1941

Today in History 12/25 (Mikhail Gorbachev Resigns)

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Mikhail Gorbachev announcing his resignation as president of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991 (© Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images)(1991) Gorbachev steps down as Soviet president
Mikhail Gorbachev announces he’s resigning as Soviet leader. For the most part, the country had ceased to exist a few days prior when 11 of the 12 former Soviet republics formed an independent alliance. Still, Gorbachev’s speech hammers the final nails in the USSR’s coffin.
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a Russian and formerly Soviet politician. He was the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, having been General Secretary of the governing Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. He was the country’s head of state from 1988 until 1991, serving as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1988 to 1989, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 1989 to 1990, and President of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991. Ideologically a socialist, he initially adhered to Marxism-Leninism although following the Soviet collapse moved toward social democracy.
Born: Mar 02, 1931 (age 87) · Privolnoye, Krasnogvardeysky District, Stavropol Krai, Russia
Spouse: Raisa Gorbacheva (m. 1953 – 1999)
Children: Irina Mihailovna Virganskaya (Daughter)
Founded: Union of Social Democrats · Social Democratic Party of Russia · Club of Madrid · The Gorbachev Foundation · Green Cross International · Global Green USA · Kombat Armouring
Education: Moscow State University
Awards: Nobel Peace Prize (1990) · Ronald Reagan Freedom Award (1992) · Indira Gandhi Prize (1987) · Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children (2004) · Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold (1989) · Free Your Mind (2009) · Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1999)
Highlights
  • 1953: Mikhail Gorbachev married Raisa Gorbacheva on September 25, 1953; their marriage lasted 46 years till September 20, 1999.

  • 1983: In April 1983, Gorbachev delivered the annual Lenin’s birthday speech; this required him re-reading many of Lenin’s later writings, in which the first Soviet leader had called for reform, and encouraged Gorbachev’s own conviction that reform was needed.

  • 1985: Within three years of the death of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, following the brief “interregna” of Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, Gorbachev was elected general secretary by the Politburo in 1985.

  • 1986: Gorbachev initiated his new policy of perestroika (literally “restructuring” in Russian) and its attendant radical reforms in 1986; they were sketched, but not fully spelled out, at the XXVIIth Party Congress in February–March 1986.

  • 1987: Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World written by Mikhail Gorbachev was first published on November 01, 1987.

  • 1990: On 15 March 1990, Gorbachev was elected as the first executive President of the Soviet Union with 59% of the Deputies’ votes.

President George H. W. Bush and President Mikhail Gorbachev sign United States/Soviet Union agreements to end chemical weapon production and begin destroying their respective stocks in the East Room of the White House, Washington, DC on the 1st of June 1990
President George H. W. Bush and President Mikhail Gorbachev sign United States/Soviet Union agreements to end chemical weapon production and begin destroying their respective stocks in the East Room of the White House, Washington, DC on the 1st of June 1990.
wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev
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(1991) Gorbachev steps down as Soviet president.
Also on this day,

336 | Earliest documented celebration of Christmas
“25 Dec.: natus Christus in Betleem Judeae.” Translation: “December 25, Christ born in Bethlehem, Judea.” This inscription will be found in an ancient list of Roman bishops and is the earliest recorded proof of a celebration of Christmas. The inaugural celebration takes place in Rome.
1914 | Christmas truce as enemies exchange Christmas greetings at front
After a week of an unofficial cease-fire, German soldiers in WWI emerge from trenches and walk toward the British line, calling out “Merry Christmas.” Once the Brits determine it’s not a trick, they climb out to greet their enemies. Men shake hands, exchange cigarettes, and even bury the dead.
1941 | Bing Crosby croons ‘Christmas’ as ‘White Christmas’ debuts on radio
During ‘The Kraft Music Hall’ broadcast on NBC radio, Bing Crosby sings a new composition by songwriter Irving Berlin. Crosby will record ‘White Christmas’ the following year for the film ‘Holiday Inn’ and again in 1947. Crosby’s ’47 recording of the secular holiday tune will sell more than 50 million copies, and earn all-time best-selling single status.

Today in History 12/25/17

Sculpture commemorating the 1914 Christmas truce during World War I in England (© Rui Vieira/AP)(1914) Enemies exchange Christmas greetings at front
After a week of an unofficial cease-fire, German soldiers in WWI emerge from trenches and walk toward the British line, calling out "Merry Christmas." Once the Brits determine it's not a trick, they climb out to greet their enemies. Men shake hands, exchange cigarettes, and even bury the dead.

The Christmas truce (German: Weihnachtsfrieden; French: Trêve de Noël) was a series of widespread but unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front of World War I around Christmas 1914.

The Christmas truce occurred during the relatively early period of the war (month 5 of 51). Hostilities had entered somewhat of a lull as leadership on both sides reconsidered their strategies following the stalemate of the Race to the Sea and the indecisive result of the First Battle of Ypres. In the week leading up to the 25th, French, German, and British soldiers crossed trenches to exchange seasonal greetings and talk. In some areas, men from both sides ventured into no man's land on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to mingle and exchange food and souvenirs. There were joint burial ceremonies and prisoner swaps, while several meetings ended in carol-singing. Men played games of football (soccer) with one another, giving one of the most memorable images of the truce. Peaceful behavior was not ubiquitous; fighting continued in some sectors, while in others the sides settled on little more than arrangements to recover bodies.

The following year, a few units arranged ceasefires but the truces were not nearly as widespread as in 1914; this was, in part, due to strongly worded orders from the high commands of both sides prohibiting fraternisation. Soldiers were no longer amenable to truce by 1916. The war had become increasingly bitter after devastating human losses suffered during the battles of the Somme and Verdun, and the use of poison gas.

The truces were not unique to the Christmas period, and reflected a growing mood of "live and let live", where infantry close together would stop overtly aggressive behavior and often engage in small-scale fraternisation, engaging in conversation or bartering for cigarettes. In some sectors, there would be occasional ceasefires to allow soldiers to go between the lines and recover wounded or dead comrades, while in others, there would be a tacit agreement not to shoot while men rested, exercised or worked in full view of the enemy. The Christmas truces were particularly significant due to the number of men involved and the level of their participation—even in very peaceful sectors, dozens of men openly congregating in daylight was remarkable—and are often seen as a symbolic moment of peace and humanity amidst one of the most violent events of human history.


Illustrated London News - Christmas Truce 1914
An artist's impression from The Illustrated London News of 9 January 1915: "British and German Soldiers Arm-in-Arm Exchanging Headgear: A Christmas Truce between Opposing Trenches"

wiki/Christmas_truce
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Today in History 12/11 (King Edward VIII)

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The Duke of Windsor and Mrs. Bessie Wallis Warfield Simpson pose for photographers in a garden of the Chateau de Cande, France, May 7, 1937 (© AP)(1936) Britain’s King Edward VIII abdicates for love
King Edward VIII gives up the throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. The Church of England, officials, and the public have largely condemned the match (though Winston Churchill gave his OK.) But, as Edward says, he can’t carry out his duties “without the help and support of the woman I love.”
In 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire arose when King-Emperor Edward VIII proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who was divorced from her first husband and was pursuing the divorce of her second.
Statement of Abdication
Instrument of abdication signed by Edward VIII and his three brothers, Albert, Henry and George, 10 December 1936
wiki/Edward_VIII_abdication_crisis
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(1936) Britain’s King Edward VIII abdicates for love.
Also on this day,

1941 | Axis at war with US as Germany and Italy declare war on the United States
Four days after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, the two other Axis powers, Germany and Italy, declare war on the United States. The US responds in kind. Meanwhile, Adolf Hitler declares that the three Axis powers “will continue in closest cooperation with a view to establishing a new and just order.”
1944 | Brenda Lee, ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’ singer is born
Brenda Lee (nee Brenda Mae Tarpley) is born in Atlanta. She’ll start singing professionally by age 6 and go on to have huge hits with ‘I’m Sorry’ and ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.’ Lee will eventually be inducted into the Rock and Roll, Country and Rockabilly halls of fame.
2008 | Billionaire Bernie Madoff is arrested at his NYC penthouse
Feds arrest Madoff after his sons told authorities about his $65 billion Ponzi scheme. Until his arrest, Madoff was a well-respected financier who managed money for A-list clients. His ruse is the biggest financial fraud in US history and will get Madoff 150 years in prison.

Today in History 12/11/17

Adolf Hitler speaking in Germany on December 11, 1941 (© Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)(1941) Germany and Italy declare war on the United States
Four days after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the two other Axis powers, Germany and Italy, declare war on the United States. The US responds in kind. Meanwhile, Adolf Hitler declares that the three Axis powers "will continue in closest cooperation with a view to establishing a new and just order."
On 11 December 1941, four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States declaration of war against the Japanese Empire, Nazi Germany declared war against the United States, in response to what was claimed to be a series of provocations by the United States government when the US was still officially neutral during World War II. The decision to declare war was made by Adolf Hitler, apparently offhand, almost without consultation. Later that day, the United States declared war on Germany.
Berlin, Reichstagssitzung, Rede Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler delivers a speech at the Kroll Opera House to the men of the Reichstag on the subject of Roosevelt and the war in the Pacific, declaring war on the United States. Next to Hitler in the government benches (from right to left) are Joachim von Ribbentrop, Erich Raeder, Walther von Brauchitsch, Wilhelm Keitel, Wilhelm Frick and Joseph Goebbels. In the second row (from right to left) are Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, Walther Funk, Richard Walther Darré, Bernhard Rust, Hanns Kerrl, Hans Frank, Julius Dorpmüller, Arthur Seyss-Inquart and Fritz Todt. In the third row (from right to left) are Alfred Rosenberg, Otto Meißner and Johannes Popitz.

wiki/German_declaration_of_war_against_the_United_States_%281941%29
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