Independence Day
https://youtu.be/XRLRKNXVuTY Independence Day (Fourth of July) is a federal holiday commemorating the Declaration of Independence of the United States, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. Congress declared that the thirteen American...
The Bridge on the River Kwai
https://youtu.be/RlC7XBayj0s At the 30th Academy Awards in 1958, The Bridge on the River Kwai won seven awards, including best picture of 1957. Its director, David Lean, and star Alec Guinness also received Oscars. The Bridge on the River Kwai was based on...
USSR Declares Atomic Testing Halt
https://youtu.be/QrNN5ZhsC1I In March 1958 the Soviet Union declared it was halting tests of atomic and hydrogen bombs. It called on the other nuclear powers, the United States and Britain, to do the same. Moscow warned that it would resume testing if their example...
Mayflower II arrives in Plymouth, Massachusetts
The Mayflower II, a reproduction of the 17th-century ship Mayflower that brought the Pilgrims to the New World in 1620, was built in Plymouth / Devon, England during 1955–1956. Mayflower II was launched from Plymouth England on September 22 1956—a rainy day start for...
Suez Canal Crisis
In June 1956 the 74-year British occupation of the Suez Canal ended. In July 1956 the Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, nationalized the Suez Canal. In October 1956 Israeli brigades invaded Egypt and advanced toward the canal, routing Egyptian forces....
Pakistan and Tunisia Granted Independence
https://youtu.be/Usy9TpxQ5tY In 1947 British India was divided into the independent sovereign states of India and Pakistan. From 1947 to 1956 Pakistan was a monarchy within the United Kingdom and the other Dominions in the...
Big Four Meeting in Geneva Reduces International Tension
https://youtu.be/1KURFzVpqm4 The stated mission of the November 1955 Geneva summit was to reduce international tensions between the leaders of "Big Four" nations France, Great Britain, USA and USSR. The world leaders discussed issues on security,...
Britain Decides to Develop Thermonuclear Weapons
https://youtu.be/0RNwR1Sewh8 Great Britain successfully tested an atomic bomb in Operation Hurricane in October 1952, becoming the world's third nuclear power. However, in November 1952, the United States conducted Ivy Mike, the first successful...
Egypt & Britain Suez Canal Pact
https://youtu.be/GprO6J_pVJA The 1954 Anglo–Egyptian Treaty terminated the presence of British armed forces along the Suez Canal. Pinterest Although Britain relinquished its military presence in other parts of Egypt after WWII, it continued to keep...
Coup d’etat in British Guiana
https://youtu.be/b61zp4lQCHk In October 1953, the democratically elected People's Progressive Party (PPP) of British Guyana was removed from power by the British Government—its colonial ruler at that time. The overthrow of the PPP, which had won a landslide victory...
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
https://youtu.be/UZe_omSv8FE Queen Elizabeth II was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York. After the the abdication of his brother in 1936, the Duke became King George VI. In 1947 Elizabeth married Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with whom she...
Britain Develops Atomic Bomb
Although several British scientists worked on the Manhattan Project during WWII, after the war the U.S. government ended cooperation on nuclear weapons development. In 1947, in response to concerns about American isolationism and Britain losing its great...
Death Of King George VI
A heavy smoker, King George VI (born Albert Frederick Arthur George) died of lung cancer and heart disease in February 1952. Born during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria George was named after his great-grandfather Albert, Prince...
United Nations Forces in the Korean War
https://youtu.be/LYE0nfqnqc0 Sixteen UN nations supplied fighting units and five sent military hospitals and field ambulances. Australia was one of the very first to contribute military personnel from all three services. The single largest UN contributor was the...
Klaus Fuchs Atomic Spy
https://youtu.be/mqQ5_Na8DIc The German theoretical physicist Klaus Fuchs helped develop the first effective atomic bomb at Los Alamos during the WWII Manhattan Project. German born, Fuchs fled Nazi Germany and became a British citizen in August 1942. As a long-time...
The Broad High Road
https://youtu.be/yYyq__nwrA4 At the end of WWII, with a Conservative Party defeat in the 1945 general election, Winston Churchill became leader of the British opposition. Midst the developing Cold War with the Soviet Union, Churchill warned of an "iron curtain" of...
Republic of India
In 1947 India became an independent nation within the British Commonwealth. The eastern and northwest parts of colonial British India were partitioned into the Dominion of Pakistan with the transfer of ~10 million people and the tragic deaths of ~one million people....
Yangtze Incident
In April 1949, the HMS Amethyst was en route on the Yangtze River from Shanghai to Nanking China to replace another ship guarding the British Embassy during the Civil War between the Nationalist and Communist Chinese. Early in he morning, the Amethyst received a...
Partition of India
The 1947 partition of India into Hindu and Muslim majorities divided three provinces: Assam, Bengal and the Punjab. The division of >14 million people according to religious beliefs resulted in large-scale violence, with varying estimates...
Animal Farm
George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm, published in 1945, described his book as an allegorical account of events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. George Orwell was the nom de plum of Eric Blair, a...
Dunkirk
After seeing the new movie DUNKIRK directed by Christopher Nolan last night, I wanted to recommend it to you readers. Like the top film critics, I found this film technically flawless and emotionally extremely powerful. The film's soundtrack by Hans Zimmer kept...
Dresden Firebombed
https://youtu.be/HTOu_54csQw From February 13-15 1945, British RAF and American USAAF heavy bombers dropped more than 3,900 tons of high-explosive detonation bombs and incendiary devices on the city of Dresden. The bombing and resulting firestorm destroyed most of...
Battle of the Bulge
In December 1944, under overcast skies that limited Allied aerial surveillance, >250,000 German troops and armored divisions launched a surprise attack in the weakly-defended, rugged forest of Ardennes. With a thrust toward Antwerp Belgium, the advance was intended...
Buzz Bombs – Vergeltungswaffen
https://youtu.be/s0EE5ZGKJyE
The Great Escape
Allied airmen captured during WWII were incarcerated in POW Camps run by the Luftwaffe called Stammlager Luft (abrev., Stalag). Allied POWs reported that the Luftwaffe (unlike the Gestapo or SS) respected fellow flyers, and treated airmen POWs well, with the...