The US Austrian peace treaty came into effect, officially ending the state of war between the US and Austria. On the same day, Yugoslavian troops advanced into Albanian territory.
The Germans ordered the registration of all Jews in the Netherlands take place on this day in 1941.
In the United States, the Lend Lease Act passed Congress.
The bill was premised on the thesis that the United States had, or could build, war materials that it could then loan to the Allied powers. This was a big step towards war and that was appreciated at the time. Lending a person a gun in a fight is pretty close to being in the fight yourself. The act acknowledged that the Allies, and at that time particularly the British, were struggling to keep themselves supplied with weapons in their fight against the Germans and Italians, but of course the act would soon apply to the USSR as well.
Related to the problems of supply, the Royal Navy launched Operation Excess in the Mediterranean. The effort was a supply effort for forces on Malta and Greece. The Royal Navy encountered the Luftwaffe for the first time in the operation.
HMS Illustrious.
During the operation the HMS Illustrious was damaged by a Ju87, Stuka dive bomber, attack. We tend not to think of the Stuka engaging ships in World War Two, but this gives us an early instance of that occurring. The Illustrious was defended by Fairey Fulmars, a combination fighter and reconnaissance aircraft, which did engage the Stukas during their second run, but largely unsuccessfully.
Fulmars on the Illustrious.
The Fulmar itself was frankly not a great plane, but it reflected the state of Royal Navy aviation at the time. The Royal Navy had a lot of ships, with some of them being very modern, and some not, but their aviation was not as advanced either technologically or conceptually as the United States' or Japan's at the time.
In spite of the successful Luftwaffe attack the convoy run was successful and no British ships were lost. The Italians, however, lost the Vega, a torpedo ship, which was destroyed in a surface engagement. Of her 128 crewmembers, only 6 survived.
More on this can be read about here:
On the same day, Arsenic and Old Lace premiered on Broadway.
The German Army retreated from Verdun to the Aisne.
Rebel forces captured Durrës, capital of Albania.
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Giacomo della Chiesa became Pope Benedict XV, the 258th Pope.
Prince William of Albania left he country after a mere six months on the throne. He was a Prussian by birth and was really a remnant of an earlier era, a Lutheran monarch in the Balkans making no sense whatsoever. Having said that, he refused to throw Albania into the Great War as an Austro Hungarian vassal.
He returned to Germany and served in the German Army during World War One under a pseudonym, as his reign had not officially terminated. That termination came in 1925, but when Albania was reestablished as as monarch in 1928, the former Prime Minister becoming its Islamic King, he attempted to be declared the king, which had been his title inside of Albania.
He'd been a pre war Imperial German officer, so that made sense, but oddly he relocated after the Great War to Romania, where he died in 1945.
The Russians exploited Austro Hungarian gaps at the Battle of Rawa.
French composer Lucien Denis Gabriel Albéric Magnard died defending his property from the Germans. His actions made him a hero in France, but the actions truly would have made him a francs-tireurs.
Sioux County, North Dakota was established.
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The United Kingdom's offer to mediate the point of pride crisis between Austro Hungaria, Germany, Serbia and Russia was rejected by Germany and Russia.
Erskine Childers and Molly Childers landed over 1,000 firearm's into Ireland from Childer's yacht. The event resulted in gunfire and bayonet prods upon Irish Volunteers.
The rifles were obsolete G71s. Had they been deployed in combat, they would have been hopelessly obsolete.
The Albanian Assembly of Delvino was dissolved.
And so Europe hurtled towards war. Continental Europe over a point of pride and who Seriba should be aligned to. Great Britain on who Ulster should be loyal to.
The Catholic The Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville, Tennessee was opened to the public.
Philippe Thys won the 12th /Tour de France.
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Muhamed Mehmedbašić, whom is generally forgotten, was apprehended for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. He was one of the principal planner of the killing plot. A Muslim, he lived a complicated life supporting Serbian independence.
He escaped from prison two days later in circumstances that remain suspicious, remained involved, perhaps, in various movements, and was killed by the Ustaše in 1943, showing perhaps that he remained a significant figure in some ways.
Albanian rebels captured Berat.
Shots were fired at the homes of striking miners in Hartford, Arkansas, causing them to riot thereafter.
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Geologist George Malloch of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, stranded on Wrangel Island, died from nephritis after eating bad pemmican. Bjarne Mamen was stricken with the same disease and was too ill to bury him.
This would not be addressed for several days, as Cpt. Robert Bartlett had ordered the men to spread their camps out to increase their hunting odds while stranded.
Albania recognized tiny Northern Epirus as a self-governing region under the Principality of Albania.
Meanwhile, rebels surrounded Shijak, Albania.
The Canadian Northern Railway acquired the Canadian Northern Ontario Railway.
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