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  • London, England
    Dec, 1943
    Computer

    The World's First Electronic Digital Programmable Computer

    London, England
    Dec, 1943

    During World War II, the British at Bletchley Park achieved a number of successes at breaking encrypted German military communications. The German encryption machine, Enigma, was first attacked with the help of the electro-mechanical bombes which were often run by women. To crack the more sophisticated German Lorenz SZ 40/42 machine, used for high-level Army communications, Max Newman and his colleagues commissioned Flowers to build the Colossus. He spent eleven months from early February 1943 designing and building the first Colossus. After a functional test in December 1943, Colossus was shipped to Bletchley Park, where it was delivered on 18 January 1944. Colossus was the world's first electronic digital programmable computer.




  • Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Dec, 1943
    Rosa Parks

    Parks became active in the civil rights movement

    Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Dec, 1943

    In December 1943, Parks became active in the civil rights movement, joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP, and was elected secretary at a time when this was considered a woman's job. She later said, "I was the only woman there, and they needed a secretary, and I was too timid to say no." She continued as secretary until 1957.




  • Cairo, Egypt
    Saturday Dec 4, 1943
    Winston Churchill

    Second Cairo Conference

    Cairo, Egypt
    Saturday Dec 4, 1943

    Churchill and Roosevelt held a second Cairo conference with Turkish president Ismet Inönü, but were unable to gain any commitment from Turkey to join the Allies.




  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    Dec, 1943
    Dwight D. Eisenhower

    President Roosevelt decided that Eisenhower would be Supreme Allied Commander in Europe

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    Dec, 1943

    In December 1943, President Roosevelt decided that Eisenhower – not Marshall – would be Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. The following month, he resumed command of ETOUSA and the following month was officially designated as the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), serving in a dual role until the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945.




  • Tunis
    Friday Dec 10, 1943
    Winston Churchill

    Churchill went from Cairo to Tunis

    Tunis
    Friday Dec 10, 1943

    Churchill went from Cairo to Tunis, arriving on 10 December, initially as Eisenhower's guest (soon afterward, Eisenhower took over as Supreme Allied Commander of the new SHAEF just being created in London). While Churchill was in Tunis, he became seriously ill with atrial fibrillation and was forced to remain until after Christmas while a succession of specialists was drafted in to ensure his recovery. Clementine and Colville arrived to keep him company; Colville had just returned to Downing Street after more than two years in the RAF.




  • U.S.
    Saturday Dec 11, 1943
    Frank Sinatra

    Military Rejection

    U.S.
    Saturday Dec 11, 1943

    Sinatra did not serve in the military during World War II. On December 11, 1943, he was officially classified 4-F ("Registrant not acceptable for military service") by his draft board because of a perforated eardrum. However, U.S. Army files reported that Sinatra was "not acceptable material from a psychiatric viewpoint", but his emotional instability was hidden to avoid "undue unpleasantness for both the selectee and the induction service".




  • Borgo San Lorenzo, Tuscany, Italy
    Thursday Dec 30, 1943
    Fido (dog)

    Black Day

    Borgo San Lorenzo, Tuscany, Italy
    Thursday Dec 30, 1943

    This was during the Second World War, and on December 30, 1943, Borgo San Lorenzo was subjected to a violent allied bombardment: many factories were hit, and many workers, including Soriani, perished. That evening, Fido showed up as usual at the bus stop, but did not see his beloved master disembark.


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