2014
Eugenics – Not Just Nazi Germany
August 18, 2014
This 1936 Nazi propaganda poster saying "We do not stand alone," shows a  woman with a baby and a man holding a shield inscribed with the 1933 Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring (mandating compulsory sterilization). Behind the couple is a map of Germany and the flags of nations that had or were contemplating considering similar legislation. Enhancement of the Aryan race (Ubermenschen) was key to to Nazi ideology. Individuals deemed unworthy of life (Lebensunwertes) included criminals, degenerates, dissidents, developmentally delayed, homosexuals, idle, insane and the weak. In an attempt to eliminate these individuals from the chain of heredity, >400,000 people were involuntarily sterilized and 275,000 were killed under the Action T4, euthanasia program. It is shocking to realize that eugenic practices were carried out by many other nations in the 20th century.  At one time or another, 33 states in the USA had statutes under which more than 60,000 Americans endured involuntary sterilization. The practice of involuntary sterilization of the "feeble-minded" was not entirely eliminated in the USA until the 1970s.  
Nazi Concentration Camps
March 17, 2014
Auschwitz 1942; Wikimedia Commons Beginning in 1939, small groups, targeted for political or racial reasons as dangerous to Nazi Germany, were murdered in German concentration camps. During 1939–1942, as Germany occupied most of Europe, the SS established new concentration camps for increasing numbers of political prisoners, resistance groups, and groups deemed racially inferior, such as Jews and Gypsies.  In January 1942, the Wannsee Conference, held by the SS-Reich Main Security Office in a Berlin suburb, completed plans for implementation of the "final solution" in which most of the Jews of German-occupied Europe would be deported to Poland and exterminated.     Auschwitz - Wikimedia
2013
Japan’s Unit 731
January 7, 2013
Unit 731 was a secret biological warfare program in remote Manchukuo run by a prominent medical graduate of Kyoto University named Ishii Shiro. Dr. Ishii recruited specialists from major japanese universities to conduct outrageous medical experiments on Chinese (and possibly some Allied) prisoners. Many prisoners who were infected with disease-producing organisms (e.g.,anthrax, plague, gas gangrene, smallpox, and botulism) were killed before the disease ran its course and autopsied to document progress of the disease throughout the body. At the end of the war,in exchange for immunity to prosecution for war crimes, Dr. Ishii shared the results of his experiments with the U.S.  biological warfare program and died a free man in 1959.  
2012
Flash Gordon Vs. Ming the Merciless
September 3, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B707Ava4wrY Flash Gordon was a 1936 science fiction film serial starring Buster Crabbe as the comic-strip character invented by Alex Raymond. His nemesis is the  evil, Asiatic-looking Ming, ruler of the planet Mongo.
How to Win Friends and Influence People
August 31, 2012
Dale Carnegie's book, regarding social skills and personal success, is still popular today. Twelve Things This Book Will Do For You (listed in the 1936 edition) Get you out of a mental rut, give you new thoughts, new visions, new ambitions. Enable you to make friends quickly and easily. Increase your popularity. Help you to win people to your way of thinking. Increase your influence, your prestige, your ability to get things done. Enable you to win new clients, new customers. Increase your earning power. Make you a better salesman, a better executive. Help you to handle complaints, avoid arguments, keep your human contacts smooth and pleasant. Make you a better speaker, a more entertaining conversationalist. Make the principles of psychology easy for you to apply in your daily contacts. Help you to arouse enthusiasm among your associates.  
America’s Military Strength Fades
August 27, 2012
In 1936, with significant public sentiment leaning toward isolationism, there was little Congressional support for equipment, training or expansion of the American military. The result was a relatively small, under-trained force that was either under-equipped, lacking up-to-date weapons, or both. This film praises the Curtis P-36 Hawk, an American fighter plane that would already be obsolete at the onset of WWII. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aOJj4xP3us&feature=related
Charlie Chan
August 22, 2012
Throughout the 1930s Charlie Chan, a Honolulu-based Chinese-American detective (ironically played in the 1930s by Swedish actor Warner Oland) was popular with movie audiences. Unlike evil characters such as  Dr. Fu Manchu (reflecting Western fears of a "Yellow peril"), Chan was an honorable, intelligent and benign character. On the other hand, many came to view him as an unfortunate stereotype of the subservient Asian who speaks English rather poorly. This film clip from 1936  aptly demonstrates racial attitudes at the time  toward African-Americans as well as Asians. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhOdDMaz92M
M1 Garand Rifle
August 20, 2012
The M1 Garand officially replaced the bolt-action M1903 Springfield as the standard service rifle of the United States Armed Forces in 1936.  General George S. Patton called it "the Greatest Battle Implement Ever Devised." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo0NLKAvmDM&feature=related17
Japanese Air Raid Drill
August 17, 2012
Within easy reach of Russia's Siberian airfields, Japan prepares for attack by its traditional archenemy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSNXg_7BvQk  
Communist Convention in Madison Square Garden
August 15, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx4QNmjMQGA Established in 1919, the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) soon had 60,000 members. Extensively involved in labor movements in the 1920s-40s, and promoting racial integration, the CPUSA also created an intelligence network with members acting as agents for the Soviet Union.  
Osaka Elegy
August 8, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC5459wWWSk Kenji Mizoguchi's films were often concerned about the plight of oppressed women in Japanese society. His protagonists were often geishas, prostitutes, workers, street activists, housewives, and feudal princesses. In the Osaka Elegy, a switchboard operator's boss wants to make her his mistress, but she is in love with a younger man. Forced to assist her beleaguered swindler father and destitute student brother, she gives up her honor for an ungrateful family.
Oscar Winners
August 6, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2fpzqgesyA Top grossing films Rank Title Studio Actors 1. San Francisco MGM Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald 2. The Great Ziegfeld MGM William Powell, Myrna Loyand Luise Rainer 3. Modern Times United Artists Charlie Chaplin 4. These Three United Artists Miriam Hopkins and Merle Oberon 5. Libeled Lady MGM Jean Harlow, William Powell,Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy 6. Three Smart Girls Universal Deanna Durbin 7. Poor Little Rich Girl 20th Century Fox Shirley Temple 8. Camille MGM Greta Garbo 9. The Charge of the Light Brigade Warner Bros. Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland 10. Wife vs. Secretary MGM Clark Gable, Jean Harlowand Myrna Loy 11. My Man Godfrey Universal William Powell and Carole Lombard 12. Dodsworth United Artists Walter Huston and Ruth Chatterton 13. Romeo and Juliet MGM Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard 14. Dimples 20th Century Fox Shirley Temple 15. Klondike Annie Paramount Mae West 16. Follow the Fleet RKO Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers 17. The Story of Louis Pasteur Warner Bros. Paul Muni 18. Anthony Adverse Warner Bros. Fredric March and Olivia de Havilland 19. Go West, Young Man Paramount Mae West 20. Suzy MGM Jean Harlow, Franchot Toneand Cary Grant
Japanese Old Swing
August 3, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ9S650roF4 American Swing music of the 1930s, with its distinctive blend of a strong bass and drum rhythm section and lead brass, woodwind and string instruments, had a lilting rhythm. With emphasis on the off–beat, the music had a "swing feel."
Evil Mickey Attacks Japan
July 30, 2012
Although Mickey Mouse, the popular cartoon character created by Walt Disney in 1928,  is generally considered to be a cute character, he took on an ominous nature in this 1936 Japanese cartoon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icVu-acHlpU
Roosevelt v. Landon
July 27, 2012
  Despite Republican attacks on the New Deal and claims that the country was moving toward dictatorship, their candidate Alf Landon was easily defeated in the 1936 Presidential election as FDR won 98.49% of the electoral vote and carried every state except Maine and Vermont. For the first time, addresses of presidential candidates were broadcast locally on television in the New York area.
Modern Times – Charlie Chaplin
July 18, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TRbdXpM4B0 Charlie Chaplin made his last appearance as the little tramp in his 1936 film Modern Times , a silent movie with some sound effects that was a social commentary on the Great Depression. The silent Tramp's final words were deciphered as: "Smile! C'mon!"
The Only Son
July 16, 2012
Ozu Ojiro's lyrical film The Only Son, unfolding in 1923, 1935 and 1936, depicts the contrast between rural and urban Japanese life. An ironic view of failed ambition, the film focuses on the relationship between a rural widowed mother who labored to get her son an education and the son, now barely surviving in Tokyo, heretofore viewed as a beacon of opportunity for newcomers.
Tupelo–Gainesville Tornadoes
July 13, 2012
During two days in April 1936, seventeen tornadoes struck the Southeastern USA killing approximately 436 people.
Japan in Summer Olympics
July 11, 2012
Naoto Tajima (left) with Jesse Owens and Luz Long, 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics; Wikimedia Commons   IMPERIAL JAPAN WAS THE 8TH RANKED NATION WINNING MEDALS AT THE 1936 SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES IN BERLIN (GERMANY WAS #1 AND THE USA WAS #2). Medal Name Sport Event  Gold Shigeo Arai, Shigeo Sugiura, Masaharu Taguchi, andMasanori Yusa Swimming Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay  Gold Noboru Terada Swimming Men's 1500m Freestyle  Gold Tetsuo Hamuro Swimming Men's 200m Breaststroke  Gold Hideko Maehata Swimming Women's 200m Breaststroke  Gold Naoto Tajima Athletics Men's Triple Jump  Gold Son Kitei Athletics Men's Marathon[1][2]  Silver Masao Harada Athletics Men's Triple Jump  Silver Shuhei Nishida Athletics Men's Pole Vault  Silver Shumpei Uto Swimming Men's 400m Freestyle  Silver Masanori Yusa Swimming Men's 100m Freestyle  Bronze Sueo Ōe Athletics Men's Pole Vault  Bronze Nan Shoryu Athletics Men's Marathon[1]  Bronze Naoto Tajima Athletics Men's Long Jump  Bronze Masaji Kiyokawa Swimming Men's 100m Backstroke  Bronze Shumpei Uto Swimming Men's 1500m Freestyle  Bronze Shigeo Arai Swimming Men's 100m Freestyle  Bronze Reizo Koike Swimming Men's 200m Breaststroke  Bronze Shozo Makino Swimming Men's 400m Freestyle
Jesse Owens – Berlin Olympics
July 9, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quQopJmQry4 In the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, America's African-American track star Jesse Owens upset Nazi Aryan notions of racial superiority. In the course of winning four events, Owens set new Olympic 200-meter dash and broad jump records, tied the world 100-meter dash record and ran the first leg of the world record-setting U.S. 400 meter relay team.
Four Days of Snow and Blood
July 2, 2012
Four Days of Snow and Blood (1989) In February 1936, several government ministers were assassinated by a cadre of junior officers in a failed coup d'état. With militant idealism, the dissident group was distressed about dire poverty and unemployment in Japan, despite their country's recent conquest of Manchuria. The rebellious officers and those who influenced them ideologically were executed. In the subsequent purge of the military, many officers, including those supporting the radical Kōdōha (Imperial Way Faction), were transferred to the reserves, giving the control of the military to the more conservative Tōseiha (Control Faction).
Helicopter
June 29, 2012
Although Germany flew the first helicopter (Focke-Wulf Fw 61) in 1936, extensive bombing by the Allies prevented mass production during WWII. 131 American Sikorsky R-4 helicopters saw service in World War II, primarily  for rescue in Burma, Alaska, and other areas with harsh terrain. By the end of World War II, Sikorsky had produced over 400 helicopters. In 1941 the Imperial Japanese Army developed the Kayaba Ka-1 autogyro for reconnaissance, artillery-spotting, and anti-submarine uses. About 240 Japanese helicopters were produced throughout WWII.
Japan Occupies Shanghai
June 27, 2012
In 1936, with the accusation that a Chinese citizen had killed a Japanese sailor, Japan landed hundreds of marines in Shanghai and demanded apologies from Chinese authorities.  
Hoover Dam
June 25, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7Fm2cM-1tU Constructed in the 1930s to prevent flooding, and provide irrigation and hydroelectric power, the original Boulder Dam was renamed in 1947 in honor of Herbert Hoover, who was  instrumental in its construction.
Birth Control in Japan
June 22, 2012
  In 1937, the women's rights activist Shidzue Katō  opened a birth-control clinic in Tokyo with Margaret Sanger as the guest of honor. Soon, along with about five hundred left-wing men, Shidzue was arrested by the Tokkō (Special Higher Police) and the clinic was closed.
Birth Control – USA
June 20, 2012
Anti-birth control laws originating in 1873 with the Comstock Act, had their first legal challenge with Margaret Sanger’s  arrest in 1916 for opening a birth control clinic. The 1918 Crane decision allowed women to use birth control for therapeutic purposes. In 1936, Sanger challenged the law against the distribution of contraceptives in United States v. One Package. The court’s ruling in her case allowed physicians to distribute contraceptives across state lines.
Anti-Comintern Pact
June 18, 2012
In 1936, "recognizing that the aim of the Communist International, known as the Comintern, is to disintegrate and subdue existing States by all the means at its command..."  Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany formed an alliance against Communism.

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