1923 (THURSDAY)
GERMANY: Adolf Hitler, president of the far-right Nazi Party, launches the Beer Hall Putsch, his first attempt at seizing control of the German government. Hitler planned a coup against the state government of Bavaria, which he hopes will spread to the dissatisfied German army, which in turn would bring down the central democratic government in Berlin. This evening, Nazi forces under Hermann Göring surround the Munich beer hall where Bavarian government officials are meeting with local business leaders. A moment later, Hitler bursts in with a group of Nazi storm troopers, discharges his pistol into the air, and declares that "the national revolution has begun." Threatened at gunpoint, the Bavarian leaders reluctantly agree to support Hitler's new regime. In the early morning of 9 November, however, the Bavarian leaders repudiate their coerced support of Hitler and order a rapid suppression of the Nazis. At dawn, government troops surround the main Nazi force occupying the War Ministry building. A desperate Hitler responds by leading a march toward the center of Munich in a last-ditch effort to rally support. Near the War Ministry building, 3,000 Nazi marchers came face to face with 100 armed policemen. Shots are exchanged, and 16 Nazis and three policemen are killed. Hermann Göring is shot in the groin, and Hitler suffers a dislocated elbow but manages to escape. Three days later, Hitler and former General Erich Ludendorff, World War I Quartermaster General of the German Army, are arrested. Convicted of treason, he is given the minimum sentence of five years in prison. He is imprisoned in the Landsberg fortress and spends his time writing his autobiography, Mein Kampf, and working on his oratorical skills. Political pressure from the Nazis forced the Bavarian government to commute Hitler's sentence, and he is released after serving only nine months. Hitler himself soon rose (1925) to become the leader of the Nazi Party. (Tom Hickcox and Jack McKillop)
1932 (TUESDAY)
UNITED STATES: Presidential and Congressional elections are held today:
- In the Presidential race, the Democratic Party candidates, Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Gardner, defeat the Republican contenders, President Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis. Hoover carries six states; Roosevelt carries the other 42. Roosevelt wins 57.4 percent of the popular vote and 88.9 percent of the Electoral College vote (472 versus 59).
- In the Senate contests, the Republicans lose 12 seats to the Democrats and the Democrats gain control of the Senate with 59 of 96 seats.
- In the House of Representatives contests, the Democrats gain 97 seats, the Republicans lose 101 and the independents gain 4. The Democrats gain control of the House with 313 of 435 seats.
The Columbia Broadcasting System's experimental TV station W2XAB in New York City reports on the presidential election to an estimated 7500 sets, or 9000 sets according to CBS's estimate. The program consists of commentary, return charts and still cartoons of politicians. (Jack McKiticians. (Jack McKiticians.
1935 (FRIDAY)
UNITED STATES: The motion picture "Mutiny on the Bounty" premiers at the Capitol Theater in New York City. This adventure film directed by Frank Lloyd stars Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, Donald Crisp and Spring Byington. James Cagney, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Dick Haymes and David Niven appear as uncredited extras. During the filming, Gable objects to the "pigtail and velvet knee pants and shoes with silver buckles" while Laughton gets seasick. The film is nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture (it won), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gable, Laughton and Tone are nominated) and Best Director. The members of the American Film Institute have ranked this film No. 86 on the list of the 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time.
November 8th, 1939 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:Westminster: Winston Churchill, the first lord of the admiralty, stirred the House of Commons today with a rousing speech about the Royal Navy. He openly admitted that it had suffered greater loss of life than all the other forces, British and French, on land, sea and air. But "we are gaining a definite mastery over the U-boat attack ... and in the end we shall break their hearts," he said.
He poured ridicule on German claims to have sunk the aircraft carrier Ark Royal several times, and said: "We shall be quite content to engage the German navy, using only the vessels which at one time or another they declared they have destroyed."
HM Trawler Windermere commissioned.
NETHERLANDS:
Reports of German movements on the Dutch border cause the government to widen the
defensive flooding zone.
FRANCE: U.S. freighter SS Exeter is detained by French authorities.
GERMANY:
Munich: Hitler attends the annual meeting of party comrades on the anniversary of his 1923
putsch at the Burgerbraukeller in Munich. The whole speech was devoted to a bitter
diatribe against Britain:
What were the aims of Britain in the last war?
Britain said she was fighting for justice. Britain has been fighting for justice for 300 years. As a reward God gave her 40 million square kilometres of the world and 480 million people to dominate. That is how God rewards the people who fight for freedom; and, be it noted, those who fight for self-determination. For Britain fought this fight as well.
Britain has also been fighting for civilisation. Civilisation exists in Britain alone - in the British mining districts, in the distressed areas, in Whitechapel, and in the other sloughs of mass misery and destitution.
The denunciation of Britain went on for about half an hour and then ended abruptly, as though in mid-passage. Usually these annual speeches at the Burgerbraukeller were long and detailed, and afterward he would sit down with the party comrades and sip weak beer. This time he simply marched out of the room with Himmler and his bodyguard to catch the Berlin train. Twelve minutes later, a bomb hidden in a pillar behind the speakers platform exploded, killing seven persons and wounding 63. All the important party members had left the room, and the dead and wounded consisted only of the rank and file.
When Hitler is told of the bomb, he cries: "Providence intends me to reach my goal!" Extra.