 

The Allies desperately worried about German reinforcements. An amphibious attack against an entrenched enemy would already be incredibly difficult; however, if the Germans ever found out where and when the invasion was to take place and thus reinforced the area, well, the attack might end disastrously.

Despite a number of things not going to plan, D-Day was a success. The Allies had been able to keep the invasion a surprise and, with Rommel out of town and Hitler believing the landings at Normandy were a ruse for a real landing at Calais, the Germans never reinforced their position. After initial heavy fighting along the beaches, the Allied troops were able to secure their landings and break through German defenses to enter the interior of France.

©wikipedia

By June 7, the day after D-Day, the Allies were beginning the placement of two Mulberries, artificial harbors whose components had been pulled by tugboat across the Channel. These harbors would allow millions of tons of supplies to reach the invading Allied troops.

The success of D-Day was the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany. Eleven months after D-Day, the war in Europe would be over.

Source: thoughtco.com©

December 7, 1941 A Day That Will Live in Infamy

Thus that first historic sentence was born: “Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”

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On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise air attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. After just two hours of bombing more than 2,400 Americans were dead, 21 ships* had either been sunk or damaged, and more than 188 U.S. aircraft destroyed.

The attack at Pearl Harbor so outraged Americans that the U.S. abandoned its policy of isolationism and declared war on Japan the following day—officially bringing the United States into World War II.

At 12:30 p.m. on the day following the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave an address to Congress in which he declared that December 7, 1941, was “a date that will live in infamy.” At the end of the speech, Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. With only one dissenting vote (by Representative Jeannette Rankin from Montana), Congress declared war, officially bringing the United States into World War II.

Source: thoughtco.com

Accidental Discoveries That Changed the World

Accidental discoveries are not uncommon in the world of scientific investigation. Many useful substances, including Teflon and Scotchgard, were invented by chemists who were attempting to create something for an altogether unrelated application. (The chemist who invented Scotchgard was a woman).

Biochemist and science fiction author Isaac Asimov once said that “the most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny.'” “That’s funny” is exactly what microbiologist Alexander Fleming said when he found that Penicillium mold had contaminated a petri dish and destroyed the bacteria he was experimenting with. His lab accident led to the discovery of penicillin – the world’s first broadly effective antibiotic.

24/7 Tempo has compiled 31 accidental discoveries that changed the world by reviewing sources including History, Reader’s Digest, and Business Insider. In some cases, an initial accidental discovery by one person led to a later invention by another. Only the initial discovery is recounted.

While a few are folk accounts of early discoveries, the majority are inventions and discoveries made by scientists, engineers, doctors, and hobby inventors who were following one path when they stumbled upon another. 

Many serendipitous discoveries have revolutionized the pharmaceutical and medical fields, while others have influenced the worlds of fashion, cosmetics, home appliances, and children’s toys

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Quinine

>Year: unknown

native Andean people

Before Jesuit priests introduced the malaria treatment quinine to Europe in the 17th century, they learned of its properties from indigenous Andean peoples. According to Andean legend, a man delirious with malaria was lost in the rainforest and drank bitter-tasting water from a puddle under some quina-quina (cinchona) trees. The tree had been previously considered to be poisonous, but the man’s fever soon abated, and his people began using the tree bark to treat fevers. Andean people likely taught it to Jesuit priests.

©ruslanshramko / iStock via Getty Images

Brandy

>Year: 16th century

According to folk accounts, brandy was invented when a Dutch ship captain, who wanted to ship higher quantities of wine, decided to concentrate wine by removing the water before transport. Although his intention was to water it down again at his destination port, he liked the concentrated wine so much that he kept it that way, calling it brandewijn, meaning “burnt wine.”

©vzmaze / iStock via Getty Images

Anesthesia

>Year: 1844

Although the psychoactive properties of nitrous oxide were discovered in the 1770s, the gas was almost exclusively used as a party drug amongst the British elite until the next century. In 1844, a dentist named Horace Wells attended a demonstration on the effects of the gas and noticed something interesting: a man who had bruised his legs while jumping around under the influence of nitrous had no idea that he’d hurt himself and had felt no pain. Wells began using the drug in his dental practice, only after experimenting on himself by inhaling nitrous and having his own tooth pulled.

Article by Josie Green for 24/7 Tempo©

Saint Patrick’s Day, March 17

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17 each year. The holiday honors Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Patrick, who lived in the 5th century, is credited with bringing Christianity to the country of Ireland. 

Saint Patrick was born Maewyn Succat around 385 A.D. Succat was born in Britain to parents who were citizens of Rome. The boy was kidnapped by pirates as a teenager and spent several years as an enslaved person in Ireland.

After about six years in captivity, Maewyn escaped and returned to Britain, where he later became a priest. He took the name Patrick when he was ordained.

Patrick returned to Ireland to share his faith with the people there. The shamrock, or three-leaf clover, is associated with St. Patrick’s Day because it is said that the priest used the shamrock to explain the idea of the Holy Trinity. 

Leprechauns and the color green are also associated with the holiday. Unlike the shamrock, they have nothing to do with Saint Patrick but are recognized as symbols of Ireland.

St. Patrick’s Day is a religious holiday for the Catholic Church and a national holiday in Ireland. However, it is also celebrated by people of Irish descent around the world. In fact, many people who aren’t Irish enjoy joining in on St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Common ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s day include the “wearing o’ the green” to avoid being pinched and eating foods associated with Ireland, such as soda bread, corned beef and cabbage, and potatoes. People may also dye their hair, foods, and drinks green for St. Patrick’s Day. Even the Chicago River is dyed green each St. Patrick’s Day!

By Beverly Hernandez for Thought Co.©