1944 History, Trivia and Fun Facts

• Politics: The Bretton Woods Agreement started the International Monetary Fund, now World Bank.
• Influential Songs include: Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ra and Would You Like To Swing On A Star by Bing Crosby. Also: The Trolley Song by Judy Garland
• The Big Movies included Meet Me in St. Louis, National Velvet and Going My Way
• Price of 11 oz package of Kellog's Corn Flakes in 1944: 8 cents
• The World Population was ~ 2,442,000,000
• US Life Expectancy: Males: 63.6 years, Females: 66.8 years
• The D-Day (June 6) Crossword Panic of 1944: In which, in the 35 days before the invasion, 5 obscure, top-secret code words appeared in the Daily Telegraph puzzle... the words Utah, Omaha, Overlord, Mulberry and Neptune triggered a MI5 investigation. It was an innocent coincidence.
• And... Mary Babnik Brown became the first woman to have her hair used in crosshairs for military aircraft bombsights. The hair had to fit strict criteria such as being blonde, over 22 inches long and never been treated with chemicals or hot irons.

Carrots do not actually help most people to see in the dark. This myth was propaganda used by the Royal Air Force to explain why their pilots had improved success during night air battles, but was actually used to disguise advances in radar technology.

Salvador Dali and Walt Disney collaborated on an animated short, Destino, in 1944. Only released in 2003, it is about a young woman and Janus, the God of Time trying to love each other.

Chemist Leandro Panizzon synthesized a new drug, Methylphenidate. His wife, nicknamed Rita, had low blood pressure and would take the drug as a stimulant before playing tennis, so he named it after her - "Ritalin".

The original Coppertone logo was the profile of an Indian chief, and the slogan was "Don't Be A Paleface".

Mount Vesuvius, the volcano responsible for the destruction of Pompeii, is still active and that 550,000 people live within the 'red-zone' today. It last erupted in 1944.

Smokey Bear was created in 1944 in response to the WWII Japanese submarine attacks on Santa Barbara, CA near Los Padres National Forest. This attack caused a growing fear of incendiary shells causing massive wildfires and disastrous loss of life.

Two enormous wooden ships, which once belonged to the Emperor Caligula, and had lain on the bottom of the Lake Nemi for over 1,900 years were salvaged. In 1944 retreating German Soldiers set fire to the two ships destroying them & perhaps the greatest archaeological wonders of all time.

Zip codes weren't used until 1963 but the idea was first introduced in 1944.

On June 26, 1944 the Dodgers, Giants, and Yankees played a "tri-cornered game," which consisted of all three teams competing against each other and rotating between fielding, batting, and resting. The game raised nearly $4.5 million in War Bonds as the Dodgers beat the Yankees and shutout the Giants in a 5-1-0 win over six frames.

The 2012 US Presidential Election was the first American presidential election since 1944 where neither major-party candidate was a veteran.

There was a British officer in WW2 named Mad Jack Churchill (September 16, 1906 - March 8, 1996) who fought with a Longbow & Sword. He was the only soldier known to have killed an enemy with a bow in the war. He was also known for charging into battle whilst playing the bagpipes.

The Bishop and Mayor of Zakynthos were ordered at gunpoint to list the names of all the island's Jews. They turned in a list with just their names on it, while the island's population hid the Jews. All 275 Jews survived the war.

The US sent professional baseball player (and spy), Moe Berg, to a Werner Heisenberg physics lecture with a gun & orders to shoot Heisenberg if he said anything indicating that Germany was close to building a nuclear bomb

Judy was a purebred English pointer who would often jump in to protect prisoners from beatings in a Japanese POW camp during WW2. A British Naval pilot bargained to have her officially considered a POW so the guards could not kill her.

Romania had the unusual distinction of being at war with both the Allied and Axis powers simultaneously in August-September of 1944.

The term Foo Fighter was used by Allied aircraft pilots in World War II to describe various UFO's or mysterious aerial phenomena seen in the skies over both the European and Pacific Theater of Operations.

Rationing laws prohibited the sale of freshly-baked bread because "the tastiness of just-baked bread is likely to encourage people to eat it immoderately". Bread had to be at least 24 hours old before it was sold.

American fighter pilot William Bruce "Bill" Overstreet Jr. (April 10, 1921 - December 29, 2013) shot down a German Messerschmitt Bf-109G after chasing it through the arches of the Eiffel Tower.

In World War II, British soldiers got a ration of three sheets of toilet paper a day. Americans got 22.

Franz Stigler - a German ace fighter pilot who risked his life to spare and then save the lives of 9 Americans by escorting their injured B-17 bomber out of Germany. The incident would later be called "the most incredible encounter between enemies in World War II."

During WWII 40% of Agricultural Production Came from Home Victory Gardens.

Audie Murphy was one of the most decorated United States Army combat soldiers of World War II. He received every American combat award for valor available at the time of his service, including the Medal of Honor at the age of 19. He also received recognitions from France and Belgium.

The USA feared an invasion of Hawaii by the Japanese during WWII printed so they printed "HAWAII" on the back of US paper money so it could be easily identified and rendered useless if seized by the enemy.

So many American Indians joined the military during WW2 that had all Americans joined at the same proportion, the draft would not have been necessary. The Blackfeet tribe mocked the idea of a draft: "Since when has it been necessary for Blackfeet to draw lots to fight?"

Other candy manufacturers donated their sugar rations to keep Life Savers in production so that the little candies could be shared with Armed Forces as a "tasty reminder of life at home".

On the verge of the Liberation of Paris, Hitler ordered it's governor to leave it a "pile of rubble," and destroy all religious and historical monuments. Dietrich von Choltitz, the governor refused, saving Paris.

June 6th was WW II's D-Day.

Billie Thomas who played Buckwheat in the 1930s Little Rascals, went on to the Army and was award the National Defense Service Medal and Good Conduct Medal. He never acted again.

WW II's Battle of the Bulge began on December 16th.

Rupert Trimmingham, a black US Army soldier serving in WWII wrote a letter to the Army magazine about having to eat behind a train depot restaurant while German POWs were served inside in 1944, sparking support from other soldiers and contributing to the integration of the army in 1948.