World War II

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Air Force Ship Becomes Artificial Reef Off Fla. Keys

WWII cargo ship also tracked missiles and spacecraft

(Newser) - Demolition experts sank an Air Force ship this morning to create an artificial reef in the Florida Keys, the AP reports. The 17,000-ton, WWII-era cargo ship took less than 2 minutes to sink after a series of explosions. The new "reef" is expected to bring in about...

Queen Livid at French Snub for Obama D-Day Fete

Sarkozy wants to focus on 'main event' of US prez visit

(Newser) - Queen Elizabeth is furious at not being invited by the French for D-Day ceremonies next week that will include President Obama, reports the Daily Mail. The French never had any intention of inviting members of the British royal family to the 65th anniversary commemoration in Normandy in order to allow...

10 Odd Facts About World War II
 10 Odd Facts 
 About World War II 
memorial day weekend
May 23, 2009 4:35 PM CDT

10 Odd Facts About World War II

(Newser) - With Memorial Day and the 65th anniversary of Normandy coming up, it's time for a World War II history review. The Chicago Tribune has dug up ten strange facts:
  • Elsie Mitchell and five children died in Gearhart Mountain, Ore., in May 1945, by touching a Japanese "balloon bomb" 
...

By Tarantino Standards, Basterds Indeed Inglourious

(Newser) - Festival fave Quentin Tarantino opened his comic-fantasy take on World War II, Inglourious Basterds, at Cannes today. The film traces Jewish-American soldiers, led by Brad Pitt, as they annihilate as many Nazis in France as three grisly hours can fit. Some early sentiment:
  • "It's western meets war movie, with
...

While France Suffered, Nazis Flocked to Brothels

(Newser) - As France starved under Germany’s thumb, Nazi officers showered the mademoiselles of Paris’ finest brothels with cash, chocolates, and looted art. Such “horizontal collaboration” defined the golden age of French prostitution as described in a new book, the Daily Mail reports. The author argues that, far from engaging...

Travelers Flock to Nazi Tours

For many tourists, Germany means beer and Hitler

(Newser) - The world has moved on in many ways, but for many tourists, a visit to Germany often boils down to two things: beer and Hitler. "I'm no Nazi," said an American who's spending most of his four-day visit on Hitler's trail. "I'm just interested in Germany....

Accused Nazi Guard 1 Step From Deportation

Demjanjuk has one more appeal between him an a German trial

(Newser) - A federal court today denied John Demjanjuk’s appeal to be granted a stay of deportation, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. The alleged former Nazi concentration camp guard has one more appeal to file. If that fails, the 89-year-old will be sent to Germany to stand trial for being an...

Accused Nazi Begs US to Keep Him

He may be deported to Germany for war crimes trial

(Newser) - An American resident with a reputed Nazi past is asking the US to block his deportation to Germany, citing humanitarian reasons. John Demjanjuk, a Ukrainian immigrant who turns 89 this week, is charged in an arrest warrant in Germany with 29,000 counts of acting as an accessory to murder...

Obama to Travel to Normandy for D-Day Anniversary

Washington, Paris on good terms, Sarkozy aide says

(Newser) - President Obama will travel to Normandy for the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, the New York Daily News reports. An aide to Nicolas Sarkozy spilled the beans on Obama’s June 6 visit after a reporter claimed the relationship between the two presidents was distant. “Relations are excellent...

In Classroom, Twitter Trumps the Queen

Proposed UK curriculum focuses on learning skills, flexibility

(Newser) - Why learn about World War II or Queen Victoria in elementary school when you can always look them up on Wikipedia? That seems to be the rationale behind a new proposed overhaul of the British school system. Because secondary schools teach plenty of history, the reasoning goes, early schooling should...

Requiem for the View-Master
 Requiem for the View-Master 
Mar 14, 2009 6:30 PM CDT

Requiem for the View-Master

(Newser) - Fisher-Price isn’t stopping production on its 3-D viewer, the View-Master, but it will no longer produce the huge catalog of picture-wheels that have delighted and enlightened generations of Americans, laments the Economist. The company will publish just a small number of children’s reels for the device that gave...

Family's Search for WWII Hero Scarred Generations

Decades-long quest for Raoul Wallenberg, savior of thousands, in vain

(Newser) - The fate of Raoul Wallenberg, savior of thousands of Jews in World War II, remains unknown, despite his family’s generation-spanning search for the Swede who was arrested by Soviets in 1945, at age 32. That quest has lasted 6 decades—and the Wall Street Journal has reviewed thousands of...

Tarantino's Basterds Looks as Lousy as His Spelling

(Newser) - The trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s new film, Inglourious Basterds, is just 100 seconds long, but that's enough. "Perhaps there will prove to be a level of postmodern self-ironising,” Paul MacInnes writes in the Guardian. “Perhaps serving up Kill Bill with the Holocaust as a backdrop will...

Katyn Horrific, Excellent
 Katyn Horrific, Excellent 
Movie Review
Feb 20, 2009 11:15 AM CST

Katyn Horrific, Excellent

(Newser) - American art houses are finally getting a taste of Katyn, legendary Polish director Andrzej Wajda’s acclaimed film about the World War II-era massacre of the same name, and critics are heaping yet more acclaim on it. AO Scott of the New York Times calls it “solemn and searing,...

Zippo Closes In on 500M Lighters

American icon set to sell its 500 millionth lighter by year's end

(Newser) - At some point this year, the Zippo factory in Bradford, Pa., will churn out its 500 millionth lighter, NPR reports. The windproof gadget has become a cultural staple since 1932, from the wartime foxholes of Germany and Vietnam to the glitter of the Silver Screen, but NPR notes that the...

Europe Is Giddy for US: Can It Last?
 Europe Is  
 Giddy for US: 
 Can It Last?
analysis
Jan 20, 2009 7:07 PM CST

Europe Is Giddy for US: Can It Last?

French expect America to 'find its path' again

(Newser) - In France, the magic of Barack Obama’s inauguration is “a bit like the liberation after World War II,” says one French analyst. This particular sentiment “may have hit the hyperbolic stratosphere,” writes Elizabeth Bryant in the Washington Times, but it reflects a groundswell. “Fundamentally,...

WWII Mass Grave of German Civilians Unearthed

Corpses found near Polish castle believed to have been killed as Soviets advanced

(Newser) - The corpses of 1,800 men, women and children believed to be German civilians have been found in a mass grave near the Polish city of Malbork, Der Speigel reports. The city was German until the end of World War II. Officials believe many of its former residents were massacred...

US to Honor Nazis' Secret Soldier Slaves

350 survivors vowed to keep abuses secret

(Newser) - After 64 years, the US Army will finally honor 350 American soldiers who were tortured and enslaved during the Holocaust's final months, CNN reports. The Nazis beat, starved and forced the war prisoners to work in a section of the Buchenwald  concentration camp. Some 100 of them died, and survivors...

Soldiers Who Survive War Are Less Intelligent

Records reveal that the smartest of Scottish regiments died on WWII battlefields

(Newser) - Soldiers who survived World War II were on average less intelligent than their fallen comrades, a study of British records has revealed. Researchers merged military records with an IQ test given to Scottish schoolchildren in 1932 and found that Scots who died in battle had an average IQ of 100....

Tuskegee Airmen to Attend Inaugural

Invitation recognizes their contribution to historic event

(Newser) - The Tuskegee Airmen of WWII have been invited to the inauguration of the nation's first black president, the New York Times reports. Barack Obama has acknowledged his debt to the elite all-black force, whose heroes fought for a country that discriminated against them. Now in their 80s and 90s, it's...

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