It was an ordinary day. September 9,1944 and I was born. Seems just like yesterday to me, but to most of you reading this story, it probably sounds like a date from years and years ago. In some ways...we are both correct. So, what else happened in 1944 that you may remember. My Reminisce Magazine had a multi-page story about 1944 with the heading of "Time Capsule." Never thought of it that way, but I guess I can see how many would think that over 75 years ago would be part of a time capsule. One of the biggest events of 1944 would have been in early June when on June 5 the American troops lead the Allied liberation of Rome, Italy. That same day the British codebreaker Colossus Mark 2 cracked German naval communications vital to D-Day plans. The following day, June 6, more than 160,000 Allied troops stormed France's Normandy coast to deliver a crushing blow to occupying Nazi forces; and in November, Washington state scientists created a weapons-grade plutonium, leading to the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan in 1945. Some other important events from the year 1944 would be:
January 11: President Roosevelt called for an Economic Bill of Rights in his State of the Union address.
January 15: An earthquake in San Juan, Argentina killed an estimated 10,000 people and destroyed 90% of the buildings.
January 18: Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday were among the performers in the first jazz concert held at New York city's Metropolitan Opera House.
February 3: U.S. troops capture the Japanese held Marshall Islands.
February 20: The Big Week, the biggest air battle of World War II begins.
February 26: Sue S. Dauser became the first female captain in the U.S. Navy
March 2: Casablanca won best picture at the 16th Academy Awards
March 18: Italy's Mount Vesuvius begins to erupt, lasting a month.
March 24: More than 75 Allied prisoners slip out of a nazi POW camp via a secret tunnel. This became known as the Great Escape, but only three men made it to freedom. You may remember the movie of the same name.
April 25: 27 colleges form the United Negro College Fund.
May 3: Going My Way with Bing Crosby as an inspiring young priest, opens in New York.
June 17: Iceland forms an independent republic after rescinding its union with Denmark and the author of this blog was married 23 years later.
June 22: President Roosevelt signs the GI Bil of Rights into law.
July 20: A plot to kill Adolf Hitler fails.
August 4: Anne Frank and her family are found. Later, they are sent to a concentration camp.
August 9: Smokey the Bear is created as part of a national campaign to prevent forest fires.
September 5: Central New York is hit by the largest earthquake in the state's recorded history.
November 28: MGM releases Meet Me in St. Louis, with Judy Garland, and directed by her husband-to-be Vincente Minnelli.
December 14: National Velvet makes a star of 12-year-old Elizabeth Taylor.
December 16: The Battle of the Bulge begins.
December 18: The Supreme Court rules that the internment of Japanese Americans is allowed under the Constitution.
1944 may have been much like every other year, but it did have quite a few historic topics and dates which I have listed. Can you remember any historic events that happened during your birth year? If you are still a young whippersnapper, perhaps when you celebrate your 50th or maybe your 75th birthday, I'm sure you will find stories or lists telling about the history of the year you were born. It was fun reading for me, if not for you. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
The reminisce magazine was a favorite of mine. Beautiful pictures and well written stories. Who doesn't remember National Velvet. Almost as good as black beauty.
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