Tag: October 9

The US Naval Institute is Born

Today in History, October 9, 1873:

The United States Naval Institute (USNI) is founded by 15 USN officers, including the first commander of the USS Monitor.

The USNI was initiated to study Naval issues and to report on them. It began publishing “Proceedings”, a publication to report its findings in 1874, a practice that continues today. I know this may not be of tremendous interest to most, but to me it is very important. I receive “Proceedings” and more importantly to me, “Naval History”, from which I obtain many interesting articles to post. USNI is fantastic! It also publishes many books, maintains history sources, and continues to document veteran’s experiences.

Kristallnacht

 

Today in History, November 9: 1938 – Kristallnacht. In order to direct Germany in the direction they wanted, the Nazis believed that they had to give the people someone to blame, someone to hate, for their misfortunes. The Jewish people of Germany and Austria were the perfect targets.

The Nazis used the murder of a low level diplomat in Paris as an excuse. Hitler ordered storm troopers to act as if they were citizens angered by the murder and to vandalize and destroy Jewish businesses, thus “The Night of Broken Glass” from the broken windows. Many Jews were killed and 30,000 men were arrested and sent to concentration camps. They were released if they promised to leave Germany….100,000+ did so. Kristallnacht would eventually lead to the Holocaust, during which 6,000,000+ Jews were killed in the Nazis attempt at genocide.

WAVES…Born at OSU



Today in History, October 9: 1942 – The Navy’s first WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) begin school in Stillwater, Oklahoma. That should make us proud.

Morrill Hall at Oklahoma State University was the birthplace of the WAVES program. It may seem trite today, but in it’s time it was a leap forward for women’s placement in the workplace.