Jennifer's 20th Century History Blog September 2003 Archive

On September 29, 1941, the massacre at Babi Yar began. The Nazis herded Jews from Kiev to a nearby ravine called Babi Yar, shot them, and buried them in ... Read More

Try your hand at my new 5-question quiz about 20th century history.

During Roald Amundsen's exploration for a Northwest Passage, he and his crew of six spent two winters (1903-04 and 1904-05) at a harbor they named Gjoahavn (now Gjoa Haven). ... Read More

In 1966, Mao Zedong, ruler of Communist China, began using his Red Guards to purge society of capitalism. The purge, which lasted until Zedong's death in 1976, was called ... Read More

Dutch-born Hebertus Bikker was a Nazi Waffen SS guard at Camp Ommen from November 1944 to April 1945. Camp Ommen was a penal camp in the Netherlands that held ... Read More

Three days after Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died, local townspeople burned down his house. Now, Cambodia's Ministry of Tourism is considering rebuilding Pol Pot's house and adding a ... Read More

Since Mother Teresa was born in Skopje, Albania (as Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu), Albania has decided to name 2004 as "Mother Teresa Year" in honor of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize ... Read More

Josef Stalin's oldest son, Yakov Dzhugashvili (Stalin's original last name was Dzhugashvili), was captured by the Nazis in 1941. The Nazis offered Stalin a trade: the release of a ... Read More

U.S. scientist Edward Teller died last Tuesday (September 10) at age 95. In the 1940s, Teller siezed on Enrico Fermi's idea that nuclear fusion could create a much larger ... Read More

On September 12, 1992, Dr. Mae Carol Jemison launched into space as a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Endeavor, becoming the first African-American female astronaut in space.

Controversial filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl died in her home late Monday, September 8. Riefenstahl is best remembered for making "Triumph of the Will," a propaganda film for Adolf Hitler. ... Read More

Two hundred Israeli soldiers took part in a memorial at Auschwitz which involved a fly-over by three Israeli F-15, piloted by descendants of Holocaust survivors. The Auschwitz museum deplored ... Read More

John Hinckley will have a hearing in November to determine whether he should be allowed to leave a psychiatric hospital for unsupervised visits.

On last week's 40th anniversary Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell stated that the dream "is not yet fulfilled."

John Hinckley, who shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981 is expected to argue today that he should be released from St. Elizabeth's Hospital as he no longer poses a threat ... Read More