The Second Millenium

[Vince53]

Welcome to 1919!


Victorious but bitter, the Allies force Germany to sign a treaty blaming Germany and her alies for the war, forcing impoverished Germany to pay reparations, and seizing large parts of Germany. The greatest result of the treaty is that it practically guarantees another war.



The Turkish War of Independence begins. After its defeat in WW1, the Ottoman Empire had been divided up between the victorious Allies. The Turks rebelled against the Greeks, French, British, and others. With few battles and few casualties, the Turks win four years later and establish the Republic of Turkey, which still exists.



A squadron of US Navy “Nancy” flying boats become the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean from North America to Europe. But a few weeks later, British aircraft make the trip non-stop.

Influenced by the preaching of evangelist Billy Sunday, the US amends its Constitution to ban alcohol. Did you know? During the Vietnam War, the US lost more lives to alcohol every two years than it did in the entire Vietnam War.

“Over the course of his career, Sunday probably preached to more than one hundred million people face-to-face—and, to the great majority, without electronic amplification. Vast numbers "hit the sawdust trail." Although the usual total given for those who came forward at invitations is an even million, one modern historian estimates the true figure to be closer to 1,250,000.[45] Sunday did not preach to a hundred million different individuals but to many of the same people repeatedly over the course of a campaign.” Wikipedia

 

[Vince53]

Having lost all its colonies and much of its territory, a defeated Germany must use much of its energy to put down Communist uprisings. In the confusion, two minor parties unite to form the Nazi Party. Decorated twice for heroism, former corporal Adolf Hitler begins making successful speeches.

It has nothing to do with the War, but anarchists and Communists erupt into such major rioting in Argentina that even the Navy has to help defeat the rebels. About 700 people are killed.

Having started as an ally, Russia is probably the biggest loser of the War. Having lost southeastern Europe to Germany and then the Allies, and its people enslaved by a Communist government, Russia is defeated by tiny Estonia in its bid for independence.

Victorious Portugal and even victorious Britain are beset by riots and revolution. Irish militants declare Ireland independent, and Britain must send troops to keep the conquered Irish under control. Anarchist set off dozens of bombs in the US, but the people do not support them.

Smarting after decades of Russian abuse, newly-independent Poland invades the Ukraine, seeking the return of territory Poland had held long ago. Meanwhile, Russia had also invaded and conquered much of the Ukraine, and the two nations go to war against Poland. When it ends two years later, Poland gains a lot of territory, which the Soviet Union takes back after World War 2.

Having aided the Allies in seizing a lot of Turkish territory, Egypt is dismayed to find itself oppressed by its British rulers. Revolution breaks out, and three years later, Britain recognizes Egyptian independence. Except for a few brief periods, it is the first time that Egypt was independent since being conquered by the Roman Empire.

With victorious Italy in economic chaos, Benito Mussolini founds the Fascist Party. Italy had gained territory from the defeated Austro-Hungarian Empire, but not as much as the Italians had wanted.

A German admiral manages to sink 54 of Germany's captured 72 warships.

 

[Vince53]

And now it is 1920.

The US arrests and holds over 4,000 suspected Communists and anarchists, holding them without trial.

The Curse of the Bambino! American baseball legend Babe Ruth is sold by the Boston Red Sox to their hated rivals, the New York Yankees. An enraged Babe Ruth states that the Boston Red Sox will never win another World Series. 84 years later, the Red Sox go to the World Series. But first they must beat the Yankees in the play-offs. After losing the first three games, the Red Sox win the next four and then four straight wins in the World Series.

The Soviet union wins a major victory over Czarist forces, forcing survivors to flee the country. Jubilant Communists celebrate their victory with a large-scale massacre of civilians. Georgia wins its war of independence against Russia, but six months later, Russia invades and conquers Georgia again. Russia is forced to accept peace and a major loss of Ukranian territory to Poland.

Meanwhile, Germany sends its army to battle a Communist army of civilians trying to seize the German government.

The US grants women the right to vote, the first commercial radio station opens, and the first home radios go on sale for $10.

Britain burns the center of Cork, Ireland, in retaliation for the death of a British soldier.

It will be tiny for decades, but the AIDS epidemic begins in the Belgian Congo.

 

[Vince53]

Welcome to 1921!


The Teapot Dome scandal begins. Albert Ball, the US Secretary of the Interior accepts bribes from large oil companies to allow them to drill for oil that had been set aside as a reserve for the US Navy. Ball will later become the only Cabinet member to go to prison.

And in the US, the first radio religious broadcast goes on the air. Calvary Episcopal Church will broadcast its Sunday evening service until 1962. The same radio station will broadcast the first baseball game and first World Series later in the year.

Russia's Baltic Navy fleet revolts against the poverty of Communism (productivity was about 20% of what it had been before WW1, and about 5 million Russians starve to death this year). Taking 11,000 killed, the Soviet Army crushes the Navy, which takes about 2,000 killed. But the Communist government eases its control over the economy as a result.

Two years earlier, China had conquered Mongolia. This year, Czarist forces seize Mongolia, but Communist forces quickly invade and conquer it. But the barren, frozen wastelands are not worth holding, and the Soviets withdraw, leaving a land-locked Mongolia independent to this day.

European Allies sentence Germany to pay $2.5 billion in gold in reparations every year for the next 52,800 years. No, this is not a joke.

The most prosperous Black community in the US was in racially-segregated Oklahoma. When a Black teen-age boy is reported to have attacked a White teen-age girl (both later claimed that there was no attack), White rioters attack the Black community. Both Black hospitals are burned down, 35 city blocks are burned down, and 10,000 Blacks are left homeless.

The Chinese Communist Party is founded. Adolf Hitler is elected leader of the Nazi Party (which he did not found).

Shine a light on certain metals, and they will emit electrons. So? So they gave Albert Einstein the Nobel Prize in Physics for studying the photoelectric effect.

 

[Vince53]

And it is 1922!

I need to clarify my references to Czarist forces in Russia. These were pro-democratic forces, Czarist loyalists, people who opposed Communism, and people looking for a job in the military.

Pius XI begins his 17 year reign as Pope. He will later become the first ruler of Vatican City. In the difficult years preceding World War 2, he signed treaties with various governments, including the Nazis. He tried unsuccessfully to end persecution of Catholics in Mexico, Spain, and the Soviet Union.

With Italy in chaos, Benito Mussolini seizes the government. His rapid restoration of stability makes him a hero to the anti-Communist democracies, and he and Winston Churchill become friends.

The British Empire reaches its greatest extent, ruling 25% of the world population.

In the US, a Danish immigrant figures out how to wrap melted chocolate candy around ice cream, and he then patents the "Eskimo Pie," still a popular treat.

Italy still holds Libya, but rebellion breaks out. Before winning the nine-year war, Italy will massacre tens of thousands of civilians, execute thousands of surrendered soldiers, and forcibly relocate hundreds of thousands of minorities.

Britain sentences Mahatma Gandhi to six years for sedition. He is released two years later.

The US converts a coal-carrier into its first aircraft carrier. The entire surface is a flat deck with no towers. The deck crew crouches in metal trenches hanging over the side when they have to get out of the way.

Soviet Communists execute eight people for opposing seizure of Church property.

Turkey drives the last Greek troops out of Turkey. A short time later, the Sultan abdicates, the Ottoman Empire officially collapses, and the Republic of Turkey takes over the remains.

Founded in 1299, the Ottoman Empire had destroyed the Roman Empire and spread into Asia, Africa, and Europe. At its height, it was about the size of the Roman Empire at its height. A series of major defeats from Europe in the Nineteenth Century caused a rapid decline, and its defeat in World War 1 finished it off. Although Turkey identifies itself as the Ottoman Empire (giving it some claim to former territories) the rest of the world regards Turkey as the nation that replaced the Empire.

 

[Vince53]

1923


The US formally recognizes the government of Mexico, as the nation has become fairly stable. Pancho Villa's assassination does help matters.

The most incredible thing about the autogyro is that it works. Invented by a Spanish engineer, it attached an unpowered helicopter rotor to the top of an airplane. The plane's forward motion spun the rotor, providing enough lift to allow the plane to fly at a low speed and use less fuel. During WW2, a Japanese autogyro sank a US submarine.

In the US, the first issue of Time magazine is printed, Warner Brothers begins, and Yankee Stadium opens. The Walt Disney Company is founded. The first television system in patented.

The Italian Air Force is founded. Mussolini is one smart cookie. He saves costs by building wooden airplanes, while the rest of the world laughs at him. His Air Force will drive the British Navy out of the eastern Mediterranean, conquer Ethiopia, Albania, and southern France, and help Germany devastate the obsolete Soviet Air Force.They still have the distinction of being the only ones to sink an aircraft carrier with a wooden dive bomber.

Soviet Communists defeat the last free army in Siberia, uniting the entire Soviet Union.

Dinosaur eggs are discovered.

Warren G. Harding, the only US President proven to have taken bribes while in office, dies of a heart attack. "Silent Cal" Coolidge, a devout Christian, assumes office.

A massive Japanese earthquake kills about 143,00 people.

With the only helium mine in the world (the gas is emitted by decaying uranium) the US Navy launches the only helium airship in existence.

Seizing a beer hall because it has an advanced telephone system, Adolf Hitler declares himself ruler of Germany. He is defeated the next day. Treated well in prison, he writes "Mein Kampf" (My Battle) in which he explains how theistic evolution provides the moral justification for Nazism.

 

[Vince53]

1924


The Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, founds the first Christian radio station in the US. Still in operation, KFUO is the oldest AM radio station in the United States.

Lenin dies and is put on display. Joseph Stalin immediately begins murdering his opponents on his way to the top.

Adolph Hitler serves eight months of his five year prison sentence and is released.

Italy votes the Fascists into power.

J. Edgar Hoover is appointed head of the FBI. A politically corrupt information-collection department without the power to make arrests, the FBI will be one of the world's most powerful crime-fighting forces when Hoover dies in 1972. Despite criticism, Hoover's abuse of power consisted mainly of illegally collecting information on perceived threats to the US.

Edward Hubble discovers that the Milky Way is only one of many galaxies in the universe.

 

[Vince53]

Greetings! This is 1925!

With the Fascists controlling the majority of the Italian government, Mussolini seizes power and begins establishing his dictatorship. He will bring order, strengthen the economy, increase food production, create jobs--and get Italy involved in a disastrous world war.

The deadliest tornado in US history travels across three states, killing 695 people.

Communists kill 150 people in an attack on a Bulgarian church.

Tennessee holds the famous Scopes Trial. With testimony confined to scientific evidence alone, the Creationists win. Every US evolutionary trial since then has been confined to religion, and the Evolutionists have won.

About 40,000 KKK members march peacefully in Washington DC. With about 5 million loosely-organized members, the Klan is the largest fraternal organization in the US. But membership declines rapidly when investigators reveal the Klan's frequent acts of violence, which most members had not known about.

The Orthodox Church had recently switched to the modern calendar, but an illegal congregation of about 2,000 Orthodox assemble near Athens for an old calendar feast. Police are sent to keep order but do not harm anyone. At 11:30, a large, bright Byzantine cross appears in the sky, shining until midnight.

 

[Vince53]

1926


Father Charles Coughlin, known as “The Jew Baiter,” begins his radio broadcasts. Eventually reaching thirty million listerners, he is the first great political broadcaster. Concentrating on social issues rather than religion, he supports fascism and Nazism, opposes bankers and Jews, and was a vehement critic of Franklin Roosevelt (whom he had initially supported). The 1939 outbreak of war in Europe gave the Roosevelt administration an excuse to shut him down. The Catholic Church ordered him to cease his political activities, and he quietly served as a parish priest for 27 years before retiring.

Mexico begins a three-year persecution of the Catholic Church, provoking a civil war. The US helps negotiate an end to the war in 1929. About 4,000 Catholic priests are expelled, and dozens are killed during the war, along with about 90,000 civilian fatalities from both sides. Terrorist groups from both sides continue to fight after the war ends, and almost 5% of Mexico’s population flees to the US.

Brutal, evil, and competent, Benito Mussolini ends democracy in Italy. Eventually, he will literally appoint every single government official in Italy. Because it is illegal to complain about corrupt or incompetent officials, an unofficial Italian government, run secretly by competent officials, runs parallel to the official government.

 

[Vince53]

We return to 1926.

In the US, Robert Goddard launches the first liquid fuel rocket. Previous rockets had been powered by powdered fuel. Interesting side note: the day before World War 1 ended, Goddard invented the bazooka.

Bessie Coleman, the world's first Black female pilot, is killed when her plane crashes. A mechanic had left a wrench in the motor, and it slid into the gearbox, jamming it.

A joint Norwegian-Italian-American venture reaches the North Pole in an Italian-built dirigible commanded by a Norwegian. They do not land, but are the first humans to reach the North Pole.

The popular American preacher Aimee Semple McPherson disappears. Preaching to large crowds in multiple services, she later claimed to have been kidnapped and held in a cabin in Mexico. Mexican police verify that the cabin does not exist, and witnesses report seeing her with a man at various vacation spots.

China wins a major victory over an invading Manchurian army. Japan had sponsored the invaders, and they later assassinate the defeated general.

A hurricane in Miami causes nearly $100 billion damage. A month later, another hurricane kills 650 people in Cuba.

Hirohito becomes Emperor of Japan, reigning until his death in 1989.

 

[Vince53]

1927

The world population crosses the two billion mark--we think.

Lucky Lindy, the Lone Eagle, hits the headlines when he becomes the first man to fly a solo, non-stop airplane from New York to Paris.

When a scientist observes something, how does he know that he didn’t change something by observing it? It’s called The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Heisenberg discovers the principle this year, applying it to the study of electrons. Eventually, it covers the study of anything.

With a three-way civil war between the government, the Nationalists, and the Communists, foreigners in China are endangered by riots. British troops land, and when that isn't enough, British and American warships fire on different Chinese forces and rioters attacking foreigners.

While Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom, Britain acknowledges the independence of the rest of Ireland.

The greatest river flood in American history drives almost 700,000 people from their homes. Although the US builds a massive system of dams and levees on the Mississippi to prevent future disasters, large numbers of the displaced victims, almost 1/3 of them Black, migrate north and west, permanently shifting the US population.

A total eclipse is visible over northern Europe and the far northern parts of Asia.

Joseph Stalin achieves total control of the Soviet Union.

It's a masterpiece of bad planning. Twenty-five obsolete destroyers are transferred to the Coast Guard to intercept illegal alcohol imports. Barely seaworthy, expensive to upgrade, and complicated to operate, the destroyers are manned by inexperienced Coast Guardsmen who don't know how to handle ships this large. One of them accidentally rams and sinks a US Navy submarine, killing the entire crew.

 

[Vince53]

1928 is a rough year for Freedom.

For the first time, every adult Japanese male is allowed to vote. Backed by the banned Japanese Communist Party, socialists then win enough seats in a national election that the ruling Conservative Party only holds a one-seat majority. The government then begins a massive crackdown on known and suspected Communists, greatly reducing their power.

After a series of underwater eruptions, four new volcanic islands rise out of the Pacific Ocean near Indonesia. Three are quickly eroded by waves and are now underwater. One, "Child of Krakatoa," is still active, still producing lava, and still growing.

A British company broadcasts a TV signal to the US; and in the US, the first regular TV station begins broadcasting. A British inventor invents color television, but it won't go public for decades.

Planning to end oppression by the victorious Allies, the Germans have been developing powerful passenger planes. Hence, they learn how to build powerful engines and fuselages that can carry bombs. One of their passenger planes makes the first non-stop flight from Europe to North America; another makes the first flight from the US to Australia; and Amelia Earhart becomes the first women passenger to fly across the Atlantic in another one.

A Florida hurricane kills over 2,500 people.

It's his third cartoon, but Mickey Mouse stars in the the first sound cartoon "Steamboat Willie." The crudely-drawn black-and-white film is still a classic.

 

[Vince53]

CRASH!!!! It's 1929!


The Lateran Treaty establishes Vatican City as an independent nation inside the city of Rome. Consisting entirely of Church buildings and museums (there are no factories or farms), this tiny nation gives the Catholic hierarchy the freedom from government intervention that it demands. Over half the nation is covered with gardens. Revenue comes from the sale of postage stamps and souvenirs, museum admission fees, sale of publications, and donations from Catholic churches around the world.

Mother Theresa, who had been born in the Ottoman Empire, arrives in Calcutta. Decades later, Time Magazine, searching for future Catholic saints (who were still alive at the time) makes her famous.

Popeye appears as a minor character in a comic strip.

Germany's Graf Zeppelin, a hydrogen-filled airship. makes the first non-stop flight across the Pacific.

Moslem rioters in Palestine attack and kill Jewish settlers. British police forcefully end the riots.

Germany successfully flies an airplane powered by 16 rocket engines. On its second test flight, it blows itself up.

A two-day-long Stock Market Crash brings in the Great Depression. The total losses were thirty times the annual US budget. Despite a 12% rally in one day after the Crash, stocks continue to fall. People who had borrowed money to buy stocks could not repay their bank loans, causing a nation-wide bank collapse.

The US flies over the South Pole but does not land.

 

[Vince53]

And now it is 1930!

April 18 "There is no news." BBC Radio


The Lutheran Hour radio broadcast begins. Carried on over 800 radio stations today, it is the oldest religious program on the air.

A large revolt breaks out in central Vietnam. Strikes, violent attacks, and peaceful protests are brutally suppressed by the French, and the revolt ends in failure next year.

The Soviet Union launches its first weather balloon. It wasn't the first one, but it broadcast its measurements in Morse Code, making it easier to use.

In the US, Scotch Tape is invented. Birdseye begins producing frozen food. Hostess Twinkies are invented. The first Looney Tune cartoon is shown. Betty Boop makes her first appearance. Chocolate chip cookies are invented (Yeah!)

Pluto is discovered. Its location, orbit, and mass had been predicted by wobbles in the orbits of other objects. Although it is actually several objects orbiting each other, they got everything else right.

Uruguay wins the first World Cup in soccer, still one of the greatest sporting events in the world. FIFA, which operates the World Cup, is the largest organization in the world that has no government regulation. It has recently hit be a series of scandals and arrests.

A dictatorship seizes power in Brazil.

 

[Vince53]

And in 1931...


The Empire State Building, a scientific, architectural, and mechanical marvel, is completed. Rising 102 stories above New York City, it will remain the tallest building in the world until 1970. But how long will it last? Using existing technology for repair and maintenance, the building will last for over 1,000 years. But assuming that technology will continue to improve (and it has), the Empire State Building can literally last forever.

Japan invades Manchuria, which is currently part of northeast China.

The cyclotron, which accelerates sub-atomic particles, is invented. The particles can be used to smash into atoms, shattering them so scientists can study their internal parts. The inventor later receives the Nobel Prize in Science.

Bela Lugosi stars in the movie "Dracula." He was neither the first nor the last star to play Dracula--only the best.

After receiving early release from prison after successful non-violent protests, Mohandas Gandhi is such a hero that the British government of India signs a treaty with him.

Austria´s largest bank goes bankrupt, threatening the financial stability of much of the world.

Massive flooding in China, followed by outbreaks of disease and famine, cause about 2 million deaths. It is the worst natural disaster of the Twentieth Century.

Dick Tracy makes his first appearance, and Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison. No, the two events are not connected.

 

[civilwarbuff]

Bela Lugosi stars in the movie "Dracula." He was neither the first nor the last star to play Dracula--only the best.

You called that one right...along with Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney..... Frankenstein and Wolfman respectively.

 

[Vince53]

Thank you, Civilwarbuff. Bela Lugosi later played a minor character named "Igor," the assistant to Dr. Frankenstein. He stole the show, and every mad scientist since has an assistant named "Igor."

On to 1932!

The British arrest Mohandas Gandhi again. He goes on a hunger strike in prison.

The Church of England forbids divorced people to remarry.

A woman is elected to a full six-year term in the US Senate. Other women had been briefly appointed to Senate seats when their husbands died, but this was the first full-term US Senator who won a popular election.

With its verdant coffee fields held by a few rich landowners, peasants in El Salvador revolt. The government kills about 25,000 rebels, mostly Indians, before winning.

Having seized much of northeast China, Japan attacks Shanghai. They carry out the first major aircraft bombing in history, killing civilians in the city. After months of battle, China agrees to demilitarize Shanghai and allow Japanese troops to remain there.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hits its lowest mark of the Great Depression, at 41.22; right now, it is at 17,821.

Winning 37% of the seats, the Nazis become the largest party in the German government. An unorganized government tries to produce stability, but Hitler will not accept any co-operation unless he is appointed Chancellor.

In Russia, the Communist government organizes a famine that kills millions of farmers, allowing the government to seize their property.

Adolf Hitler, who is Austrian, becomes a German citizen.

Rioting between Hindus and Moslems in Bombay leaves thousands dead.

Bolivia and Paraguay, two of South America's poorest nations, begin the bloodies Twentieth Century war in South America. They had both lost territory to other nations, and they are now fighting over a desert that they think contains oil. Eventually, Paraguay gets 2/3 of the territory.

In the US, "The Dust Bowl" begins. A combination of drought and poor farming practices turns much of the western US and southwestern Canada into barren prairie land, lasting for decades.

 

[Vince53]

Well, let's see, it's 1933...Hi Yo, Silver!

The Lone ranger radio show begins. In the first episode, Tonto explains that "Kimosabe" means "Faithful Friend." So now you know.

With the government paralyzed by his refusal to work with other parties, Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany.

The crew of a Dutch battle cruiser mutiny while stationed in Asia. Although the Communists were happy to take the credit, the mutiny occurred over pay cuts and bad working conditions. After six days of cruising, the ship takes a direct hit from a Dutch aircraft bomb and surrenders. The point? The value of aircraft in naval combat was overlooked.

Someone burns down the chief government building in Germany, and the Nazis (who might have done it) cancel a variety of civil liberties and open their first concentration camp. The government then begins the official persecution of Jews, and establishes the Gestapo. Persecution of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the only religion in Germany to take a strong public stand against Nazism, also begins. So many Jewish scientists, including Albert Einstein, flee Germany that it falls behind the US as the world's leading scientific nation.

After surviving an assassination by an anarchist, Franklin Roosevelt takes office as US President. He immediately begins massive programs to end the Great Depression. The US stock market rises 15.34% in one day, still a record.

The government of Iraq massacres about 1,800 Syrians living in Iraq.

With major gangs funding organized crime through illegal alcohol, the US repeals Prohibition.

With the defeat of Mayan rebels, Mexican wars with the Indians come to an end.

 

[Vince53]

1934 is a bad year for gangsters.

John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, "Pretty Boy" Floyd, "Baby Face Nelson" , "Red" Hamilton, Homer Van Meter, Tommy Carroll, and Eddie Green die in various shoot-outs with FBI and local police.

Mexico nationalizes its oil industry and seizes all foreign oil properties in Mexico. So why didn’t the US do something? Because the oil companies had not been paying Mexico a fair price for its oil, and the US wanted Mexico to be able to afford a stable government.

Still making color film after expanding into similar businesses, Fuji Film is founded in Japan.

About 400 people are killed in a brief three-way civil war between the Nazis, the Communists, and the government of Austria. The government wins, but the defeated Nazis assassinate the Chancellor.

One of the most famous photographs in history shows the Loch Ness Monster swimming calmly. Sixty years later, the son of the photographer, on his deathbed, explains how the hoax was done.

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk! The Three Stooges make their first film. Always kind to women, children, and animals, these three Jewish actors will do extensive charity during their careers. And Donald Duck appears as a minor character in a Disney cartoon.

In Germany, the Nazis stage a three-day-long massacre of their opponents.

Defeated Chinese Communists begin their year-long "Long March," a series of retreats from victorious nationalist forces. As leader, Mao Zedong rises in prominence until he assumes command of all Chinese Communist forces.

Discovering an Italian garrison in Ethiopia, Ethiopia tries diplomacy before resorting to combat. European nations take sides, with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany forming an alliance.

 

[Vince53]

And in 1935...


61 year old “Ma” Barker, mother of seven gangsters, dies in a shoot-out with the FBI. Wildly differing accounts describe her as a criminal genius or as a person who merely traveled with her sons in their criminal careers. Probably, she was an accomplice who rented hide-outs, paid bills, shopped for groceries, etc., and supported her murderous sons without being the actual leader.

Italy invades Ethiopia. The Ethiopians put up such a courageous resistance that next year, Time Magazine names Emperor Haile Selassie as “Man of the Year. However, Italy still conquers Ethiopia next year, and the Emperor flees into exile.

The Klemperers, a mixed-Jewish family, flee Germany for the US. But the Klemperers get even—their son Werner will grow up to portray the legendary Colonel Klink on the TV show "Hogan's Heroes."

Amelia Earheart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.

In the US, jockey shorts and canned beer are invented.

In Germany, Bayer (inventors of Bayer Aspirin), invents Prontosil. Hopelessly obsolete today, Prontosil is the first highly-effective broad-based antibiotic. It revolutionizes medicine, and experiments with Prontosil help scientists invent other, more powerful antibiotics.

On the same day, Germany re-instates its Air Force, and England invents radar. (Actually, ineffective and undependable radar had already been invented). Rejecting the WW1 peace treaty, Hitler then re-instates the draft and begins re-arming. He also removes citizenship from German Jews. Anxious to contain the Russian threat, Britain signs a treaty allowing Germany to rebuild its navy.

The King of Thailand dies, and his nine-year-old nephew takes the throne. But the new king is in school in Switzerland, and a regent rules the nation. Quickly conquered by Japan in WW2, Thailand is forced to declare war on the Allies, while their embassy in Japan serves as an Allied spy headquarters.

Babe Ruth plays his last baseball game.