70 years ago today, the Soviet Union instituted the cruel ‘Berlin Blockade’ attempting to cut off all inroads to West Berlin, yet they refrained from stopping a massive humanitarian airlift led by American, British and French flyers. For nearly a year, more than a quarter million daily flights delivered thousands of tons of food and fuel to the otherwise strangled German city, which was surrounded by 1.5 million Soviet military troops. In all, 1,500 tons of food were required each day to sustain the two million people, with 3,400 tons of coal and fuel needed for power and heat. Despite the Germans having been the sworn enemy of the West just three years earlier, the merciful airlift gained popular support and was called “America’s greatest humanitarian mission”. (1948)
MORE Good News on this Day:
- Margaret Brent, a niece of Lord Baltimore, was ejected from the Maryland Assembly after demanding a place and vote in the legislative body (1647)
- Canadians heard the first performance of “O Canada”, the song that would become the national anthem of their country, at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français (1880)
- President Vladimir Putin arrived in London on the first state visit to Britain by a Russian leader since the 19th century (2003)
- “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest“, starring Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, premiered—and became the fastest film to…
