1931 (MONDAY)
UNITED STATES: Two US Marine Corps aviation units, Scouting Squadron Fifteen (VS-15M) and VS-14M, embark in USS Lexington (CV-2) and Saratoga (CV-3) respectively, the first time Marine Corps squadrons are assigned to aircraft carriers. The squadrons are equipped with Vought SU-1 and SU-2 Corsairs.
1936 (MONDAY)
CANADA: The new Canadian Broadcasting Act comes into effect, creating the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to replace the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, with broadly the same powers as the British Broadcasting Company (BBC). Although intended to provide full national coverage, a survey discovers that only 49 per cent of the Canadian population can hear CBC broadcasts.
UNITED KINGDOM: The official opening of the first regular high-definition television service from the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) studios at Alexandra Palace, London occurs today. The service alternates on a weekly basis between the Baird Company's 240-line intermediate film system and Marconi-EMI's 405-line system all-electronic system. The 220 foot (67 meter) high mast in top of an 80-foot (24 meter) high east tower of the building, is over 600 feet (183 meters) above sea level to maximize radiation. Two blocks of programmes are broadcast daily, Monday to Saturday, at 1500-1600 hours and 2100-2200 hours.
1938 (WEDNESDAY)
SLOVAKIA: As a result of the failure of the Hungarian and Czecho-Slovak governments to reach an agreement on the future of Slovakia, the German and Italian governments intervene and issue a joint decision. Hungary receives a broad strip of Czecho-Slovak territory from southern Slovakia and Ruthenia, which included one million people and 5,000 square miles (12 950 square kilometers) of land. The Germans and Italians reject a Hungarian demand for a common frontier with Poland, a claim supported by the Polish government. As a result of dismemberment, Czecho-Slovakia lost a total of five million inhabitants and 16,000 square miles (41 430 square kilometers) of territory to Germany, Poland, and Hungary.
SPAIN: Although fighting continued in the Spanish Civil War, the British and Italian governments agreed to put the April 1938 treaty into effect. This treaty states that the British government recognizes Italian sovereignty over Ethiopia and agrees to use its influence to convince other countries to do the same. In return, the Italians promise to withdraw their troops from Spain at the end of the civil war and to respect Spanish territory. The Italian government also promises to desist from promoting propaganda in the Middle East. Both countries agree to recognize the status quo in the Red Sea region.
November 2nd, 1939 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
King George decorates 5 RAF">RAF pilots, leaders of a raid on the Kiel
Canal.
NORTHERN IRELAND: No. 200 Territorial Army
Reserve National Defence Company is redesignated as
the 6th (Home Defence) Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles.
London: Fresh
news of Nazi Brutality at the Dachau concentration camp, set up near Munich in
1933, has reached the British public. A Jewish refugee from Vienna told readers
of the Daily Telegraph today how he was arrested without reason last year.
Crammed into a
small railway compartment for 14 hours, the transportees
were forced to look upwards at the electric light for the whole journey; those
who complained were shot or stabbed to death by the guards. Three were executed
immediately upon arrival at the camp. The refugee writes: "I was one of
18,000 prisoners. We slept 200 in a hut built to accommodate, perhaps, 50.
There was a single washbasin for every two huts." He tells how inmates who
had not been able to reach the basin had buckets of ice-cold water thrown over
them at 4.30am. Prisoners were made to stand in the square of the camp for up
to 10 hours in all weather, including sleet and snow.
Frequent
executions were part of the brutal regime. Thus the Nazis hope to keep "undesirables"
like Jews, homosexuals, communists, religious fundamentalists and Gypsy's under
control. Camps operate at Ravensbruck, Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald. The signs are that the system
is being extended into occupied Poland.
Submarine HMS
UTMOST laid down.
GERMANY:
Berlin: Hitler recalls his ambassadors from
Moscow and Rome for consultation.
POLAND:
Western
White Russia is incorporated into Byelorussia.
COMMONWEALTH
OF THE PHILIPPINES:
Quezon calls publicly for
the US to negotiate “neutralization treaties” for the Philippines. (Marc Small)
U.S.A.: New York: North Beach Airport is renamed New York Municipal Airport – LaGuardia Field. (Matt Clark)