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Polish Fighting Team

Polish Fighting Team

The Polish Fighting Team (Polish: Polski Zespół Myśliwski) was a group of Polish pilots fighting on the North African front in 1943. The unit was sent to Africa on insistence of the Polish HQ, who wanted to train a cadre of experienced pilots in desert warfare and harsh African conditions. Fifteen pilots were chosen, with a plan for personnel rotation every 3 months. After initial preparations in West Kirby RAF base, they embarked on an Atlantic convoy, arriving in Africa in March 1943. High effectiveness and style very quickly earned them a "Skalski's Circus" nickname, after the first commander of the unit, Stanisław Skalski. F/O (por.) Mieczysław Wyszkowski was the only casualty in the PFT, shot down and taken POW on April 18. German Army in Africa surrendered on May 13 and PFT was disbanded.

Locations

- March 13 1943 - Bu Grara
- April 11 1943 - La Fauconnerie
- April 15 1943 - Goubrine
- May 6 1943 - Hergla
- May 20 1943 - Ben Gardane

Squadron equipment

- March 15 1943 - Supermarine Spitfire F VB Trop and VC (inter alia: AB168, ER539 -7)
- March 23 - March 26 1943 - Supermarine Spitfire F IXC (inter alia: EN261 -10, EN267 -5, EN268 -7, EN286 -8, EN300 -9, EN315 -6, EN361 -3, EN459 -1) Supermarine Spitfire, F/O Wyszkowski; sitting on the ground: P/O Kowalski and W/O Malinowski.]]

Scores

Pilots

Bibligraphy

- Bohdan Arct: Cyrk Skalskiego Warsaw, 1970, MON Category:Polish Air Force squadrons Category:World War II Polish forces

Polish language

Polish (język polski, polszczyzna) is the official language of Poland. Polish is the main representative of the Lechitic branch of the Western Slavic languages. It originated in the areas of present-day Poland from several local Western Slavic dialects, most notably those spoken in Greater Poland and Lesser Poland. Polish was once a lingua franca in various regions of Central and Eastern Europe, mostly due to the political, cultural, scientific and military influence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Although no longer having as great an influence outside of Poland, due in part to the dominance of the Russian language, it is still sometimes spoken or at least understood in western border areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania as a second language.

Outside Influence

Polish has been influenced by contact with foreign languages (foremost Latin, Czech, French, German, Italian, Old Belarusian, Russian and recently it has been virtually bombarded by English, especially American English language elements). Many words have been borrowed from German as a result of heavy contact with Germans and the German language. This process has been going on since medieval times. Examples include szlachta (from German Adelsgeschlecht=nobility), rachunek (Rechnung=account), ratusz (Rathaus=town hall), burmistrz (Bürgermeister=mayor; word used only for mayors of smaller cities), handel (Handel=commerce), kac (Kater=hangover), kartofel (Kartoffel=potato; this word is dialectal: most Poles use the word 'ziemniak' for potato, but both words are understood anywhere), cukier (Zucker=sugar), kelner (Kellner=waiter) and malarz (Maler=painter; also the word 'malować' has entered Polish as the verb "to paint"). This is especially true of the regional dialects of Upper Silesia. There are also several words of French origin in the language, most likely dating from the Napoleon era, such as ekran (écran=screen), rekin (requin=shark), meble (meuble=furniture), fotel (fauteuil=armchair), plaża (plage=beach) and koszmar (cauchemar=nightmare). Some place names have also been adapted from French, such as the two Warsaw boroughs of Żoliborz (joli bord=beautiful riverside) and Mokotów (mon coteau=my cottage), as well as the suburb of Żyrardów (from the name Girard, with the Polish suffix -ów attached to form the town's name). Other words are borrowed from other Slavic languages, for example "hańba" and "brama" from Czech. When borrowing international words, Polish often changes their spelling. For example, the Latin suffix spelled '-tion' in English corresponds to '-cja'. To make the word plural, -cja becomes -cje. Examples of this include "inauguracja" (inauguration), dewastacja (devastation), konurbacja (conurbation) and konotacje (connotations). Also, the digraph 'qu' becomes 'kw' (kwadrat=quadrant; frekwencja=frequency). Since 1945, as the result of mass education and mass migrations (which affected several countries after the Second World War, with Poland being an extreme case) standard Polish has become far more homogeneous, although regional dialects persist, particularly in the south and south-west in the hilly areas bordering the Czech and Slovak Republics. In the western and northern territories, resettled in large measure by Poles from the territories annexed by the Soviet Union, the older generation speaks a dialect of Polish characteristic of the former eastern provinces.

Classification

The Polish language is the most widely-spoken of the Slavic language subgroup of Lechitic languages which include Kashubian (the only surviving dialect of Pomeranian language) and the extinct Polabian language. The three languages, along with Upper and Lower Sorbian, Czech and Slovak, belong to the West branch of Slavic languages. To English ears, it sounds virtually indistinguishable from Russian, and indeed the two languages have a very similar grammar; however, Polish and Russian speakers cannot understand each other without training due to a very different vocabulary. In other words, to a speaker of one, the other sounds to them about how the first stanza of the poem Jabberwocky would sound to an English-speaker.

Geographic distribution

Polish is mainly spoken in Poland. In fact, Poland is one of the most homogenous European countries in terms of its mother tongue, as close to 97% of Polish citizens declare Polish as their mother tongue. After the Second World War the previously Polish territories annexed by the USSR retained a large amount of the Polish population that was unwilling or unable to migrate toward the post-1945 Poland and even today ethnic Poles in Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine constitute large minorities. In Lithuania 9 percent of the population declared Polish to be their mother tongue. It is by far the most widely used minority language in the Vilniaus Apskritis (Vilnius region) (26% of the population, according to the 2001 census results), but it is also present in other apskritis. In Ukraine, Polish is most often used in the Lwów and Łuck regions. Western Belarus has an important Polish minority, especially in the Brześć and Grodno regions. There are also significant numbers of Polish speakers in Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, UAE, the UK and the United States. In the U.S. the number of people of Polish descent is over 9 million, see: Polish language in the United States, but most of them do not use Polish in their everyday communications. According to the United States 2000 Census, 667,414 Americans of age 5 years and over reported Polish as language spoken at home, which is about 1.4% of people who speak languages other than English or 0.25% of the U.S. population.

Dialects

It has several dialects that correspond in the main to the old tribal divisions; the most significant of these (in terms of numbers of speakers) are Great Polish (spoken in the west), Little Polish (spoken in the south and southeast), Mazovian (Mazur) spoken throughout the centre and east of the country, and Silesian spoken in the southwest. Mazovian shares some features with the Kashubian language, whose remaining speakers (53.000, according to 2002 Census) live around the city of Gdańsk near the Baltic Sea, predominantly to the west of the city. There are also several, now mostly extinct, regional dialects of Polish, including the Warsaw dialect. Small numbers of people in Poland also speak Belarusian, Ukrainian, and German as well as several varieties of Romany.

Phonology

Orthography

The Polish alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet but uses diacritics such as kreska (graphically similar to acute accent), superior dot and ogonek. Polish orthography also includes seven digraphs: Note that although the Polish orthography is mostly phonetic, some sounds may be written in more than one way:
- as either h or ch
- as either ż or rz (though rż denotes a cluster)
- as either u or ó
- some soft consonants as either ć, dź, ń, ś, ź, or ci, dzi, ni, si, zi Unlike in English, if consonants are doubled in script, it means that they are also doubled in pronunciation, for example: wanna , not ('bathtub'); motto , not .

Grammar

Polish is often said to be one of the most difficult languages for non-native speakers to learn; of course, this depends on one's native language. While difficult for English speakers, it is relatively easy for speakers of Russian and other Slavic languages. It has a complex gender system with five genders: neuter, feminine and three masculine genders (personal, animate and inanimate). There are 7 cases and 2 numbers. Nouns, adjectives and verbs are inflected, and both noun declension and verb conjugation are highly irregular. Every verb is either perfective or imperfective. Verbs often come in pairs, one of them imperfective and the other perfective (usually imperfective verb plus a prefix), but often there are many perfective verbs with different prefixes for single imperfective words. Tenses are: Movable suffix is usually attached to verb or to the most accented word of sentence, like question preposition. Sometimes the sentence may be emphasised with a particle -że- (-ż). So what have you done ? can be:
- Co zrobiliście?
- Coście zrobili?
- Cóżeście zrobili? (It could be derived from Cóż zrobiliście? which actually sounds odd and is not used) All the above examples show inflected forms of the verb "zrobić" for the subject "you" informal plural ("wy"). However, it is of note that none of the above examples include the subject itself. The inclusion of the subject is not necessary here because Polish is a pro-drop language. This means that a subject does not need to be used with an inflected verb. Instead, the reader or listener can tell which subject is implied through the type ending on the verb. This is different for each pronoun in Polish with the exceptions of on/ona/ono (he/she/it) which all have the same verb ending as each other and oni/one (they - of a group including male humans/they - of a group of people or things not including male humans) which also have the same verb ending as each other. Because the subject can be dropped, if the subject is used with an inflected verb it places the emphasis of the sentence on the subject. Of the above three examples, a native speaker would not include the subject in the middle sentence and would be unlikely to include a subject in the last one. The below examples show how the subject could be included in such sentences, where possible:
- Co wy zrobiliście?
- Coście zrobili? (a native speaker would not use a subject here)
- Co wyście zrobili? (this example places the stress strongly on "you" -- "wy"+ście)
- Co żeście zrobili? (this example includes the use of the że- particle - considered very colloquial) Past participle depends on number and gender, so 3rd person, singular past perfect tense can be:
- zrobił (he made/did)
- zrobiła (she made/did)
- zrobiło (it made/did)

Word order

From Wikibooks' Polish Language Course. Basic word order in Polish is SVO, however it is possible to move words around in the sentence, and to drop subject, object or even sometimes verb, if they are obvious from context. These sentences mean the same ("Ala (Alice) has a cat"):
- Ala ma kota
- Ala kota ma
- Kota ma Ala
- Ma Ala kota
- Kota Ala ma
- Ma kota Ala Yet only the first of these sounds natural in Polish, and others should be used for emphasis only, if at all. If a question mark is added to the end of those sentences they will all mean "does Ala have a cat?"; an optional 'czy' could be added to the begining but native speakers don't use it. The first is usually used as a reassuring question (really, Ala has a cat?). The fourth would be used as a standard question (does Ala have a cat?) If apparent from context, you can drop the subject, object or even the verb:
- Ma kota - can be used if it's obvious who is being talked about
- Ma - answer for "Czy Ala ma kota?" ("Does Ala have a cat?")
- Ala - answer for "Kto ma kota?" ("Who has a cat?")
- Kota - answer for "Co ma Ala?" ("What does Ala have?")
- Ala ma - answer for "Kto z naszych znajomych ma kota?" ("Which of our friends has a cat?") Note the marker "czy" which is used to start a yes/no question, much as the French use "est-ce que". There is a tendency in Polish to drop the subject rather than the object and you rarely know the object but not the subject. If the question was "Kto ma kota ?" (who has a cat ?), the answer should be "Ala" alone, without a verb. In particular, "ja" (I) and "ty" (you, singular), and also their plural equivalents "my" (we) and "wy" (you, plural), are almost always dropped.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "iść" ("walking" in Present Continuous):
- Ja idę – I am walking
- Ty idziesz – You are walking
- On/ona/ono idzie – He/she/it is walking
- My idziemy – We are walking
- Wy idziecie – You are walking (Plural)
- Oni/one idą – They are walking ("Oni" masculine, "one" feminine or neuter)

Vocabulary

Singular:
ja - I
ty - you
on - he
ona - she
ono - it
Plural:
my - we
wy - you (Plural)
oni - they (mixed group, both men and women)
one - they (group of only women and children or things) pies - dog
krowa - cow
świnia - pig
mucha - fly
osa - wasp
pszczoła - bee
drzewo - tree
kwiat - flower
Anglia - England
Szkocja - Scotland
Walia - Wales
Irlandia - Ireland
Wielka Brytania - Great Britain
Zjednoczone Królestwo - United Kingdom
Niemcy - Germany
Japonia - Japan
Stany Zjednoczone Ameryki - The United States of America
Francja - France
Hiszpania - Spain
Wenezuela - Venezuela
Polska - Poland
Polak - Pole
polski - Polish
Konstantynopolitańczykowianeczka - a little girl from Constantinople (the longest word in Polish)

Notes

¹ You can hear the voice samples by clicking on the Polish example (ogg format).

External links

- [http://slownik.web-monkeys.com/ słownik polski - polish dictionary]
- [http://www.polishgrammar.com/ 1,000 free multi-choice Polish grammar drills online]
- [http://www.polish-dictionary.com/ Basic English-Polish Dictionary]
- [http://www.polish-translations.com/PolishTranslation/ Articles about Polish Language]
- [http://www.ethnologue.org/show_language.asp?code=pol Polish language on Ethnologue]
- [http://www.fdicts.com/dictlist1.php?k1=75 All free Polish dictionaries]
- [http://sjp.pwn.pl/ PWN Polish-Polish Dictionary]
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Polish-english/ Webster's Online Polish-English Dictionary]
- [http://www.dict.pl Polish-English dictionary]
- [http://www.anglik.net/polish.htm Free Polish Translation]
- [http://www.poltran.com/ Online translation Polish<->English]
- [http://golem.umcs.lublin.pl/users/ppikuta/lessons/less0.htm Polish language course]
- [http://www.langsites.com/Polish.htm Polish On-line]
- [http://seelrc.org:8080/grammar/pdf/compgrammar_polish.pdf A Concise Polish Grammar, by Ronald F. Feldstein (110-page 600-KB pdf)]
- [http://polish.slavic.pitt.edu Univ. of Pittsburgh: Polish Language Website] Category:Languages of Poland Category:West Slavic languages ko:폴란드어 ja:ポーランド語 th:ภาษาโปแลนด์

West Kirby

West Kirby is a town located on the North West corner of the coast of the Wirral, Merseyside, England. It was formerly in the county of Cheshire. The old village was located around St Bridget's Church, but the town as it is today is centred on West Kirby railway station about 1km away. The town has an elegant Victorian promenade, flanked by a marine lake that permits boats to sail even at low tide. Windsurfing and sea kayaking are both popular local sports. The town itself contains such delights as Ashton Park and the start of the Wirral Way on the site of the old Wirral railway line, which extends to Hooton. A popular activity is to walk out to Hilbre Island at low tide.

RAF

RAF can mean:
- Royal Air Force, the air force of the United Kingdom
- Red Army Faction (Rote Armee Fraktion), a German terror organisation
- Rigas Autobusu Fabrika, a Latvian bus factory
- Rapid Action Force
- Računarski Fakultet
- Raf (musician), the pseudonym of 1980s Italian musician, Raffaele Riefoli.
- Raf family of proto-oncogenes. See c-Raf.
- Royal Aircraft Factory, former name of the Royal Aircraft Establishment

Stanisław Skalski

Stanisław Skalski (1915 - 2004) was a Polish fighter ace of the Polish Air Force in World War II and general. Stanisław Skalski was born b. October 27, 1915 in Kodyma near Odessa, Russian Empire. In 1938 he completed his training course as a fighter pilot and was assigned to the 142. Squadron in Toruń. On September 1st 1939, at 5.32 AM, he downed a German Hs 126, most probably scoring the first aerial victory of the WW II. In total, he shot down 6 German airplanes in September, and on the 17th of that month, when the Soviet Union invaded Poland, moved through Romania to France and later to England. He participated in the Battle of Britain, downing another 6 German aircraft. In October 1943 he was given command of the Polish Fighting Team, or so called "Cyrk Skalskiego" (Skalski's Circus) - a Squadron consisting of best Polish fighter pilots selected from volunteers. PFT took part in actions in Tripolitania and in Sicily. Stanisław Skalski was top Polish fighter ace of WW II, scoring 22 victories (and one probable). After the war he turned back to Poland in 1947 and joined the Polish aviation. In 1948 however he was arrested by the communist regime under the charge of espionage. Sentenced to death, he spent 3 years awaiting the execution, after which his sentence was changed to life imprisonment. After the end of stalinism in Poland, in 1956 he was released, rehabilitated, and allowed to join the army. He served at various posts in the Headquarters of the Polish Air Forces. On May 20, 1968 he was nominated the secretary general of the Aeroklub Polski and on April 10, 1972 he retired. On September 15, 1988, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Stanisław Skalski passed away in Warsaw on November 12, 2004.

Awards

- Virtuti Militari, two times (Golden and Silver Cross)
- Krzyż Walecznych, four times
- Distinguished Flying Cross, three times
- Distinguished Service Order Distinguished Service Order

Bibliography

- Stanisław Skalski: Czarne krzyże nad Polską (1957) : : Skalski, Stanisław Skalski, Stanisław Skalski, Stanisław Skalski, Stanisław Skalski, Stanisław Skalski, Stanisław Skalski, Stanisław

Prisoner of war

in Russia; a 1915 photo by Prokudin-Gorskii]] A prisoner of war (POW, PoW, or PW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. Laws exist to ensure prisoners of war are treated humanely and diplomatically. Nations vary in their dedication to following these laws. Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention protects captured military personnel, some guerrilla fighters and certain civilians. It applies from the moment a prisoner is captured until he is released or repatriated. One of the main provisions of the convention makes it illegal to torture prisoners, and states that a prisoner can only be required to give his name, date of birth, rank and service number (if applicable). The status of POW does not include unarmed non-combatants who are captured in time of war; they are protected by the Fourth Geneva Convention rather than the Third Geneva Convention.

Qualification as POW

In principle, to be entitled to prisoner of war status the captured service member must have conducted operations according to the laws and customs of war, e.g. be part of a chain of command, wear a uniform and bear arms openly. Thus, franc-tireurs, terrorists and spies may be excluded. In practice these criteria are not always interpreted strictly. Guerrillas, for example, may not wear a uniform or carry arms openly, yet are typically granted POW status if captured. However, guerrillas or any other combatant may not be granted the status if they try to use both the civilian and the military status. Thus, the importance of uniforms — or as in the guerrilla case, a badge — to keep this important rule of warfare.

Treatment of POWs

The treatment of prisoners of war can depend on the resources, social attitudes and policies of the governments and militaries in question. For instance, in World War II, Soviet prisoners of Nazi Germany and German prisoners of the Soviet Union were often treated with neglect and brutality. The Nazi Regime regarded Soviet POWs as being of a lower racial order, and many Soviet POWs were consequently subject to enforced labour or were murdered in keeping with The Third Reich's policy of "racial purification". An official justification used by the Germans for this policy was the fact that the Soviet Union had not signed the Geneva convention. Prisoners from Britain and the US were generally treated much better by the Germans. On the Soviet side, German POWs were regarded as having forfeited their right to fair treatment, because of the widespread crimes committed against Soviet civilians during their invasion campaign. This combined with the fact that much of the Soviet workforce was now in the hands of Nazi Germany, also led to employment of many German POWs as forced labour (this forced labour was in keeping with that imposed by the Soviets on her own civilians for a range of criminal and political crimes). In the Pacific Theater, some of the harshest treatment of POWs were dealt by the Japanese. Prisoners held by Japanese armed forces were subject to brutal treatment, including forced labour, medical experimentation, vivisection, starvation rations, beatings for escape attempts, and were denied medical treatment. Whereas Allied POWs had a death rate of about 2% to 4% in German POW camps, the death rate in Japanese camps was generally in the range of 20% to 35%. This was due in part to physical maltreatment by the Japanese, but was exacerbated by malnutrition and lack of medicines, particularly antimalarial drugs. Similarly, during the Vietnam War, American service members captured by North Vietnam were routinely beaten and tortured in violation of their status as prisoners of war. By contrast, POW facilities held by Allied nations like the USA, UK and Canada usually complied strictly to the Geneva Conventions, which sometimes created conditions POWs found were more comfortable than their own side's barracks. This approach was decided on the idea that having POWs well treated meant a ready supply of healthy and cooperative laborers for farmwork and the like, as allowed by the Geneva Conventions, which eased personnel shortages. There were also the benefits of a lower chance of having to deal with escapes or prisoner disruption. In addition, as word spread among the enemy about the conditions of Allied POW camps, it encouraged surrenders which helped further Allied military goals efficiently. Furthermore, it may have raised morale among the Allied personnel when the usefulness of this approach was accepted by reinforcing the idea that this humane treatment of prisoners showed that their side was morally superior to the enemy.

Alternative definitions

Some groups define Prisoner of War in accordance with their internal politics and world view. Since the special rights of a prisoner of war, granted by governments, are the result of multilateral treaties, these definitions have no legal effect and those claiming rights under these definitions would legally be considered common criminals under an arresting jurisdiction's laws. However, it must be noted that in most cases these groups do not demand such rights.

Anarchist Black Cross Federation definition

Anarchist Black Cross Federation has defined the term in its [http://abcf.net/abc/pdfs/constitution.pdf constitution] as "those persons incarcerated as a result of political beliefs or actions consciously undertaken and intended to resist exploitation and oppression, and/or hasten the implementation of an egalitarian, sustainable, ethical, classless society, predicated on self determination and maximization of all people's freedom."

November Coalition definition

November Coalition uses the term Prisoner of War to also refer to Prisoner of Drug War or Prisoner of War on Drugs. Every person charged with the crime under the statues of the Drug War fits that definition, whether or not that individual's arrest and conviction was legal.

The American term EPW -- Enemy Prisoner of War

The term enemy prisoner of war (EPW) is used by the United States to refer to a captured enemy service member in their custody, but is not a term under the Geneva Conventions.

PoWs since Geneva Convention (1929)

List of nations with the highest number of PoWs in any war since the 1st Geneva Convention came into effect in 1929. The USSR had not signed the Geneva convention. All except one took place during World War II. Listed in descending order.
- Currently no reliable and neutral figures are available.

List of notable POWs

This is a list of POWs that attracted notable attention or influence by this status. Geneva Conventions shows the 90,000 PoWs in Indian camps following its surrender in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.]]
- Friedrich Penis
- Werner Drechsler
- Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach
- Laurens van der Post
- General Yahya Khan
- A. A. K. Niazi
- Airey Neave
- Rudolf Hess
- John McCain
- Louis Zamperini
- Jeremiah Denton
- Ronald Searle
- Jessica Lynch
- Kurt Vonnegut
- E W Swanton
- W. H. Murray

Documentaries about POWs

- The stories of several American fighter pilots, shot down over North Vietnam are the focus of American Film Foundation's 1999 documentary Return with Honor, presented by Tom Hanks.

References

# # [http://www.gendercide.org/case_soviet.html Gendercide site] # Clark, Alan Barbarossa: The Russian-German Conflict 1941-1945 page 206, ISBN 0-304-35864-9

External links

- [http://abcf.net/abcf.asp?page=const1 Who and What are Political Prisoners (PP) and Prisoners of War (POW)] — Anarchist Black Cross Federation
- [http://www.pegasus-one.org/pow/main.htm POWs of WWII and their experiences]
- [http://www.virtualwall.org/pmsea.htm Current staus of Vietnam War POW/MIA] Category:Military Category:Imprisonment and detention ja:捕虜

April 18

April 18 is the 108th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (109th in leap years). There are 257 days remaining.

Events

- 1025 - Bolesław I Chrobry is crowned as the first king of Poland.
- 1042 - Michael V attempts to remain sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire by sending his adoptive mother and co-ruler Zoë of Byzantium to a monastery.
- 1518 - Bona Sforza is crowned as queen of Poland.
- 1775 - Two lanterns were hung from the steeple of the Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts. Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott ride to warn of impending arrests of Samuel Adams and John Hancock and seizure of weapons. Only Prescott finishes the ride.
- 1797 - Battle of Neuwied resulted in the victory of French under General Louis Lazare Hoche against Austrians under General Wermecek.
- 1880 - A F4 tornado strikes Marshfield, Missouri, killing 99 people and injuring 200.
- 1906 - An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.8, destroys much of San Francisco, California. (See 1906 San Francisco earthquake)
- 1906 - The Los Angeles Times runs a front-page story on the Azusa Street Revival, launching Pentecostalism as a worldwide movement.
- 1915 - Early French aviator and a fighter aircraft pilot Roland Garros was shot down and glided to a landing on the German side of the lines during World War I.
- 1923 - Yankee Stadium, "The House that Ruth Built", opens.
- 1934 - The first washateria opens in Fort Worth, Texas.
- 1942 - World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Tokyo occurs.
- 1942 - Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France.
- 1945 - World War II: Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany, leaving nothing standing.
- 1946 - The League of Nations is dissolved.
- 1949 - The Republic of Ireland Act comes into force.
- 1954 - Gamal Abdal Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
- 1958 - A U.S. federal court rules that poet Ezra Pound be released from an insane asylum.
- 1961 - CONCP is founded in Casablanca as a united front of African movements opposing Portuguese colonial rule.
- 1972 - The Roland Corporation is founded in Osaka, Japan.
- 1974 - Italian prosecutor Mario Sossi is kidnapped by the Red Brigades.
- 1980 - The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country's first President.
- 1981 - A Minor League baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island becomes the longest professional baseball game in history: 8 hours and 25 minutes/33 innings (the 33rd inning was not played until June 23rd).
- 1983 - A suicide bomber destroys the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people.
- 1987 - Mike Schmidt becomes the 14th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- 1988 - U.S. launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in retaliation for the April 14 mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will. The one-day action is the world's largest naval battle since World War II.
- 1992 - General Abdul Rashid Dostum revolted against President Mohammad Najibullah of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and allied with Ahmed Shah Massoud to capture Kabul.
- 1996 - In Lebanon, 102 Lebanese civilians are killed when the Israel Defense Forces shell the UN compound at Qana (see Qana Massacre).
- 2002 - A new order of insects, Mantophasmatodea, is announced.
- 2005 - Papal conclave begins at the Sistine Chapel after death of Pope John Paul II

Births

- 1480 - Lucrezia Borgia, Florentine ruler and daughter of Pope Alexander VI
- 1580 - Thomas Middleton, English dramatist (d. 1627)
- 1590 - Ahmed I, Ottoman Emperor (d. 1617)
- 1605 - Giacomo Carissimi, Italian composer (d. 1674)
- 1771 - Karl Philipp Fürst zu Schwarzenberg, Austrian field marshal (d. 1820)
- 1772 - David Ricardo, English economist (d. 1823)
- 1797 - Adolphe Thiers, French statesman (d. 1877)
- 1819 - Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer (d. 1895)
- 1838 - Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, French scientist (d. 1912)
- 1857 - Clarence Darrow, American attorney (d. 1938)
- 1864 - Richard Harding Davis, American author (d. 1916)
- 1874 - Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic, Croatian writer (d. 1938)
- 1880 - Sam Crawford, baseball player (d. 1968)
- 1882 - Leopold Stokowski, Polish conductor (d. 1977)
- 1888 - Duffy Lewis, baseball player (d. 1979)
- 1897 - Ardito Desio, Italian topographer and mountaineer (d. 2001)
- 1902 - Giuseppe Pella, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1981)
- 1904 - Pigmeat Markham, American comedian (d. 1981)
- 1905 - George H. Hitchings, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1998)
- 1907 - Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-born composer (d. 1995)
- 1918 - Cliff Hillegass, American publisher (d. 2001)
- 1921 - Jean Richard, French actor (d. 2001)
- 1924 - Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, American musician
- 1924 - Henry Hyde, American politician
- 1927 - Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist
- 1936 - Tommy Ivo, American race car driver
- 1939 - Thomas J. Moyer, Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court
- 1940 - Joseph L. Goldstein, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1940 - Robert N. Kucey, Canadian author
- 1945 - Margaret Hassan, Irish-born aid worker (d. 2004)
- 1946 - Hayley Mills, English actress
- 1947 - Kathy Acker, American author (d. 1997)
- 1947 - Dorothy Lyman, American actress, director, producer
- 1947 - Cindy Pickett, American actress
- 1947 - James Woods, American actor and poker player
- 1949 - Geoff Bodine, American race car driver
- 1954 - Rick Moranis, Canadian comedian
- 1956 - Anna Kathryn Holbrook, American actress
- 1956 - Eric Roberts, American actor
- 1956 - Melody Thomas Scott, American actress
- 1958 - Malcolm Marshall, West Indian cricketer (d. 1999)
- 1961 - Jane Leeves, British actress
- 1963 - Eric McCormack, Canadian actor
- 1963 - Conan O'Brien, American comedian
- 1964 - Niall Ferguson, British historian
- 1966 - Trine Hattestad, Norwegian athlete
- 1967 - Maria Bello, American actress
- 1968 - David Hewlett, Canadian actor
- 1969 - Princess Sayako of Japan
- 1970 - Greg Eklund, American musician (Everclear)
- 1971 - David Tennant, Scottish actor
- 1973 - Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian athlete
- 1976 - Melissa Joan Hart, American actress
- 1979 - Michael Bradley, American basketball player
- 1979 - Matthew Upson, English footballer
- 1989 - Alia Shawkat, American actress

Deaths

- 1161 - Theobald of Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1552 - John Leland, English antiquarian (b. 1502)
- 1556 - Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet (b. 1495)
- 1567 - Wilhelm von Grumbach, German adventurer (b. 1503)
- 1558 - Roxelana, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent
- 1636 - Julius Caesar, English judge
- 1650 - Simonds d'Ewes, English antiquarian and politician (b. 1602)
- 1674 - John Graunt, English statistician (b. 1620)
- 1689 - George Jeffreys, British Chief Justice (b. 1648)
- 1690 - Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine, general of the Holy Roman Empire (b. 1643)
- 1794 - Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1714)
- 1802 - Erasmus Darwin, English physician and botanist (b. 1731)
- 1873 - Justus von Liebig, German chemist (b. 1803)
- 1898 - Gustave Moreau, French painter (b. 1826)
- 1936 - Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer (b. 1879)
- 1943 - Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral. (b. 1884)
- 1945 - John Ambrose Fleming, English physicist and electrical engineer (b. 1849)
- 1945 - Ernie Pyle, American journalist (b. 1900)
- 1947 - Josef Tiso, Slovakian leader (b. 1887)
- 1955 - Albert Einstein, German-born Jewish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
- 1964 - Ben Hecht, American playwright and screenwriter (b. 1894)
- 1976 - Henrik Dam, Dutch biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1895)
- 1996 - Piet Hein, Danish mathematician and inventor (b. 1905)
- 1998 - Terry Sanford, American politician (b. 1917)
- 2002 - Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer (b. 1914)
- 2002 - Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and wrestler (b. 1938)
- 2003 - Edgar F. Codd, English computer scientist (b. 1923)
- 2003 - Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (b. 1976)
- 2004 - Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, first Prime Minister of Fiji and President of Fiji (b. 1920)

Holidays and observances

- Feast days of
- Saint Apollonius (d. 186)
- Saint Perfecto (d. 850)
- Saint Galdino (d. 1176)
- Eusebius (d. 526)
- Saint Agia (d. 707
- Marie de l'Incarnation (1566 – 1618)
- Good Friday (2003)
- Easter (1976)
- Zimbabwe – Independence Day
- Massachusetts – Patriots Day (2005)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/18 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/4/18 Today in History: April 18] ---- April 17 - April 19 - March 18 - May 18 – listing of all days ko:4월 18일 ja:4月18日 simple:April 18 th:18 เมษายน

German Army

The German Army (German: Heer ) is one of the three parts of the Bundeswehr ("Federal Defence"), as well as previously the Wehrmacht ("Defence Force") - the others are the Air Force (Luftwaffe) and the Navy (Marine).

History

Pre 1914

Following the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo the Prussian Kingdom had years of military successes in the 19th Century & 20th Century. Every able bodied man between the ages of 17 and 45 was liable for military service. There were 4 classes of service; Active (Aktiv), Reserve, Landwehr and Landsturm. The Landwehr and Landsturm were only called up at times of war. The basic unit of the army at this time was the Regiment. Regiments were typically raised and supported by a specific city or region. Each regiment was then stationed near its home city. The Reserve regiment was often made up of past members of the local regiment. The Landwehr and Landstrum units were also organized the same way. An individual could spend all 22 years of military service surrounded by their friends and family. This created close ties within regiments, but the entire population of young men from a city or region could be wiped out in one battle.

World War I 1914-1918

The Prussian Army became the nucleus of the Imperial German Army (Kaiserliche Armee or Deutsches Reichsheer) with the unification of Germany in 1871. By 1914 the German Army fielded 50 Active Divisions.

Reichswehr 1918-1935

Following the end of WWI and the collapse of the German Empire most of the German army (Heer) was demobilized or simply dissolved. Many former soldiers drifted into small armed groups known as Freikorps. The Freikorps were generally groups of 100 men or less that protected a neighbourhood or town. On March 6th, 1919 an army known as the Vorläufige Reichswehr, or Provisional German Defence Force was formed with about 400,000 men, many drawn form the Freikorps. Then, in September 30, 1919 the Übergangsheer, or Transitional Army was created from the Defence Force and the Freikorps. Finally, on January 1, 1921 the Reichswehr was formed with 7 Infantry Divisions and 3 Cavalry Divisions. The Reichswehr put down Adolf Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch.

Wehrmacht 1935-1945

Under the Treaty of Versailles the Reichswehr was only allowed 100,000 soldiers split between the Army and the Navy. In 1933 the Nazi party came to power and began dismantling the treaty. The Army was founded as part of the Wehrmacht in May 1935 with the passing of the "Law for the Reconstruction of the National Defence Forces". The Wehrmacht was expanded to include the Army and Navy and with a third branch known as the Luftwaffe. Initially, the Army was expanded to 21 Divisional sized units and smaller formations. Between 1935 and 1945 this force grew to consist of hundreds of Divisions and thousands of smaller supporting units. Between 1939 and 1945 close to 13 million served in the Army. Over 1.6 million were killed and over 4.1 million were wounded. Of the 7361 men awarded the initial grade of the highest German combat honour of WWII, the Knights Cross, 4777 were from the Army making up 65% of the total awarded. The Allies dissolved the German Army on August 20 1946.

Current Army

Structure

The modern German Army (Deutsches Heer) is one of the largest in Europe, with a total of 185,000 men. Currently, it is divided into six Divisions; of these, five are ordinary Armoured (Panzer) or Mechanised (Panzergrenadier) Divisions, while the sixth is a dedicated Special Operations formation:
- 1. Panzerdivision: Within the 1st Armoured Division, based at Hanover, there are a total of two brigades, with a third ready to be mobilised if needed. Of these, one is a mechanised brigade, while the other is responsible for training. 1. Panzerdivision is the German formation assigned to NATO's I. Deutsch / Niederländisches Korps (I (GE/NL) Corps).
- Panzergrenadierbrigade 1
- Panzerlehrbrigade 9
- 7. Panzerdivision: 7th Armoured Division, based at Düsseldorf, contains two armoured brigades. 7. Panzerdivision is the German formation assigned to II (GE/US) Corps.
- Panzerbrigade 14
- Panzerbrigade 21
- 10. Panzerdivision: 10th Armoured Division, based at Sigmaringen, is the German contribution to Eurocorps and contains one mechanised brigade, and the army's mountain troop(Gebirgsjäger) brigade. It also has responsibility for the Franco-German Brigade.
- Gebirgsjägerbrigade 23
- Panzergrenadierbrigade 30
- Deutsch-Französische Brigade
- 13. Panzergrenadierdivision: 13th Merchanised Division, based at Leipzig, contains one armoured brigade and one light infantry brigade. 13. Panzergrenadierdivision is the German contribution to V (US/GE) Corps.
- Panzerbrigade 12
- Jägerbrigade 37
- 14. Panzergrenadierdivision: 14th Mechanised Division, based at Neubrandenburg, consists of one armoured and one mechanised division. 14. Panzergrenadierdivsion is the German contribution to the Multi-National Corps North-East (MNC NE).
- Panzerbrigade 18
- Panzergrenadierbrigade 41
- Divison Spezielle Operationen: The Special Operations Division contains both of the army's paratroop (Fallschirmjäger) brigades and its Special Operations Unit.
- Luflandebrigade 26
- Luflandebrigade 31
- Kommando Spezialkräfte
- Division Luftbewegliche Operationen: The airmobile division contains one air mechanised brigade and the army's aviation brigade.
- Luftmechanisierten Brigade 1
- Heeresfliegerbrigade 3

Combat Arms

In the German Army, unlike in the armies of its neighbours (France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark), there are no individual regiments. Instead, individual battalions of infantry, armour, artillery etc are given unique numbers.

Armour

As with most armies, the German Army has both armoured units (panzer), equipped with main battle tanks, and armoured reconnaissance units (panzeraufklärung). Most panzer or panzergrenadier brigades have one or two panzer battalions, while the panzeraufklärung battalions are classed as divisional troops, with one battalion being assigned to a panzer division.

Infantry

Within the German Army, there are four types of infantry:
- Panzergrenadier - Mechanised Infantry
- Jäger - Light Infantry
- Gebirgsjäger - Mountain troop
- Fallschirmjäger - Paratroop The majority of infantry units are in fact panzergrenadier (13 battalions) who are assigned to Panzer and Panzergrenadier divisions. Of the other types, the majority are grouped together into brigades with other units trained in the same way - there is a mountain brigade, and two parachute brigades.

Combat Support

Artillery

The majority of artillery within the German Army is Panzerartillerie (armoured artillery). Panzerartillerie battalions are usually assigned to panzer or panzergrenadier brigades. However, there is also a specialist artillery brigade, Artilleriebrigade 100, which is responsible for both Raketenartillerie (rocket artillery) and Artillerieaufklärung (surveillance and target acquisition).

Weapons

- Heckler & Koch G36 - 5.56 mm x 45 Assault rifle replacing the Heckler & Koch G3
- Heckler & Koch MG4
- MG3 - 7.62 mm x 51 machine gun
- Heckler & Koch MP7 - 4.6 mm x 30 sub-machine gun replacing the MP2 (Uzi submachine gun)
- Heckler & Koch MP5 - 9 x 19 mm sub-machine gun, only used by the military police (Feldjäger) and the KSK
- Heckler & Koch P8 pistol - 9 mm x 19 pistol replacing the Walther P1
- Accuracy International G22 - 7.62 mm x 66.5 Sniper rifle
- Dynamit Nobel Panzerfaust 3 - Rocket propelled grenade
- Raytheon Fliegerfaust 2 (FIM-92 Stinger) - infrared homing surface-to-air missile
- MILAN
- Granatpistole
- Eickhorn Kampfmesser KM2000 - 172 mm tanto style blade standard battle knife

Combat vehicles

- Leopard 1 - Main Battle Tank (1000 - phasing out)
- Leopard 2 - Main Battle Tank (1900)
- Marder 1A2/1A3 - infantry fighting vehicle (2100)
- Wiesel 1/2 - light air-transportable infantry fighting vehicle
- Boxer MRAV - Multirole Armoured Vehicles (1000) to replace 2416 M113, 224 M557, 408 Luchs SPz-2 and 1016 Fuchs TPz-1 vehicles
- Dingo 1/2
- Mercedes Wolf
- Mungo
- Luchs
- Fuchs (APC)
- FENNEK
- Puma

Artillery

- M270 MLRS - 270mm multiple rocket launcher (154)
- LARS - 110 mm multiple rocket launcher (80)
- PzH 2000 155mm self-propelled howitzer replacing 573 M109A3G
- FH-70 - 155 mm Howitzer (192)
- M101 - 105 mm Howitzer (114)
- Model 56 - 105 mm gun (19)
- JPZ4-5 - 90 mm self-propelled gun (118)
- Gepard - 35 mm self-propelled anti-aircraft (379)
- M113 Mortar 120 mm Tampella (515)

Non-combat vehicles

- Mercedes-Benz G-Klasse

Helicopters

- CH-53G (108)
- UH-1D - been phased out (174)
- Bo105 attack, anti-tank and scouting/liaison (341)
- Eurocopter Tiger KHS
- NH90
- Eurocopter EC135

Reference

- Wheeler-Bennett, Sir John The Nemesis of Power: German Army in Politics, 1918-1945 New York: Palgrave Macmillan Publishing Company, 2005.

External links

- [http://www.deutschesheer.de/redaktionen/heer/internet/Contentbase2.nsf/Frame/N257QDAE321PTILDE German Army website, in English]
- [http://www.feldgrau.com/ German Armed Forces 1918-1945]
- [http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~maampo/militaer/milindex.html German Army pre 1914]
- [http://www.worldwar1.com/sfgarmy.htm German Army 1914-1918]
- [http://www.tulipacademy.org/gew/ddhob/ German Army Organization 1914]
- [http://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/germans German Infantry Photographs from WWII] - Color photographs of German infantry during WWII Category:Armies Category:Military of Germany

March 13

March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). There are 293 days remaining.

Events

- 483 - St. Felix becomes Pope.
- 874 - The bones of Saint Nicephorus are interred in the Church of the Apostles, Constantinople.
- 1138 - Cardinal Gregory is elected anti-pope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II.
- 1639 - Harvard College was named for clergyman John Harvard.
- 1781 - William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus.
- 1862 - American Civil War:the US federal government forbids all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.
- 1865 - American Civil War: The Confederate States of America reluctantly agrees to the use of African American troops.
- 1881 - Alexander II of Russia is killed near his palace when a bomb is thrown at him. (Gregorian date: it was 1 March in the Julian calendar then in use in Russia.)
- 1884 - The siege of Khartoum, Sudan begins (ends on January 26, 1885).
- 1897 - San Diego State University founded.
- 1900 - Boer Wars: British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State.
- 1900 - In France, length of a workday for women and children is limited to 11 hours by law
- 1921 - Mongolia, under Black Baron, declares its independence from China.
- 1925 - Scopes Trial: A law in Tennessee prohibits the teaching of evolution.
- 1933 - Great Depression: Banks in the United States begin to re-open after the Presidentially mandated "bank holiday".
- 1940 - Winter War ended.
- 1943 - World War II: In Bougainville, Japanese troops end their assault on American forces at Hill 700.
- 1943 - Holocaust: German forces liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków.
- 1954 - Battle of Dien Bien Phu: Viet Minh forces attack the French.
- 1957 - The FBI arrests Jimmy Hoffa and charges him with bribery.
- 1964 - A young woman, Kitty Genovese is murdered in front of multiple witnesses who all fail to help her, in an incident which shocks the world and prompts investigation into the Bystander effect.
- 1969 - Apollo program: Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.
- 1971 - In New York City, Rock group The Allman Brothers Band record a concert that will be released as their classic live album At Fillmore East
- 1979 - The New Jewel Movement, headed by Maurice Bishop, ousts Prime Minister Eric Gairy in a nearly bloodless coup d'etat in Grenada.
- 1988 - I. King Jordan becomes the first Deaf president of Gallaudet University after the Deaf President Now demonstrations.
- 1991 - The United States Justice Department announces that Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
- 1992 - In eastern Turkey, an earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter scale kills over 500.
- 1993 - The Great Blizzard of 1993 strikes the eastern U.S., bringing record snowfall and other severe weather all the way from Cuba to Québec.
- 1996 - The Dunblane Massacre: in Dunblane, Scotland, 16 children and 1 adult teacher are shot dead by a spree killer who then commits suicide.
- 1997 - India's Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader.
- 1997 - In Phoenix, Arizona, Arizona, the Phoenix Lights, one of the most widely witnessed UFO sightings, take place.
- 2003 - Human evolution: The journal Nature reports that 350,000-year-old upright-walking human footprints have been found in Italy.

Births

- 2 - Apollonius of Tyana
- 1372 - Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans, brother of Charles VI of France (d. 1407)
- 1615 - Pope Innocent XII (d. 1700)
- 1683 - John Theophilus Desaguliers, French-British philosopher (d. 1744)
- 1700 - Michel Blavet, French flutist (d. 1768)
- 1719 - John Griffin Whitwell, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, British field marshal (d. 1797)
- 1720 - Charles Bonnet, Swiss naturlaist and writer (d. 1793)
- 1733 - Joseph Priestley, English scientist and minister (d. 1804)
- 1741 - Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1790)
- 1763 - Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, French marshal (d. 1815)
- 1764 - Earl Grey, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1845)
- 1781 - Karl Friedrich Schinkel, German architect (d. 1841)
- 1784 - Jean Moufot, French philosopher and mathematician (d. 1842)
- 1798 - Abigail Fillmore, First Lady of the United States (d. 1853)
- 1815 - James Curtis Hepburn, American missionary and linguist (d. 1911)
- 1855 - Percival Lowell, American astronomer (d. 1916)
- 1860 - Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (d. 1903)
- 1864 - Alexej von Jawlensky, Russian painter (d. 1941)
- 1884 - Sir Hugh Walpole, English novelist (d. 1941)
- 1899 - John Hasbrouck van Vleck, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1980)
- 1900 - Béla Guttman, Hungarian footballer (d. 1981)
- 1900 - George Seferis, Turkish-born poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- 1908 - Walter Annenberg, American publisher and philanthropist (d. 2002)
- 1910 - Karl Gustav Ahlefeldt, Danish actor (d. 1985)
- 1910 - Sammy Kaye, American musician (d. 1987)
- 1911 - L. Ron Hubbard, American author (d. 1986)
- 1913 - William Casey, American Central Intelligence Agency director (d. 1987)
- 1913 - Sergey Mikhalkov, Russian writer
- 1914 - Edward O'Hare, American pilot (d. 1943)
- 1921 - Al Jaffee, American cartoonist
- 1926 - Raúl Alfonsín, President of Argentina
- 1926 - Carlos Roberto Reina, President of Honduras (d. 2003)
- 1927 - Robert Denning, Interior designer (d. 2005)
- 1929 - Peter Breck, American actor
- 1934 - Barry Hughart, American author
- 1935 - Michael Walzer, American philosopher
- 1935 - Leslie Parrish, American actress
- 1938 - Erma Franklin, American singer (d. 2002)
- 1939 - Neil Sedaka, American singer and songwriter
- 1942 - Dave Cutler, American software engineer
- 1942 - Scatman John, American singer (d. 1999)
- 1945 - Michael Martin Murphey, American musician
- 1946 - Jonathan Netanyahu, Israeli soldier (d. 1976)
- 1947 - Beat Richner, Swiss physician and cellist
- 1949 - Julia Migenes, American soprano
- 1950 - William H. Macy, American actor
- 1951 - Fred Berry, American actor and dancer (d. 2003)
- 1952 - Wolfgang Rihm, German composer
- 1954 - The Baroness Amos, British politician
- 1956 - Dana Delany, American actress
- 1960 - Adam Clayton, Irish bassist (U2)
- 1967 - Andrés Escobar, Colombian footballer (d. 1994)
- 1971 - Annabeth Gish, American actress
- 1971 - Robert Lanham, American author and satirist
- 1973 - Edgar Davids, Dutch football player
- 1973 - David Draiman, American musician and songwriter
- 1974 - Cillian Murphy, Irish actor
- 1974 - Tatiana Cibele Mendonca Pereira, Brazilian educator and author
- 1976 - Danny Masterson, American actor
- 1979 - Johan Santana, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
- 1985 - Emile Hirsch, American actor
- 1986 - Natalie and Nicole Albino, American musicians (Nina Sky)

Deaths

- 1271 - Henry of Almain, English crusader (b. 1235)
- 1395 - John Barbour, Scottish poet
- 1516 - King Ladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary (b. 1456)
- 1569 - Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, French Huguenot general (b. 1530)
- 1573 - Michel de l'Hôpital, French statesman
- 1604 - Arnaud d'Ossat, French diplomat and writer (b. 1537)
- 1619 - Richard Burbage, English actor (b. 1567)
- 1711 - Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, French poet and critic (b. 1636)
- 1778 - Charles le Beau, French historian (b. 1701)
- 1808 - King Christian VII of Denmark (b. 1749)
- 1918 - César Cui, Lithuanian composer (b. 1835)
- 1842 - Henry Shrapnel, soldier and inventor (b. 1761)
- 1879 - Adolf Anderssen, German chess player (b. 1818)
- 1881 - Tsar Alexander II of Russia (b. 1818)
- 1884 - Leland Stanford, Jr., American railroad magnate (b. 1868)
- 1901 - Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States (b. 1833)
- 1906 - Susan B. Anthony, American women's suffrage activist (b. 1820)
- 1918 - César Cui, Russian composer (b. 1835)
- 1938 - Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin, Russian politician and intellectual (b. 1888)
- 1938 - Clarence Darrow, American attorney (b. 1857)
- 1943 - Stephen Vincent Benét, American author (b. 1898)
- 1955 - King Tribhuvan of Nepal (b. 1906)
- 1965 - Corrado Gini, Italian statistician (b. 1884)
- 1965 - Fan S. Noli, Albanian bishop, poet, and politician (b. 1882)
- 1972 - Tony Ray-Jones, British photographer (b. 1941)
- 1975 - Ivo Andrić, Serbo-Croatian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
- 1990 - Bruno Bettelheim, American psychiatrist (b. 1903)
- 1991 - Karl Münchinger, German conductor (b. 1915)
- 1995 - Leon Day, baseball player (b. 1916)
- 1996 - Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish film director (b. 1941)
- 1998 - Bill Reid, Canadian artist (b. 1920)
- 1998 - Hans von Ohain, German engineer (b. 1911)
- 1999 - Garson Kanin, American writer and director (b. 1912)
- 2002 - Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher (b. 1900)
- 2004 - Franz König, Austrian Catholic Archbishop of Vienna (b. 1905)

Holidays and observances

- Roman Catholic Church and Greek Orthodox Church - Feast day of Saint Nicephorus

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/13 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/3/13 Today in History: March 13] ---- March 12 - March 14 - February 13 - April 13 -- listing of all days ko:3월 13일 ms:13 Mac ja:3月13日 simple:March 13 th:13 มีนาคม

1943

1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday.

Events

January

- January 4 - End of term for Culbert Olson, 29th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Earl Warren.
- January 11 - The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China.
- January 11 - General Juanto dies in Argentina - Ramón Castillo succeeds him
- January 12 - Jan Campert, Dutch journalist and writer, dies in Neuengamme concentration camp
- January 13 - Richard Moll, actor
- January 14 - Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to travel by airplane while in office (Miami, Florida to Morocco to meet with Winston Churchill to discuss World War II).
- January 15 - World War II: Japanese are driven off Guadalcanal.
- January 15 - The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, is dedicated (Arlington, Virginia).
- January 18 - World War II: Soviet officials announce they have broken the Wehrmacht's siege of Leningrad.
- January 18 - The Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto rise up for the first time, starting the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
- January 23 - World War II: British forces capture Tripoli from the Nazis.
- January 23 - In Spearfish, South Dakota, temperature rises from -20 to +7 degrees Celsius in two minutes
- January 23 - Duke Ellington plays at New York City's Carnegie Hall for the first time.
- January 24 - World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.
- January 27 - World War II: 50 bombers mount the first all American air raid against Germany (Wilhelmshaven was the target).
- January 29 - German police arrests necrophiliac Bruno Ludke

February

Bruno Ludke]
- February 1 - World War II: Vidkun Quisling is appointed Prime Minister of Norway by the Nazi occupiers.
- February 2 - World War II: In Russia, the Battle of Stalingrad comes to an end with the surrender of the German 6th Army.
- February 3 - World War II: The death of the Four Chaplains when their ship was struck by a torpedo.
- February 7 - World War II: In the United States, it is announced that shoe rationing will go into effect in two days.
- February 8 - World War II: Battle of Kursk - the Soviet Red Army successfully repels a massive German attack.
- February 8 - World War II: Battle of Guadalcanal - United States forces defeat Japanese troops.
- February 10 - March 3 - Mohandas Gandhi keeps a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment
- February 11 - General Eisenhower is selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
- February 12 - Mark Stephen Dube jr. was born.
- February 14 - World War II: Rostov, Russia is liberated.
- February 14 - World War II: Battle of the Kasserine Pass - German General Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps launch an offensive against Allied defenses in Tunisia; it is the United States' first major battle defeat of the war.
- February 16 - World War II: Soviet Union reconquers Kharkov, but is later driven out in the Third Battle of Kharkov
- February 18 - The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.
- February 20 - American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
- February 22 - Members of White Rose are executed in Nazi Germany.
- February 27 - The Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, United States explodes, killing 74 men.
- February 28 - OPERATION GUNNERSIDE, 6 Norwegians led by Joachim Ronneberg successfully attack the heavy water plant Vemork.

March

- March 1 - "Panzer General" Heinz Guderian becomes the Inspector-General of the Armoured Troops for the German Army during World War II.
- March 2 - World War II: Battle of the Bismarck Sea - United States and Australian forces sink Japanese convoy ships.
- March 3 - 173 people are killed in a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green tube station in London.
- March 8 - World War II: American forces are attacked by Japanese troops on Hill 700 in Bougainville in a battle that will last five days.
- March 13 - World War II: On Bougainville, Japanese troops end their assault on American forces at Hill 700.
- March 13 - Holocaust: German forces liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków.
- March 26 - World War II: Battle of Komandorski Islands - In the Aleutian Islands the battle begins when United States Navy forces intercept Japanese attempting to reinforce a garrison at Kiska.

April

- April 3 - Shipwrecked steward Poon Lim is rescued by Brazilian fishermen after he has been adrift for 130 days
- April 22 - Albert Hofmann writes his first report about the hallucinogenic properties of LSD, which he first synthesized in 1938.
- April 25 - Easter occurs on the latest possible date. Last time 1886 next time 2038.
- April 27 - The U.S. Federal Writers' Project is shuttered.

May

Federal Writers' Project]
- May 11 - World War II: American troops invade Attu in the Aleutian Islands in an attempt to expel occupying Japanese forces.
- May 13 - World War II: German Afrika Korps and Italian troops in North Africa surrender to Allied forces.
- May 16 - World War II: The Dambuster Raids by RAF 617 Sqdn on German dams.
- May 16 - Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends.
- May 17 - World War II: Surviving RAF Dam Busters return.
- May 17 - The United States Army contracts with the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School to develop the ENIAC.
- May 24 - Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes Chief Medical Officer in Auschwitz.

June

- June 4 - Military coup in Argentina ousts Ramón Castillo.
- June 22 - U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division land in North Africa prior to training at Arzew, French Morocco while serving in World War II.

July

- July 5 - World War II: Battle of Kursk - The largest tank battle in history begins.
- July 5 - World War II: An Allied invasion fleet sails to Sicily.
- July 6 - World War II: Americans and Japanese fight the Battle of Kula Gulf off Kolombangara.
- July 10 - World War II: The Allied invasion of Sicily marks the beginning allied invasion of Axis-controlled Europe with landings on the island of Sicily, off mainland Italy by the U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division.
- July 12 - World War II: Americans and Japanese fight the naval Battle of Kolombangara.
- July 19 - World War II: Rome is bombed by the Allies for the first time in the war.
- July 24 - World War II: Operation Gomorrah begins: British and Canadian aeroplanes bomb Hamburg by night, those of the Americans by day. By the end of the operation in November, 9,000 tons of explosives will have killed more than 30,000 people and destroyed 280,000 buildings.
- July 25 - In Italy the Gran Consiglio del Fascismo retires its consent to Mussolini; Mussolini is arrested and the power is given to Maresciallo d'Italia Gen. Pietro Badoglio.
- July 28 - World War II: Operation Gomorrah - The British bomb Hamburg causing a firestorm that kills 42,000 German civilians.

August

- August 6 - World War II: Americans and Japanese fight the Battle of Vella Gulf off Kolombangara.
- August 17 - World War II: The US 7th Army under General George S. Patton arrive in Messina, Italy followed several hours later by the British 8th Army under Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery, thus completing the Allied conquest of Sicily.
- August 29 - World War II: Germany dissolves the Danish government after it refuses to deal with a wave of strikes and disturbances to the satisfaction of the German authorities. (See: Occupation of Denmark)

September

- September 3 - World War II: Mainland Italy is invaded by Allied forces under Bernard L. Montgomery, for the first time in the war.
- September 5 - World War II: The 503rd Parachute Regiment under American General Douglas MacArthur lands and occupies Nadzab, just east of the port city of Lae in northeastern Papua New Guinea.
- September 7 - A fire at the Gulf Hotel in Houston, Texas, kills 55 people.
- September 8 - World War II: United States General Dwight D. Eisenhower publicly announces the surrender of Italy to the Allies.
- September 8 - World War II: Julius Fucik is executed by Nazis.
- September 8 - First classes commence at Grace University.
- September 23 - World War II: Republic of Salò is founded.

October

- October 6 - World War II: Americans and Japanese fight the naval Battle of Vella Lavella.
- October 7 - World War II: Naples post office explosion
- October 13 - World War II: The new government of Italy sides with the Allies and declares war on Germany.
- October 18 - Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China.
- October 21 - Lucie Aubrac and others in her French Resistance cell liberate Raymond Aubrac from Gestapo imprisonment
- October 22 - World War II: RAF delivers a highly destructive airstrike on the German industrial and population center of Kassel

November

- November 1 - World War II: In Operation Goodtime, United States Marines land on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands.
- November 2 - World War II: In the early morning hours, American and Japanese ships fight the inconclusive Battle of Empress Augusta Bay off Bougainville.
- November 2 - World War II: British troops, in Italy, reach the Garigliano River.
- November 15 - Porajmos: German SS leader Heinrich Himmler orders that Gypsies and "part-Gypsies" were to be put "on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps."
- November 16 - World War II: After flying from Britain, 160 American bombers strike a hydro-electric power facility and heavy water factory in German-controlled Vemork, Norway.
- November 16 - World War II: Japanese submarine sinks surfaced USA submarine USS Corvina near Truk
- November 18 - World War II: 440 Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF lost nine aircraft and 53 aviators.
- November 20 - World War II: Battle of Tarawa begins - United States Marines land on Tarawa and Makin atolls in the Gilbert Islands and take heavy fire from Japanese shore guns.
- November 22 - World War II: War in the Pacific - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and ROC leader Chiang Kai-Shek meet in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat Japan.
- November 22 - Lebanon gains independence from France.
- November 23 - The Deutsche Opernhaus on Bismarckstraße in the Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg was destroyed. It was rebuilt in 1961 and called the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
- November 25 - World War II: Americans and Japanese fight the naval Battle of Cape St. George between Buka and New Ireland.
- November 28 - World War II: Tehran Conference - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran to discuss war strategy (on November 30 they established an agreement concerning a planned June 1944 invasion of Europe codenamed Operation Overlord).
- November 29 - Second session of AVNOJ, the Anti-fascist council of national liberation of Yugoslavia, is held in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina, determining the post-war ordering of the country.

December

- December 4 - World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.
- December 4 - Great Depression ends in the United States: With unemployment figures falling fast due to World War II-related employment, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes the Works Progress Administration.
- December 20 - Military coup in Bolivia
- December 24 - World War II: US General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the supreme Allied commander.
- December 30 - Subhash Chandra Bose raises the flag of Indian independence at Port Blair.

Undated

- Development of the Colossus computer by British to break German encryption (see History of computing hardware).
- Mondragón cooperative begins in Basque Country in Spain
- Arana Hall, Otago founded.

Ongoing

- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)

Births

January

- January 2 - Baris Manco, Turkish celebrity
- January 4 - Doris Kearns Goodwin, American writer
- January 6 - Terry Venables, English football manager
- January 10 - Jim Croce, American singer (d. 1973)
- January 11 - Jim Hightower, American radio host and author
- January 16 - Brian Ferneyhough, British composer
- January 18 - Kay Granger, American politician
- January 19 - Janis Joplin, American singer (d. 1970)
- January 19 - Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
- January 24 - Sharon Tate, American actress (d. 1969)
- January 25 - Tobe Hooper, American film director
- January 26 - César Gutiérrez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (d. 2005)
- January 30 - Marty Balin, American musician

February

- February 2 - Erkan Genis, Turkish artist
- February 3 - Blythe Danner, American actress
- February 4 - Alberto João Jardim, Portuguese politician
- February 5 - Nolan Bushnell, American video game pioneer
- February 5 - Craig Morton, American football player
- February 6 - Fabian, American singer
- February 7 - Gareth Hunt. English actor
- February 9 - Joe Pesci, American actor
- February 9 - Joseph E. Stiglitz, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- February 13 - Geoff Edwards, American game show host
- February 14 - Maceo Parker, American musician (P-Funk)
- February 18 - Graeme Garden, Scottish writer, comedian, and actor
- February 19 - Tim Hunt, British biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- February 20 - Mike Leigh, Britsh film director
- February 21 - David Geffen, American record executive and film producer
- February 23 - Fred Biletnikoff, American football player and coach
- February 25 - George Harrison, English musician (The Beatles) (d. 2001)
- February 24 - Hristo Prodanov, Bulgarian mountaineer
- February 26 - Bill Duke, American actor and director
- February 27 - Morten Lauridsen, American composer

March

- March - John Leeson, British actor
- March 1 - Gil Amelio, American entrepreneur
- March 2 - Peter Straub, American author
- March 8 - Lynn Redgrave, English actress
- March 9 - Bobby Fischer, American chess player
- March 9 - Charles Gibson, American television journalist
- March 15 - David Cronenberg, Canadian film director
- March 19 - Mario J. Molina, Mexican chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- March 19 - Mario Monti, Italian member of the European Commission
- March 21 - Vivian Stanshall, English comedian, writer, artist, broadcaster, and musician (d. 1995)
- March 22 - Bruno Ganz, Swiss actor
- March 22 - Keith Relf, British musician (The Yardbirds) (d. 1976)
- March 26 - Bob Woodward, American journalist
- March 29 - Eric Idle, English actor, writer, and composer
- March 29 - John Major, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- March 29 - Vangelis, Greek musician and composer
- March 31 - Christopher Walken, American actor

April

- April 5 - Max Gail, American actor
- April 8 - Miller Farr, American football player
- April 10 - Andrzej Badeński, Polish athlete
- April 20 - John Eliot Gardiner, English conductor
- April 23 - Dominik Duka, Czech Catholic bishop and theologian
- April 28 - John O. Creighton, American astronaut

May

- May 8 - Toni Tennille, singer
- May 10 - Richard (Dick) Darman, American federal government official and businessman
- May 14 - Jack Bruce, British musician and songwriter
- May 14 - Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland
- May 17 - Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, King of Malaysia
- May 22 - Betty Williams, Irish politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- May 23 - John Newcombe, Australian tennis player
- May 25 - Jessi Colter, American singer and composer
- May 27 - Bruce Weitz, American actor
- May 30 - James Chaney, American civil rights worker (d.1964)
- May 31 - Joe Namath, American football player
- May 31 - Sharon Gless, American actress

June

- June 2 - Ilayaraja, Music Composer,Tamil Nadu,India
- June 6 - Richard Smalley, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 8 - Colin Baker, British actor
- June 15 - Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
- June 17 - Newt Gingrich, American politician
- June 17 - Barry Manilow, American musician
- June 23 - James Levine, American conductor
- June 26 - John Beasley, American actor
- June 26 - Klaus von Klitzing, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 27 - Rico Petrocelli, baseball player
- June 29 - Maureen O'Brien, British actress

July

- July 4 - Konrad "Conny" Bauer, German trombonist
- July 4 - Geraldo Rivera, American reporter and talk show host
- July 5 - Curt Blefary, baseball player (d. 2001)
- July 10 - Arthur Ashe, American tennis player (d. 1993)
- July 26 - Mick Jagger, English singer (Rolling Stones)

August

- August 4 - Bjørn Wirkola, Norwegian ski jumper
- August 5 - Nelson Briles, baseball player (d. 2005)
- August 7 - Dino Valente, American musician, (d. 1994)
- August 11 - Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani general and leader
- August 14 - Jimmy Johnson, American football coach and television analyst
- August 17 - Robert De Niro, American actor
- August 20 - Sylvester McCoy, British actor
- August 24 - John Cipollina, American musician, (d. 1989)
- August 28 - Lou Piniella, baseball player and manager
- August 30 - Jean-Claude Killy, French skier

September

- September 6 - Richard J. Roberts, English biochemist and molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- September 6 - Roger Waters, English musician
- September 11 - Gilbert Proesch, Italian-born artist (Gilbert and George)
- September 11 - Raymond Villeneuve, Canadian terrorist
- September 22 - Toni Basil, American musician and video artist
- September 28 - J. T. Walsh, American actor (d. 1998)
- September 29 - Lech Wałęsa, President of Poland, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- September 30 - Johann Deisenhofer, German biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- September 30 - Ian Ogilvy, English actor

October

- October 2 - Franklin Rosemont, American poet
- October 6 - Michael Durrell, American actor
- October 14 - Lois Hamilton, American model, actress, and artist (d. 1999)
- October 16 - Paul Rose, Canadian terrorist

November

- November 7 - Joni Mitchell, American musician
- November 7 - Michael Spence, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 11 - Doug Frost, Australian swimming coach
- November 12 - Wallace Shawn, American actor
- November 14 - Peter Norton, American software engineer and businessman
- November 19 - Aurelio Monteagudo, Cuban Major League Baseball player (d. 1990)

December

- December 5 - Eva Joly, Norwegian-born French magistrate
- December 8 - James Douglas "Jim" Morrison, American musician (d. 1971)
- December 11 - John Kerry, American politician
- December 12 - Grover Washington Jr., American saxophonist (d. 1999)
- December 13 - Ferguson Jenkins, baseball player
- December 17 - Ron Geesin, British musician and songwriter (Pink Floyd)
- December 18 - Keith Richards, English guitarist and songwriter (The Rolling Stones)
- December 23 - Harry Shearer, American actor and writer
- December 24 - Tarja Halonen, President of Finland
- December 28 - Richard Whiteley, English television presenter (d. 2005)
- December 31 - John Denver, American musician (d. 1997)
- December 31 - Ben Kingsley, English actor

Deaths

January-June

- January 5 - George Washington Carver, American educator, activist, and botanist
- January 23 - Alexander Woollcott, American bon vivant (b. 1887)
- January 26 - Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenicist (b. 1880)
- February 14 - David Hilbert, German mathematician (b. 1862)
- February 17 - Armand J. Piron, American musician and composer (b. 1888)
- March 3 - George Thompson, English cricketer (b. 1877)
- March 12 - Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor (b. 1869)
- March 13 - Stephen Vincent Benet, American poet (b. 1898)
- March 28 - Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian composer and pianist (b. 1873)
- April 18 - Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral (b. 1884)
- May 14 - Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1854)
- May 26 - Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford (b. 1893)
- June 26 - Karl Landsteiner, Austrian biologist and physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1868)

July-December

- July 21 - Charlie Paddock, American athlete (b. 1900)
- August 12 - Bobby Peel, English cricketer (b. 1857)
- August 14 - Joe Kelley, baseball player (b. 1871)
- August 21 - Henrik Pontoppidan, Danish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1857)
- August 28 - King Boris III of Bulgaria (b. 1894)
- September 1 - Charles Atangana, Cameroonian chief
- September 24 - John Stone Stone, American physicist and inventor (b. 1869)
- October 5 - Leon Roppolo, American musician (b. 1902)
- October 9 - Pieter Zeeman, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
- October 19 - Camille Claudel, French sculptor (b. 1864)
- December 1 - Damrong Rajanubhab, Thai prince and historian (b. 1862)
- December 7 - Per Imerslund, "The aryan idol" (b. 1912)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Otto Stern
- Chemistry - George de Hevesy
- Physiology or Medicine - Carl Peter Henrik Dam, Edward Adelbert Doisy, Gerhard Domagk
- Literature - not awarded
- Peace - not awarded
- ko:1943년 ms:1943 ja:1943年 simple:1943 th:พ.ศ. 2486

1943

1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday.

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Undated

Ongoing

- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)

Births

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Deaths

January-June

July-December

Nobel Prizes

April 15

April 15 is the 105th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (106th in leap years). There are 260 days remaining.

Events

- 1450 - Battle of Formigny; Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in northern France.
- 1632 - Battle of Rain; Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.
- 1738 - Premiere in London of Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel.
- 1755 - Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language published in London.
- 1783 - Preliminary articles of peace ending Revolutionary War ratified.
- 1802 - William Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy come across a "long belt" of daffodils, inspiring the former to pen I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.
- 1865 - Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by John Wilkes Booth.
- 1865 - Andrew Johnson becomes the 17th President of the United States.
- 1892 - The General Electric Company is formed through the merger of the Edison General Electric Company and the Thomson-Houston Company.
- 1912 - The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks at about 2:20 a.m. after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic almost three hours earlier.
- 1915 - The Armenian Genocide began when the Ottoman Empire undertook the systematic annihilation of Armenian intellectuals and entrepreneurs within the city of Constantinople and later the entire Armenian population of the Empire.
- 1920 - Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti allegedly murder two security guards while robbing a shoe store.
- 1923 - Insulin first became generally available for use by diabetics.
- 1924 - Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.
- 1927 - Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Norma and Constance Talmadge become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
- 1940 - The Allies start their attack on the Norwegian town of Narvik which was occupied by Nazi Germany.
- 1942 - George Cross awarded to "to the island fortress of Malta - its people and defenders" by King George VI.
- 1945 - The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.
- 1947 - Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team, breaking that sport's color line.
- 1955 - The first McDonald's restaurant opens in Des Plaines, Illinois.
- 1983 - Tokyo Disneyland opens.
- 1985 - Marvin Hagler defeats Thomas Hearns by a knockout in round three to retain boxing's world Middleweight championship in a fight nicknamed The War.
- 1989 - Hillsborough disaster: A human stampede occurs at Hillsborough, a football stadium in Sheffield, England, resulting in the loss of 96 lives.
- 1989 - Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in the People's Republic of China.
- 1994 - Representatives of 124 countries and the European Communities sign the Marrakesh Agreements revising the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and setting up the World Trade Organization (effective January 1 1995).
- 1997 - Fire sweeps through a campsite of Muslims making the Hajj pilgrimage; the official death toll is 343.
- 2001 - Easter day (not again until 2063).
- 2002 - An Air China Boeing 767-200, flight CA129 crashes into hillside during heavy rain and fog near Pusan, South Korea killing 128.

Births

- 1452 - Leonardo da Vinci, Italian artist (d. 1519)
- 1489 - Sinan, Ottoman architect (d. 1588)
- 1552 - Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician (d. 1626)
- 1580 - George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English politician and colonizer
- 1588 - Claudius Salmasius, French classical scholar (d. 1653)
- 1641 - Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician and antiquarian (d. 1722)
- 1642 - Suleiman II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1691)
- 1646 - King Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)
- 1684 - Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)
- 1688 - Johann Friedrich Fasch, German composer (d. 1758)
- 1707 - Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician (d. 1783)
- 1710 - William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1790)
- 1721 - Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, English military leader (d. 1765)
- 1772 - Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French naturalist (d. 1844)
- 1793 - Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer (d. 1864)
- 1794 - Jean Pierre Flourens, French physiologist (d. 1867)
- 1800 - James Clark Ross, English explorer (d. 1862)
- 1809 - Hermann Grassmann, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1877)
- 1832 - Wilhelm Busch, German poet and artist (d. 1908)
- 1843 - Henry James, American author (d. 1916)
- 1858 - Émile Durkheim, French sociologist (d. 1917)
- 1861 - Bliss Carman, Canadian poet (d. 1929)
- 1874 - Johannes Stark, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
- 1878 - Robert Walser, Swiss writer (d. 1956)
- 1879 - Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer and poet (d. 1980)
- 1883 - Stanley Bruce, eighth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
- 1886 - Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet (d. 1921)
- 1889 - Thomas Hart Benton, American muralist (d. 1975)
- 1889 - A. Philip Randolph, American activist (d. 1979)
- 1894 - Bessie Smith, American blues singer (d. 1937)
- 1895 - Clark McConachy, New Zealand billiards and snooker player (d. 1980)
- 1896 - Nikolay Nikolayevich Semyonov, Russian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
- 1901 - Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978)
- 1902 - Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)
- 1907 - Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch ornithologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1988)
- 1912 - Kim Il Sung, President of North Korea (d. 1994)
- 1916 - Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (d. 1982)
- 1917 - Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1920 - Richard von Weizäcker, President of Germany
- 1921 - Georgi Beregovoi, cosmonaut (d. 1995)
- 1922 - Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor
- 1922 - Harold Washington, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1987)
- 1924 - Sir Neville Marriner, English conductor and violinist
- 1927 - Robert Mills, American physicist (d. 1999)
- 1930 - Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, President of Iceland
- 1933 - Roy Clark, American musician
- 1933 - Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1933 - Boris Strugatsky, Russian author
- 1938 - Claudia Cardinale, Tunisian-born actress
- 1940 - Jeffrey Archer, British author and Member of Parliament
- 1940 - Robert Walker Jr., American actor
- 1942 - Francis X. DiLorenzo, American Catholic prelate
- 1942 - Walt Hazzard, American basketball player
- 1944 - Dzhokhar Dudaev, Chechen leader (d. 1996)
- 1944 - Dave Edmunds, Welsh musician
- 1947 - Lois Chiles, American actress
- 1948 - Michael Kamen, American composer (d. 2003)
- 1950 - Amy Wright, American actress
- 1951 - Heloise, American newspaper columnist
- 1954 - Seka, American actress
- 1955 - Dodi Al-Fayed, Egyptian businessman (d. 1997)
- 1957 - Evelyn Ashford, American athlete
- 1958 - Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer and musician
- 1959 - Emma Thompson, English actress
- 1959 - Thomas F. Wilson, American actor
- 1960 - Tony Jones, English snooker player
- 1962 - Nawal El Moutawakel, Morrocan hurdler
- 1963 - Bobby Pepper, American journalist
- 1965 - Linda Perry, American musician
- 1966 - Samantha Fox, English singer and model
- 1967 - Frankie Poullain, British bassist (The Darkness)
- 1967 - Dara Torres, American swimmer
- 1968 - Ed O'Brien, British musician (Radiohead)
- 1968 - Stacey Williams, American model
- 1970 - Flex Alexander, American actor
- 1972 - Arturo Gatti, Canadian boxer
- 1974 - Danny Pino, American actor
- 1974 - Josh Todd, musician and singer (Buckcherry)
- 1976 - Richard H. Reuling III, American businessman
- 1977 - Chandra Levy, American Congressional intern (d. 2001)
- 1980 - Raúl López, Spanish basketball player
- 1983 - Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian hockey player
- 1986 - Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, Dutch footballer
- 1987 - Samuel Jay Berner, Coolest person ever to live
- 1988 - Leonard Miller, From The Irish Band Breeze [http://www.breezeworld.tk BREEZE THE IRISH BAND]
- 1988 - Uriel Salgado, future filmaker
- 1990 - Emma Watson, English actress
- 1991 - Jacob Muller, Canadian Gamer
- Unknown - Sister Marie Leahy, SSJ and St. Genevieve teacher
- 1992 - Amy Diamond, Swedish pop singer

Deaths

- 1053 - Godwin, Earl of Wessex
- 1220 - Adolf of Altena, Archbishop of Cologne
- 1415 - Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek humanist
- 1446 - Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian architect (b. 1377)
- 1610 - Robert Parsons, English Jesuit priest (b. 1546)
- 1621 - John Carver, first governor of Plymouth Colony
- 1641 - Domenico Zampieri, Italian painter (b. 1581)
- 1659 - Simon Dach, German poet (b. 1605)
- 1704 - Johann van Waveren Hudde, Dutch mathematician b. [[1628]])
- [[1719 - Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon, second wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635)
- 1754 - Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician (b. 1676)
- 1761 - Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish politician (b. 1682)
- 1761 - William Oldys, English antiquarian and bibliographer (b. 1696)
- 1764 - Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XIV of France (b. 1721)
- 1765 - Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian scientist and writer (b. 1711)
- 1788 - Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711)
- 1793 - Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian Jesuit missionary and geographer (b. 1718)
- 1804 - Charles Pichegru, French general (strangled in prison) (b. 1761)
- 1843 - Noah Webster, American lexicographer (b. 1758)
- 1854 - Arthur Aikin, English chemist, mineralogist, and scientific writer (b. 1773)
- 1865 - Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States (b. 1809)
- 1888 - Matthew Arnold, English poet (b. 1822)
- 1888 - Father Damien, Belgian missionary (b. 1840)
- 1898 - Kepa Te Rangihiwinui, Maori military leader
- 1912 - Victims of the RMS Titanic
- Edward Smith, Captain of the Titanic (b. 1850)
- John Jacob Astor IV, American businessman (b. 1864)
- Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (b. 1865)
- 1942 - Robert Musil, German novelist (b. 1880)
- 1949 - Wallace Beery, American actor (b. 1885)
- 1962 - Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1881)
- 1964 - Rachel Carson, American biologist and author (b. 1907)
- 1969 - Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen of Spain (b. 1887)
- 1974 - Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian songwriter (b.1906)
- 1975 - Richard Conte, American actor (b. 1910)
- 1980 - Raymond Bailey, American actor (b. 1904)
- 1980 - Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (declined) (b. 1905)
- 1982 - Arthur Lowe, British actor (b. 1915)
- 1984 - Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedy magician (b. 1921)
- 1986 - Jean Genet, French author (b. 1910)
- 1988 - Kenneth Williams, English actor and comedian (b. 1926)
- 1988 - Tony Mann, Australian footballer
- 1989 - Hu Yaobang, leader of China (b. 1915)
- 1990 - Greta Garbo, Swedish actress (b. 1905)
- 1993 - John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geologist (b. 1908)
- 1993 - Leslie Charteris, Singapore-born author (b. 1907)
- 1994 - John Curry, English figure skater (b. 1949)
- 1998 - Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator (b. 1925)
- 2000 - Edward Gorey, American illustrator (b. 1925)
- 2001 - Joey Ramone, American musician and singer (The Ramones) (b. 1951)
- 2002 - Damon Knight, author (b. 1922)
- 2002 - Byron "Whizzer" White, American football player and U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1917)
- 2003 - Erin Fleming, Canadian actress (b. 1941)

Holidays and observances

- Ancient Latvia — Tipsa Diena was observed
- April 15 or, if it falls on the weekend, the following Monday, is the deadline for Americans to file their tax returns—post offices across the United States stay open until midnight to accommodate procrastinators
- Father Damien Day — celebrated annually in Hawai'i
- Feast day of Saint Paternus
- Roman Empire — the Fordicia was celebrated in honor of Terra
- Major League Baseball celebrates "Jackie Robinson Day" each April 15 in all MLB ballparks

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/15 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/4/15 Today in History: April 15] ---- April 14 - April 16 - March 15 - May 15 -- listing of all days ko:4월 15일 ja:4月15日 simple:April 15 th:15 เมษายน

1943

1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday.

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Undated

Ongoing

- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)

Births

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Deaths

January-June

July-December

Nobel Prizes

May 6

May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). There are 239 days remaining.

Events

- 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance.
- 1536 - King Henry VIII orders Bibles be placed in every church.
- 1682 - Louis XIV of France moves his court to Versailles.
- 1757 - Battle of Prague - A Prussian army fought an Austrian army in Prague during the Seven Years' War.
- 1816 - The American Bible Society is founded in New York City.
- 1835 - James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.
- 1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends, with a defeat of the Army of the Potomac under General Joseph Hooker by Confederate troops under Stonewall Jackson.
- 1877 - Realizing that his people were weakened by cold and hunger, Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.
- 1889 - The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.
- 1910 - George V becomes King of the United Kingdom upon the death of his father, Edward VII.
- 1935 - New Deal: Executive Order 7034 creates the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
- 1937 - Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.
- 1940 - John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
- 1941 - At California's March Field Bob Hope performs his first USO show.
- 1942 - World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.
- 1945 - World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops (first was on December 11, 1941).
- 1945 - World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins.
- 1954 - Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
- 1960 - Princess Margaret's wedding day.
- 1966 - Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors Murders in England.
- 1981 - A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya Ying Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries.
- 1988 - An airplane going from Namsos to Brønnøysund in Norway crashes into the side of the Torghatten mountain, killing all 36 passengers and crew.
- 1994 - Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand inaugurate the opening of the Channel Tunnel – a tunnel under the English Channel linking England and France for the first time since the end of the Great Ice Age.
- 1998 - The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
- 1999 - In New York, a parole board votes to release Amy Fisher, in prison for the last 7 years for shooting her lover's wife.
- 2002 - Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated during the 2002 Dutch national election campaign by Volkert van der Graaf.
- 2002 - Jean-Pierre Raffarin becomes Prime Minister of France.
- 2002 - The World Wrestling Federation announces that they have changed their name to World Wrestling Entertainment after losing a court battle with the World Wildlife Fund.
- 2004 - The last episode of the popular television sitcom Friends airs.

Births

- 1397 - Sejong the Great of Joseon, ruler of Korea (d. 1450)
- 1501 - Pope Marcellus II (d. 1555)
- 1574 - Pope Innocent X (d. 1655)
- 1638 - Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell, First Lord of the British Admiralty (d. 1696)
- 1713 - Charles Batteux, French philosopher (d. 1780)
- 1758 - André Masséna, French marshal (d. 1817)
- 1758 - Maximilien Robespierre, French Revolutionary (d. 1794)
- 1769 - Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1824)
- 1797 - Joseph Brackett, American religious leader and composer (d. 1882)
- 1856 - Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychiatrist (d. 1939)
- 1856 - Robert Peary, American explorer (d. 1920)
- 1861 - Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author (d. 1941)
- 1861 - Motilal Nehru, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1931)
- 1868 - Gaston Leroux, French writer (d. 1927)
- 1868 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (d. 1918)
- 1871 - Victor Grignard, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1935)
- 1871 - Christian Morgenstern, German author (d. 1914)
- 1879 - Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (d. 1952)
- 1880 - Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German painter (d. 1938)
- 1882 - Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany (d. 1951)
- 1895 - Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (d. 1926)
- 1902 - Harry Golden, American journalist (d. 1981)
- 1902 - Max Ophüls, German-born director (d. 1957)
- 1904 - Moshe Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-born founder of the Feldenkrais method (d. 1984)
- 1904 - Harry Martinson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)
- 1906 - Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican writer (d. 2005)
- 1915 - Orson Welles, American director (d. 1985)
- 1915 - Theodore H. White, American writer (d. 1986)
- 1920 - Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, first Prime Minister of Fiji and President of Fiji (d. 2004)
- 1921 - Erich Fried, German author (d. 1988)
- 1929 - Paul Lauterbur, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1931 - Willie Mays, baseball player
- 1937 - Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, American boxer
- 1945 - Jimmie Dale Gilmore, American musician
- 1945 - Bob Seger, American singer
- 1947 - Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher
- 1948 - Mary MacGregor, American singer
- 1952 - Michael O'Hare, American actor
- 1953 - Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1955 - Tom Bergeron, American game show host
- 1960 - John Flansburgh, American musician (They Might Be Giants)
- 1961 - George Clooney, American actor
- 1964 - Dana Hill, American actress (d. 1996)
- 1972 - Martin Brodeur, Canadian hockey player

Deaths

- 680 - Muawiyah I, caliph (b. 602)
- 1502 - James Tyrrell, alleged murderer of the Princes in the Tower (executed)
- 1555 - Pope Marcellus II (b. 1501)
- 1596 - Giaches de Wert, Flemish composer (b. 1535)
- 1620 - Hayyim ben Joseph Vital, Palestinian-born Kabbalist (b. 1543)
- 1631 - Robert Bruce Cotton, English poltician
- 1638 - Cornelius Jansen, French bishop and religious reformer (b. 1585)
- 1708 - François de Laval, first bishop of New France (b. 1623)
- 1757 - Maximilian Ulysses Reichsgraf von Browne, Austrian field marshal (b. 1705)
- 1757 - Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, British politician (b. 1683)
- 1757 - Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, Prussian field marshal (b. 1684)
- 1859 - Alexander von Humboldt, German naturalist and explorer (b. 1769)
- 1862 - Henry David Thoreau, American author and philosopher (b. 1817)
- 1877 - Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finnish poet (b. 1804)
- 1902 - Bret Harte, American author (b. 1836)
- 1910 - King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (b. 1841)
- 1919 - L. Frank Baum, American writer (b. 1856)
- 1939 - Konstantin Somov, Russian writer (b. 1869)
- 1949 - Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
- 1952 - Maria Montessori, Italian educator (b. 1870)
- 1961 - Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (b. 1895)
- 1987 - William Casey, American Central Intelligence Agency director (b. [[1913]])
- [[1992 - Marlene Dietrich, German actress (b. 1901)
- 1995 - Maria Pia de Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Braganca (b. 1907)
- 2002 - Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician (b. 1948)
- 2004 - Philip Kapleau, American Zen teacher

Holidays and observances

- Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel (2005)
- Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Evodius test change (d. 69)
- Saint Justus (d. 168)
- Maurelius (d. 542)
- Bonizella Piccolomini Cacciaconti
- Saint Prudence (d. 1492)
- Edward Jones and Anthony Middleton, martyrs of England and Wales.
- No Pants Day in 2005

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/6 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050506.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- May 5 – May 7 – April 6 – June 6 – listing of all days ko:5월 6일 ms:6 Mei ja:5月6日 simple:May 6 th:6 พฤษภาคม

1943

1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday.

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Undated

Ongoing

- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)

Births

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Deaths

January-June

July-December

Nobel Prizes

May 20

20 May is the 140th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (141st in leap years). There are 225 days remaining.

Events

- 325 - The First Council of Nicaea – the first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church – is held.
- 526 - An earthquake kills about 300,000 people in Syria and Antiochia.
- 685 - The Battle of Nechtansmere is fought between a Pictish army under King Bridei III and the invading Northumbrians under King Ecgfrith, who are decisively defeated.
- 1217 - The Second Battle of Lincoln is fought near Lincoln, England, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.
- 1293 - King Sancho IV of Castile creates the Study of General Schools of Alcalá.
- 1497 - John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, England, on his ship The Mathew looking for a route to the west (other documents give a 2 May date).
- 1498 - Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Kozhikode (previously known as Calicut), India.
- 1521 - Battle of Pampeluna.
- 1570 - Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues the first modern atlas.
- 1631 - The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years War.
- 1690 - England passes the Act of Grace, forgiving followers of Catholic James II.
- 1813 - Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany, against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia. The battle ends the next day with a French victory.
- 1841 - Chi Psi Fraternity is founded at Union College in Schenectady, New York.
- 1845 - HMS Erebus and HMS Terror with 134 men under John Franklin sail from the River Thames in England, beginning a disastrous expedition to find the Northwest Passage. All hands are lost.
- 1861 - American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state.
- 1862 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church - In the Virginia Bermuda Hundred Campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.
- 1873 - Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a US patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.
- 1882 - The Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy is formed.
- 1883 - The eruption of Krakatoa begins, leading ultimately to the volcano's destruction three months later.
- 1891 - History of cinema: First public display of Thomas Alva Edison's prototype kinetoscope (shown at Edison's Laboratory for a convention of the National Federation of Women's Clubs).
- 1896 - The six ton chandelier of the opera garnier falls on the croud resulting in the death of one and the injury of many others.
- 1902 - Cuba gains independence from the United States.
- 1916 - The Saturday Evening Post publishes its first cover with a Norman Rockwell painting ("Boy with Baby Carriage").
- 1916 - The U.S. town of Codell, Kansas, is struck by an F2 tornado.
- 1917 - The U.S. town of Codell, Kansas, is struck by an F3 tornado.
- 1918 - For the third consecutive year on this date, the U.S. town of Codell, Kansas, is struck by a tornado.
- 1920 - The Weimarer Nationalversammlung, the national assembly of Germany's Weimar Republic, is permanently dissolved.
- 1920 - Montreal Quebec station XWA broadcasts the first regularly scheduled radio programming in North America.
- 1927 - By the Treaty of Jedda, the United Kingdom recognizes the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merged to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- 1927 - At 07:52 Charles Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, on the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, touching down at Le Bourget Field in Paris at 22:22 the next day).
- 1932 - Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, landing in Ireland the next day.
- 1940 - Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.
- 1941 - World War II: Battle of Crete – German paratroops invade Crete.
- 1949 - In the United States of America, the AFSA (the predecessor of the NSA) is established.
- 1954 - Chiang Kai-shek is selected for another term as President of the Republic of China by the National Assembly
- 1965 - A Pakistani Airlines Boeing 720-B crashes on landing at Cairo airport, killing 121 people.
- 1969 - The Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam ends.
- 1980 - In a Referendum in Quebec, the population rejects by a 60% vote the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada.
- 1983 - First publications of the discovery of the virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=6189183&query_hl=65] and Robert Gallo[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=6601823&query_hl=62] individually.
- 1985 - Radio Martí, part of the Voice of America service, begins broadcasting to Cuba.
- 1989 - The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.
- 1990 - The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.
- 1993 - The television sitcom, Cheers ends an 11-year run on NBC.
- 1996 - Gay rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Romer v. Evans against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of homosexuals.
- 2002 - East Timor becomes independent from Indonesian rule.

Births

- 1315 - Bonne of Luxembourg, queen of John II of France (d. 1349)
- 1470 - Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal (d. 1547)
- 1554 - Paolo Bellasio, Italian composer (d. 1594)
- 1660 - Andreas Schlüter, German sculptor (d. 1714)
- 1663 - William Bradford, British-born printer (d. 1752)
- 1706 - Seth Pomeroy, American gunsmith and soldier (d. 1777)
- 1726 - Francis Cotes, English painter (d. 1770)
- 1737 - William Petty Fitzmaurice, British statesman (d. 1805)
- 1759 - William Thornton, West Indian-born architect (d. 1828)
- 1768 - Dolley Madison, First Lady of the United States (d. 1849)
- 1772 - Sir William Congreve, English inventor (d. 1828)
- 1799 - Honoré de Balzac, French novelist (d. 1850)
- 1806 - John Stuart Mill, English philosopher (d. 1873)
- 1822 - Frédéric Passy, French economist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1912)
- 1830 - Hector Malot, French writer (d. 1907)
- 1838 - Jules Méline, French statesman (d. 1925)
- 1851 - Emil Berliner, German-born telephone and recording pioneer (d. 1929)
- 1860 - Eduard Buchner, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
- 1882 - Sigrid Undset, Norwegian author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)
- 1883 - King Faisal I of Iraq (d. 1933)
- 1895 - R. J. (Reginald Joseph) Mitchell, British aircraft designer (d. 1937)
- 1901 - Max Euwe, Dutch chess player (d. 1981)
- 1903 - Barbara Hepworth, British sculptor (d. 1975)
- 1906 - Giuseppe Cardinal Siri, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1989)
- 1908 - James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)
- 1911 - Gardner Fox, American writer (d. 1986)
- 1913 - William Hewlett, American engineer and computer manufacturer (d. 2001)
- 1915 - Moshe Dayan, Israeli general and politician (d. 1981)
- 1916 - Trebisonda Valla, Italian athlete
- 1916 - Alexei Petrovich Maresiev, Russian flying ace (d. 2001)
- 1917 - Bergur Sigurbjörnsson, Icelandic politician (d. 2005)
- 1918 - Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004)
- 1919 - George Gobel, American comedian (d. 1991)
- 1920 - Betty Driver, English singer and actress
- 1921 - Wolfgang Borchert, German writer (d. 1947)
- 1921 - Hal Newhouser, baseball player (d. 1998)
- 1926 - Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (d. 1956)
- 1927 - Bud Grant, American football coach
- 1931 - Ken Boyer, baseball player (d. 1982)
- 1935 - Marinella, Greek singer
- 1936 - Anthony Zerbe, American actor
- 1940 - Stan Mikita, Slovak-born hockey player
- 1940 - Sadaharu Oh, Japanese baseball player
- 1944 - Joe Cocker, British singer
- 1944 - Boudewijn de Groot, Dutch singer
- 1944 - Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman
- 1946 - Cher, American actress and singer
- 1947 - Greg Dyke, British broadcast executive
- 1952 - Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer
- 1953 - Robert Doyle, Australian politician
- 1955 - Zbigniew Preisner, Polish film composer
- 1956 - Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author
- 1958 - Ron Reagan, American dancer and talk show host
- 1958 - Jane Wiedlin, American singer (The Go-Go's)
- 1959 - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, American singer
- 1959 - Bronson Pinchot, American actor
- 1960 - John Billingsley, American actor
- 1960 - Chuck Brodsky, American musician
- 1960 - Tony Goldwyn, American actor
- 1962 - Mike Jeffries, American soccer coach
- 1966 - Mindy Cohn, American actress
- 1968 - Timothy Olyphant, American actor
- 1970 - Louis Theroux, British television presenter
- 1971 - Tony Stewart, American race car driver
- 1972 - Tina Hobley, British actress
- 1972 - Busta Rhymes, American singer and rapper
- 1976 - Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
- 1977 - Miriam Parrish, American actress
- 1981 - Íker Casillas, Spanish footballer
- 1981 - Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
- 1982 - Petr Cech, Czech footballer

Deaths

- 685 - King Ecgfrith of Northumbria (b. 645)
- 1277 - Pope John XXI (b. 1215)
- 1285 - John II of Jerusalem, King of Cyprus (b. 1259)
- 1444 - Saint Bernardino of Siena, Italian Franciscan missionary (b. 1380)
- 1503 - Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, Italian patron of the arts (b. 1463)
- 1506 - Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer (b. 1451)
- 1550 - Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shogun (b. 1510)
- 1622 - Osman II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1604)
- 1648 - King Wladislaus IV of Poland (b. 1595)
- 1677 - George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, English statesman (b. 1612)
- 1713 - Thomas Sprat, English writer (b. 1635)
- 1717 - John Trevor, Speaker of the English House of Commons (b. 1637)
- 1722 - Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist (b. 1669)
- 1732 - Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (b. 1676)
- 1782 - William Emerson, English mathematician (b. 1701)
- 1793 - Charles Bonnet, Swiss naturalist (b. 1720)
- 1834 - Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette, French soldier and statesman (b. 1757)
- 1841 - Joseph Blanco White, British theologian (b. 1775)
- 1873 - Sir George-Étienne Cartier, French-Canadian statesman (b. 1814)
- 1896 - Clara Schumann, German pianist and composer (b. 1819)
- 1917 - Philipp von Ferrary, Italian stamp collector (b. 1850)
- 1940 - Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
- 1947 - Philipp Lenard, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
- 1956 - Max Beerbohm, English theater critic (b. 1872)
- 1971 - Waldo Williams, Welsh poet (b. 1904)
- 1989 - John Hicks, English economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- 1989 - Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (b. 1946)
- 1996 - Jon Pertwee, British actor (b. 1919)
- 2000 - Jean Pierre Rampal, French flutist (b. 1922)
- 2001 - Renato Carosone, Italian musician and singer (b. 1920)
- 2002 - Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist (b. 1941)
- 2005 - Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher (b. 1913)

Holidays and observances

- Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Bernadine of Siena
- Theodore of Pavia
- Saint Lucifer
- Austregisilus
- Ivo of Chartres
- Cameroon National Day
- East Timor National Day

Misc

Eliza Doolittle Day from My Fair Lady

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/20 BBC: On This Day] ---- 19 May - 21 May - 20 April - 20 June – listing of all days ko:5월 20일 ms:20 Mei ja:5月20日 simple:May 20 th:20 พฤษภาคม

1943

1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday.

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Undated

Ongoing

- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)

Births

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Deaths

January-June

July-December

Nobel Prizes

Supermarine Spitfire

The Supermarine Spitfire was a single-seat fighter used by the RAF and many Allied countries in World War II. The Spitfire's elliptical wings gave it a very distinctive look; their thin cross-section gave it speed; the brilliant design of Chief Designer R.J. Mitchell and his successors (he died in 1937) meant the Spitfire was loved by its pilots. It saw service during the whole of World War II, in all theatres of war, and in many different variants. More than 20,300 examples of all variants were built, including two-seat trainers, with some Spitfires remaining in service well into the 1950s. The aircraft was dubbed Spitfire by Sir Robert MacLean, director of Vickers at the time, and on hearing this, Mitchell is reported to have said, "...sort of bloody silly name they would give it." The word dates from Elizabethan times and refers to a particularly fiery, ferocious type of person, usually a woman. The name had previously been used unofficially for Mitchell's earlier F.7/30 Type 224 design.

Design

Supermarine Chief Designer R.J. Mitchell had won three Schneider Trophy seaplane races with his aircraft, by combining powerful Napier or Rolls Royce engines with minute attention to streamlining. These same qualities are equally useful for a fighter design, and in 1930 Mitchell produced such a plane in response to an Air Ministry request for a new and modern monoplane fighter. This first attempt at a fighter resulted in an open-cockpit monoplane with gull-wings and a large fixed spatted undercarriage. The Supermarine Type 224 did not live up to expectations; nor did any of the competing designs which were also deemed failures. Mitchell immediately turned his attention to an improved design as a private venture, with the backing of Supermarine owners Vickers. The new design added gear retraction, an enclosed cockpit, oxygen gear, and the much more powerful Rolls Royce PV-12 engine, later named the Merlin. By 1935 the Air Ministry had seen enough advancement in the industry to try the monoplane design again. They eventually rejected the new Supermarine design on the grounds that it did not carry the required eight-gun load, and did not appear to have room to do so. PV-12 Once again Mitchell was able to solve the problem. It has been suggested that by looking at various Heinkel planes he settled on the use of an elliptical planform, which had much more chord to allow for the required eight guns, while still having the low drag of the earlier, simpler wing design. Mitchell's aerodynamicist, Beverley Shenstone, however, has pointed out that Mitchell's wing was not directly copied from the Heinkel He 70, as some have claimed; the Spitfire wing was much thinner and had a completely different section. In any event, the elliptical wing was enough to sell the Air Ministry on this new Type 300, which they funded as F.10/35. The prototype first flew on March 5, 1936. Performance was such that the Air Ministry immediately placed an order for 310. At the time it was still being "shaken out" by Vickers test pilots, even before the aircraft had been handed to them for their own flight testing. A feature of the final Spitfire design that has often been singled out by pilots is its washout feature, which was unusual at the time. The incidence of the wing is +2° at its root and −½° at its tip. This twist means that the wing roots will stall before the tips [http://www.fly-imaa.org/imaa/hfarticles/const/v1-4-10.html], reducing the potentially dangerous rolling moment in the stall known as a spin. Many pilots have benefited from this feature in combat when doing tight turns close to the aircraft's limits because when the wing root stalled it made the control column shudder giving the pilot a warning that he was about to reach the limit of the aircraft`s performance.

Variants

There were 24 marks of Spitfire and many sub-variants. For a brief history of the Spitfire's development over time see Supermarine Spitfire variants.

Naval version

Supermarine Spitfire variants There also was a naval version of the Spitfire called the Seafire. It was especially adapted for operation from aircraft carriers: with an arrester hook, folding wings and other specialized equipment. However, like the Spitfire, the Seafire had a narrow undercarriage track, which meant that it was not well suited to deck operations. Due to the addition of heavy carrier equipment, it suffered from an aft centre-of-gravity position that made low-speed control difficult, and its gradual stall characteristics meant that it was difficult to land accurately on the carrier. These characteristics resulted in a very high accident rate for the Seafire. Compared with other naval fighters, the Seafire II was able to outperform the A6M5 (Zero) at low altitudes when the two types were tested against each other in WW2. Contemporary western carrier aircraft like the F6F Hellcat and the F4U Corsair, however, were considerably more powerful. Late-war Seafire marks equipped with the Griffon engines enjoyed a considerable increase of performance compared to their Merlin-engined predecessors. The name Seafire was arrived at by collapsing the longer name Sea Spitfire.

Battle of Britain

The Spitfire is often credited with winning the Battle of Britain. The design was mass produced in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham where there now stands a large metal memorial on Chester Road at Spitfire Roundabout. The aircraft and Mitchell were lauded in the movie The First of the Few, although the film was a dramatization and not factually accurate. The Spitfire was certainly one of the finest aircraft of the war; aviation historians and laymen alike often claim it to be the most beautiful. It is, however, frequently compared to the Hawker Hurricane, which was used in greater numbers during the critical stage of 1940. The Hurricane's guns were better suited to attacking bombers, but a close pattern of fire and slower speed made the Hurricane vulnerable when attacking the German fighter escorts. It should be noted, however, that in total numbers the Hurricane actually shot down more Luftwaffe aircraft, both fighters and bombers, than the Spitfire. Losses were high among the more numerous Hurricanes, whereas the Spitfire had a greater chance of survival. Another contemporary, the German Luftwaffe's Messerschmitt Bf 109, was similar in attributes and performance to the Spitfire. Some advantages helped the Spitfires win many dogfights, with manouverability the attribute most often quoted. Good cockpit visibility was probably a greater factor, as the early Bf 109s had narrow, paneled cockpit windows. Spitfires were assigned the task of taking on the Bf 109Es, while the Hurricanes intercepted bombers whenever possible. Nonetheless, seven of every ten German planes destroyed during the Battle of Britain were shot down by Hurricane pilots.

Speed and altitude records

dogfight during which it achieved a true airspeed of 606 mph (975 km/h).]] Due to the high altitudes necessary for these dives, a fully feathering Rotol propeller was fitted to prevent overspeeding. During the spring of 1944, high-speed diving trials were being performed at Farnborough to investigate the handling of aircraft near the sound barrier. Because it had the highest limiting Mach number of any aircraft at that time, a Spitfire XI was chosen to take part in these trials. It was during these trials that EN 409, flown by Squadron Leader Martindale, reached 606 mph (975 km/h) in a 45-degree dive. Unfortunately the aircraft could not cope with this speed and the propeller and reduction gear broke off. Martindale successfully glided the 20 miles (30 km) back to the airfield and landed safely. From: Spitfire - A Test Pilot’s Story - Arrow Books "That any operational aircraft off the production line, cannons sprouting from its wings and warts and all, could readily be controlled at this speed when the early jet aircraft such as Meteors, Vampires, P-80s, etc could not, was certainly extraordinary" —Jeffrey Quill On 5 February 1952 a Spitfire Mk. 19 of No. 81 Squadron RAF based in Hong Kong achieved probably the highest altitude ever achieved by a Spitfire. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Ted Powles, was on a routine flight to survey outside air temperature and report on other meteorological conditions at various altitudes in preparation for a proposed new air service through the area. He climbed to 50,000 feet (15 240 m) indicated altitude, with a true altitude of 51,550 feet (15 712 m), which was the highest height ever recorded for a Spitfire. However, the cabin pressure fell below a safe level, and in trying to reduce altitude, he entered an uncontrollable dive which shook the aircraft violently. He eventually regained control somewhere below 3,000 feet (900 m). He landed safely and there was no discernible damage to his aircraft. Evaluation of the recorded flight data suggested that in the dive, he achieved a speed of 690 mph (1110 km/h) or Mach 0.94, which would have been the highest speed ever reached by a propeller-driven aircraft. Today it is generally believed that this speed figure is the result of inherent instrument errors and has to be considered unrealistic.

Other operators

meteorological Apart from the RAF, Spitfires served with most of the Allied air forces in World War II, especially the Polish Air Force, Czechoslovak Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, South African Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force. It was one of only a few foreign aircraft to see service with the United States Army Air Corps. Several European countries also operated Spitfires based in the UK, under the auspices of the RAF, including the Armée de l'Air as part of the Free French air force, the Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres (FAFL). (See Armée de l'Air (Part II).) In the Swedish Air Force the Spitfire was given the name S31 and it was in use up to 1955 when it was replaced by SAAB Tunnan. [http://www.canit.se/~griffon/aviation/text/31spitfi.htm] Following World War II, the Spitfire remained in use with many air forces around the world, including the South African Air Force, Swedish Air Force, Egyptian Air Force, Hellenic Air Force, Irish Air Corps, Israeli Air Force, Syrian Air Force, Danish Air Force, Royal Norwegian Air Force and Turkish Air Force. Spitfires played a major role in the Greek Civil War, flown by the RAF and SAAF during 1944 and 1945, and by the Royal Hellenic Air Force from 1946 through the end of the war in 1948. Spitfires last saw major action during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, when — in a strange twist — Israeli Spitfires were engaged by both British and Egyptian Spitfires. Some air forces retained Spitfires in service until well into the 1960s, while some pilots who flew Spitfires in World War II were able to remain in service for decades; for example, Flight Lieutenant "Joe" Kmiecki, a Polish pilot who flew Spitfires during the war, did not retire from the RAF until 1981.

Planes remaining in use

1960s About 50 Spitfires and a few Seafires remain airworthy and many aircraft museums treasure static examples of this graceful yet lethal fighter. The RAF maintains some for flying display and ceremonial purposes in the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire. The [http://www.aviationmuseum.com.au/ Temora Aviation Museum] in regional New South Wales, Australia, has an airworthy Supermarine Spitfire Mk VIII, which is flown regularly during the Museum's flying weekends. A black-painted Spitfire, which belonged to Israeli pilot and former president Ezer Weizmann, is still in active flight condition. The Black Spitfire is on exhibit in the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim and used for ceremonial flying display.

Memorials and artwork

Spitfires have appeared in a number of war memorials and other artworks. For example:
- Sentinel, by Tim Tolkien.

Specifications

See the page on Supermarine Spitfire variants for description of subtypes.

References

- E.B.Morgan and E.Shacklady : Spitfire : The history, Key Publishing
- Alfred Price: The Spitfire Story, Silverdale Books, ISBN 1-85605-702-X
- Palfrey, Brett R. & Whitehead, Christopher. [http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/spit1.html Supermarine Spitfire - History of a Legend]. Royal Air Force.
- Jeffrey Quill OBE, AFC, FRAeS Spitfire - A Test Pilot’s Story - Arrow Books 1983-89 - ISBN 0-09-937020-4
- John Dibbs and Tony Holmes Spitfire - Flying Legend - The Fighter and 'The Few - Osprey Aviation 1996-99 - ISBN 1-84176-005-6
-
Related content
Category:British fighter aircraft 1930-1939 Category:Carrier-based aircraft Category:French Air Force Category:Royal Air Force ms:Supermarine Spitfire ja:スピットファイア (航空機)

March 23

March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). There are 283 days remaining.

Events

- 752 - Stephen II becomes Pope.
- 1568 - Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. Again Catherine de Medici and Charles IX of France make substantial concessions to the Huguenots.
- 1708 - James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth.
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his famous speech - "give me liberty or give me death" at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia.
- 1801 - Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death in his bedroom at St. Michael Palace.
- 1806 - After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their "Corps of Discovery" begin their arduous journey home.
- 1839 - First recorded use of "OK" as an abbreviation for "oll korrect" in the Boston Morning Post.
- 1848 - The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded.
- 1857 - Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway, New York City.
- Death of Emile L'Angelier in Glasgow, Scotland -- possibly by the hand of Madeleine Smith.
- 1868 - The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
- 1889 - Land run: President Benjamin Harrison opens Oklahoma to white settlement starting on April 22.
- The free Woolwich Ferry officially opens in east London.
- 1903 - The Wright Brothers apply for a patent on their invention of one of the first successful airplanes after much hard work.
- 1909 - Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
- 1919 - In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
- 1931 - Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt embrace the gallows during the Indian struggle for independence. Their request to be shot by a firing squad is refused.
- 1933 - The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
- 1935 - Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
- 1940 - The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or the then Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All India Muslim League.
- 1942 - World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces capture the Andaman Islands.
- 1956 - Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world.
- 1962 - NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, was launched as a showcase for Dwight D. Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace initiative.
- 1963 - In London, United Kingdom, Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann win the eighth Eurovision Song Contest for Denmark singing "Dansevise" (Dancing tune).
- 1965 - NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
- 1978 - The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line.
- 1983 - Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
- 1989 - Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announce cold fusion at the University of Utah.
- A 1,000-foot diameter Near-Earth asteroid misses the Earth by 400,000 miles.
- 1994 - At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez.
- 1996 - Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President
- 1999 - Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña.
- 2001 - The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
- The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) (now World Wrestling Entertainment) purchases rival organization World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for an estimated $5 million.
- 2003 - In Nasiriyah, Iraq, 18 U.S. Marines are killed during the first major conflict of Operation Iraqi Freedom
- 2004 - Andhra Pradesh Federation of Trade Unions holds its first conference in Hyderabad, India.
- 2005 - The United States 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, refuses to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.

Births

1429 to 1899

- 1429 - Margaret of Anjou, queen of Henry VI of England (d. 1482)
- 1638 - Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (d. 1731)
- 1699 - John Bartram, American botanist (d. 1777)
- 1723 - Agha Mohammad Khan Ghajar, King of Iran (d. 1771)
- 1749 - Pierre Simon de Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1827)
- 1754 - Baron Jurij Vega, Slovenian mathematician, physicist, and artillery officer (d. 1802)
- 1769 - William Smith, English geologist and cartographer (d. 1839)
- 1823 - Schuyler Colfax, Vice President of the United States (d. 1885)
- 1831 - Eduard Schlagintweit, German writer (d. 1866)
- 1834 - Julius Reubke, German composer (d. 1858)
- 1858 - Ludwig Quidde, German pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1941)
- 1878 - Franz Schreker, Austrian composer (d. 1934)
- 1881 - Roger Martin du Gard, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
- 1881 - Hermann Staudinger, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
- 1882 - Emmy Noether, German mathematician (d. 1935)
- 1887 - Juan Gris, Spanish artist (d. 1927)
- 1887 - Prince Felix Yussupov, Russian assassin of Rasputin (d. 1967)
- 1899 - Dora Gerson, German actress and singer (d. 1943)

1900 to 1999

- 1900 - Erich Fromm, German-born psychoanalyst (d. 1980)
- 1905 - Lale Andersen, German singer and cabaretist (d. 1972)
- 1905 - Joan Crawford, American actress (d. 1977)
- 1907 - Daniel Bovet, Swiss-born scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1992)
- 1910 - Akira Kurosawa, Japanese film director (d. 1998)
- 1912 - Betty Astell, British actress (d. 2005)
- 1912 - Wernher von Braun, German-born physicist and engineer (d. 1977)
- 1915 - Vasily Zaitsev, Russian World War II hero (d. 1991)
- 1929 - Sir Roger Bannister, British runner
- 1931 - Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player
- 1931 - Yevgenij Grishin, Russian speed skater (d. 2005)
- 1934 - Mark Rydell, American film and television director
- 1937 - Craig Breedlove, American land speed record holder
- 1938 - Maynard Jackson, American politician (d. 2003)
- 1942 - Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian and political figure (d. 1980)
- 1948 - David Olney, American musician
- 1949 - Ric Ocasek, American musician (The Cars)
- 1950 - Anthony De Longis, American actor
- 1951 - Corinne Clery, French actress
- 1952 - Kim Stanley Robinson, American author
- 1953 - Bo Diaz, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1990)
- 1953 - Chaka Khan, American singer
- 1955 - Moses Malone, American basketball player
- 1956 - José Manuel Durão Barroso, Portuguese politician, president of the European Commission
- 1957 - Amanda Plummer, American actress
- 1960 - Nicol Stephen, Deputy First Minister of Scotland
- 1961 - Helmi Johannes, Indonesian television newscaster
- 1964 - Hope Davis, American actress
- 1965 - Richard Grieco, American actor and singer
- 1968 - Damon Albarn, English musician (Blur and Gorillaz)
- 1971 - Gail Porter, British television presenter
- 1971 - Karen McDougal, American model
- 1972 - Judith Godrèche, French actress and author
- 1973 - Jerzy Dudek, Polish footballer
- 1973 - Jason Kidd, American basketball player
- 1975 - Alydar, American racehorse (d. 1990)
- 1976 - Keri Russell, American actress
- 1978 - Nicholle Tom, American actress
- 1978 - Walter Samuel, Argentine football player
- 1979 - Mark Buehrle, baseball player
- 1979 - Chad Dittman, American president of the Indoor Football League
- 1979 - Misty Hyman, American swimmer
- 1983 - Jerome Thomas, English footballer

Deaths

1103 to 1899

- 1103 - Eudes I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1058)
- 1369 - King Peter I of Castile (b. 1334)
- 1548 - Itagaki Nobukata, retainer of Takeda Shingen
- 1555 - Pope Julius III, (b. 1487)
- 1559 - Emperor Gelawdewos of Ethiopia (killed in battle) (b. 1522)
- 1596 - Henry Unton, English diplomat
- 1606 - Justus Lipsius, Flemish humanist (b. 1547)
- 1618 - James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn, Scottish politician
- 1653 - Johan van Galen, Dutch naval officer (b. 1604)
- 1680 - Nicolas Fouquet, French statesman (b. 1615)
- 1742 - Jean-Baptiste Dubos, French writer (b. 1670)
- 1747 - Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, French soldier (b. 1675)
- 1748 - Johann Gottfried Walther, German music theorist, organist, and composer (b. 1684)
- 1754 - Johann Jakob Wettstein, Swiss theologian (b. 1693)
- 1783 - Charles Caroll, American lawyer and delegate to the Continental Congress (b. 1723)
- 1801 - Tsar Paul of Russia (b. 1754)
- 1842 - Stendhal, French writer (b. 1783)

1900 to 1999

- 1927 - Paul César Helleu, French artist (b. 1859)
- 1931 - Bhagat Singh, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1907)
- 1955 - Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (b. 1875)
- 1960 - Franklin Pierce Adams, American newspaper columnist (b. 1881)
- 1964 - Peter Lorre, Hungarian-born actor (b. 1904)
- 1965 - Mae Murray, American actress (b. 1889)
- 1970 - Del Lord, Canadian director (b. 1894)
- 1972 - Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer (b. 1895)
- 1979 - Orlando Letelier, Chilean ambassador to the United States (b. 1932)
- 1992 - Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
- 1994 - Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (b. 1950)

2000 onwards

- 2002 - Eileen Farrell, American soprano (b. 1920)
- Ben Hollioake, English cricketer (b. 1977)
- 2003 - Fritz Spiegl, Austrian-born journalist (b. 1926)
- 2004 - Rupert Hamer, Australian politician (b. 1916)

Holidays and observances

- Roman Empire - The fifth and final day of Quinquatria, held in honor of Minerva.
- Roman Empire - Tubilustrium was held in honor of Mars
- Ancient Latvia - Lieldienas held in honor of Mara and other goddesses
- Pakistan - National Day (Republic Day)
- Otago, New Zealand - Anniversary Day

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/23 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/3/23 Today in History: March 23] ---- March 22 - March 24 - February 23 - April 23 -- listing of all days ko:3월 23일 ms:23 Mac ja:3月23日 simple:March 23 th:23 มีนาคม

March 26

March 26 is the 85th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (86th in leap years). There are 280 days remaining.

Events

- 1026 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1552 - Guru Amar Das becomes the Third Sikh Guru
- 1636 - Utrecht University is founded in The Netherlands
- 1707 - The Act of Union becomes law, making England and Scotland one country.
- 1808 - Charles IV of Spain abdicates in favor of his son, Ferdinand VII.
- 1812 - An earthquake destroys Caracas, Venezuela.
- 1839 - The first Henley Royal Regatta is held.
- 1871 - The Paris Commune is formally established in Paris.
- 1881 - Domnitor Carol I of the Principality of Romania is proclaimed the first King of Romania.
- 1913 - Balkan War: Bulgarian forces take Adrianople.
- 1917 - World War I: First Battle of Gaza - British troops are halted after 17,000 Turks block their advance.
- 1937 - In Crystal City, Texas, spinach growers erect a statue of the cartoon character Popeye.
- 1942 - World War II: In Poland, Auschwitz receives its first female prisoners.
- 1943 - World War II: Battle of Komandorski Islands - In the Aleutian Islands the battle begins when United States Navy forces intercept Japanese attempting to reinforce a garrison at Kiska.
- 1953 - Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine.
- 1958 - The United States Army launches Explorer III.
- 1958 - The African Regroupment Party (PRA) is launched at a meeting in Paris.
- 1971 - East Pakistan declares its independence from Pakistan to form People's Republic of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Liberation War begins.
- 1973 - The soap opera The Young and the Restless debuts on CBS television.
- 1975 - The Biological Weapons Convention enters into force.
- 1979 - Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in Washington, DC
- 1982 - A groundbreaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, DC.
- 1995 - The Schengen Treaty goes into effect.
- 1996 - The International Monetary Fund approves a $10.2 billion loan for Russia.
- 1997 - Thirty-nine bodies found in the Heaven's Gate cult suicides.
- 1998 - Oued Bouaicha massacre in Algeria; 52 people killed with axes and knives, 32 of them babies under the age of 2.
- 1999 - The "Melissa worm" infects e-mail systems around the world.
- 1999 - A jury in Michigan finds Dr. Jack Kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man.
- 2000 - The Seattle Kingdome is imploded to make room for a new stadium.
- 2000 - Presidential elections are held in Russia, and Vladimir Putin is elected President.
- 2001- The Final Edition of WCW Monday Nitro airs on TNT. Vince Mcmahon appeared on simulcast between WWE Raw and Nitro to give a speech about what he was going to do with WCW. This is the final show of WCW and the last night of wrestling on the turner networks to this date.
- 2003 - The Supreme Court of the United States hears oral arguments in Lawrence v. Texas.
- 2005 - The Revived Series of British Science Fiction Program Doctor Who begins Broadcasting on British Television

Births

- 1516 - Conrad Gessner, Swiss naturalist (d. 1565)
- 1554 - Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne, French military leader (d. 1611)
- 1753 - Benjamin Thompson, American physicist and inventor (d. 1814)
- 1859 - Alfred Edward Housman, English poet (d. 1936)
- 1874 - Robert Frost, American poet (d. 1963)
- 1875 - Max Abraham, German physicist (d. 1922)
- 1875 - Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea (d. 1965)
- 1879 - Othmar Ammann, Swiss-born bridge engineer (d. 1965)
- 1884 - Wilhelm Backhaus, German pianist (d. 1969)
- 1888 - Elsa Brändström, Swedish nurse (d. 1948)
- 1904 - Joseph Campbell, American author (d. 1987)
- 1904 - Xenophon Zolotas, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2004)
- 1905 - Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (d. 1997)
- 1911 - Bernard Katz, German-born biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2003)
- 1911 - Tennessee Williams, American dramatist (d. 1983)
- 1913 - Paul Erdős, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1996)
- 1914 - Toru Kumon, Japanese educator (d 1995)
- 1914 - William Westmoreland, U.S. general (d. 2005)
- 1916 - Christian B. Anfinsen, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
- 1916 - Sterling Hayden, American actor (d. 1986)
- 1917 - Rufus Thomas, American musician (d. 2001)
- 1919 - Strother Martin, American actor (d. 1980)
- 1923 - Bob Elliott, American comedian
- 1925 - Pierre Boulez, French composer and conductor
- 1930 - Gregory Corso, American poet (d. 2001)
- 1930 - Sandra Day O'Connor, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
- 1931 - Leonard Nimoy, American actor and director
- 1934 - Alan Arkin, American actor
- 1935 - Mahmoud Abbas, President of Palestine National Authority
- 1938 - Anthony James Leggett, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1940 - James Caan, American actor
- 1940 - Nancy Pelosi, American politician
- 1942 - Erica Jong, American author
- 1943 - Bob Woodward, American journalist
- 1944 - Diana Ross, American singer (Supremes)
- 1946 - Johnny Crawford, American actor
- 1947 - Dar Robinson, American stunt man (d. 1986)
- 1948 - Steven Tyler, American musician (Aerosmith)
- 1949 - Vicki Lawrence, American actress and singer
- 1949 - Patrick Süßkind, German writer
- 1950 - Teddy Pendergrass, American singer
- 1950 - Martin Short, Canadian comedian
- 1950 - Ernest Thomas, American actor
- 1951 - Carl Wieman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1953 - Elaine Chao, U.S. Secretary of Labor
- 1954 - Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels
- 1956 - Charly McClain, American singer
- 1957 - Leeza Gibbons, American television host
- 1960 - Marcus Allen, American football player
- 1960 - Jennifer Grey, American actress
- 1961 - William Hague, British politician
- 1962 - John Stockton, American basketball player
- 1963 - Kyogoku Natsuhiko, Japanese writer
- 1968 - James Iha, American musician (Smashing Pumpkins)
- 1971 - Behzad Ghorbani, Iranian zoologist and sociobiologist
- 1976 - Amy Smart, American actress
- 1977 - Kevin Davies, English footballer
- 1982 - Mikel Arteta, Spanish footballer
- 1985 - Keira Knightley, English actress

Deaths

- 922 - Al-Hallaj, Persian Sufi teacher and writer
- 1212 - King Sancho I of Portugal (b. 1154)
- 1517 - Heinrich Isaac, Flemish composer
- 1546 - Thomas Elyot, English diplomat
- 1566 - Antonio de Cabezón, Spanish composer (b. 1510)
- 1679 - Johannes Schefferus, Alsatian-born humanist (b. 1621)
- 1697 - Godfrey McCulloch, Scottish politican and murderer (executed) (b. 1640)
- 1726 - Sir John Vanbrugh, English dramatist and architect (b. 1664)
- 1772 - Charles Pinot Duclos, French writer (b. 1704)
- 1776 - Samuel Ward, American politician (b. 1725)
- 1780 - Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (b. 1713)
- 1793 - John Mudge, English physician and inventor (b. 1721)
- 1814 - Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French inventor of the guillotine (b. 1738)
- 1827 - Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (b. 1770)
- 1892 - Walt Whitman, American poet (b. 1819)
- 1902 - Cecil Rhodes, English explorer and entrepreneur (b. 1853)
- 1910 - An Jung-geun, Japanese assassin of Ito Hirobumi (executed) (b. 1879)
- 1920 - William Chester Minor, American surgeon and contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary (b. 1834)
- 1923 - Sarah Bernhardt, French actress (b. 1844)
- 1929 - Katharine Lee Bates, American poet (b. 1859)
- 1933 - Eddie Lang, American musician (b. 1902)
- 1940 - Spiridon Louis, Greek runner (b. 1873)
- 1945 - David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1863)
- 1958 - Phil Mead, English cricketer (b. 1887)
- 1959 - Raymond Chandler, American novelist (b. 1888)
- 1969 - John Kennedy Toole, American author (b. 1937)
- 1973 - Noel Coward, English composer and playwright (b. 1899)
- 1976 - Josef Albers, German artist (b. 1888)
- 1976 - Lin Yutang, Chinese writer (b. 1895)
- 1983 - Anthony Blunt, British spy (b. 1907)
- 1984 - Ahmed Sékou Touré, President of Guinea (b. 1922)
- 1987 - Eugen Jochum, German conductor (b. 1902)
- 1990 - Halston, American fashion designer (b. 1932)
- 1995 - Eazy-E, American rapper (b. 1963)
- 1996 - Edmund Muskie, American politician (b. 1914)
- 1996 - David Packard, American engineer and businessman (b. 1912)
- 1997 - Marshall Applewhite, American cult leader (b. 1931)
- 2000 - Alex Comfort, American author (b. 1920
- 2002 - Randy Castillo, Drummer for Ozzy Osbourne and Motley Crue
- 2003 - Daniel Patrick Moynihan, U.S. Senator (b. 1927)
- 2004 - Jan Berry, American musician (Jan and Dean) (b. 1941)
- 2004 - Jan Sterling, American actress (b. 1921)
- 2005 - James Callaghan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1912)
- 2005 - Paul Hester, Australian drummer (Split Enz and Crowded House) (b. 1959)
- 2005 - Marius Russo, baseball player (b. 1914)

Holidays and observances

- Zoroastrianism - Prophet Zarthushtra's (Zoroaster's) Birthday
- Holi in Hinduism (2005)
- International Railway Workers Day [http://www.asu.asn.au/media/transport_travel/20020325_rail.html]
- Megan Day (Lithuania)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/26 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/3/26 Today in History: March 26] ---- March 25 - March 27 - February 26 - April 26 -- listing of all days ko:3월 26일 ms:26 Mac ja:3月26日 simple:March 26 th:26 มีนาคม

Supermarine Spitfire

Design

Variants

There were 24 marks of Spitfire and many sub-variants. For a brief history of the Spitfire's development over time see Supermarine Spitfire variants.

Naval version

Battle of Britain

Speed and altitude records

Other operators

Planes remaining in use

Memorials and artwork

Spitfires have appeared in a number of war memorials and other artworks. For example:
- Sentinel, by Tim Tolkien.

Specifications

See the page on Supermarine Spitfire variants for description of subtypes.

References

Polish Air Force

Polish Air Force (Siły Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, Sily Powietrzne RP). Until July 1, 2004 it was officially known as: Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej (literally: Air and Air Defence Forces, the name existing from 1990). It consists of approximately forty thousand officers and enlisted personnel, distributed amongst 22 separate air force bases throughtout Poland.

The history of the Polish Air Force

1918–1922

The history of the Polish airforce began at the end of the World War I. In 1918, some aircraft escadres were created within the Polish units in allied countries. In Russia, one escadre was created within the Polish corps of Gen. Józef Dowbór-Muśnicki, then disbanded along with the Corps in May 1918. In France, 5 bomber escadres were created within the Army of Gen. Józef Haller. They returned to Poland, equipment intact in 1919. Military aviation in Poland started just when Poland regained it's independence, in November 1918. It consisted initially of German and Austrian aircraft, captured from the former occupants or left by them in a damaged state. They were first used in a conflict with Ukraine around Lviv in 1918. Since 1919 Poland was then involved in a war with Soviet Russia and started to buy aircraft abroad. As a result, in 1920 the Polish Air Forces consisted of a variety of the British, French, German, Austrian and Italian aircraft of the World War I era, in quantities ranging from a few to some dozen pieces. The main fighters used were (in order of quantity): SPAD XIII, Fokker D.VII, Oeffag D.III, Ansaldo Balilla, SPAD VII, Albatros D.III, Sopwith Dolphin, Fokker E.V (D.VIII). The most numerous became two-seater Bristol F2B Fighter (105 units), used a scout plane. Main bombers and reconnaissance planes were: Breguet 14, SVA-9, Salmson 2A2, DH-9, different variants of Albatros C, DFW C, LVG C.

1923–1932

After the Polish-Soviet war, the World War I vintage aircraft were gradually withdrawn, and the airforce was equipped mostly with the French aircraft. From 1924–26, the typical fighter became SPAD 61 (280 pieces). The standard light bombers were also French: Potez XV (245), then Breguet XIX (250) and Potez XXV (316). Potez bombers were produced in Poland. The medium bombers were Farman Goliath and later a military variant of Fokker F-VII. Before developing fighters of its own design, 50 Czech biplane fighters Avia BH-33 were licence-produced under a designation PWS-A. The first Polish design was a high wing fighter PWS-10, used in 80 pieces from 1932. The Polish naval airforce used a number of French flying boats, mainly Schreck FBA-17, LeO H-13, H-135 and Latham 43. All these aircraft were withdrawn from the combat units by 1939.

1933–1938

In 1933 entered service the first of high-wing all metal fighters of Zygmunt Pulawski design, PZL P.7a, built in a series of 150. It was followed by 30 improved PZL P.11a. The final design, PZL P.11c, entered service in 1935 in a series of 175. A modern fighter in 1935, it remained the only Polish fighter until 1939, when it was made obsolete by a quick progress in aircraft designing. Its development PZL P.24 was built for export only, and was bought by four countries. The new fighter prototype, PZL P-50 Jastrząb (Hawk), similar to Seversky P-35 layout, was designed too late to be produced. The two-engine heavy fighters PZL-38 Wilk and PZL-48 Lampart remained prototypes. In a bomber aviation, Potez XXV and Breguet XIX were replaced by all-metal monoplane PZL.23 Karas (250 built, since 1936), but in 1939 Karas wasn't much modern. Finally, in 1938 the Polish factory PZL designed a modern twin-engine medium bomber PZL.37 Los,arguably the best bomber in the world when it entered service that year. The PZL.37 Los (Elk) had a bomb payload of 2580 kg and a top speed of 439 km/h. Unfortunately too few of them entered service before the war (approximately 30 Los A bombers (single-fin tail) and 70 Los B (twin-fin tail) bombers were delivered before the war started). As an observation and close reconnaissance plane, Polish escadres used slow and easy to hit high-wing Lublin R-XIII, then RWD-14 Czapla. The Polish naval aviation used Lublin R-XIII on floats as well. Just before the war, some Italian torpedo planes CANT Z-506 were ordered, but only one was delivered, without armament. The main trainer planes were Polish-built high-wing RWD-8 (primary) and biplane PWS-26 (trainer). In 1939, Poland ordered 160 of MS-406 and 10 Hawker Hurricane fighters abroad, but they weren't delivered before the war.

1939

At the beginning of the Polish September Campaign, by September 1, 1939, all the Polish combat aircraft had been deployed to the field airfields; contrary to a common opinion, they avoided destruction in bombed air bases. The German bombers managed to destroy on airfields mostly trainer planes. The fighter planes were grouped in 15 escadres. 5 of them constituted the Pursuit Brigade, deployed in Warsaw area. Despite being obsolete, Polish PZL-11 fighters shot down over 170 German planes as well. The bombers, grouped in 9 escadres of the Bomber Brigade attacked armoured columns, suffering heavy losses. 7 reconnaissance and 12 observation escadres, deployed to particular Armies, were intensively used for reconnaissance. Most of the Polish airforce was destroyed in the campaign, the rest of aircraft were captured or withdrawn to Romania and taken over by this country. A great number of pilots and air crews managed to breakthrough to France through European countries.

1940 (France)

After the fall of Poland, the Polish airforce started to be reborn in France. The only complete unit created before the German attack on France was the GC 1/145 fighter squadron, flying on Caudron C.714 light fighters (it was the only unit operating C.714). The Polish pilots were also deployed to different French squadrons, flying on all French fighter types, mainly on MS-406.

1940–1945 (United Kingdom)

::See also: Polish Air Force in Great Britain Following France's surrender in 1940, Polish units were formed in the United Kingdom, as a part of the Royal Air Force, and known as the Polish Air Force (PAF). The first squadrons were: 300 and 301 bomber squadrons and 302 and 303 fighter squadrons. The fighter squadrons, flying the Hawker Hurricane, first saw action in the third phase of the Battle of Britain in August 1940, with a very good results. Polish flying skills were well-developed from the September campaign and the pilots were regarded as fearless bordering on reckless. Nevertheless success rates were very high in comparison to UK and Empire pilots. 303 squadron became the most efficient RAF fighter unit at that time. Many Polish pilots also flew in other RAF squadrons. In the following years, further Polish squadrons were created: 304 (bomber, then Coastal Command), 305 (bomber), 306 (fighter), 307 (night fighter), 308 (fighter), 309 (reconnaissance,then fighter), 315 (fighter), 316 (fighter), 317 (fighter), 318 (fighter-reconnaissance). The fighter squadrons initially flew Hurricanes, then Supermarine Spitfires, eventually on P-51 Mustangs. The bomber squadrons were initially equipped with Fairey Battles and Vickers Wellingtons, then Avro Lancasters (300 Sqdn.), Handley Page Halifaxs and Consolidated B-24 Liberators (301 sqn) and de Havilland Mosquitos and B-25 Mitchells (305 Sqdn.). After the war, with the changed international situation, their equipment was returned to the British but only some of the pilots and crews returned to Poland.

1944–1989

Along with the Polish People's Army (Ludowe Wojsko Polskie) in the USSR, the Ludowe Lotnictwo Polskie — Polish People's Airforce — was created. In late 1943, the 1st fighter regiment "Warszawa", (flying on Yak-1 and Yak-9), the 2nd night bomber regiment "Krakow" (Polikarpov Po-2 (from 1949 also produced in Poland as CSS-13), and the 3rd assault regiment (Ilyushin Il-2) were formed. In 1944–45, further regiments were created forming the 1st Mixed Air Corps, consisting of a Bomber Division, Assault Division, Fighter Division and a mixed Division. After the war, these returned to Poland and gave birth to the air force of the People's Republic of Poland. In the following years, Poland received from the USSR: bombers Petlyakov Pe-2 and Tupolev Tu-2 (since 1950) and training bombers USB-1 and USB-2. In 1949 the Li-2sb transport adapted to bombing came into service. In 1950 the Yak-17 fighter, Il-12 transport, Yak-18 trainer and UTB-2 bomber trainer arrived. From 1951, the Polish Air Force was equipped with jet fighters in the shape of Yak-23 and MiG-15 (along with a training version, the UTIMiG-15) and later the (MiG-17) in 1961). As well as Soviet produced aircraft, the MiG-15 was produced under licence in Poland as Lim-1 (starting in 1952), the MiG-15bis (from 1953) and as Lim-2 (since 1957), MiG-17 (from 1955) as Lim-5. A domestic ground attack variant of Lim-5M was developed as Lim-6bis (1964). The only jet bomber used was the Ilyushin Il-28, from 1952. Poland used only a small number of MiG-19 from 1959, because the basic supersonic fighter from 1963 became MiG-21. This aircraft was used in numerous variants from MiG-21F-13, through MiG-21PF and MF to MiG-21bis. Later, the Polish Air Force received 37 MiG-23 (1979) and 12 MiG-29 (1989). The main attack plane after 1949 was Il-10 (since 1951 also training version UIl-10). Starting 1964 Poland also used a substantial number of attack planes Su-7B (since 1965), replaced with 27 Sukhoi Su-20 (since 1974) and 110 Sukhoi Su-22 (1984) as the main attack planes. The only jet trainer was the domestically built TS-11 Iskra, which replaced proper engine Junak-2 (in service 1952), TS-9 Junak-3 (in service since 1954) and PZL TS-8 Bies (since 1958). The other polish jet trainer, the PZL I-22 Iryda, was used for some time but because of continuing problems all machines were returned to PZL for modification and it is currently not in service. As multirole planes Yak-12 (since 1951), An-2 (since 1955) and Wilga-35 P were used. Transport aircraft were: Il-14 (since 1955), Il-18 (since 1961), An-12B (since 1966), An-26 (since 1972), Yak-40 (since 1973) and Tupolev Tu-154. Helicopters used by Polish Army were: SM-1 (under licence of Mil Mi-1) — multirole (since 1956), Mil Mi-4 — multirole (since 1958), SM-2 — multirole (since 1960), Mil Mi-2 and Mil Mi-8 (later also Mil Mi-17) (since 1968) — multirole and Mil Mi-24 (since 1976) — combat helicopter. Also the Mil Mi-14 as amphibious helicopter are used, and Mil Mi-6 as transports. In 1954, the Air Force was merged with Air Defence Force, creating Air and Country Air Defence Forces (Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Przeciwlotniczej Obszaru Kraju — WLiOPL OK). It was formed from both flying and anti-aircraft units. In 1962 WLiOPL OK were separated again into: the Air Force (Wojska Lotnicze) and the Country Air Defence Force (Wojska Obrony Powietrznej Kraju). On July 1, 1990 they were merged again in the Air and Air Defence Force (Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej — WLiOP or WLOP).

From 1990

After a political change in 1989 and an arms reduction in Europe, the Polish airforce was reduced. In 1990 it consisted of MiG-21s, MiG-23s, MiG-29s, Su-20s and Su-22s. The rest of Lim-6bis were withdrawn in the early 1990's, followed soon by Su-20. MiG-23s were withdrawn by 1999 due to their small number. Since 1990, Poland has not purchased any new combat planes, and only managed to acquire further MiG-29s from Czech Republic (1995) and Germany (2004). MiG-21s were finally withdrawn in 2003. In 2004 the only combat aircraft were the MiG-29 and Su-22. The fleet of Su-22's needs modernization to retain a combat value, but its future is unclear. In 2003, F-16C Block 52 was chosen as a new multirole fighter, the first deliveries are scheduled for 2006.

Types of machines in service

data for 1 October 2005
- MiG-29 (36, Air Force)
- Su-22 (48, Air Force)
- An-2 (13, Air Force)
- An-26 (10, Air Force)
- An-28 (12, Air Force incl. 10 M-28 Bryza; 8, Navy incl. 6 M-28 Bryza)
- CASA C-295 (8, Air Force)
- Tu-154M Lux (2, Air Force, Goverment VIP jets)
- Yak-40 (4, Air Force, Goverment VIP jets)
- PZL TS-11 Iskra (111, Air Force)
- PZL-130 Orlik (37, Air Force)
- Mil Mi-2 (50, Air Force; 5, Navy; 66, Land Forces)
- Mil Mi-8 (11, Air Force; 26, Land Forces)
- Mil Mi-14 (13, Navy)
- Mil Mi-17 (2, Navy; 6, Land Forces)
- Mil Mi-24 (35, Land Forces)
- PZL W-3 Sokół (17, Air Force; 9, Navy incl. 7 W-3RM Anakonda; 36, Land Forces)
- SH-2G Super Seasprite (4, Navy)
- Bell 412HP (1, Air Force) Machines that will enter to service in near future:
- C-130 Hercules K/J (6 in 2005)
- F-16C/D (48 in 2006)
- PZL W-4

External links

- [http://www.wlop.mil.pl/ Oficial website of Polish Air Force]
- [http://www.scramble.nl/pl.htm Polish Air Force history] Category:Air forces
-

1970

1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. 1970 is the Unix epoch time.

Events

January-February

- January 1 - Construction begins on Arcosanti, by Paolo Soleri, in Mayer, Arizona, located 65 miles north of Phoenix, Arizona.
- January 1 - Unix epoch at 00:00:00 UTC.
- January 12 - Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war.
- January 15 - After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafran forces under General Effiong formally surrender to General Yakubu Gowon.
- January 15 - Muammar al-Qaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
- January 16 - Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.
- February 11 - Launch of Japan's first satellite Osumi with a Lamba-4 Rocket.
- February 17 - MacDonald family massacre at Fort Bragg, North Carolina - Jeffrey MacDonald kills his wife and children and tries to claim that "hippies" did it

March

- March 1 - Rhodesia severs its last tie with the British crown and declares itself a racially segregated republic.
- March 4 - Nigerian Francis Okechukwu Ohanyido, Poet/Philosopher born in Jos.
- March 5 - A nuclear non-proliferation treaty goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations.
- March 11 - Henry "Dickie" Marrow is murdered in a violent hate crime in Oxford, N.C..
- March 16 - The Expo '70 world's fair opens in Suita, Osaka, Japan.
- March 16 - Publication of complete New English Bible.
- March 16 - Birth of Stephen Martin.
- March 17 - My Lai massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.
- March 18 - Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
- March 18 - Post Office strike in USA - 210,000 out of 750,000 US postal employees walk out. President Nixon assigns military units to New York City post offices. Strike lasts two weeks.
- March 21 The first Earth Day proclamation is issued by San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto.
- March 25 - The Concorde makes its 1st supersonic flight (700 mph /1,127 km/h).
- March 31 - Explorer I spacefract re-enters atmosphere, after twelve years in orbit.

April

- April 1 - President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law banning cigarette television advertisements in the United States starting on January 1, 1971.
- April 1 - American Motors introduces the Gremlin.
- April 10 - Paul McCartney announces that the Beatles have disbanded.
- April 11 - US spaceflight Apollo 13 launches for the moon, carrying James Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert. On April 13, an oxygen tank in the spacecraft explodes, forcing the crew to abort the mission. The crew returns to earth safely on April 17
- April 22 - First Earth Day celebrated.
- April 29 - U.S. invades Cambodia to hunt out Viet Cong. Massive protests against the war continue in the U.S.

May-June

Viet Cong
- May 4 - The Kent State shootings: Four students at Kent State University in Ohio are killed and 9 wounded by National Guardsmen at a demonstration protesting against the incursion into Cambodia.
- May 5 - Earthquake in Yungay, Peru below Hauscaran Mountain buries the city
- May 6 - Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney are dismissed as members of the Irish Government due to accusations of their involvement in a plot to import arms for use in Northern Ireland.
- May 9 - 100,000 people demonstrate in Washington DC against the Vietnam War.
- May 14 - Ulrike Meinhof helps Andreas Baader escape.
- May 17 - Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II to sail the Atlantic Ocean.
- May 26 - The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.
- May 27 - British expedition climbs south face of Annapurna I.
- May 31 - The Ancash earthquake causes a landslide that buries the town of Yungay, Peru; more than 47,000 people are killed.
- June 2 - Norway announces that it has rich oil deposits off its North Sea coast.
- June 4 - Tonga gains independence from the United Kingdom.
- June 10 - President Nixon signed a measure lowering the voting age to 18.
- June 11 - The United States gets its first female Generals: Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington.
- June 18 - Edward Heath is elected Prime Minister of United Kingdom.
- June 21 - Brazil defeats Italy 4-1 to win the Football World Cup 1970
- June 24 - The United States Senate repeals the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
- June 28 - US ground troops withdraw from Cambodia.

July-August

- July 4 - Chartered Dan-Air Comet crashes into mountains north of Barcelona - at least 112 dead.
- July 11 - The first tunnel under the Pyrenees links the Basque towns of Aranoutes and Biesma.
- July 21 - Aswan High Dam in Egypt completed.
- July 30 - Damages awarded to Thalidomide victims,
- August 7 - Harold Haley, Marin County Superior Court Judge taken hostage and murdered in an effort to free George Jackson from police custody.
- August 17-18 - US sinks 418 containers of nerve gas into the Gulf Stream near the Bahamas
- August 17 - Venera program: Venera 7 is launched. It will later becomes the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from another planet.
- August 26- The Women's Strike For Equality takes place down Fifth Avenue in New York City.
- August 26- August 30- The Isle of Wight Festival 1970 takes place on East Afton Farm off the coast of England. 600,000 people attend the largest rock festival of all time. Artists include Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Doors, Chicago, Richie Havens, John Sebastian, Joan Baez, Ten Years After, Emerson Lake & Palmer and Jethro Tull.

September

- September 1 - Assassination attempt against king Hussein of Jordan
- September 3-6 - Israeli forces fight Palestinian guerillas in southern Lebanon.
- September 5 - Vietnam War: Operation Jefferson Glenn begins - The United States 101st Airborne Division and the South Vietnamese 1st Infantry Division initiate a new operation in Thua Thien Province (operation ends in October 1971).
- September 7 - An anti-war rally is held at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, attended by John Kerry, Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.
- September 7 - Fighting between Arabic guerillas and government forces in Amman, Jordan
- September 8-10 - Jordanian government and Palestinian guerillas make truces that keep breaking.
- September 9 – Guinea recognizes East Germany.
- September 10 – Cambodian government forces break the blockage around Kompong Tho after a 3-month siege.
- September 11 - The Ford Pinto is introduced.
- September 13 - First running of the New York City Marathon.
- September 15 - King Hussein of Jordan forms a military government with Muhammad Daoud as the prime minister.
- September 18 - Jimi Hendrix dies of barbiturate overdose in London
- September 20 - End of term for Ismail Nasiruddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Zainal Abidin III as the 4th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
- September 20 - Syrian armored forces cross Jordanian border.
- September 20-21 - Luna 16 lands on the Moon and lifts off the day later with samples. Lands on Earth September 24.
- September 21 - Palestinian armored forces reinforce Palestinian guerillas in Irbidi, Jordan.
- September 21 - Tuanku Al-Mutassimu Billahi Muhibbudin Sultan Abdul Halim Al-Muadzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, Sultan of Kedah becomes the 5th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
- September 26 - Laguna Fire starts in San Diego County burning 175,425 acres (710 km²).
- September 27 - Richard Nixon begins a tour in Europe and visits Italy, Yugoslavia, Spain, United Kingdom and Ireland.
- September 28 - Gamal Abdal Nasser dies - vice president Anwar Sadat is named temporary president of Egypt.
- September 29 - US Congress gives president Richard Nixon authority to sell arms to Israel.
- September 29 - In Berlin, Baader-Meinhof Gang members rob three banks, loot totaling over DM200.000.

October

- October 2 - Wichita State University loses most of its football team in a plane crash.
- October 3 - In Lebanon, government of the prime minister Rashid Karami resigns.
- October 4 - In Bolivia, army commander general Rogelio Miranda and group of officers rebel and demand resignation of the president Alfredo Ovando Candía – president fires him.
- October 4 - Janis Joplin dies of a heroin overdose inside her hotel room in Los Angeles, California
- October 5 - Nixon's European tour ends.
- October 5 - The Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnap James Cross in Montreal and demands release of all its imprisoned members. The next day the Canadian government announces it won't accept the demand - first stirrings of Quebec's October Crisis.
- October 6 - Bolivian president Alfredo Ovando Candía resigns – general Rogelio Miranda takes over but resigns soon after.
- October 6 - French president Georges Pompidou visits Soviet Union.
- October 7 - General Juan José Torres becomes the new president of Bolivia.
- October 7 - Anwar Sadat accepted as Egyptian president.
- October 8 - US foreign office announces that it renews its arms sales to Pakistan.
- October 8 - Soviet author Alexander Solzhenitsyn is awarded Nobel Prize for Literature.
- October 8 - Vietnam War: In Paris, a Communist delegation rejects US President Richard Nixon's October 7 peace proposal as "a maneuver to deceive world opinion."
- October 9 - The Khmer Republic is proclaimed in Cambodia.
- October 9 - Divorce law in Italy.
- October 10 - Fiji becomes independent.
- October 10 - October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.
- October 11 - 11 French soldiers are killed in a shootout with rebels in Chad.
- October 12 - Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops before Christmas.
- October 13 - Canada and the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations.
- October 13 - Saeb Salam's government forms in Lebanon.
- October 14 - Chinese nuclear test in Lop Nor.
- October 15 - In Egypt, referendum supports Anwar Sadat 90.04%.
- October 15 - 35 construction workers are killed when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses into the river below.
- October 16 - Canadian government declares state of emergency and outlaws Quebec Liberation Front.
- October 17 - Pierre Laporte is found killed in south of Montreal.
- October 17 - Cholera epidemic in Istanbul.
- October 17 - Anwar Sadat becomes officially president of Egypt.
- October 20 - Soviet Union launches Zond 8 lunar probe.
- October 20 - Algerian ex-minister Krim Belkacem is found strangled in his hotel room in Frankfurt.
- October 20 - Egyptian president Anwar Sadat names Mahmoud Fawzi as his prime minister.
- October 21 - US Air Force plane makes an emergency landing near Leninakan, Soviet Union. Soviets release the American officers, including two generals, November 10.
- October 22 - Chilean army commander Rene Schneider is shot in Santiago – government declares state of emergency. Schneider dies October 25.
- October 24 - Salvador Allende is elected President of Chile.
- October 26 - US and Soviet space researchers meet in Moscow.
- October 26 - Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury, debuts in approximately two dozen newspapers in the United States.
- October 28 - In Jordan, government of Ahmed Toukan resigns – next prime minister is Wasfi Al-Tal.
- October 28 - Cholera outbreak in eastern Slovakia – Hungary closes its border with Czechoslovakia.
- October 28 - Gary Gabelich drives the rocket-powered Blue Flame to an official world land speed record of 622.287 mph (1,001.452863 km/h) on the dry lake bed of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The record, the first above 1,000 km/h, stands for nearly 13 years.
- October 30 - In Vietnam, the worst monsoon to hit the area in six years causes large floods, kills 293, leaves 200,000 homeless and virtually halts the Vietnam War.

November

- November 1 - Fire destroys Le Cinq Sept dance hall in St. Laurent Du Pont, France – 144 dead.
- November 4 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - The United States turns control of the air base in the Mekong Delta to South Vietnam. Genie "the Wild Child" discovered in her house at the age of 13 after being in complete isolation for 10 years with no language skills.
- November 4 - Social authorities in California, USA, take custody of Genie, a girl who had been kept in solitary confinement since her birth
- November 5 - Vietnam War: United States Military Assistance Command in Vietnam reports the lowest weekly American soldier death toll in five years (24 soldiers died that week, which was the fifth consecutive week the death toll was below 50; 431 were reported wounded that week, however).
- November 8 - Egypt, Sudan and Libya announce their intentions to form a federation.
- November 9 - Charles de Gaulle dies – he is buried November 13.
- November 9 - Soviet Union launches Luna 17.
- November 9 - Vietnam War: The Supreme Court of the United States votes 6 to 3 to not hear a case by the state of Massachusetts asking to allow the state the ability to enforce its law granting Massachusetts residents the right to refuse military service in an undeclared war.
- November 10 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - For the first time in five years, an entire week ended with no reports of American combat fatalities in Southeast Asia.
- November 12 - Soviet author Andrei Amalrik sentenced for three years for anti-Soviet writings.
- November 12 - The Oregon Highway Division (now known as the Oregon Department of Transportation) is given the task of removing a rotting beached Grey whale, leading to the now infamous exploding whale incident.
- November 13 - Military coup in Syria – Hafez al-Assad takes the power.
- November 13 - 1970 Bhola cyclone: A 120-mph tropical cyclone hits the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people (this is regarded as the 20th century's worst cyclone disaster).
- November 14 - fatal airplane accident in Wayne County, West Virginia, claims the lives of the entire Marshall University football team.
- November 17 - Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai massacre.
- November 17 - Luna program: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and was released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft.
- November 18 - US President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for US$155 million in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government (US$85 million was for military assistance in order to help prevent the overthrow of the government of Premier Lon Nol by the Khmer Rouge and North Vietnam).
- November 18 - United Nations Security Council demands that no government should recognize Rhodesia.
- November 19 - EEC prime minister meeting in Munich.
- November 21 - Syrian Prime Minister Hafez al-Assad forms a new government but retains the post of defense minister.
- November 21 - in Ethiopia, Eritrea Liberation Front kills an Ethiopian general.
- November 21 - Vietnam War: Operation Ivory Coast - A joint Air Force and Army team raids the Son Tay prison camp in an attempt to free American POWs thought to be held there (there were zero Americans killed, but the prisoners had already moved to another camp; All US POWs were moved to a handful of central prison complexes as a result of this raid).
- November 22 - Guinean president Sekou Toure accuses Portugal of an attack when hundreds of mercenaries land near capital Conakry. Guinean army repels the landing attempts in November 23-24. November 25-29 UN delegation arrives to investigate the situation. In December 4 UN announces that Portuguese navy and army units are responsible.
- November 25 - In Japan, world-famous author and Tatenokai militia leader Yukio Mishima and his followers take over Inchigaya HQ of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and take general Kanetoshi Mashita hostage. When Mishima's speech fails to sway public opinion towards his right-wing political beliefs, he commits seppuku.
- November 26 - East Pakistan leader sheik Mujibur Rahman accuses central government of negligence in catastrophe relief.
- November 26 - Pope Paul VI begins an Asian tour.
- November 27 - Bolivian artist Benjamin Mendoza tries to assassinate Paul VI during pope's visit in Manila.

December

- December 1 - Italian House of Representatives accepts the divorce law.
- December 1 - Ethiopia recognizes People's Republic of China.
- December 1 - Basque ETA kidnaps West German Eugen Beihl in San Sebastian.
- December 1 - Luis Echeverría Álvarez becomes president of Mexico.
- December 2 - The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations.
- December 3 - October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec, kidnapped British Trade Commissioner James Cross is released by the Front de Libération du Québec terrorist group after being held hostage for 60 days. Police negotiate his release and in return the Government of Canada grants five terrorists from the FLQ's Chenier Cell their request for safe passage to Cuba.
- December 3 - Burgos Trial - In Burgos, Spain, begins a trial against 16 Basques accused of terrorism.
- December 4 - Spanish government declares a three-month martial law in Basque county of Guipuzco due to strikes and demonstrations.
- December 5 - Asian and Australian tour of Paul VI ends.
- December 7 - Giovanni Enrico Bucher, Swiss ambassador to Brazil, is kidnapped in Rio de Janeiro; kidnappers demand release of 70 political prisoners.
- December 7 - UN general assembly supports the isolation of South Africa due to its apartheid policies.
- December 7 - During his visit to the Polish capital, German chancellor Willy Brandt goes down on his knees in front of a monument for the victims in the ghetto of Warsaw.
- December 12 - Landslide in western Colombia – over 200 dead.
- December 13 - Government of Poland announces increases in the prize of food. Riots and looting erupt until a bloody confrontation between the rioters against army and the police in December 15. Martial law December 17-22. December 23 the government will freeze the food prizes for two years.
- December 15 - The USSR's Venera 7 becomes the first spacecraft to land successfully on Venus and transmit data back to earth
- December 16 - Ethiopian government declares state of emergency in the county of Eritrea due to activities of Eritrea Liberation Front.
- December 20 - General secretary of the communist part of Poland, Wladyslaw Gomulka, resigns – Edward Gierek takes his place.
- December 20 - Egyptian delegation leaves for Moscow to ask for economic and military aid.
- December 21 - Elvis Presley pays an unscheduled call on Richard Nixon in the Oval Office, volunteering to help with law enforcement problems.
- December 22 - Libyan revolutionary council declares that it will nationalize all foreign banks in the country.
- December 22 - Franz Stangl, the ex-commander of Treblinka is sentenced to life imprisonment.
- December 23 - Bolivian government releases Regis Debray.
- December 25 - ETA releases Eugen Beihl.
- December 27 - Indian president declares new elections.
- December 28 - Burgos Trial – three Basques are sentenced to death (three twice), others sentenced for 12-62 years and one released. December 30 Franco commutes the death sentences to 30 years in prison.
- December 28 - Suspects of killing Pierre Laporte, Jacques & Paul Rose and Francis Sunard, are arrested near Montreal.
- December 30 - In Viscaya Basque county 15.000 goes to strike to protest Burgos trial death sentences.

Unknown date

- The first Regional Technical Colleges open in Ireland.
- Disappearance of Sada Abe, Japanese former prostitute and later actress.
- Discovery in England of the Sweet Track, the World's oldest engineered roadway.

Births

January-March

- January 6 - Gabrielle Reece, American volleyball player and model
- January 13 - Keith Coogan, American actor
- January 13 - Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (d. 2004)
- January 15 - Shane McMahon, American Wrestler
- January 17 - Jeremy Roenick, American hockey player
- January 17 - Genndy Tartakovsky Russian animator
- January 22 - Alex Ross, American comic artist
- January 29 - Heather Graham, American actress
- January 29 - Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Indian shooter
- January 31 - Minnie Driver, English actress
- February 24 - Jeff Garcia, American football player
- March 8 - Jason Elam, American football player
- March 18 - Queen Latifah, American rapper, record producer, and actress
- March 22 - Leontien van Moorsel, Dutch cyclist
- March 24 - Lara Flynn Boyle, American actress
- March 24 - Sharon Corr, Irish musician (The Corrs)
- March 27 - Mariah Carey, American singer
- March 27 - Leila Pahlavi, Iranian princess (d. 2001)
- March 28 - Vince Vaughn, American actor, writer, and producer

April-May

- April 4 - Barry Pepper, Canadian actor
- April 12 - Nick Hexum, American singer and guitarist
- April 13 - Rick Schroeder, American actor
- April 18 - Greg Eklund, American drummer (Everclear)
- April 21 - Nicole Sullivan, American actress, comedienne, and writer
- April 22 - Regine Velasquez, Filipina singer, actress, model, record producer, and entrepreneur
- April 25 - Jason Lee, American skateboarder and actor
- April 27 - Kylie Travis, English-born actress and model
- April 29 - Andre Agassi, American tennis player
- April 29 - Uma Thurman, American actress
- May 12 - Mike Weir, Canadian golfer
- May 15 - Rod Smith, American football player
- May 16 - Gabriela Sabatini, Argentine tennis player
- May 18 - Tina Fey, American writer, comedienne, and actress
- May 22 - Naomi Campbell, English model and actress
- May 24 - Jeff Zgonina, American football player
- May 25 - Jamie Kennedy, American actor and comedian
- May 26 - Nobuhiro Watsuki, Japanese cartoonist
- May 27 - Joseph Fiennes, English actor

June-July

- June 6 - Anthony Norris, American professional wrestler
- June 8 - Kelli Williams, American actress
- June 13 - Mikael Ljungberg, Swedish wrestler (d. 2004)
- June 16 - Phil Mickelson, American golfer
- June 19 - Quincy Watts, American athlete
- June 20 - Russell Garcia, British field hockey player
- June 20 - Moulay Rachid, Prince of Morocco
- June 25 - Lucy Benjamin, British actress
- June 26 - Patrick Norton, American writer and television host
- June 26 - Chris O'Donnell, American actor
- June 27 - Jim Edmonds, baseball player
- June 27 - Vitamin C, American singer
- July 3 - Teemu Selanne, Finnish hockey player
- July 3 - Shawnee Smith, American actress
- July 3 - Yona Kosashvili, chess player
- July 5 - Mac Dre, American rapper (d. 2004)
- July 8 - Beck, American singer
- July 11 - Saj Karim, British politician
- July 23 - Charisma Carpenter, American actress
- July 23 - Thea Dorn, German writer

August-September

- August 2 - Tony Amonte, American hockey player
- August 6 - M. Night Shyamalan, Indian film director, writer, producer, and actor
- August 13 - Alan Shearer, English footballer
- August 17 - Jim Courier, American tennis player
- August 18 - Malcolm-Jamal Warner, American actor
- August 20 - John Carmack, American computer game programmer
- August 21 - Erik Dekker, Dutch professional cyclist
- August 23 - Jay Mohr, American actor and comedian
- August 25 - Claudia Schiffer, German model
- August 27 - Jim Thome, baseball player
- August 29 - Jacco Eltingh, Dutch tennis player
- August 31 - Deborah Gibson, American singer
- September 4 - Daisy Dee, Dutch singer and actress
- September 8 - Latrell Sprewell, American basketball player
- September 9 - Macy Gray, American singer
- September 10 - Phaswane Mpe, South African writer (d. 2004)
- September 14 - Craig Montoya, American musician (Everclear)
- September 18 - Darren Gough, English cricketer
- September 19 - Takanori Nishikawa, Japanese singer
- September 22 - Mike Matheny, baseball player
- September 23 - Ani DiFranco, American mus

Category:World War II Polish forces

Polish forces Forces

Tahirids

The Tahirid dynasty ruled the northeastern Persian region of Khorasan between AD 821-873. The Tahirid capital was Nishapur. Although nominally subject to the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad, the Tahirid rulers were effectively independent. The dynasty was founded by Tahir ibn Husayn, a leading general in the service of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun. Tahir's military victories were rewarded with the gift of lands in the east of Persia, which were subsequently extended by his successors as far as the borders of India. The Tahirids were overthrown in 873 by the Saffarid dynasty, who annexed Khorasan to their own empire in eastern Persia.

Rulers of the Tahirid dynasty

- Tahir ibn Husayn (821-822)
- Talha (822-828)
- Abdullah bin Tahir (828-845)
- Tahir II (845-862)
- Muhammad of Khorasan (862-873)

Polish Fighting Team

Locations

Squadron equipment

Scores

Pilots

See also

Bibligraphy

Polish language

Outside Influence

Classification

Geographic distribution

Dialects

Phonology

Orthography

Grammar

Word order

Conjugation

Vocabulary

Notes

See also

External links

West Kirby

See also

RAF

Stanisław Skalski

Awards

Bibliography

Prisoner of war

Qualification as POW

Treatment of POWs

Alternative definitions

Anarchist Black Cross Federation definition

November Coalition definition

The American term EPW -- Enemy Prisoner of War

PoWs since Geneva Convention (1929)

List of notable POWs

Further reading

Documentaries about POWs

See also

References

External links

April 18

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

German Army

History

Pre 1914

World War I 1914-1918

Reichswehr 1918-1935

Wehrmacht 1935-1945

Current Army

Structure

Combat Arms

Armour

Infantry

Combat Support

Artillery

Weapons

Combat vehicles

Artillery

Non-combat vehicles

Helicopters

Reference

See also

External links

March 13

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

1943

Events

January

February

March

April