Winston Churchill - Churchill personally ordered Captain Philip Vian of the destroyer HMS Cossack to board the German supply ship Altmark in Norwegian waters
Time: Friday Feb 16, 1940
Place: Norwegian waters
Details: On 16 February 1940, Churchill personally ordered Captain Philip Vian of the destroyer HMS Cossack to board the German supply ship Altmark in Norwegian waters and liberate some 300 British prisoners who had been captured by the Admiral Graf Spee. These actions, supplemented by his speeches, considerably enhanced Churchill's reputation.
Related
On This Day - 16 February


Valentine's Day-Saint Valentine's death
Tuesday Feb 16, 269 - Rome, Italy


Napoleon-Napoleon announced that he would intervene to mediate between the rival political factions in the country
Tuesday Feb 16, 1808 - Spain


Adolf Hitler-NSDAP returned
Monday Feb 16, 1925 - Germany


Francisco Franco-Spanish general election, 1936
Sunday Feb 16, 1936 - Spain


Raúl Castro-The Minister of Defence
Monday Feb 16, 1959 - Havana, Cuba


Bay of Pigs Invasion-Castro took on the role of Prime Minister
Monday Feb 16, 1959 - Havana, Cuba


Fidel Castro-The Prime Minister of Cuba
Monday Feb 16, 1959 - Havana, Cuba


Cypriot intercommunal violence-The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks
Sunday Feb 16, 1964 - Cyprus


Indira Gandhi-The First Electoral Test for Indira
Thursday Feb 16, 1967 - India


Carlos the Jackal-2 of the Group are arrested
Tuesday Feb 16, 1982 - The Hague, the Netherlands


Disasters with highest death tolls-Ash Wednesday Bushfires
Wednesday Feb 16, 1983 - Australia


Gulf War-Iraqi vehicles appeared to be performing reconnaissance
Saturday Feb 16, 1991 - Kuwait


Plane Accidents-Airbus A300B4-622R
Monday Feb 16, 1998 at 08 PM - Chiang Kai-shek International Airport


Angelina Jolie-The Breast Cancer
Saturday Feb 16, 2013 - United States


Bitcoin-Release 0.10 of the software was made public
Monday Feb 16, 2015 - Washington D.C., U.S.


Covid-19 Pandemic: 2020 Coronavirus outbreak-Italy first virus spread
Sunday Feb 16, 2020 - Lombardy, Italy


Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh-Philip was admitted to King Edward VII's Hospital as a "precautionary measure" after feeling unwell
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021 - London, England, United Kingdom


Bitcoin-Bitcoin price reached ATH $50,000
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021 - U.S., and Worldwide


United Nations Conference on Trade and Development-Isabelle Durant
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021 - Geneva, Switzerland
February 1940


World War II-Operation Sonnenblaume
Tuesday Feb 6, 1940 - Cyrenaica, Libya


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle had been earmarked for command of an armored division
Feb, 1940 - France
1940


Second Sino-Japanese War-China's first Large-Scale Counter-offensive
1940 - China


John F. Kennedy-Graduated
1940 - Cambridge, Massachusrtts, U.S.


Albert Einstein-American Citizen
1940 - U.S.


Ho Chi Minh-He began regularly using the name Hồ Chí Minh
1940 - China


Oskar Schindler (Schindler's List)-Schindler Interest
1940 - Kraków, Poland


John Maynard Keynes-How to Pay for the War
1940 - England


Juan Trippe-The president of The Maidstone Club
1940 - East Hampton, New York, U.S.


Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh-Philip graduated from Dartmouth
1940 - Dartmouth, Devon, England, United Kingdom


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle took on ministerial responsibilities
1940 - France


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle had advocated would be a German war
1940 - France


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle proposed to be appointed Secretary-General of the War Council
1940 - France


The Holocaust-Gas vans equipped with gas cylinders had been used to kill the handicapped in occupied Poland
Jan, 1940 - Poland


Edward VIII-German ambassador in The Hague
Jan, 1940 - The Hague, Netherlands


Audrey Hepburn-Star Puple
1940 - Arnhem, Netherlands


Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh-Philip served in the British forces
1940 - United Kingdom


Marcus Garvey-Garvey suffered a stroke which left him largely paralyzed
Jan, 1940 - London, England, United Kingdom


Frank Sinatra-1st Appearance with The New Band
Friday Jan 26, 1940 - The Coronado Theatre in Rockford, Illinois, U.S.


Ronald Reagan-Marriage
Friday Jan 26, 1940 - Glendale, California, U.S.


Donald Trump-Anti-German sentiment
1940 - U.S.


World War II-Greco-Italian War
Sunday Jan 28, 1940 - Greece


Carlos Slim-Birth
Sunday Jan 28, 1940 - Mexico City, Mexico


Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh-Philip spent four months on the battleship HMS Ramillies
Jan, 1940 - United Kingdom


World War II-Operation Sonnenblaume
Tuesday Feb 6, 1940 - Cyrenaica, Libya


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle had been earmarked for command of an armored division
Feb, 1940 - France


Igor Stravinsky-2nd Marriage
Saturday Mar 9, 1940 - Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.


St. Patrick's Day-Holy week concurrence
Sunday Mar 17, 1940 - Ireland


Alan Turing-Installing the first Bombe
Monday Mar 18, 1940 - Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom


Charles de Gaulle-Reynaud demanded that France be released from the agreement which he had made with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
Mar, 1940 - France


Nancy Pelosi-Birth
Tuesday Mar 26, 1940 - Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.


DC Comics-DC's first logo appeared
Apr, 1940 - U.S.


Penicillin-Progress in showing the in vivo bactericidal action of penicillin
1940 - Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, United Kingdom


Penicillin-Howard Florey and his team showed that penicillin effectively cured bacterial infection in mice
1940 - University of Oxford, Oxford, England, United Kingdom


Winston Churchill-Operation Wilfred
Saturday Apr 6, 1940 - Norway


World War II-Operation Wilfred
Monday Apr 8, 1940 - Norway


World War II-Norwegian campaign
Monday Apr 8, 1940 - Norway


Adolf Hitler-German forces invaded Denmark and Norway
Tuesday Apr 9, 1940 - Denmark and Norway


The Holocaust-Germany invaded Norway and Denmark
Tuesday Apr 9, 1940 - Norway and Denmark


World War II-Operation Weserübung
Tuesday Apr 9, 1940 - Denmark and Norway


Harald V-Escaping To Sweden
Wednesday Apr 10, 1940 - Sweden


Harald V-Moving To Prince Carl Bernadotte's Home
Tuesday Apr 16, 1940 - Frötuna, Sweden


Harald V-Moving to Drottningholm
Friday Apr 26, 1940 - Drottningholm, Stockholm, Sweden


World War II-The Norway Debate
Tuesday May 7, 1940 - London, England, United Kingdom


Winston Churchill-Norway Debate
Tuesday May 7, 1940 - London, England, United Kingdom


Winston Churchill-Churchill had won the doubters over and his successor as party leader was a formality
Thursday May 9, 1940 - London, England, United Kingdom


Adolf Hitler-Germany attacked France
Friday May 10, 1940 - France


World War II-Neville Chamberlain resignation
Friday May 10, 1940 - London, England, United Kingdom


World War II-Churchill in the office
Friday May 10, 1940 - London, England, United Kingdom


Charles de Gaulle-The Germans attacked
May, 1940 - Germany


World War II-Fall of France
Friday May 10, 1940 - France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg


The Holocaust-Alexander von Falkenhausen enacted anti-Jewish measures
May, 1940 - Germany


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle activated his new division
Sunday May 12, 1940 - France


Winston Churchill-"blood, toil, tears and sweat" speech
Monday May 13, 1940 - London, England, United Kingdom


Edward VIII-Germany invaded the north of France
May, 1940 - France


Audrey Hepburn-"Edda van Heemstra"
1940 - Netherlands


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle was given command of the 4th Armoured Division
Wednesday May 15, 1940 - France


Charles de Gaulle-The Germans broke through at Sedan
Wednesday May 15, 1940 - France


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle was reinforced by two fresh regiments
Saturday May 18, 1940 - France


World War II-Germany invaded Greece
May, 1940 - Greece


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle attacked again and his forces were once again devastated
Sunday May 19, 1940 - Montcornet, France


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle delayed his retreat
Monday May 20, 1940 - Montcornet, France


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle gave a talk on French radio
Tuesday May 21, 1940 - Montcornet, France


Queen Elizabeth II-Elizabeth lived at Royal Lodge
May, 1940 - Windsor, United Kingdom


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle was promoted to the rank of temporary
Thursday May 23, 1940 - France


Joseph Goebbels-Goebbels used Polish officers accident "Katyn massacre"
May, 1940 - Katyn, Russia (Then U.S.S.R.)


Winston Churchill-British Expeditionary Force in retreat to Dunkirk
May, 1940 - Dunkirk, France


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle attacked the German bridgehead south of the Somme at Abbeville
May, 1940 - Abbeville, France


Winston Churchill-Churchill ordered the formation of both the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the Commandos
Jun, 1940 - England, United Kingdom


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle's rank of brigadier-general
Saturday Jun 1, 1940 - France


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle sent a memo to Weygand
Sunday Jun 2, 1940 - Paris, France


Winston Churchill-Operation Dynamo
Tuesday Jun 4, 1940 - Dunkirk, France


Samuel Little -Little Birth
Friday Jun 7, 1940 - Reynolds, Georgia, U.S.


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle suggested fighting on
Saturday Jun 8, 1940 - France


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle flew to London and met British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Sunday Jun 9, 1940 - London, England, United Kingdom


Adolf Hitler-Italy join forces with Hitler
Monday Jun 10, 1940 - Italy


Marcus Garvey-Death
Monday Jun 10, 1940 - London, England, United Kingdom


Benito Mussolini-Italy declared war on Britain and France
Monday Jun 10, 1940 - Italy


World War II-Battle of Alps
Monday Jun 10, 1940 - Italian-French Boarders


World War II-Siege of Malta
Tuesday Jun 11, 1940 - Malta


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle offered General Hunziger as Commander-in-Chief
Tuesday Jun 11, 1940 - France


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle attended the meeting of the Anglo-French Supreme War Council at the Chateau
Tuesday Jun 11, 1940 - France


Winston Churchill-Western Desert campaign
Tuesday Jun 11, 1940 - Egypt and Libya


The Holocaust-Norway was completely occupied
Jun, 1940 - Norway


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle attended another Anglo-French
Thursday Jun 13, 1940 - France


Francisco Franco-Occupied Tangier
Friday Jun 14, 1940 - Tangier, Morocco


Eiffel Tower-The tower was closed to the public during the occupation and the lifts were not repaired
Jun, 1940 - Paris, France


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle arrived at Bordeaux
Friday Jun 14, 1940 - Bordeaux, France


World War II-Surrender of Paris
Friday Jun 14, 1940 - Paris, France


Charles de Gaulle-Reynaud had resigned as prime minister
Jun, 1940 - Bordeaux, France


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle talked about Jean Monnet's mooted Anglo-French political union
Sunday Jun 16, 1940 - London, England, United Kingdom


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle escaped to London
Monday Jun 17, 1940 - London, England, United Kingdom


Charles de Gaulle-British Cabinet was reluctant to agree to de Gaulle giving a radio address
Tuesday Jun 18, 1940 - London, England, United Kingdom


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle's Appeal to continue to resist the occupation of France
Tuesday Jun 18, 1940 - London, England, United Kingdom


Francisco Franco-Wanted to enter the war
Wednesday Jun 19, 1940 - Cameroon


Charles de Gaulle-De Gaulle denied the legitimacy of the government at Bordeaux
Wednesday Jun 19, 1940 - London


Salvador Dali-Able to Escape
Thursday Jun 20, 1940 - U.S.


W. E. B. Du Bois-Dusk of Dawn
1940 - U.S.


Richard Nixon-Marriage
Jun, 1940 - Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, California, U.S.


Charles de Gaulle-Armistice was signed
Friday Jun 21, 1940 - Compiègne, France


Adolf Hitler-France armistice
Saturday Jun 22, 1940 - Compiègne, France


Charles de Gaulle-The Bordeaux government declared that De Gaulle compulsorily retired from the French Army
Sunday Jun 23, 1940 - Bordeaux, France