Today in 1972, a Japanese soldier from WWII is discovered hiding on Guam. Sgt Shoichi Yokoi, 57, is eventually repatriated. "It is with much embarrassment that I return," he says upon returning home. Other holdouts will be found in the Philippines and Indonesia as late as 1974.
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On this day in 1941, noted American aviator Charles Lindbergh appears before Congress to urge the U.S. government to negotiate a non-aggression treaty with Adolf Hitler.
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Today in 1968, North Korea seizes the American spy ship USS Pueblo in international waters. Pyongyang holds the 83 members of the crew for 11 months in appalling conditions that include beatings, starvation and torture. One sailor, Duane Hodges, dies before they're released.
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Today in 1870, Federal troops slaughter 200 supposedly hostile Blackfeet Indians in Montana. It's soon revealed that the wrong village has been targeted. The victims — mostly women, children & the elderly — are from a friendly band. The fiasco will be known as the Marias Massacre
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On this day in 1995, Moscow comes frighteningly close to ordering a nuclear strike on the United States after mistaking a Norwegian research rocket for an American submarine-launched ballistic missile.
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Today in 1915, Royal Navy warships led by five battlecruisers surprise a German squadron near the Dogger Bank and destroy the armoured cruiser Blücher. The ambush is made possible after the Admiralty's cryptanalysis section, Room 40, intercepts and decodes the enemy's signals.
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On this day in 1965, Winston Churchill, 90, dies of complications from a stroke. "The great figure who embodied man's will to resist tyranny passed into history this morning," reports the New York Times.
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82 years ago today, British troops and US Army Rangers meet on the Anzio-Rome road in Italy. 🪖
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In January of 1945, Pfc. John Wauthier of the 2nd Infantry Division is photographed with his BAR near Bütgenbach Belgium.🪖
He is less than a month away from turning 19 years old here. 🇺🇸
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He is less than a month away from turning 19 years old here. 🇺🇸
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In January of 1944, Pfc. George Miller, a machine gunner with the 1st Marine Division, trudges wearily to the rear after 19 days on the line and the successful attack on Hill 660 during the fighting on New Britain. 🪖
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81 years ago today, M4 Sherman medium tanks of the 7th Armored Division take up defensive positions in a field near St. Vith after retaking the village from the Germans. 🪖
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In January of 1944, Captain Frederick Saam of the US 5th Army compares his helmet to an Italian dragoon helmet in Anzio, Italy. 🪖
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81 years ago today, Pvt. Jose Valdez single-handedly held off 200 Germans for 15 minutes near Rosenkrantz, France with his rifle & grenades, allowing his 5 comrades to escape. 🪖
Mortally wounded, he crawled back to safety & died soon after-earning a posthumous Medal of Honor 🇺🇸
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Mortally wounded, he crawled back to safety & died soon after-earning a posthumous Medal of Honor 🇺🇸
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81 years ago today, an American M5 Stuart tank passes a road side M4 Sherman in Amonines, Belgium. 🇺🇸
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On this day in 1934, Hitler signs a non-aggression pact with Poland. Under the terms of the treaty, both powers agree not to launch military hostilities against one another for a period of 10 years. In 1939, Germany invades Poland.
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Lt. Audie Murphy wears his Medal of Honor at the Hohenwerfen Castle in Salzburg, Austria. 🪖
He received that medal for his heroism 81 years ago today 🇺🇸
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He received that medal for his heroism 81 years ago today 🇺🇸
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In 1945, Lt. Audie Murphy is photographed after receiving his Medal of Honor for his actions 81 years ago today. 🇺🇸
Asked why he decided to take on an entire company of German infantry, he replied, “They were killing my friends.” 🪖
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Asked why he decided to take on an entire company of German infantry, he replied, “They were killing my friends.” 🪖
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In 1995, a man named Sonny Graham received the transplanted heart of a suicide victim. He then married the donor’s widow and later killed himself, in the exact same way as the donor did.
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