Lex Anteinternet: Monday, February 9, 1942. The Normandie capsizes

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Monday, February 9, 1942. The Normandie capsizes

From our companion blog; Today In Wyoming's History: February 9: 1942 Daylight-saving "wartime" went into effect in the United States, with clocks turned one hour forward.

I hate Daylight Savings Time personally. I can see, on this article on Wartime Daylight Savings Time, I'm not the only one.

And a host of big events are listed on Sarah Sundin's blog:

February 9, 1942: French ocean liner Normandie, which had been seized by the US and converted to the troopship USS Lafayette, burns at pier in New York, capsizes next day.

She also mentions the US ordering the registration of enemy aliens on this day and the UK rationing soap.

The Normandie was undergoing conversion into a troop ship at the time. A fire broke out, and ultimately the ship capsized. At the time, sabotage was suspected, but an investigation concluded it was negligence. Some organized crime figures later claimed responsibility, but the ultimate cause remains a mystery, with negligence being the likely cause of the incident. The ship was nearly new, having been built in 1935, and was one of the greatest ocean liners ever built.

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Lex Anteinternet?

This blog has been around since 2009. In the very first post, we asked the question: "What the heck is this blog about?"

Our answer to the question was: "The intent of this blog is to try to explore and learn a few things about the practice of law prior to the current era. That is, prior to the internet, prior to easy roads, and the like. How did it work, how regional was it, how did lawyers perceive their roles, and how were they perceived?"

We also noted: "Part of the reason for this, quite frankly, has something to do with minor research for a very slow moving book."

All of this is still true, but the focus of the blog has changed somewhat. It now focuses on the era from 1890 to 1920 in general, rather than on the law and lawyers specifically, although that may be far from obvious. It's also become the location where we comment on anything we feel moved to comment on.

We hope you'll feel moved to comment as well. While we moderate every comment, so as to weed out Spam, we greatly appreciate the comments where they are offered, and hope to see more.

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