GERMANY INVADES POLAND, WWII BEGINS
Wielun, Poland (JFK+50) The war machine of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany launched an attack on Poland today.
The invasion began at 04:40 when the Luftwaffe or German Air Force made a bombing raid on the town of Wielun.
Just 5 minutes later, a German battleship opened fire on the Polish military transit depot in Dazig on the Baltic Sea.
Then at 08:00, German troops marched on Mokra.
Additional German attacks followed today on the northern, southern & western borders of Poland.
The Second World War has begun.*
*Great Britain & France would declare war on Germany on September 3, 1949.
Two weeks later, the Soviet Union also invaded Poland.
Monument to "September Veterans"
Southern Poland
Photo by Mark A. Wilson (2006)
September 1, 1961
SOVIETS BREAK NUCLEAR TEST MORATORIUM
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) The White House announced today that the Soviet Union has broken the 3 year moratorium on nuclear testing.*
*The USSR will test 40 nuclear weapons over a 2 month period.
September 1, 1961
JFK SAYS HEALTH INSURANCE FOR SENIORS IS "MOST IMPORTANT"
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy sent a letter today to Senator Pat McNamara, chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging.
In the letter, JFK wrote:
"the proposal to provide health insurance for the aged under Social Security is one of the most important measures I have advocated."
September 1, 1959
SENATOR KENNEDY SAYS HOFFA WANTS TO "DOMINATE EVERYTHING THAT MOVES"
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Senator John F. Kennedy had some harsh words today for Teamster's Union president Jimmy Hoffa.
JFK said, during a filming of a television program conducted by Florida Democratic Senator George Smathers,
"Mr. Hoffa wants to dominate everything that moves in this country."
Senator Kennedy went on to say that Hoffa will try to defeat "certain members of Congress" in the next election.
Bernard Spindel & Jimmy Hoffa (1957)
September 1, 1966
DE GAULLE SAYS USA SHOULD LEAVE VIETNAM
Phnom Penh, Cambodia (JFK+50) Charles de Gaulle, President of France, said today here in Cambodia that the United States should leave Vietnam.
The French president was speaking before 100,000 people.
De Gaulle denounced US policy in Vietnam & called on the United State military to leave Southeast Asia.
De Gaulle & Prince Norodom Sihanouk signed an agreement calling for noninterference in Indo-China by all foreign nations.
De Gaulle Arrives in Cambodia
September 1, 1807
BURR ACQUITTED OF TREASON
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Aaron Burr, former Vice-President of the United States, was acquitted today of plotting to annex parts of Louisiana & Spanish territory in Mexico for the creation of an independent republic.
Mr. Burr was found not guilty because, according to the law, he had not yet engaged in an "overt act" of treason.*
*Afterward, Burr went into exile in Europe but later returned to private life in New York where he died in 1836.
Portrait of Aaron Burr (1802)
by John Vanderlyn
September 1, 1775
KING GEORGE III REFUSES OLIVE BRANCH
London, England (JFK+50) George III, King of Great Britain, refused to receive today a petition for peace with his rebellious American colonies.
The "Olive Branch Petition", written by John Dickinson of Pennsylvania & presented by Richard Penn & Arthur Lee, was refused by the King.*
*King George III's refusal to even read the petition signaled Americans that Parliament's actions had the blessings of the Crown.
King George III Gold Guinea of 1789
