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1933   (FRIDAY)

 ROMANIA: Ion Duca, leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister of Romania since November 1933, is assassinated by three members of the Iron Guard, a fascist organization led by Corneliu Codreanu. The new government, under George Tartarescu, proclaims martial law and arrests the leadership of the Iron Guard.

1934   (SATURDAY) 

JAPAN: The Government formally renounces their participation in the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930. The 1922 treaty established the maximum tonnage of capital ships that could be built by the five signatories, the British Empire, France, Italy, Japan and the U.S. The 1930 treaty aimed to regulate submarine warfare and limited military shipbuilding. The Japanese will no longer have to limit their fleet to the ratios prescribed by these agreements and can begin a massive arms building program.

December 29th, 1939 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: Daylight anti-shipping sweep over the North Sea. 77 Sqn. Two aircraft. 102 Sqn. Two aircraft. No enemy shipping sighted.

The Air Ministry issues a design requirement for a light bomber with a range of 1,500 miles while carrying a bomb load of 1,000 pounds. This requirement will give rise to the de-Havilland Mosquito.

GERMANY: German Police issue a warrant for the arrest of the tycoon Fritz Thyssen, who once funded but now opposes the Nazis. He is believed to be in Portugal.

TURKEY: The estimated death toll, from the recent earthquake, rises to 25,000 as earth tremors continue. 

EGYPT: U.S. steamship SS President Adams is detained at Port Said by British authorities. The cargo suspected of being contraband is discharged at Alexandria.

CANADA: Submarine HMS Narwhal departed Halifax as escort for Convoy HX-14.

U.S.A.: Brigadier General George V Strong, Chief of War Plans, reports to Chief of Staff that Army members on the Joint Army-Navy Board wished to withdraw all defense forces from the Asiatic periphery. (Marc Small)

The prototype Consolidated (Model 32) XB-24 (USAAC serial number 39-680) makes its maiden flight of 17-minutes at Lindbergh Field, San Diego, California. A total of 18,313 of these aircraft are built by Consolidated, Douglas, Ford and North American during the war, 18,037 B-24s (including USN PB4Ys) and 282 C-87 transports (including USN RYs). (Ron Babuka)

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