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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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Daily Pic (Georgia Aquarium)

novikat/Getty Images

An inland ocean

When the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta opened in 2005, it was the largest in the world. (China’s Chimelong Ocean Kingdom now takes the prize.) If you are spending time in Atlanta, even on a layover during holiday travel, make your way to the amazing exhibits in the Georgia Aquarium. Perhaps the most distinctive of the aquarium’s exhibits is its giant tank of whale sharks. The 6.3-million-gallon tank houses four whale sharks—the world’s largest fish—as well as four manta rays and thousands of other fish. The tank is so massive, the rest of the aquarium was designed around it.

Daily Pic 11/18/17

© Marco Ronconi/Offset

Alpine chamois in Gran Paradiso National Park, Italy