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Posted by: Ryan Moore
In the morning hours of December 7, 1941, 76 years ago today, the Japanese Imperial Navy launched a stunning and destructive attack on the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. On that “date which will live in infamy,” as President Franklin D. Roosevelt remarked, hundreds of Japanese planes attacked in waves. Four American battleships were …
Posted in: American History, Military History
Posted by: Ryan Moore
The city of Lviv, in what is now western Ukraine, was greatly impacted by the Second World War and the Holocaust. Prior to the outbreak of fighting, it was part of Poland and known as Lwów. It was then a diverse, multi-ethnic city, and its inhabitants included large communities of Jews, Poles, Ukrainians, and others. …
Posted in: City Histories, Military History
Posted by: Ryan Moore
The Geography and Map Division (G&M) is pleased to announce the release of Triumph and Liquidation: An Essay and Guide to a Series of Ten Pictorial Wall Maps Created to Illustrate the Successes of the Red Army in the Russian Civil War of 1917-1922. The maps celebrate the victory of Bolshevism over its enemies. Critical …
Posted in: Reference Guides
Posted by: Ryan Moore
William A. Bostick was an artist whose talents were utilized in the Second World War to help create chart-maps for the invasions of Sicily and Normandy. After the war, Bostick had a successful career as an artist and administrator of an arts school in Detroit. His works were nationally and internationally recognized. He died in …
Posted in: Biography, Military History
Posted by: Ryan Moore
The rise of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union resulted in substantial limitations on where travelers could visit in the opposite nation. When Joseph Stalin, the leader of the USSR, died in 1953, the succeeding Soviet government eased restrictions for Americans wishing to travel there under the auspices of “coexistence.” …
Posted in: Military History
Posted by: Ryan Moore
During the Vietnam War, Long Binh Post was the U.S. Army’s largest base located in the former South Vietnam. It was situated between Bien Hoa, the location of a large American airbase, and Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. The Geography and Map Division holds a map from the war that was printed and created …
Posted in: Asian History, Military History
Posted by: Ryan Moore
Robert S. Bond was a forward artillery observer for the 6th Armored Division in World War II. He landed with the division in Normandy, France, and advanced into Germany. Along the way, he participated in the fighting in France, Belgium, and Germany, including the Battle of the Bulge. In 1945, while in a single-propeller reconnaissance …
Posted in: Military History
Posted by: Ryan Moore
In World War I, the detail and accuracy of maps improved rapidly over the course of a few years and greatly enhanced the power of military forces. Maps, however, were only as good as those interpreting them, and failures in map usage resulted in massive casualties, which ranged from tens to hundreds of thousands. An …
Posted in: Events, Military History
Posted by: Ryan Moore
The German act of terrorism on Black Tom Island was one of a series of events that came to a head with the infamous Zimmermann Telegram and pushed America to declare war on Germany in April 1917. These hostile acts fueled anti-German hysteria that was so great that nearly all aspects of life associated with …
Posted in: Military History