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On June 4, 1946 Juan Perón took office as the President of Argentina. He ran as the candidate for the Labor Party, promising to work for the common man, to end elitist policies and help the working class. He ran against opponents from the Socialist Party, Communist Party, and National Autonomist Parties. His main supporters referred to themselves as Peronistas, who campaigned heavily within the lower and working classes to help Perón win (http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571996/juan_peron.html).
Before Perón became President, he and several others from the military drove the existing President, General Ramirez from office, replacing him with his Vice President, named General Farrell. At first Perón was Minister of War and then he took over the Vice Presidency. The new regime took advantage of the fall of the Axis Powers in 1945, by declaring war on them once their defeat was imminent. Previously there had been Nazi sympathy in Argentina, but by piggy-backing on the Allies’ Victory, Argentina was able to avoid isolation post-war, and attempt to join the United Nations. In 1945 Delegates argued over whether they should be admitted or not, and finally in May Argentina was admitted (http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch24u.html). Before Perón took office, he married the actress (and his mistress) Eva Duarte, who was very popular with the people, and who came to be known as Evita (http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571996/juan_peron.html).
Perón’s goals upon taking office were economic independence and social justice. Much of Argentina’s economy was controlled by England, and they wanted to get the control back into their hands. Another influence from England was a very elitist class system, from which much of the country was excluded. Perón sought to give the power to the working classes (the “descamisados” which means without shirt, and represents the working man (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/158778/descamisados)), instead of in the hands of the aristocracy. By focusing on these goals, he avoided getting involved with the impending Cold War issues, between Communism and Socialism. Even though he was in the Labor Party, it did not stop rumblings of Communism from getting to Argentina, just like it was in the rest of the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Peron).
-Rebecca Meredith
The First Cannes Film Festival
The first annual Cannes Film Festival opens on September 20, 1946 at the resort sicty of Cannes on the French Riviera. The festival had intended to make its debut in September 1939, but the outbreak of World War II forced the cancellation of the inaugural Cannes.
The world's first annual international film festival was inaugurated at Venice in 1932. By 1938, the Venice Film Festival had become a vehicle for Facist and Nazi propaganda, with Benito Mussolini's Italy and Adolf Hitler's Germany dictating the choices of films and sharing the prizes among themselves. Outraged, France decided to organize an alternative film festival. In June 1939, the establishment of a film festival at Cannes, to be held from September 1 to 20, was announced in Paris. Cannes, an elegant beach city, lies southeast of Nice on the Mediterranean coast. One of the resort town's casinos agreed to host the event.
Films were selected and the filmmakers and stars began arriving in mid-August. Amont the American selections was The Wizard of Ox. France offered The Nigerian, and Poland The Black Diamond. The USSR brought the aptly titled Tomorrow, It's War. On the morning of September 1, the day the festival was to begin, Hitler invaded Poland. In Paris, the French government ordered a general mobilization, and the Cannes festival was called off after the screening of just one film: German American director William Dieterle's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Two days later, France and Britain declared war on Germany.
World War II lasted six long years. In 1946, France's provincial government approved a revival of the Festival de Cannes as a means of luring tourists back to the French Riviera. The festival began on September 20, 1946, and 18 nations were represented. The festival schedule included Austrian American director Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend, Italian director Roberto Rossellini's Open City, French director Rene Clement's The Battle of the Rails, and British director David Lean's Brief Encounter. At the first Cannes, organizers placed more emphasis on creative stimulation between national productions than on competition. Nine films were honored with the top award: Grand Prix du Festival.
The Cannes Film Festival stumbled through it's early years; teh 1948 and 1950 festivals were cancelled for economic reasons. In 1952, the Palais des Festivals was dedicated as a permanent home for the festival, and in 1955, the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) award for best film of the festival was introduced, an allusion to the palm-planted Promenade de la Croisette that parallels Cannes' celebrated beach. In the 1950s, the Festival International du Film de Cannes came to be regarded as the most prestigious film festival in the world. It still holds that allure today, though many have criticized it as overly commercial. More than 30,000 people come to Cannes each May to attend the festival, about 100 times the number of film devotees who showed up for the first Cannes in 1946.
[Micheline Bernardini wearing the first Bikini design in 1946] [Brigitte Bardot in France in at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953]
French designer Louis Réard created the first official bikini in 1946. Although the two-piece had been seen before on ancient Greek statues and mosaics it was the smallest design created for the purpose of swimming and tanning. Originally when it was worn during ancient times it was worn as a sports uniform. When Pompeii was discovered they found statues of Venus sporting a two-piece style costume. In the beginning of the 20th century two-piece suits were nowhere to be found on women. In fact, women during this time went to great lengths to hide their bodies. Some women would dress in full piece bathing costumes and some women would emerge into the water by way of a mobile changing room called a bathing machine. The woman would enter the machine, which was on wheels, and she would change into her swimwear. Then horses or people would pull the machine into the surf and the woman would jump into the water without being seen by the crowds. Although this sounds ridiculous today, exposing a women’s body was very inappropriate.
In Boston in 1907, a silent film star named Annette Kellerman was charged with indecent exposure when she wore a one-piece, form-fitting, sleeveless tank suit on the beach. After the scandal, the dress code loosened up. By 1910 American women were commonly wearing one-piece suits. In 1913 Carl Jantzen was inspired when women were allowed to compete in the Olympics. He designed a two-piece suit that consisted of shorts high enough to cover the naval and a top that had little sleeves. The two-piece became very popular with movie stars like Ava Gardner and Rita Hayworth, who could be seen wearing the stylish suits on the beaches of California.
In 1946, a French engineer named Louis Réard was running his mother’s lingerie boutique near Les Folies Bergères in Paris. Réard sliced the top off of the bottoms exposing the navel. He advertised it as “smaller than the smallest swimsuit.” His new design was so risqué that he could not find a model to wear it. He ended up hiring nude dancer Micheline Bernardini who had no problem wearing the suit. The name “bikini” came from Bikini Atoll, which was an island that the United States was testing atomic bombs on. Throughout 1964 the bikini shocked people. The press believed that the bikini would never be accepted in the United States and it was only something that French women would wear. The public heavily discouraged it, but in the summer of 1960 women started wearing the design. Since then the bikini has become one of the most important and greatest selling inventions in fashion history, making the most money out of the different styles of swimsuits.
There are conflicting stories on how Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis met. Regardless on how they met, they soon became the Martin and Lewis comedy duo, America fell in love with. On July 25, 1946 Jerry Lewis was booked at Club 500 in Atlantic City, how Dean Martin came to the same club is still a bit of a mystery. Basically what is comes down to is a singer dropped out at the last minute and Lewis recommended Martin who he had met and worked with previously. In the beginning they were both billed separately, Martin would sing and Lewis would do his comedy act. Complaints from the owner of the club caused Martin and Lewis to change their act a little. Lewis interrupted Martin and Martin threw things at Lewis creating the style they are now known for. The audience loved it and the rest they say is history.
They still kept their act separate until January 1947 when they became a team act. In 1950 Martin and Lewis started hosting the NBC show, "The Colgate Comedy Hour," along with other comedy greats, Eddie Cantor and Fred Allen. "Martin and Lewis met with similar success. Dominating their hour, the energetic duo created a night club setting whose intimacy and ambience the trade press found continuously funny." Martin and Lewis continued to host the show from 1950-1955. In one episode of "The Colgate Comedy Hour" talks about them getting together as in act in the 500 Club.
Martin and Lewis film career together encompassed sixteen films, beginning with My Friend Irma and ending with Hollywood or Bust. Hal Wallis gave them a contract with Paramount Pictures after seeing them perform together at the Copacabana. After ten years of performing together the stress and difference in opinion cause them to break up the act and were only see together in public three times.
In Lewis' book, Dean and Me: A Love Story he describes the significance of their act, "like Burns and Allen, Abbott and Costello, and Hope and Crosby, we were vaudevillians, stage performers who worked with an audience. But the difference between us and all the others is significant. They worked with a script. We exploded without one, the same way wiseguy kids do on a playground, or jazz musicians do when they're let loose. And the minute we started out in nightclubs, audiences went nuts for us. As Alan King told an interviewer a few years ago: "I have been in the business for fifty-five years, and I have never to this day seen an act get more laughs than Martin and Lewis. They didn't get laughs–it was pandemonium. People knocked over tables."
I grew up watching Allen and Burns, and Hope and Crosby and had only recently been introduced to Martin and Lewis but they're just a funny as the rest of them. The comedy they produced isn't found anywhere in our time. Even though I'm more partial to Allen and Burns and Hope and Crosby, I can see that the level of Martin and Lewis is one that won't be reached by any of the actors, singers and comedians that are currently working.
On March 2, 1946 Ho Chi Minh was elected president of North Vietnam by the National Assembly during its first session. Ho Chi Minh's election came six months after Vietnam's independence from France on September 2, 1945 when Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence of Vietnam. However, within days of proclaiming the establishment for the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Chinese Army led by General Lu Han began to occupy North Vietnam. Therefore Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam) began negotiations with the French for their return to Vietnam. In Ho Chi Minh's mind, he would rather be occupied by the French than the Chinese. So the Viet Minh settled for independence within the French Union and again established a relationship with the French. However, this relationship between Vietnam and France quickly began breaking down. The Viet Minh began to revolt and want total independence from France. Ho Chi Minh and his nationalist revolutionaries began to wage war against France which would be known as the First Indochina War that would last 10 years. The war would end with France losing its will to continue fighting and finally pulling out of Vietnam.
(Ho Chi Minh reading the Declaration of Independence on September 2, 1945)
Ho Chi Minh won the independence of his country through fierce guerrilla warfare and his relentless nationalism. Ho Chi Minh was bent on gaining Vietnam's independence no matter the cost. Ho Chi Minh is quoted as warning the French during the beginning of the First Indochina War saying, “ You can kill 10 of my men for every one I kill of yours, yet even at those odds, you will lose and I will win.” Ho Chi Minh's intense passion for Vietnam's independence knew no end. Ho Chi Minh was a nationalist with communism on his agenda. He married both nationalism and communism together when he established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam after driving the French out of Indochina.
Anyone who has ever been on the ride Splash Mountian will recoginize the song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" that plays in the background. The song comes from a 1946 film called Song of the South.
"Joel Chandler Harris' numerous and very popular "Uncle Remus" stories first appeared in his AtlC column in 1876. With his son Julian, Harris, whose stories were collected in several books, established Uncle Remus's Magazine in 1907, after his retirement from AtlC. According to a modern source, Disney first purchased the rights to Harris' stories in 1939, for ten thousand dollars. Contemporary studio publicity noted that the "Uncle Remus" stories were a childhood favorite of Disney.According to a 23 Aug 1946 AtlJ editorial, the studio's decision to change the film's title from Uncle Remus to Song of the South displeased many Southerners, including Harris' son, Joel Harris, who protested the change in a letter to Disney. In his reply to Harris, quoted in the editorial, Disney stated that "Song of the South better presented our picturization of the story than did the original title." According to modern sources, the studio changed the title in order to distance the film from potential criticism from African Americans concerned about the use of the "Uncle Remus" tales."
"Even early in the film's production, there was concern that the material would encounter controversy. As the writing of the screenplay was getting under way, Disney publicist Vern Caldwell wrote to producer Perce Pearce that "The negro situation is a dangerous one. Between the negro haters and the negro lovers there are many chances to run afoul of situations that could run the gamut all the way from the nasty to the controversial."
When the film was first released, the NAACP acknowledged "the remarkable artistic merit" of the film, but decried the supposed "impression it gives of an idyllic master-slave relationship"
Although the film has been re-released several times (most recently in 1986), the Disney corporation has avoided making it directly available on home video in the United States because the frame story was deemed controversial by studio management, despite Uncle Remus being the hero of the story. Film critic Roger Ebert, who normally disdains any attempt to keep films from any audience, has supported the non-release position, claiming that most Disney films become a part of the consciousness of American children, who take films more literally than do adults."
That hasn't stopped people from using things like Youtube, though:
No, not the swimsuit, though it was created approximately 4 days after this test in France, aren’t we surprised? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini).
Although two atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was a need to conduct “atmospheric nuclear weapon tests” in the summer of 1946 (http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq76-1.htm). This test was known as Operation Crossroads, which tested two nuclear bombs with individual yields of 23 kilotons (http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq76-1.htm).
Bikini Atoll, known also as Pikinni Atoll, is part of the Marshall islands in the Pacific Ocean (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_Atoll). The island is in the northeastern and is the largest island of the Bikini Atoll (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_Atoll).
The first test, ABLE, was dropped via B-29 and detonated at an altitude of 520 feet in which a fleet was assembled to be targeted (http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq76-1.htm). The aim point for the Superfortress was the battleship Nevada (BB-36) which was painted red and white as to distinguish it from the ocean (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossroads). The fleet consisted of many different kinds of ships (from battleships, aircraft carriers, transports, and submarines) located at various locations away from the target ship. Among notable ships sacrificed for this test were the carrier Saratoga (CV-60) and the Japanese flagship battleship Nagota (from the Second World War; http://www.atomictourist.com/bikini.htm). Five ships were sunk (http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq76-1.htm). Aboard the ships were various test animals (guinea pigs, mice, pigs, goats, and rats) were placed on the ships to test the effects of radiation in regards to proximity of the blast (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossroads). According to the Wikipedia article on this operation, “35% of the animals died as a direct result of blast or radiation exposure.”
The first two shots are from the BAKER tests, last one on ABLE
Todd Green
The Flamingo Las Vegas
Work began on the Flamingo Las Vegas in 1945. The project was the created by Billy Wilkerson, owner of the Hollywood Reporter as well as several prominent nightclubs in Los Angeles such as Ciro’s and La Rue’s. Wilkerson wanted to bring the feeling of the sunset strip to the budding scene in Las Vegas. His vision was of a 40-acre all-inclusive resort that housed gambling, a state of the art hotel, nightclubs, restaurants, a café, showroom, health club, shopping, and steam room. Wilkerson’s radical concept was to place the casino at the center of the resort. This would ensure that no guest could go anywhere in the resort without passing through the casino. Moreover, his design would allow for no windows or clocks to “break the gamblers concentration” and to allow for “time to pass unnoticed”. However, due to the post-war cost of building materials he soon ran out of money. In 1946 mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and his New York partners invested 1 million dollars in Wilkerson’s project thus becoming partners. Bugsy agreed to allow Wilkerson to retain operational control along with a 1/3 ownership of the investment. The post-war time proved to be a challenge for the extravagant taste of the new builder Bugsy. The original cost of the project more than doubled due to worker theft and the difficulty of obtaining building materials. Workers would deliver materials by day, steal them back at night and re-sell them to Bugsy. By October of 1946 the cost had exceeded 4 million and Bugsy was out of funding. Bugsy soon launched a crusade of private fundraising. In the true nature of his gangster mentality Bugsy went as far as to sell stocks that did not exist. Bugsy increased the work force in an attempt to finish the project, but this increased cost more than productivity. Cash flow was enough of an issue that Bugsy moved up Wilkerson’s original opening date from march 1947 to the day after Christmas in 1946. Although the hotel portion of the resort was still incomplete, the casino would allow for more funding to complete the project. On December 26, 1946 the 105 room Flamingo resort became the most luxurious destination on the strip. After Bugsy the flamingo changed hands and took on various versions of the Flamingo name. In 1993 the last remaining original section of the structure was torn down.
The Flamingo has been host to many events in popular culture. For instance, the original version of Ocean’s Elevenas well as the 1964 version ofViva Las Vegaswere shot on location at the Flamingo. In 1967, Florence Ballard was fired from the Supremes during an appearance at the flamingo. Perhaps most famously, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson and his associate Oscar Zeta Acosta stayed at the Flamingo while covering the National Conference of District Attorneys on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs that was held across the street at the dunes motel. Depictions of their activities while guests in the hotel can be found the Dr. Thompson’s gonzo journalistic pieceFear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream.
Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator - ENIAC
When WWII began in 1939 the U.S. had already been occupied for nearly a decade with the Great Depression and was mostly focused on domestic issues and oblivious to the outside world. It had been nearly twenty years since the first world war and the importance of military preparedness had diminished and thetotal number of officers and men enrolled in the Regular Establishment of the Army was approximately 120,000. The Ordnance Department had the responsibility for the design, development, procurement, storage, and issue of all combat material and munitions for theArmy Ground Forces, the Army Air Force, and, in some categories the Navy. This large department was consequentially staffed by only a handful of officers and career civilian employees. As the involvement of the US in the war increased, the need for more firepower increased. This led to the creation of the first general purpose electronic digital computer.On June 5, 1943, the Ordnance Department signed a new contract with the Moore School of Electrical Engineering to research, design, and build an electronic numerical integrator and computer -- ENIAC. It was to be supervised by Professor Brainard, with Dr. Eckert as chief engineer, and Dr. Mauchly as principal consultant. In the fall of 1945 the construction of the ENIAC had been completed and was dedicated by the University of Pennsylvania on 15 February 1946. This electronic computer was massive and nearly filled an entire room and consisted of 19,000 bulky vacuum tubes, fifteen hundred relays and hundreds of thousands of resistors, capacitors, and inductors. All of which weighed over 30 tons. This was all held in thirty separate units, nine feet tall, two feet wide, and one foot thick. They were arranged in a "U" shape, with three panels on wheels so they could be moved around. An IBM card reader and card punch were used respectively for input and output.ENIAC could discriminate the sign of a number, compare quantities for equality, add, subtract, multiply, divide, and extract square roots. ENIAC stored a maximum of twenty 10-digit decimal numbers. Its accumulators combined the functions of an adding machine and storage unit.ENIAC could compute 5,000 addition and 1,000 multiplications per second and could compute ballistic trajectories in thirty seconds that would otherwise take twenty hours with a hand calculator. The cost of making ENIAC came to $486,804.22. This computer was an astounding technological advancement and gradually led to the invention of the transistor in 1947 which replaced the bulky unreliable vacuum tubes. Over many years these transistors have gone through a process of miniaturization and now millions of transistors as well as other tiny parts are located on a single chip which can be found in the PCU we all use today.Parts of the ENIAC can be seen on display at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., in other various museums throughout the world and at the Moore School for Electrical Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania, in the room where it was originally constructed.-Melissa Stout
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is the successor of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) formed during World War II to coordinate espionage activities between the branches of the US military services.
President Truman was conscious of rivalry among US intelligence organizations both during and after World War II. He realized that reorganization was necessary and that a reorganization plan needed to be developed, from competing proposals, which would not exacerbate these rivalries. The following reflects President Truman's thinking on the subject prior to the establishment of the Central Intelligence Group in 1946 and ultimately of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1947.
"I CONSIDERED IT VERY important to this country to have a sound, well-organized intelligence system, both in the present and in the future. Properly developed, such a service would require new concepts as well as better trained and more competent personnel . . . it was imperative that we refrain from rushing into something that would produce harmful and unnecessary rivalries among the various intelligence agencies. I told Smith (Director of the Bureau of the Budget) that one thing was certain--this country wanted no Gestapo under any guise or for any reason." President Harry S. Truman, Memoirs Vol I
Although created by legislation in 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operated largely free of legal restrictions for about a quarter-century. This all changed in the early 1970s, when CIA involvement in the Watergate break-in led to investigations in Congress. Simultaneous with this was a series of revelations in the media concerning CIA covert operations in the past, which only further influenced a widespread opinion that the agency had operated for too long without benefit of legal oversight. The result was the formation of House and Senate intelligence committees, as well as other restrictions that have served—with varying degrees of success—to put the agency under legal restraint.
The first microwave oven was invented in 1946 by Dr. Percy Spencer. Like many other inventions the microwave was a by-product of other related technology. It was discovered during a radar-related research project and Dr. Percy noticed something unusual. He had a candy bar in his pocket while he tested a new vacuum tube. Noticing this event Percy became very intrigued and decided to try placing pop corn kernels near the tube. and he started the vacuum tube the pop corn kernels began popping like crazy. The scientist was amazed and began testing other foods. He tried an egg, and as the pressure built up and the temperature rose the egg blew up. As his brain swarmed with ideas he built a metal box and with and opening in the back where he could feed microwave power through. Since the energy that was being pumped into the box and unable to escape the pressure and temperature grew creating a higher density electromagnetic field thus cooking the food in record time.
The first commercial microwave was put on the market a year later in 1947. They stood 5 1/2 ft tall and were very expensive. They weighed around 750 lbs and cost around $5000. Plumbing was required since the tube required water to cool it. Because of the expense and size of these machines the first turn out of sales were disappointing. They had to find a way to make them lighter and a less expensive way of cooling.
Microwaves are now cooled with air and no longer need pluming installation. Microwaves are used in many restaurants, homes, and vending companies. Food was able to be refrigerated and quickly reheated for sale. Restaurants saved a lot of money, wasted less food, and were able to deliver faster service. Dr. Percy Spencer revolutionized the cooking world from a simple accident.
Laurence Olivier's Henry V premieres in America (1946)
On June 17, 1946, British matinee idol Laurence Olivier released his film Henry V into American cinemas. The film, which had the full title of The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fifth and His Battle Fought at Agincourt in France was an adaptation of the classic play from William Shakespeare and was also a personal pet project for the actor. He wrote and directed the adaptation as well as played the title role. The film marked the first screen adaptation of a Shakespeare play filmed in Technicolor. Olivier took extra precautions to ensure the success of this film including not appearing in a film for more than 18 months in order to draw all the attention of him towards the making of the picture. The film, apart from being a pet project for Olivier, was also meant for morale boosting for an English nation fully engaged in WWII. As part of a wartime propaganda effort developed in England under the guidence of Winston Churchill, Olivier was determined to not only make a worthwhile adaptation of the play, but to also have it resonate with a domestic audience fearful of war. The film was Olivier's first effort to film a Shakespearean play, but he was an already well experienced stager of the Bard. He was a notable member of the Royal Shakespearean Company in England, appearing in such roles as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, opposite actors like John Gielgud. After becoming a hit on stage, he became an accomplished film actor in England and in Hollywood. He appeared in such films like Hitchcock's Rebecca and William Wyler's Wuthering Heights. With the outbreak of WWII, Olivier returned to England where he served as a parachute officer in the Royal Navy. It was during his time in England that he gained the oppurtunity to film Henry V. The film ended up being made on a $2 million budget, the most expensive film made in the U.K. up to that point. Because of war rations, many of the costumes and sets were constructed out of scrap material. Olivier's casting brought about the best British character actors that he had availabe to him, but he was unable to get his then wife Vivien Leigh to play the part of the french princess Kathrine, since she was still under contract with producer David O. Selznik. Despite setbacks, the film was finished and released in England in 1944 to an overwhelming positive reception. The message of the film was certainly not lost on the war weary British audience and the film became a strong morale-booster. Despite being released after the war was over in the U.S., the film was still warmly recieved and even earned Olivier an honorary Oscar. Today, the film is still seen as one of the best Shakespearean adaptations and is a highlight in Olivier's extensive filmography.
The United Nations met for the first time on January 10, 1946 at the Westminster Central Hall in London, England. A total of 51 countries were represented. Before the United Nations was founded it was called the League of Nations. The League of Nations was considered a failure because it was unable to prevent the start of World War II. The term United Nations was first used by Winston Churchill and Franklin Delaware Roosevelt, who held a conference in San Francisco in 1945. 50 different governments and several other organizations were in attendance, where they designed and outlined the Charter of the United Nations.
Today the United Nations has almost every independent state in the world as members, with 192 represented. The headquarters is located in New York where members meet to discuss issues such as international law, human rights, economic developments, and international security. There are several different councils that specify in the different areas of focus. Funding for the United Nations council is based on voluntary contributions. There is a ceiling on how much a single member state can contribute at 22%, so there is no overdependence on one single member state. Currently the United States is the only one who contributes the maximum, with Japan coming in second at 16%. The United States has also been the most criticized member of the United Nations with several controversies arising with such statements as “trying to establish a one world government” in the 1960’s and the way they have handled the war in Iraq.
UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) began as a response to the need for aid for children after WWII. The United Nations set up the organization because of the destruction of the war and the economic problems it caused. Thousands of children were starving and in need of health care. UNICEF provided food, health care and clothing. The total cost for the support of European children was $112,000,000.
Their work would lead to acknowledgment of children's rights, aid for children in others countries, a Nobel Peace Prize and studies showing the effects of war on children. All of their achievements have been funded voluntarily by people and governments across the world.
Today UNICEF still helps feed, clothe and educate millions of children in need. According to bread.org, 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes every day. Over half of children who die before they are 5 are from Sub-Saharan Africa, so much of the help goes to them. European children are doing much better today and most of the aid goes to African and Asian countries. - Leora Herrick
Its a wonderful life premiered in the winter of 1946. Directed and produced by Frank Capra, the film is to this day regarded as one of the most influential and classic films of american cinema. Although it is now considered to be a classic, both in Christmas movies, and in general, at the time the film was released it was considered to be a disappointment. The box office numbers were a disappointment to the distributor, RKO, and the initial reviews were mixed. Time magazine called the film, "pretty wonderful." While the New York Times review said, ""the weakness of this picture, from this reviewer's point of view, is the sentimentality of it — its illusory concept of life. Mr. Capra's nice people are charming, his small town is a quite beguiling place and his pattern for solving problems is most optimistic and facile. But somehow they all resemble theatrical attitudes rather than average realities." No matter the films reception at its release, today the film is considered to be " historically and culturally significant. The film was nominated for five academy awards, but was did not win. The best picture of that year was The Best Years of Our Lives, which currently unheard of. Although this film is regarded as one of the best of its time, it was not thought of that way at the time of its release.
On June 17th, 1946 a driver in St. Louis, Mo., pulled out a handset from under his car's dashboard, placed a phone call and made history. It was the first mobile telephone call.
Expensive and far from "mobile", the service cost $15 per month, plus 30 to 40 cents per local call, and the equipment weighed 80 pounds. Just as they would use a CB microphone, users depressed a button on the handset to talk and released it to listen. That "primitive" wireless network could not handle large call volumes. A single transmitter on a central tower provided a handful of channels for an entire metropolitan area. Between one and eight receiver towers handled the call return signals. At most, three subscribers could make calls at one time in any city. It was, in effect, a massive party line, where subscribers would have to listen first for someone else on the line before making a call.
Beginning in 1946 when radiotelephone service began in the U.S., the company produced mobile telephones in cars or "car phones," as they came to be called. Radiotelephones essentially were two-way radios connected to the landline telephone system. However, problems with car radiotelephone systems emerged as their popularity grew. Due to the limited number of available frequencies, car phone systems allowed only a few calls at one time. Frustrated callers often experienced long waits. In addition, radio channels could not be reused in nearby areas because of interference from the high-powered base stations. Erin Boyle
Before 1946, housewives all over America were storing their food leftovers in naturally made containers, such as metal and wood. However, when chemist-inventor Earl Silas Tupper developed the airtight plastic containers known as Tupperware, food storing was greatly improved. Recognizing that there was no other product similar to his on the market, Tupper knew his food storage invention would be a success as long as he could find the right material to create it. Courtesy of Du Pont, Earl Tupper found the perfect material to create his house ware, polyethylene. Though the plastic was previously used in World War II for airtight gas masks, the pliability, attractiveness and longevity of polyethylene made it the chosen substance for Tupperware. Earl Tupper’s first developed item was a drinking cup that came in a variety of colors. Soon to follow were his infamous “lidded bowls”. The more the Tupperware was perfected, the more colors and sizes the containers were manufactured in.
Originally Tupperware was sold in retail stores all over America, however the product didn’t start to sell ‘till Tupperware Parties began. Together with housewife Brownie Wise, Earl Tupper jump-started the direct marketing strategy in order to promote his new product. The direct marketing strategy “attempts to send its messages directly to consumers without the use of intervening media” and is “focused on driving purchases that can be attributed to a specific ‘call-to-action’” (Wikipedia.org). Wise’s marketing strategy and Tupper’s Tupperware resulted in the Tupperware Party, which is an event used to display the food containers and demonstrate their usefulness. At these Tupperware Parties, hosted by housewives turned Tupperware consultants, product orders were taken before the end of the event. This is how Tupperware became a huge success in the 1950s. Earl Tupper has been given credit for starting a “suburban revolution”.
With his invention of the Tupperware, Earl Tupper improved the lives of housewives all of America. Once World War II came to an end, women were expected to spend all their time in the kitchen. By way of Tupperware sales, Tupper created a place for American housewives in the business market. Perry Fox
Tupperware, unsealed: Brownie Wise, Earl Tupper, and the home party pioneers (text)
Tupperware: the promise of plastic in 1950s America
Juan Domingo Perón become president of Argentina (Feb 24 1946)
Juan Perón was born in Lobos, Buenos Aires on October 8 1895. Perón was educated at the Colegio Militar (1911–13) and at the Escuela Superior de Guerra (1926–29). In 1930 he took part in a military uprising against President Hipólito Irigoyen and was appointed private secretary of the minister of war (1930–35). He later taught at the Escuela Superior de Guerra, spent a year in Chile as military attaché, published five books on military history, and traveled to Italy to study alpine military methods. Upon his return to Argentina in 1941, Perón, an admirer of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, joined other officers in a secret military lodge that staged a coup d'état in June 1943. He took over the department of labor and proceeded to transform the labor movement by weakening the influence of left-wing parties on it, enacting new laws and implementing old ones, and creating new unions. As his power grew—he was made vice-president as well as minister of war—opposition within the armed forces became widespread. On Oct. 9, 1945, he was forced to resign his posts, then was imprisoned. Perón's resignation triggered a government crisis that was resolved on October 17, when his labor supporters obtained his release (http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=218982).
Perón was famous for marrying Mariá Eva Duarte who is known to us as Evita. But he was also one of the most remarkable Latin American figures of the 20th century, who wrought long-lasting changes in the nation's politics. Perón was elected president of Argentina February 24, 1946. Perón pursued prolabor, pronationalist policies, helped by his wife. In the early 1950s, benefits to labor began to diminish. The death of Evita (1952), economic difficulties, labor unrest, and his excommunication by the Roman Catholic Church further weakened Perón, and in 1955 he was ousted by the military. Through 18 years of exile, however, Perón retained his labor support and influence in Argentine politics. He was finally allowed to return in 1973 and was then elected president, with his third wife, Isabel, as vice-president. He died in office on July 1, 1974 (http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=218982). Jamelia Haughton
Below is a video titled The Eternal Wisdom of General Juan Peron. It is in Spanish so good luck deciphering exactly what he is saying!
Australian barrister Roland Berrill and British scientist and lawyer Dr. Lancelot Ware founded Mensa in the United Kingdom in 1946. They wanted to form a society with the only qualification for membership being a high IQ. The word Mensa means “table” in Latin, and is represented in the organization’s logo. Mensa is a non-profit organization, and the oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is open to anyone who scores at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardized, supervised intelligence test. These tests include the Stanford-Binet, Cattell, LSAT and SATs.
Mensa’s goal is to create a non-political society free from all social distinctions. Its constitution lists three purposes:
1. To identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity.
2. To encourage research into the nature, characteristics, and uses of intelligence.
3. To provide a stimulating intellectual and social environment for its members.
Founder Dr. Ware stated that he hopes Mensans would spend less time solving puzzles and more time solving the world’s problems. Mensa Gatherings take place throughout the year. The purpose of these events is mainly for members to socialize and partake in colloquiums. Membership gets you discounts with Alamo Car Rental, the History Chanel online store orders, GEICO, Hertz, the Mensa Boutique, Office Depot, and ThinkGeek.com.
Mensa International consists of more than 110,000 members in 50 national groups. The largest group is American Mensa with more than 56,000 members. There are 1,300 child members in American Mensa. They range in age from 3 to 18. The youngest people who have joined were both 2 years and nine months old. British Mensa once had a member that was 103 years old. 41% of members are between the ages of 44 and 61. There are more than 1,500 families with two or more Mensa members. You must be at least 14 years old to take a Mensa test, which costs $40. There are also Mensa Home Tests which are only $18. Scores on the Home Test cannot get you invited to join Mensa but they can prepare you for the Mensa Test or even be used in schools.
On March 17, 1946 Jackie Robinson played his first game with the Montreal Royals, a Division III farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson, a stellar athlete who had lettered in 4 sports at UCLA before having to leave due to financial troubles, joined the Negro League’s Kansas City Monarchs as a shortstop in 1945 after being honorably discharged from the Army. Robinson only played one season for the Negro League before Branch Rickey, a vice president for the Brooklyn Dodgers, approached him about becoming a player for the then segregated Major League. Robinson was selected along with John Wright, a Negro League pitcher, to join the Royals of the International League (some believe that Wright was only put on the team so that Robinson would have someone to room with and share the hardships that came along with being black in an all white league). Robinson endured despite the racially charged slurs and threats (some even coming form teammates) and went on to lead the league with a .349 batting average and .985 fielding percentage. His excellent year with the Royals led to a promotion to the Brooklyn Dodgers, where in 1947 he debuted as the first African-American to play for the Major League. Robinson was chosen as rookie of the year after leading the league in stolen bases and batting a respectable .297. He was honored as the league’s Most Valuable Player in 1949 after keeping a remarkable .342 batting average. Robinson retired in 1957 with a career batting average of .311 and was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. He died of a heart attack in 1972.
On June 17th, 1946 devastation found Detroit Michigan and made its way to Ontario Canada in the form of a tornado. This cycle of wind was eventually labeled as an F3 or F4 category tornado after it destroyed miles of cities, most of its damage being done in Ontario Canada. The tornado touched down near the River Rouge in Michigan and made its way across the water into Southern Windsor, Canada. Here it would begin destroying everything in its path, causing nearly “10 million US dollars in damage”, 17 fatalities and hundreds of other injuries along the way. Thanks to help from its American neighbors in Detroit Michigan, life in Windsor was able to proceed fairly smoothly despite a knocked down mail center and printing press as well as destruction of miles of farm land. Many people were needed to help restore order when civilians began to loot after the destruction had died down. Surely enough the police got the help they needed and further catastrophe was avoided. This was the third deadliest tornado in Canada’s history, and its memory will live on in the memories of those affected forever.
Known as one of the most violent escapes in the island’s history, some historians believe that “The Battle of Alcatraz” was the most important event in the island’s 29 year history. The battle was initiated by Bernard Paul Coy a bank robber serving 26 years for a bank holdup. On May 2, 1946, Coy and five accomplices commenced an escape plan. After limiting his food intake for some time Coy greased his body and slid through his cell bars. He climbed his way to the West Gun Gallery then used a makeshift device comprised of a wrench and toilet fixtures to make a 10 inch wide opening to squeeze through and into the Gallery. With the help of his accomplices distracting the Guard, Coy clubbed the guard, took his keys and distributed firearms to his accomplices. They captured nine guards and tried to locate the key to the recreation yard, the only way to get outside. A guard named Miller hid this key in the toilet, so the men had no way of getting out. When news of the escape attempt got out to the rest of the island the distress sirens rang and were easily heard on mainland San Francisco.
As the inmates in the cellblock began to realize that they were not going to be able to get out they started shooting off rounds at the captive guards. The prison Warden sent in a team of guards to try to rescue the captured guards and to subdue the rioting prisoners. At about 10:00 pm another team of 14 guards volunteered go into the cellblock.
Shortly after Marines began bombing the D block where the prisoners were located and the cellblock subsequently filled with smoke. The Marines drilled holes in the ceiling and then lowered grenades into the block. Gunfire, mortars and teargas constantly flowed into the block and as a result water pipes blew and started flooding the cellblock. Robert Stroud, The Birdman of Alcatraz, made and attempt to get the prisoners to surrender and helped to protect other inmates.
48 hours after the battle began two guards were killed and 14 were injured, three inmates were killed and one was injured. Coy was found wearing a guard’s uniform, dead from shrapnel and bullet wounds. The two accomplices who were not killed were executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin, for their role in the murder of a guard.
The prison’s volatile history and unique location in the middle of the San Francisco Bay has made it the subject of many different films. At least 12 films have been made about different experiences on the island before and after the battle. No films have been specifically based on this battle but it surely increased the prison’s visibility and added to its mystique. And in 2004 a radio show was made that recreated the events that took place on the island.
The San Francisco 49er’s are one of the most historic teams in the NFL. On January 24, 1848, James Marshall found gold while working for John Sutter at his ranch in northern California. The word quickly spread through California, the rest of America, and eventually the world. People flocked to California to make their fortune. According to some estimates, the population increased by 86,000 people in two years. The majority of these treasure seekers left for California in 1849, hence the name for them: 49ers. For the immigrants who came from across the ocean, San Francisco became the most popular port of call. In fact, San Francisco’s population grew from about 800 in 1848 to over 50,000 in 1849.
In 1946, the city of San Francisco began to thrive in a post-World War II boom that enhanced its economic state, social diversity and area population. Morabito teamed with his younger brother, Victor, and partners in the Lumber Terminals of San Francisco, Allen E. Sorrell and E.J. Turre. They came up with the name “49ers” in honor of the miners who had rushed west for gold. They saw a photo on the side of a railway freight train of a miner firing a pistol and the franchise, and that’s where the name and logo were born.
The legendary football team was founded in 1946 and entered the NFL in 1950. The San Francisco 49ers won Super Bowl’s XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV, and XXIX, becoming the first team in the NFL to win five Super Bowls. The 49ers fifth Super Bowl win took place on January 29, 1995 where they beat the San Diego Chargers 49-26. So, while the 49ers became the first team to win five Super Bowls, at the same time, the Chargers were making their first Super Bowl appearance.
The 49ers became the first major league professional sports franchise to be based in San Francisco. Also, five conference championships and 17 divisional championships are apart of the franchise’s impressive winning repertoire. From the 49ers inaugural roster of 32 players in 1946, to the teams of the eighties, to today’s modern era of salary cap and free agency, the San Francisco 49ers have played some of pro football’s most celebrated moments on the gridiron.
Sources
George, Thomas. “SUPER BOWL XXIX; All Routs Lead to San Francisco: 49ers Win Fifth Title.” The New York Times 30 Jan. 1995. 24 Feb. 2009. <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE0DE143EF933A05752C0A963958260>.
“The California Gold Rush, 1849.” EyeWitness to History.com. 5 July 2003. Www.eyewitnesstohistory.com. 24 Feb. 2009.
“History of the San Francisco 49ers.” Official Site of the Five Time World Champion: San Francisco 49ers. 14 May 2007. NFL Internet Network. sf49ers.com. 24 Feb. 2009.
On April 1, 1946, a 8.6 magnitude earthquake occurred off the shore of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. From there, the shock wave spread rapidly and caused a severe tsunami to hit the coast of Hawaii. The Pololu Valley and the city of Hilo were the hardest places in Hawaii to be hit almost five hours after the initial earthquake in Alaska. The run off in Hawaii measured about eight meters, receiving $26 million in damage and killing 96 people.
The earthquake generated one of the most destructive tsunami waves in the 20th century. In the Aleutian Islands, the waves caused by the earthquake measured more than 100 feet and causing millions of dollars in damage. For instance, the U.S. Coast Guard’s Scotch Cap lighthouse, newly built, stood 30 feet above sea level. After the tsunami hit the coast of Alaska, the lighthouse was completely leveled, killing all five workers in the lighthouse at the time.
These photos from drgeorgepc.com illustrate the destruction to the lighthouse. This is a before and after look.
When the tsunami arrived in Hawaii, the locals had no warning. At that time, no tsunami warning system had been set up to spread warning to those who would be affected. Hilo was repeatedly hit by seven tsunami waves spread apart by only 15 to 20 minutes. The highest of these waves measured more than eight meters high and killed more that 150 people. Every house that was built on the coast was ripped off its foundations and helped to cause even more damage. In the Pololu Valley, the waves hit at 12 meters high, destroyed a school and hospital. As a result of the tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System was established in 1948 in Hawaii.
April 1946, Piaggio & Co. introduce the Vespa motor scooter to the Italian public as a new form of cheap transport.
Based on the bombing of their Pontedera Fighter Plane plant during WWII, and the demolished, sometimes unpassable condition of the Italian streets post-war, Piaggio set to create a scooter that could allow one to maneuver efficiently through streets pock marked with countless potholes while also providing a transport available to the masses. (1)
Laregley based on the American “Cushman” scooters that littered Italy, the Vespa integrated a spar-frame constructed form of transport that kept the driver clean, the design simple and the transportation reliable. (2)
During its public unveiling, Piaggio president Enrico Piaggio exclaimed “Sembra una vespa!” (It looks like a wasp) (3) resulting in the affectionate name that has followed the little scooter throughout its life.
NBC and JWT team up to produce NBC's First Variety TV Show
On May 9th, 1946, the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) debuted its first variety television show, Hour Glass, onto primetime schedules. The variety show, which only lasted until February of the following year, was originally produced by the New York advertising powerhouse agency, JWT (John Walter Thompson). According to the Museum of Broadcast Communications,Hour Glass, “is historically important, however, in that it exemplified the issues faced by networks, sponsors, and advertising agencies in television’s formative years.” The weekly show consisted of various JWT employees improving and creating original skits and stories for live audiences. In 1946, the country was still amidst a time of war and international conflict, making entertainment such asHour Glassimportant for national morale. In today’s standards, shows such asSaturday Night LiveandImportant Thingswould compare to the sort of show that NBC and JWT collaborated on. According to the book, “NBC: America’s Network,” by Michele Hilmes, Thompson wanted to experiment with larger television audiences and mediums in order to grow his brand and vision for the company. The eventual flop of the 9-month variety sketch show did help JWT branch out into other avenues of television entertainment and helped launch future variety shows on the NBC network.
According to a UNICEF report, 9.2 million children worldwide, younger than five-years-old, died from avoidable causes in 2007 alone. The majority of these avoidable causes include malnutrition, poor hygiene and sanitation. On top of that, 500,000 women die during or shortly after pregnancy due to poor medical care. Millions of fatalities can be prevented through basic medical treatment, including vaccines, antibiotics, nutrition, bednets, and hygiene education. Through these interventions women and children worldwide can be saved, and that is UNICEF’s mission.
(ABOVE: UNICEF ad campaign to eliminate world poverty)
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, UNICEF, was established on December 11th, 1946, by the General Assembly of the United Nation. UNICEF’s purpose was to help children in all nations suffering from the aftermath of World War II. UNICEF delivered milk and other hygienic and nutrition supplies to child across Europe, and later through the Middle East. Maurice Pate, UNICEF’S first executive director, served as the organization’s director from its establishment in 1946 to his death in 1965. Pate is responsible for UNICEF’s passionate cause, and determined nature, surrounding the principle that all children in every nation should be supported equally.
(ABOVE: UNICEF ad campaign for sanitation)
After the after math of World War II subsided, the organization continued its relief efforts and soon grew into a leading non-profit advocacy of children’s equal rights. In the 1980s UNICEF co-established with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Today, the Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most universally accepted human-rights treaty in history. UNICEF has committed over sixty years of helping children’s health worldwide, through planning, policy, and development and over those years has become the world’s leading advocate of children’s rights.
The Basketball Association of America is founded in New York
June 6, 1946
(Above, the St. Louis Bombers vs. The New York Knickerbockers ca. 1947)
The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946 [1]. It was not the first professional basketball team, as the National Basketball League (NBL) and the American Basketball League (ABL) preceded its conception, but it was the first team to play in primarily large arenas in major cities [3]. It was founded by the owners of major hockey arenas in the Northeast and Midwestern United States. The BAA was only around for three years in the fall of 1949, with seventeen teams to its credit, when the owners decided to merge with the NBL and adopted the name National Basketball Association (NBA). Six of the original seventeen teams from the BAA are still playing in the NBA today: The Celtics, Knickerbockers, Warriors, Pistons, Lakers, and the Kings (formerly the Rochester Royals). The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers are in fact the leaders in NBA Championships won with the Celtics boasting 17 (the all time champions) and the Lakers winning 14 [2]. When the NBA integrated in 1950 the teams began amassing some key stock players such as the Celtics' draft of Chuck Cooper or the Knicks' draft of Nat “Sweet-water” Clifton. The NBA was not the first sport to desegregate (baseball, with Jackie Robinson in 1947), but they were the first sport to have a black head coach (1966) and a black majority owner (2002) [1].
(Above, a video of the Celtics winning a game in 1957 which spurred their 10 year dynasty from 1958-1968 [4])
Project Diana Makes Successful "Communication" With the Moon (1946)
Radio waves antenna
On Jaunuary 10th, 1946 Project Diana made a successful transmission of radio waves with the moon. The radio waves were sent from a transmitter at a laboratory at Camp Evans in New Jersey at ¼ second intervals. The reflected waves were received back approximately 2.5 seconds later, allowing scientists to calculate the distance from earth to the moon. The radio waves travel at a constant speed, so calculating the distance traveled is simple. The distance traveled is the radio wave’s speed divided by the time it took the wave to go to the moon and return to the receiver. To figure out the distance from Earth to the Moon, the scientists divided the distance traveled in half. Project Diana’s success is said to have started the Space Age. http://www.infoage.org/moonshot.wav for an audio recording from Project Diana. -Kelly Littell
Annie get your gun is a musical-comedy play starring Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton. The play was set to open on April 25th but due to structural problems of the Imperial, where the play was to premiere, was set back to May 16. The theatre was forced to make changes and perform the necessary repairs in order to receive their license again for the play to open. Once open the play received good reviews. They described Merman as “heavens gift to the musical show.” They said the dancing was “amiable” and “unaffected.” They also commented on the bright, fun costumes of the west, as well as the musical scores done by Irving Berlin. They described Merman’s musical performance of Berlin’s song as “tossing them at the rafters in such a fashion they must rain down on the balcony like hail.” The play was a great success and mostly due to the great reputation and acting of Merman.
Devil’s Island, or Île du Diable as it is called in its native French language, is a rocky island outside of French Guyana in South America. It is very small, only 3,900 feet long and 1,320 feet broad, covered with palm trees [1]. Despite it small size, it is known as one of the most infamous prisons in the world. It was opened by Emperor Napoleon III in 1852 and closed in 1946 [2].
Île du Diable is only one of three prison islands that form the Îles du Salut archipelago (the other two being Île Royale and Saint-Joseph) [3]. Despite being the most well known, the three islands were only part of the prison colony. The entire country of French Guyana more or less functioned as a prison – similar to the original use of Australia. Devil’s Island has become a synonym for the entire prison colony of French Guyana - much because of some the prisoners who were there [4].
During the almost 100 years the prison colony was in use more then 70,000 prisoners were transported to French Guyana [5]. The islands were primarily used for solitary confinement and political prisoners [6]. The most famous political prisoner was Albert Dreyfus. He was a French Army officer wrongly convicted for treason [1]. After four years in prison, he was released in 1899 and was later pardoned and acquitted. He was reinstated in the Army, but soon retired. He was, however, called back during World War I where he commanded an ammunition column [7]. He died in 1935 [8].
Due to the fact that Devil’s Island is an island, escape was difficult and few succeeded - but one who did was Henry Charrière. He later wrote the book “Papillion” based on his time in prison at Devil’s Island. Charrière was convicted of murder in 1931 and despite claiming his innocence, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to French Guyana [9]. He tried to escape a total of nine times. The first escape was fairly successful as he lived several months with Indians in Columbia before he was caught and sent back to French Guyana [10]. After serving in various prisons (including several years in solitary), he successfully escaped in 1944 by sailing away on a coconut raft [9].
Nowadays, the islands are a tourist attraction [3].
What later came to be known as the space race began in secret during World War Two. In June 1944, the first V2 rocket was launched from the Peenemünde rocket testing facility in Germany. It was the first man-made object to cross what “would later be defined as the Karman line and hence the first space flight ” [2]. The apogee of this vertical test reached a height of 176 kilometers or 109 miles. This crucial event in human history is overshadowed the real nature of this test, which was to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching cities across the Atlantic such as New York and Washington, D.C. Fortunately for the Allies, Hitler’s obsession with “vengeance” weapons such as the V2 used up crucial resources that could have prolonged the war in Europe.
[4]
In the aftermath of the war, American forces captured 60 V2 rockets in Germany along with their technicians, and sent them back to the U.S. to jumpstart the American rocket program. One year later, on April 16, 1946, the United States sent its first rocket into space; it was a captured V2 rocket reassembled and launched by German engineers (most famous being Wernher von Braun) at the White Sands testing range in New Mexico. Over the next year, dozens of captured V2s would be launched into space to conduct the first scientific research of Earth’s atmosphere and to capture the first glimpses of Earth beyond the stratosphere. Among the first living creatures sent into space were fruit flies and fungus spores [5].
On July 25, 1946 the last mass lynching in the U.S. occurred. The horrific violence was committed against two young black couples in Georgia. Roger and Dorothy Malcom and George and Mae Murray Dorsey were being driven home by a white landownder, Loy Harrison.1 The couples were beaten and shot 60 times at the Apalachee River crossing, Moore’s Ford Bridge.2 Harrison was a witness to it all — years later telling a reporter what happened:
"A big man who was dressed mighty proud in a double-breasted brown suit was giving the orders. He pointed to Roger and said, 'We want that nigger.' Then he pointed to George Dorsey, my nigger, and said, 'We want you, too, Charlie.' I said, 'His name ain't Charlie, he's George.' Someone said 'Keep your damned big mouth shut. This ain't your party.' "3
This event was a significant historic event due to the number of attackers in the lynch mob (estimated at around 20) and number of innocent victims. The crime was reported by national news outlets and lead to mass rallies in New York and Washington, D.C.1 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People soon pressured president Harry Truman to investigate the case and inspired a renewed call for federal antilynching legislation.4 Truman would shortly after create the President’s Committee on Civil Rights, which helped reduce the tolerance for mob violence in the south.2
The New York Knickerbockers, a professional basketball team based inNew York City, played their first ever-professional basketball game onNov. 1, 1946. During this time, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL) merged in 1949 to form the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Knickerbockers' first head coach was Neil Cohalan. The New York Knicks are one of only two teams of the original NBA still located in its original city [1].
National Basketball Association (NBA) had not yet formed. The professional league was known as the Basketball Association of America (BAA) [1].
The classic Knicks “Roundball”logo from 1964 to 1992
The term “Knickerbockers” traces back to the Dutch settlers who came to theNew Worldin the 1600s. Through history, the Dutch settler "Knickerbocker" character became synonymous withNew York City, thus the name was an integral part of theNew Yorkscene. In keeping with anotherNew Yorktradition, the team's colors have always (except for the years from 1980-81 through 1982-83) been orange, blue and white, the official colors ofNew York City[2].
The Knicks beat the Toronto Huskies in the league's first game on inToronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, 68-66. The Knicks won 10 of their first 12 games, however they finished 3rd place with a 33-27 record for their first season [3]. During the first decade of the NBA's existence, the Knickerbockers made the NBA Finals in three straight years (1951–53), and they were respected by basketball players and fans [3].
Today, according to Forbes Magazine, the Knicks are the most valuable basketball franchise in theUnited States, valued at approximately $608 million [5].
Original Knickerbocker Team
Recently, Ralph Kaplowitz, 89, an original member of the New York Knicks, died of kidney failure earlier this month. Kaplowitz was an All-American player at NYU, and joined the Knicks in 1946, for their first season. Kaplowitz was in the starting lineup onNov. 1, 1946, the first New York Knicks game [4].
In 1946, General Juan Domingo Peron, with the help of his popular wife Eva (Evita) Peron, was elected the 41st President of Argentina. This was the first of three in which he would be elected President. Juan Peron was born in Buenos Aires in 1895. At the age of 16 he entered military school and later the Military itself. He was a colonel when the military overthrew Roman Castillo from power. Juan Peron slowly worked his way up the ranks started out as assistants to people in power and eventually landing a seemingly unimportant position as the Head of the labor department. This position would later prove to be very important to Peron’s career. His work in the labor department led to his own increasing power in the government and helped promote much needed labor unions. Eventually The Department of Labor itself was elevated to have more power in 1943. In 1944 after an Earthquake in San Juan claimed more than 10,000 lives, Peron was given the duty of raising money for aid. Peron turned to the local Film industry and stars to help fundraise. Peron’s successes helped him to earn mass appeal and support and also led to him meeting another key person in his career and future wife Eva Duarte. Peron was again promoted, this time as Vice President and Secretary of War. His relationship with Eva became public gossip and he and Eva both became increasingly popular.
In 1945, Peron delivered a speech licked with fascism and caused some unrest with those in the military. He was forced to resign from his position and was later arrested. Eva Duarte helped the CGT organize a mass protest which forced officials to release Peron about four days after his arrest. That same evening, Peron gave a speech on a balcony to over 300,000 people. Eva, famously nicknamed Evita, married Juan and then went on to help him win the Presidential election with 56% of the overall vote and she remained married to Juan until her death in 1952. Juan was devastated by her death which had began to effect his work. Juan Person would later be ousted from his position as President only to return for less than a year in 1973 with his death shortly there after. Juan Peron reportedly had had an admiration for Mussolini, had anti-American sentiment, and had let many Nazi war criminals stay in his county. However, it seemed that he did not support Hitler or had racist ideas. To this day, Juan Peron and his wife Evita are seen as icons of the Peronist Party and of Argentina.
On Feb. 14, 1946 the ENIAC computer was revealed to the world. ENIAC stands for Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator. Before ENIAC was completed all calculations were done on computers that combined mechanics with electricity. This made them very slow. After ENIAC was completed the speed of computers increased tenfold.
The ENIAC computer weighed over 50 tons, had over 15,000 vacuum tubes, and occupied over two football fields worth of space. The ENIAC project cost over $450,000 to complete. It was funded primarily by the United States Army and was originally designed to track the trajectory of missiles. This meant that it had to be able to complete both 2nd and 3rd degree differential equations. Compared to most computers of that time, most of which could only add and subtract, this was a huge step.
A project of this size required hundreds of engineers and mathmeticians, but the two people that are credited for spearheading the project are J. Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly. The project took place in Moore Labs on the University of Pennsylvania campus. The project was initially suppose to take only six months to complete, but was not fully operational for almost six years. After the ENIAC was completed it could solve problems faster than any human or computer of the time, but it still took almost one week to set up and program the machine and then hours before it could spit out a solution. Although the ENIAC seems very different than modern computers it is in fact the foundation on which all modern computers are built on. This makes it a major stepping stone in computer science.
On May 10th, the US sends first unmanned craft into suborbit. The rocket was a V2 rocket, the same style of rocket that was used as German weapons against Britian in WWII. The production of this weapon, referred to as the Vergeltungswaffe 2 (http://www.zamandayolculuk.com/cetinbal/V2RROCKET.htm) rocket began in 1943 in Germany by Wernher von Braun. Several other rockets pre-dated the V2, but it was the V2 which became one of the most massly produced rockets in Germany. The rocket itself weighed nearly 12 tons and reached 46 feet tall (http://www.zamandayolculuk.com/cetinbal/V2RROCKET.htm). The tough part was to find a way to launch a rocket that weight that much. Many in Hitler's camp suggested a moblie launching pad for the rocket, but Hitler favored underground sites (http://www.zamandayolculuk.com/cetinbal/V2RROCKET.htm). These sites were unsuccessfully built because often times they were destroyed by the Allied Powers. So the plan was shifted towards a mobile launch pad. This would allow the V2 to be launched from virtually anywere.
The actual power mechanism was a concotion of liquid oxygen and alcohol mix (http://www.zamandayolculuk.com/cetinbal/V2RROCKET.htm). The rocket was able to support a 1,650 pound warhead and carry it some 225 miles in flight (http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/rocketry/29.html). The rocket typically reached its target some 5 minuets after launch(http://www.stanford.edu/~xuanwu/v2/). Pat Rosborough
(2007 mortality rate statistics)
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