Category: Events
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The July 20 plot on Hitler’s life
On July 20, 1944, a bomb went off in a conference room at Hitler’s “Wolf’s Lair” headquarters, sending Germany into chaos and confusion. The attack was in the news almost immediately, thanks to German radio reports, and within about 12 hours Hitler himself had taken to the airwaves to address the incident.
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‘Greyhound’ in real life: Covering the convoys
The type of Atlantic convoy action portrayed in the new Tom Hanks movie was covered by press correspondents at the time. We examine some of their work.
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Liberating Caen: The unbroken spirit of ‘war-tortured’ French civilians
British and Canadian troops entering battle-ravaged Caen were greeted with unabashed joy by French townspeople, leaving soldiers and correspondents alike stunned by the reception.
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USS Bunker Hill kamikaze attack: ‘Now It Can Be Told’
The USS Bunker Hill suffered heavy damage and lost hundreds of men in a May 11, 1945 kamikaze attack. It would be more than six weeks before censorship restrictions were lifted, allowing publication of a stunning eyewitness report.
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Attu: Japan’s last desperate charge
The American flag flew triumphant this Memorial day over the rocky ridges of Attu Island. That was the lead on the Associated Press story that ran in hundreds of newspapers Monday, May 31, 1943, in a report datelined the previous day out of Washington, D.C. It was based on War Department communiques, and the message…
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V-1 ‘buzz bombs’ terrorize England
By summer 1944, Londoners were well aware of the rhythms of a German air raid. Though thankfully years removed from the nightly poundings of the Blitz, the capital and the south coast remained forever on alert for sporadic appearances by the Luftwaffe. When the sirens sounded around 4:30 a.m. on June 13, then, residents knew…
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Pearl Harbor: When a global story hits home
Honolulu Star-Bulletin editor Riley Allen arrived at his desk by 6:30 a.m. every day, seven days a week. For most of the nearly three decades he had led the paper, those early mornings — particularly on the weekend — had offered mostly peace and quiet to churn through a never-ending pile of work. On Sunday…
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Pearl Harbor: A nation thrust into war
On Saturday, November 29, 1941, Honolulu bureau chief Frank Tremaine filed a story to the United Press wire. It ran in numerous newspapers over the next few days, mostly filling out a random inside page here or there. The Wisconsin State Journal was among the last newspapers to run Tremaine’s story, giving it about 12…
World War II on Deadline 