In 1945 the Yalta conference ends. This was the 2nd, and I believe last, conference of the three great wartime leaders, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin. (By the way to avoid favoritism I put them in alphabetical order.) By this time it was pretty much assured that the Allies would win the war. The conference concerned itself mainly with what would be done after the war, how Europe would be divided, and also with Roosevelt's continued push to get the USSR involved in the war against Japan.

On this day in 1942 the Germans surprised the British with the famous, or infamous, "Channel Dash." In this operation the Battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, along with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen raced up the English Channel from Brest to German waters. The British were caught totally by surprise and the German ships managed to escape. It was a false victory however as from Germany the ships were much less a threat than they were in Brest.

In 1970 Japan becomes the wolds fourth space power by launching Ohsumi, their first satellite. They joined the Soviet Union, the United States, and France in space. Later this year China would become the 5th power in space.

In 1990 Nelson Mandela is freed from prison in South Africa.

Born of this date:

Inventor Thomas A Edison.

Writer Sidney Sheldon.

Actor Leslie Nielsen.

Singer Brandy.

Actress Jennifer Aniston. (sigh) The other night a re-run of Friends has her wearing a plaid skirt and knee socks. Yum.

Actor Burt Reynolds.

Singer Sheryl Crowe.

Actress Eva Gabor. Anybody see the movie On the Beach? She was pretty good in it and it's a very disturbing movie if you've never seen it.

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'On The Beach' (original and remake) is on my personal favorite movie list. It was well done,

Gunnie