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** The 1940’s was an amazing time in history. This decade was filled with many different ideas starting from the Second World War to Gandhi’s assassination to the introduction of the first two-piece swimsuit. In this presentation you will find many things that you may not have heard of or ever known about. ** ** During the year 1940 the battle called Battle of Britain took place. It is known as one of the most famous battles during World War II. In this battle the German Air Force otherwise known as Luftwaffe was trying to take control of Great Britain’s airspace so that they may launch their invasion, it was called “Operation Sea Lion”. Hitler wanted to go ahead and launch the invasion of Great Britain but his generals told him he should postpone the invasion until they had demolished the British Air Force known as the RAF or Royal Air Force. At the start of the battle the German’s had 4,000 aircrafts in their fleet and the British frontline composed of 1,660 aircrafts. The British frontline contained Spitfires and Hurricanes, which were two of their most famous aircrafts. The RAF was led by Sir Hugh Dowding. Some of the disadvantages of the Germans were that they were over enemy territory, their planes had a short range and their aircrafts had to return to their base every half hour for fuel. Also, the RAF had radar which proved to be a significant tool for detecting enemy aircrafts. The original plan of the invasion was to land 160,000 German soldiers on the seashore in south-east England. After a few weeks they were to have a large armada of vessels. This included 2,000 barges in the German, Belgian, and French harbors. Then the invasion would begin. In the end this plan of invasion did not get initiated by the Germans. The Germans were defeated by a plan named Blitz. When they were defeated this meant that the German’s were not able to invade Great Britain during World War II. ** ** In 1941 the Japanese launched an attack on Pearl Harbor naval base. This attack struck shock into many American citizens. During September 1941 the Japanese had organized a plan to assault the Philippines, Malaya, and the Netherlands as well as the East Indies. This attack was to follow the crushing blow on the American Pacific Fleet at Oahu, a Hawaiian island. The attack on the Pacific Fleet was planned to draw the United States attention towards Pearl Harbor so that the Japanese could attempt to complete their objectives in the Far East. This plan was initiated by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet. Surprise was in the Japanese favor on this attack. The assault came in two waves; the first came at 7:53a.m., and the second wave came at 8:55a.m. By 1:00p.m. The aircraft carriers that were 274 miles off the coast of Oahu were heading back to Japan. After the initial shock the fleet received information telling them that their carriers, submarines, and its fuel oil storage facilities were unharmed. The Japanese left 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed aircrafts and a disabled Pacific Fleet that contained 8 damaged or destroyed battleships. The USS Arizona was demolished and the USS Oklahoma was capsized. Four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. This attack meant the U.S. would declare war onto Japan. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called December 7th, 1941 “a day which will live in infamy”. Before this attack began the United States was close to joining the war but to preserve its neutrality, it committed to only sending war supplies to the Allied Forces, which included Great Britain, France, and Soviet Russia. ** ** The Battle of Midway was fought in June of 1942 near a small U.S. naval base at Midway Atoll. This attack occurred six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Although, before the attack, the Japanese had naval superiority over the United States due to that surprise attack they called the bombing of Pearl Harbor. But the U.S. had cracked the Japanese naval code and was able to figure out when and where their next attack would be. Nimitz also used this to defend the country. The Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto had planned to draw out and demolish the aircraft carrier striking forces of the United States Pacific Fleet. The end result of his plan was to make Midway Atoll a Japanese airbase. Unfortunately for the Japanese, things did not go according to plan. Japan lost and managed to only do minimal damage to Midway. From then on Midway proved to be a vital component in the American-trans-Pacific offensive. The Americans effectively destroyed Japan’s naval strength. Japan lost four aircraft carriers that were vital to their fleet. The Japanese sunk the Yorktown at 6:00 on June 7th, 1942. The Yorktown was sunk by sunk by the Japanese firing two torpedoes from the I-168. Richard E. Fleming became the leader of his squadron when his commanding officer was shot down. Fleming proved his worth and seemed a devoted soldier during World War II. He was rewarded the Medal of Honor after the Battle of Midway. ** ** In 1943 there was an uprising at the Warsaw Ghetto which began when Himmler, one of Hitler’s best men ordered able-bodied residents to forced labor camps in Lublin District. From there the German SS and police units attempted to continue mass deportations of Jews from Warsaw on January 18th, 1943. A group of Jewish fighters were armed and tried to fight off the Nazi escorts. Most died, but the attack did allow the distraction needed for some to escape. Once the Germans got control they suspended transportation on the 21st of January. Later that year a surprising 8,000 Jews were ordered to be deported, this caused many of the ghettos inmates to go into hiding and were refusing to go to the extermination camp of Treblinka. It was at that time that the real revolt began; the Jews would strike quickly and escape across the rooftops. Days later the Germans stopped trying to control them and the Jews saw it as a victory. On April 19th, 1943 the Final Deportation was announced and the Jews again went into hiding. This time the Jews were armed with a handful of pistols, seventeen rifles and Molotov cocktails; there were 750 Jewish fighters. Surprisingly the Jews pushed the Germans out of the Warsaw Ghetto. In the end the Jews went up against more than 2,000 heavily armed and well trained Germans, these men were backed up by flamethrowers and tanks. The uprising ended on May 16th, 1943. ** ** During June of 1944 Operation Valkyrie was put into effect. Valkyrie was put into action by a group of military officials and politicians; their reason for doing so was so they could end the war. The plan of attack was set in phases; phase one was to bomb a meeting attended by Hitler, phase two was to mobilize the Reserve Forces and to deceive the German Army into believing that the German SS had assassinated Hitler and then take over the German government. Phase three was to arrest all SS commanders and soldiers as well as all of the top members of the Nazi Party. The group that sought out Operation Valkyrie was led by Colonel Claus Schank van Stauffenburg. Stauffenburg originally had formulated Valkyrie and had it signed by none other than Hitler himself to be used as one of Hitler’s battle strategies. Stauffenburg attempted this because he wanted to show the world that not all Germans were Nazis. The strategy was used and the bomb at the meeting went off at 12:42. In Hitler’s headquarters in Rostenburg, East Prussia which is modern day Germany. His headquarters was called the “Wolf’s Lair”. After the bombing at his headquarters he blamed his senior officer, Colonel Claus Schank van Stauffenburg for the assassination attempt. Hitler saw that Stauffenburg had planted the bomb at the meeting with himself, Hitler and of course Hitler’s senior members of his General Staff. Along with Stauffenburg, General Olbricht, Colonel Mertz and Lieutenant Werner von Haeften were sent to prison for attempting to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ** ** In 1945 the Red army moved through Berlin closer and closer each day to Hitler’s bunker under the Reich Chancellery Building. One of Hitler’s best men Himmler had decided to contact the Swedish Red Cross to discuss the surrendering of the German Army. When Hitler got word of this he saw it as a disgraceful action and erupted in anger. Later on Hitler accused Herman Fegelein of knowing Himmler’s plan, Herman then confessed and was shot at the Reich Chancellery Building’s garden. That night Eva Braun and Hitler got married; it was April 28th, 1945. For Hitler death was a release, a way to get out of the mess he was in, especially since his eldest friends and supporters had recently betrayed him. The next day Soviet ground forces were approximately one mile from the bunker. It was then when Hitler had his poison tested on his favorite dog, Blondi. He also gave his secretaries poison filled capsules which they were to use if the Soviets raided the bunker. At 2:30a.m., Hitler said good bye to all of his staff members. At noon, he held his last military conference and was informed that the Soviet Red Army was a block away from the Reich Chancellery Building. By 2:00p.m. Hitler had his last meal which was a vegetarian lunch. Hitler’s chauffer was then ordered to bring 20 liters of gasoline to the Chancellery building garden. Hitler bid farewell to everyone in the bunker and so did his newly wed wife Eva. They then returned to their quarters and a gunshot was heard, minutes later Bormann and Goebbels entered Hitler’s quarters and found the bodies of Hitler and Eva. Hitler had shot himself and Eva had swallowed one of the poison filled capsules. ** ** On July 5th, 1946 the Bikini was introduced by the French designer Louis Reard. A woman named Micheline Bernardini went from being a Parisian showgirl, to an instant celebrity and received some 50,000 fan letters after modeling the bikini. Bernardini modeled the new two piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor; a popular swimming pool in Paris. The bikini was named after the U.S. atomic test that took place off of the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week. The knowledge and history inspiring the bikini is actually nearly as old as civilization. Archaeologists discovered Minoan wall paintings from 1600B.C. and Roman mosaics from 300A.D. that depicted the bikini. The bikini was introduced almost simultaneously by both Reard and Jacques Heim. Heim used the motto “the world’s smallest bathing suit” and Reard called his “smaller than the world’s smallest bathing suit”. Jacques Heim called his version the Atome because of its size compared to other bathing suits at that time. The bikini soon reigned over the Atome as the official two piece swimsuit. The bikini at first was designed with high cut legs, string straps, and news paper headlines about the Atomic Bomb printed across its 30 square inches of fabric. The bikini was popular with men. The attitude of the 1960’s was when the women in America began to feel comfortable wearing a bikini since its size was so small and showed much skin. ** ** In 1947 the Polaroid Camera was invented by a man named Edwin Land in the United States. Before Land invented the camera he was a physicist and an inventor. Edwin invented the instant picture camera and he also invented instant photography. The cameras would even develop a printed picture after it was snapped. The prints were in black and white and would be produced in about a minute. Compared to the cameras now that can develop a black and white print in about 6 seconds and the colored photo in approximately a minute, the first camera was not really that much slower in performance. Edwin Land also founded the Polaroid Corporation in 1937. Before this though he focused mainly on the development of polaroid sunglasses. But once he founded the company he began to look at manufacturing his own camera. The first camera was sold to the public in November of 1948. People called the cameras “Land Cameras” after Edwin Land. The Polaroid Instant Cameras were used for scientific instruments, passport or identity photos or even large format cameras. These cameras were produced to use three main film categories which were rollfilm, packfilm, and integral film. But today the Polaroid Corporation has filed for bankruptcy and has a debt of approximately one billion American Dollars. ** ** In 1948 Gandhi was murdered, Gandhi was a political and spiritual leader who’s full name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He fought for India’s Independence. Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi, India. Gandhi was killed by a Hindu fanatic named Nathuram Godse. Godse killed Gandhi because he objected to Gandhi’s tolerance of Muslims. Gandhi was called, “Mahatma” meaning “great soul” during his lifetime and still is so today. Before he was shot, Gandhi was walking towards a prayer meeting. Gandhi was a lifelong Pacifist and promoter of non-violence. He was short down just after he accomplished his goal of the independence of India from Great Britain. Along with India’s independence came the separation of India into two states, Muslim-based Pakistan and Hindu-based India. Mahatma Gandhi was killed on January 30th, 1948. Another reason Gandhi was murdered was because of his association with the splitting of India. Ten days before Gandhi was shot he had escaped an assassination attempt needless to say they failed to kill him. Godse also believed that he would not be able to forgive Gandhi for believing that Muslims had equal value to Hindus and that no one person was better than another. Gandhi’s life was spent fighting for his people among others and protesting to things that the people in charge had set in place that was either racial or prejudice. His non-violence technique proved effective in his fight for independence and freedom. ** ** On August 29th, 1949 at a test site the Soviets detonated their first atomic bomb. They nicknamed it “First Lightning”. Soviet scientists had built civilian structures within the vicinity of the bomb to test the damage of the blast. They even put caged animals near the bomb so that they could test the effects of the bomb on human-like mammals. First Lightning was roughly equal to Trinity the first American atomic bomb. The scientists who had built First Lightning were praised for their success since if they had failed the consequences would have been significantly cruel. America became aware of the radioactivity from the explosion on the third of September when a U.S. spy plane flew off the coast of Siberia. Not much time had passed before President Harry S. Truman announced to America that the Soviets had possession of the atomic bomb. After the explosion from the Soviets first atomic bomb they decided to construct another bomb in fact a replica of the Fat Man Bomb using design descriptions provided by Klaus Fuchs. They named the replica Joe-1. This Soviet experimentation was led by a man named Igor Kurchatov, and the experimentation was done at a place named Arzamas-16. Igor Kurchatov’s efforts in the beginning were driven by spies inside the Manhattan Project, mostly Klaus Fuchs. The program accelerated after the bombings at Pearl Harbor naval base and Nagasaki took place. The facts that the U.S.S.R. had knowledge of the atomic bomb made Americans question their safety. **
 * __ The Amazing 40’s __**