Negative Political Cartoon

This comic is illustrating the carving of Adolf Hitler and the Asian ruler during World War II into the side of a cliff.  This cartoon is illustrating the fact that if Americans do not support the war effort by buying saving bonds and stamps, communism will will and take over America and thus, "liberating" America.  During the 1940s, American's were extremely anti-communist and they felt that it was a disease that was spreading throughout Europe and the world and that it is America's duty to stop communism at all costs.  Also, near the bottom left of the picture is a flag pole with the Nazi flag flying over the American flag essential depicting the thought of communism conquering America's democracy and freedom.

Positive Political Cartoon

Ostrich hats are being handed out to the men in line. Dr. Seuss chose the ostrich because they put their heads into the ground and cannot see what is happening on the surface. The quote on the sign symbolizes that although the newspapers had been reporting atrocities in Europe, the hats allow the wearer to ignore those events. The historical figure that Dr. Seuss is referring to by calling it Lindy Ostrich Service is Charles Lindbergh because Lindbergh favored isolationism for America. The literal meaning of this cartoon illustrates how so many people were ignoring the horrors in Europe by putting on a facade for the world.  The purpose of this cartoon was to help people realize that the U.S needed to get their heads out of the ground and into events of Europe to bring justice where justice had been due long before.

 

Mysterious Things That Happened

      On July 1, 1947, San Antonio Light reported that Troy Pendergrass of Hot Springs, New Mexico, chased a flying saucer, as he thought, until it landed.  When it landed, it was discovered to be a piece if foil, five inches by eight inches.
     
On July 7, 1947, F.G. Harston found a sixteen inch disk in Shreveport, Louisiana.  The disk was equipped with two radio condensers, a fluorescent light switch, and copper tubing. 

     There were many sightings of spaceships in 1947.  But no one in 1947 reported a "crashed alien spaceship." They reported " crashed flying saucers." 

Major Disasters

1942- ammonium nitrate explosion in Cleveland, Ohio , 20 people killed 
1944- liquefied natural explosion in Tesserendo, Belgium,  36 people killed, 4,300 cubic meters of confined gas exploded in a huge fireball, sweeping streets with burning gas. 
1943- Butadiene explosion, 79 homes and 2 factories destroyed, 57 people killed 
1947- ammonium nitrate cargo ship exploded 532 killed, 300 wounded, 200 missing, city severely damaged 
1948- dim ethyl ether exp., Ludwig, Germany 245 killed, 3,800 wounded, damage within an 8 km. radius 
 

Headlines

 
In the 1940s, many of the important headlines were based on World War II. Alot of  headlines said things like  "Japs Declare War. Attack U.S."  There was many other headlines in the 1940s too.  There would hundreds of little boys on the street selling newspapers.

Fasion

 Even with the challenges imposed by shortages in rayon, nylon, wool, leather, rubber, metal (for snaps, buckles, and embellishments) and even the amount of fabric which could be used in any one garment, the fashion industries wheels kept chugging slowly along, producing what it could. After the fall of France in 1940, Hollywood drove fashion in the United States almost entirely, with the exception of a few trends coming from war torn London in 1944 and 1945, as America's own rationing hit full force, and the idea of function seemed to overtake fashion. Fabrics shifted dramatically as rationing and wartime shortages controlled import items such as silk and furs. Floral prints seem to dominate the early 1940s, with the mid to late 40s also seeing what is sometimes referred to as "atomic prints" or geometric patterns and shapes. The color of fashion seemed to even go to war, with patriotic nautical themes and dark greens and khakis dominating the color palates, as trousers and wedges slowly replaced the dresses and more traditional heels due to shortages in stockings and gasoline.

Music

The most popular music style during the 1940s was swing which prevailed during World War II. In the later periods of the 1940s, less swing was prominent and crooners like Frank Sinatra, along with genres such as bebop and the earliest traces of rock and roll, were the prevalent genre.

Technology

The Atanasoff-Berry computer is considered the first digital electronic computer built by John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry at Iowa State University during 1937-1942.

Construction of the Colossus computer which was used by British codebreakers to read encrypted German messages during World War II.

The first test of technology for an atomic weapon is made (Trinity test) as part of the Manhattan Project.

The development of radar.

The development of ballistic missiles.

The development of jet aircraft.

The Jeep.

The development of commercial television.

The Slinky.

The microwave oven.

The invention of Velcro.

The invention of Tupperware.

The invention of the Frisbee

Deconolization and Independance

David Ben-Gurion proclaiming Israeli independence from the United Kingdom on May 14, 1948

Mao Zedong proclaiming the establishment of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949.1944 - Iceland declares independence from Denmark.

1945 - Indonesia declares independence from the Netherlands (effective in 1949 after a bitter armed and diplomatic struggle).

1946 - The French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon dissolves to the independent states of Syria and Lebanon. The French settlers are forced to evacuate the French colony in Syria.

1947 - Partitioning of the British Raj into a secular Union of India and a Muslim Dominion of Pakistan. British rule in Burma ends in 1948.

1948 - Establishment of the State of Israel.

1949 - The People's Republic of China is officially proclaimed.

Major Political Changes

• Establishment of the United Nations Charter (June 26, 1945) effective (October 24, 1945).
• Establishment of the defense alliance NATO April 4, 1949.

Wars and Conflicts

• World War II (1939–1945)
• Nazi Germany invades Poland, Denmark, Norway, Benelux, and the French Third Republic from 1939 to 1941.
• Soviet Union invades Poland, Finland, occupies Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Romanian region of Bessarabia from 1939 to 1941.
• Germany faces the United Kingdom in the Battle of Britain (1940). It was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, and was the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign up until that date.
• Germany attacks the Soviet Union (June 22, 1941).
• The United States enter World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. It would face the Empire of Japan in the Pacific War.
• Germany and Japan suffer defeats at Stalingrad, El Alamein, and Midway in 1942 and 1943.
• Normandy Landings. The forces of the Western Allies land on the beaches of Normandy in Northern France (June 6, 1944).
• Yalta Conference, wartime meeting from 4 February 1945 to 11 February 1945 among the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union—President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Premier Joseph Stalin, respectively—for the purpose of discussing Europe's postwar reorganization, intended to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe.
• The Holocaust, also known as The Shoah is the term generally used to describe the murder of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, a program of systematic state-sponsored extermination by Nazi Germany, under Adolf Hitler, its allies, and collaborators.Some scholars maintain that the definition of the Holocaust should also include the Nazis' systematic murder of millions of people in other groups, including ethnic Poles, the Romani, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, people with disabilities, gay men, and political and religious opponents.By this definition, the total number of Holocaust victims is between 11 million and 17 million people.
• The German Instrument of Surrender signed (May 7–8, 1945). Victory in Europe Day.
• Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6 and August 9, 1945); Surrender of Japan on August 15.
• World War II officially ends on September 2, 1945.

• Arab–Israeli conflict (Early 20th century–present)
• 1948 Arab–Israeli War (1948–1949) – The war was fought between the newly declared State of Israel and its Arab neighbours. The war commenced upon the termination of the British Mandate of Palestine in mid-May 1948. After the Arab rejection of the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine (UN General Assembly Resolution 181) that would have created an Arab state and a Jewish state side by side, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria attacked the state of Israel. In its conclusion, Israel managed to defeat the Arab armies

• 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine.
• Victory of Chinese Communist Party led by Mao Zedong in the Chinese Civil War.
• Beginning of Greek Civil War, which extends from 1946 to 1949