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Channel about World's History All questions: @cobbl or @otchebuch
Today in 1848, the two-year Mexican-American war ends with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Under its terms, the U.S. acquires more than 529,000 square miles of new territory. Arguments between pro-slavery interests and abolitionists soon erupt over the future of the region.
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On this day in 1509, a Portuguese fleet annihilates the warships of the Mamluk and Gujarat sultanates at the Battle of Diu. The victory, the first of many by Europeans in Asia, helps establish Portugal as a military and commercial power in India.
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In February of 1945, soldiers of the 8th Infantry Division pass a tank destroyer on the battle-scarred streets of Düren, Germany as they enter the heart of the city. 🪖
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On this day in 1861, Texas secedes from the United States. As lawmakers vote to join the Confederacy, an angry Governor Sam Houston storms out of the state house in disgust. "I love Texas too well to bring civil strife and bloodshed upon her," he reportedly remarks.
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Today in 1943, Stalingrad is back in Soviet hands as the last pockets of German resistance in the city are finally overwhelmed. The Axis suffered more than 800,000 casualties in five-months of fighting; Red Army losses are heavier: an est. 1 million killed, wounded or missing.
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On this day in 1944, 46,000 U.S. troops storm the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The Japanese offer fierce resistance; of the 3,500 Imperial troops dug in there, only 51 survive after four days of savage fighting.
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Today in 1865, Congress passes the US Constitution's 13th Amendment which abolishes slavery nationwide. Thirty states will ratify it before year's end. Mississippi, one of a handful of states to reject the amendment in the months after the Civil War, won't ratify until 1995.
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On this day in 1793, Revolutionary France declares war on Great Britain ushering in 22 years of almost continuous conflict between the two powers.
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Today in 1862, the US Navy's first ironclad warship, the USS Monitor, is launched. Considered a hi-tech marvel at the time, conditions aboard were dark, stuffy & miserable. "Any man who would stay on an ironclad by choice is a candidate for an insane asylum," recalled one sailor.
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81 years ago today, American soldiers examine the wreckage of a Spitfire LF Mk. VIII ZX-F (JF805) from RAF 145 Squadron near Nettuno, Italy. ✈️
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In January of 1945, Sgt. William Showers cleans the snow from the breech of his 57-MM AT gun in the woods near Courtil, Belgium. 🪖
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In 1946, Colonel Paul Tibbets stands in front of his B-29 'Enola Gay' in Roswell, New Mexico. ✈️
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Today in 1944, America's last battleship, the USS Missouri, is launched. Although already usurped by the aircraft carrier, the 'Mighty Mo' will serve in WW2, Korea & the 1991 Gulf War. Now a museum ship, her nine 16-inch guns could throw 12 tons of ordnance in a single broadside
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On this day in 1933, Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. "We have the power," he announces. "Now our gigantic work begins."
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In January of 1945, a soldier of the 94th Infantry Division dashes through a shell-torn orchard in Germany. 🪖
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On this day in 1933, Hitler announces his plans for the "ruthless Germanisation" of Eastern Europe. His long-standing goal of achieving "Lebensraum" or 'Living Space' will now be the official foreign policy of Nazi Germany.
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A lot of big names in this Carentan photo of 101st Airborne paratroopers receiving medals for their heroism in Normandy. 🪂
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On this day in 1942, aircraft from the carriers Yorktown and Enterprise carry out raids on Japanese forces near the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. Taking place just 56 days after Pearl Harbor, the action marks America's first sizeable offensive operation of WW2.
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A nurse administers a vaccine to an American serviceman in 1944.
“You got in line, took your shot, and that’s it. It was no big deal,” recalled one vet.
(Image source: U.S. Army Center for Military History)
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Today in 1943, Friedrich Paulus, commander of the doomed German army at Stalingrad, surrenders to the Soviets. Moments earlier, he learns that Hitler has promoted him to field marshal. "One can't help feeling it's an invitation to suicide," he says. "I'll do him no such favour."
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On this day in 1865, Robert E. Lee is promoted to General-in-Chief of the collapsing Confederate States Army. Just 68 days later Lee will surrender the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the U.S. Civil War.
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On this day in 1945, a U.S. Army private named Eddie Slovik is shot at Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, France for the crime of desertion. As many as 21,000 other GIs face courts martial for similar offences during WW2, but the 24-year-old Detroit native is the only one to be executed.
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Today 1968, communist infiltrators launch surprise attacks across South Vietnam marking the start of the Tet Offensive. Although the Viet Cong and NVA suffer staggering losses in the two-month campaign, the scale and ferocity of the onslaught erodes American support for the war.
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On this day in 1945, U.S. Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts & Filipino guerrillas rescue 552 Allied prisoners from the Japanese POW camp at Cabanatuan.
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In January of 1945, medics with the 90th Infantry Division lift the body of a wounded American soldier to place him on a ski litter in Luxembourg. 🪖
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81 years ago today, soldiers of the 8th Army debark LCI-447 on the west coast of Luzon. ⚓️🪖
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Wild Rides – Seven of the Strangest Bomber Raids of WW2
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Today in 1945, a Soviet sub torpedoes the German ocean liner Wilhelm Gustloff in the Baltic Sea. An estimated 9,300 people (mostly refugees) drown. With six times as many dead as were lost on the Titanic, it remains history's deadliest ship sinking.
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In January of 1945, Pvt. Robert Long examines the damaged engine & propeller of a 6th Armored Division liaison plane after it toppled over while making a landing at an air strip in Belgium. ✈️
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🔮 The Pyramid of the Magician, Uxmal, Mexico. The Maya temple was first built in the 6th century CE, with additions made up to the 10th century CE.
📷 Photo by G Concha C.
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