Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!
Aug 26, 1944: DeGaulle enters a free Paris
On this day in 1944, French General Charles de Gaulle enters Paris, which had formally been liberated the day before. As he entered the Place de l'Hotel, French collaborationists took a few sniper shots at him. "There are many moments that go beyond each of our poor little lives," he was quoted at the time. "Paris outraged! Paris broken! Paris martyrized! But Paris liberated!"
For de Gaulle, the liberation of Paris was the end of a long history of fighting Germans. He sustained multiple injuries fighting at Verdun in World War I. He escaped German POW camps five times, only to be recaptured each time. (At 6 feet, 4 inches tall, it was hard for de Gaulle to be inconspicuous.)
At the beginning of World War II, de Gaulle was commander of a tank brigade. He was admired as a courageous leader and made a brigadier general in May 1940. After the German invasion of France, he became undersecretary of state for defense and war in the Reynaud government, but when Reynaud resigned, and Field Marshal Philippe Petain stepped in, a virtual puppet of the German occupiers, de Gaulle left for England. On June 18, de Gaulle took to the radio airwaves to make an appeal to his fellow French not to accept the armistice being sought by Petain, but to continue fighting under his command. Ten days later, Britain formally acknowledged de Gaulle as the leader of the "Free French Forces," which was at first little more than those French troops stationed in England, volunteers from Frenchmen already living in England, and units of the French navy.
De Gaulle would prove an adept wartime politician, finally winning recognition and respect from the Allies and his fellow countrymen. He returned to Paris from Algiers, where he had moved the headquarters of the Free French Forces and formed a "shadow government" in September 1943. On the eve of the Normandy invasion, de Gaulle demanded that his government be regarded as the "official" government of all liberated areas of France. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, commander of the D-Day invasion, agreed to "not recognize" any government entity other than de Gaulle's. De Gaulle went on to head two provisional governments before resigning. In 1970, he died suddenly of an aneurysmal rupture at the age of 79.
So, today is an important date in French history. The English defeated the French at the Battle of Crécy, which also stands out in history as the first time cannons were used in battle. It was on this day in 1789 that the last article of the Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen (Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen) were adopted. Also during the French Revolution, French troops occupied Lock. Also, as you just saw above, this was the date in 1944, General Charles De Gaulle entered the newly liberated Paris, the rightful capital of France.
This date was important for other reasons, as well. China invented toilet paper on this date in history. Liberia gained it's independence on this day in history. the first kindergarten in the United States opened outside of St. Louis, Missouri. this marks the anniversary of the Battle of Tanninberg, when the Germans defeated the Russians. Charles Lindbergh became the first man to fly across the Atlantic non-stop. Chad became the first colony to join the Allied cause during World War II. George Orwell published Animal Farm. A new pope took over, Pope John Paul I, although he died one month later. The Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria took place on this day in 1997.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
580 - Chinese invents toilet paper
1071 - Battle of Manzikert, Byzantine Armenia (modern Malazgirt, Turkey). Fought between Byzantine Empire and Seljuq Turks.
1278 - Battle of Marchfeld: Rudolf van Habsburg defeats Ottokar II
1303 - Ala ud din Khilji captures Chittorgarh.
1346 - Battle at Crécy-England's longbows defeat France, cannons used for 1st time in battle
1466 - A conspiracy against Piero di Cosimo de Medici in Florence, led by Luca Pitti, is discovered.
1498 - Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pietà.
1541 - Turkish sultan Suleiman occupies Buda/annexes Hungary
1545 - Pope Paul III names his son Pierluigi Farnese, duke of Parma
1549 - Battle at Dussingdale: John Dudley beats rebels
1629 - Cambridge Agreement, Mass Bay Co stockholders agree to emigrate
1634 - Battle at Nordlingen Bavarian: emperor Ferdinand II & Spain beat Sweden & German protestants
1641 - West India Company conquerors Sao Paulo de Loanda, Angola
1648 - People's uprising against Anna of Austria & Cardinal Mazarin
1652 - Sea battle at Plymouth: Ayscue vs De Ruyter
1745 - England, Prussia and Hannover sign treaty
1748 - The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1778 - The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia.
1791 - John Fitch grants US patent for his working steamboat
1794 - French troops occupy Lock
1839 - The ship Amistad is captured off Long Island.
1843 - Charles Thurber patents a typewriter
1846 - Felix Mendelssohn's "Elijah," premieres
1846 - W A Bartlett appointed 1st US mayor of Yerba Buena (SF)
1858 - First news dispatch by telegraph.
1863 - Battle of Rocky Gap WV (White Sulphur Springs)
1873 - 1st free kindergarten in the U.S. started by Susan Blow in Carondelet, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri
1874 - 16 blacks lynched in Tennessee
1894 - Netherlands Social-Democratic Worker's party (SDAP) forms
1895 - Electric central at Niagara Falls gives 1st steam
1896 - Armenian revolutionairy assault on Ottoman Bank Constantinople
1903 - Phillies walk 17 Dodgers in a game
1907 - Houdini escapes from chains underwater at Aquatic Park in 57 sec
1909 - Frank Tarrant scores cricket 145 & 13-67 for Middlesex v Gloucs
1909 - Middlesex beat Gloucs (Bristol) by Inn & 31 in a single day
1912 - 32nd US Mens Tennis: M E McLoughlin beats W F Johnson (36 26 62 64 62)
1912 - Walter Johnson's 16-game winning streak ends
1913 - 33rd US Mens Tennis: M E McLoughlin beats R N Williams (64 57 63 61)
1914 - -9/10] Russian army attacks Austrian army in Galicia
1914 - Battle of Tannenberg - 8th German army defeats Russian Narev army
1915 - German troops over run Brest-Litovsk, Russia
1916 - Phila A's Bullet Joe Bush no-hits Cleve, 5-0
1916 - Yanks turn triple-play beating Browns 10-6
1918 - W Smith & F Bacons "Lightnin'," premieres in NYC
1920 - Percy Fender (Surrey v Northants) scores 100 in 35 mins
1922 - Japanese cruiser Niitaka leaves in storm at Kamchatka, 300 killed
1924 - (August 13 Old Style) The Catastrophe of Smyrna, known as the Asia Minor Catastrophe to Greeks, occurs. The Ottoman army expels Greeks and other non-Turks from Asia Minor.
1929 - 1st US roller coaster built
1930 - Hack Wilson hits his 44th HR, breaks Chuck Klein's NL record
1933 - Jan van Houten bicycles world record time (44,588 km)
1935 - CCC camp opens in Brecksville Reservation of Cleveland Metroparks
1937 - Franco's troops conquer Santander
1937 - Pumping to build Treasure Island in SF Bay is finished
1938 - British leaders & Arabians fight in Palestine
1938 - Montreal Maroons dropped from NHL
1939 - 1st major league baseball telecast-Reds beat Bkln Dodgers (W2XBS NY)
1939 - Belgium mobilizes
1939 - Kroatia gets autonomous status
1940 - RKC soccer team forms in Waalwijk
1940 - Chad is the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor.
1942 - 7,000 Jews are rounded up in Vichy-France
1942 - Japanse troops lands on New-Guinea, Milne Bay
1942 - Russian counter offensive begins in Moscow
1942 - Transport nr 24 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany
1944 - Bulgaria announces withdrawal & German troops are to be disarmed
1944 - De Gaulle marches to Champs-Elysees
1944 - US 12nd Army Corps crosses river Seine East of Paris
1945 - Japanese diplomats board Missouri to receive instructions on Japan's surrender at the end of WW II
1946 - George Orwell published "Animal Farm"
1947 - 1st black baseball pitcher Don Bankhead (Hit a HR on 1st at bat)
1950 - 39th Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in New York (4-1)
1951 - Jongbloed in Paris demonstrates artificial heart
1952 - Fluoridation of SF water begins
1955 - 1st color telecast (NBC) of a tennis match (Davis Cup)
1956 - KREY TV channel 10 in Montrose, CO (CBS/NBC) begins broadcasting
1956 - Marlene Bauer wins LPGA Denver Golf Open
1956 - Yankees announce purchase of outfielder Enos Slaughter from KC
1957 - USSR announces successful test of intercontinental ballistic missile
1961 - Official Intl Hockey Hall of Fame opens in Toronto
1962 - Mickey Wright wins LPGA Salt Lake City Golf Open
1962 - Minnesota Twins Jack Kralick no-hits KC A's, 1-0
1963 - W I beat England 2-1 in series, 1st holders of Wisden Cricket Trophy
1964 - Italians CP selects Luigi Longo as chairman
1964 - LBJ nominated at Democratic convention in Atlantic City, NJ
1966 - Balt Orioles Roznovsky & B Powell are 4th to hit consecutive pinch HRs
1966 - KLOC (now KCSO) channel 42 in Charlotte, NC (PBS) begins broadcasting
1967 - Beatles, Mick Jagger & Marienne Faithful meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
1967 - Dean Chance pitches a 2-1 no-hitter, & Twins sweep Cleveland
1967 - Dutch 2nd Chamber demands US stop bombing North Vietnam
1971 - Dutch Queen Juliana & Prince Bernhard visit Indonesia
1971 - NY Giant football team announces they're leaving Bronx for NJ in 1975
1971 - Orioles' Don Buford struck out 5 times in a game
1972 - 20th Olympic games open at Munich German FR
1972 - Leo Durocher replaces Harry Walker as manager of Astros
1972 - NY Cosmos beat St Louis Stars, 2-1 to win NASL championship
1972 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1973 - David Eisenhower writes his last sports column
1973 - Sandra Palmer wins LPGA National Jewish Hospital Golf Open
1973 - U of Tx (Arlington) is 1st accredited school to offer belly dancing
1973 - 10-year-old Mary Boitano is 1st woman to win 6.8-mile Dipsea Race in Marin County, CA, beating a field of 1,500 runners
1974 - Guinee-Bissau becomes independent of Portugal
1974 - Soyuz 15 carries 2 cosmonauts to space station Salyut 3
1977 - Frank Martinus Arion forms Surinamese Writers group 77
1978 - Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice becomes Pope John Paul I
1978 - Soyuz 31 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 East German) to Salyut 6
1979 - Beth Daniel wins LPGA Patty Berg Golf Classic
1980 - Pete Comita replaces Tom Peterson as bassist of Cheap Trick
1980 - John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada.
1981 - Space Shuttle vehicle moves to Launch Complex 39A for STS-2 mission
1981 - Voyager 2 takes photo's of Saturn's moon Titan
1982 - NASA launches Telesat-F
1983 - Flooding destroys most of the old town of Bilbao, Spain.
1984 - Betsy King wins LPGA Columbia Savings Golf Classic
1984 - Tatyana Kazankina of USSR sets 3k woman record (8:22.62) in Leningrad
1984 - Zdena Silvaha (Cz) throws discus 74.55 m (women's world record)
1985 - Balt Oriole Eddie Murray knocks in 9 RBIs in a game vs California Angels
1985 - French government claims no knowledge of assault on Rainbow Warrior
1986 - Rosa Mota wins Stuttgart female marathon (2:28:38)
1987 - Paul Molitor goes 0-for-4 ends hitting streak at 39 consecutive games
1988 - Mehran Karimi Nasseri arrives at Charles de Gaulle International Airport.
1989 - Trumbull Conn, is 1st US team since 1983 to win Little League WS
1990 - 2 slain college students found in Gainesville Florida
1990 - Beth Daniel wins LPGA Northgate Golf Classic
1990 - Bo Jackson hits 4th of 4 consecutive HRs
1991 - Royal Brett Saberegen no-hits White Sox 7-0
1992 - "Anna Karenina" opens at Circle in Sq Theater NYC for 46 performances
1995 - Andrew Symonds hits 20 sixes in match for Gloucs v Glamorgan
1995 - Lara completes 7th Test Cricket century, 179 at The Oval
42nd US President Bill Clinton42nd US President Bill Clinton 1996 - Bill Clinton signs welfare reform into law, representing major shift in US welfare policy
1997 - Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed.
1999 - Michael Johnson breaks the 400 metres world record with a time of 43.18 seconds.
2002 - Earth Summit 2002 begins in Johannesburg, South Africa.
2003 - The Columbia Accident Investigation Board releases its final reports on Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
2008 - Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of the former Georgian breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
2011 - The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing's all-new composite airliner, receives certification from the EASA and the FAA
2012 - 15 year-old New Zealand golfer, Lydia Ko, becomes the youngest LPGA Tour event winner and the first amateur winner since 1969
2012 - 36 people are killed in a bus crash in Yan'an,China
2012 - 17 villagers in Afghanistan's Kajaki district are beheaded by an unknown organization
2012 - A Legionellosis outbreak in Quebec City, Canada, kills 8 and infects 104
55 B.C. - Britain was invaded by Roman forces under Julius Caesar. 1498 - Michelangelo was commissioned to make the "Pieta." 1842 - The first fiscal year was established by the U.S. Congress to start on July 1st. 1847 - Liberia was proclaimed as an independent republic. 1873 - The school board of St. Louis, MO, authorized the first U.S. public kindergarten. 1896 - In the Philippines, and insurrection began against the Spanish government. 1920 - The 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect. The amendment prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in the voting booth. 1934 - Adolf Hitler demanded that France turn over their Saar region to Germany. 1937 - All Chinese shipping was blockaded by Japan. 1939 - The first televised major league baseball games were shown. The event was a double-header between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers. 1939 - The radio program, "Arch Oboler’s Plays", presented the NBC Symphony for the first time. 1945 - The Japanese were given surrender instructions on the U.S. battleship Missouri at the end of World War II. 1947 - Don Bankhead became the first black pitcher in major league baseball. 1957 - It was announced that an intercontinental ballistic missile was successfully tested by the Soviet Union. 1957 - The first Edsel made by the Ford Motor Company rolled out. 1961 - The International Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto opened. 1973 - A U.S. Presidential Proclamation was declared that made August 26th Women's Equality Day. 1978 - Sigmund Jahn blasted off aboard the Russian Soyuz 31 and became the first German in space. 1981 - The U.S. claimed that North Korea fired an antiaircraft missile at a U.S. Surveillance plane while it was over South Korea. 1987 - The Fuller Brush Company announced plans to open two retail stores in Dallas, TX. The company that had sold its products door to door for 81 years. 1990 - The 55 Americans at the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait left Baghdad by car and headed for the Turkish border. 1991 - Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev promised that national elections would be held. 1992 - A "no-fly zone" was imposed on the southern 1/3 of Iraq. The move by the U.S., France and Britain was aimed at protecting Iraqi Shiite Muslims. 1998 - The U.S. government announced that they were investigating Microsoft in an attempt to discover if they "bullied" Intel into delaying new technology.
1847 Liberia was proclaimed an independent republic. 1920 The 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote went into effect. 1939 The first televised major league baseball game was televised: a double-header between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds. 1974 Aviator Charles Lindbergh, the first man to fly solo, nonstop across the Atlantic, died. 1978 John Paul I became Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He died one month later.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
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