June 26th has seen a lot of important historical events. It has also been the birthday for some very influential and inspirational people. In this blog entry, I will be discussing just two of these significant events.
1921 was the year that Violette Szabo (pictured above) was born. Szabo was an Allied secret agent in World War Two. Born in Paris, France, Szabo later moved to London. After getting married and having one child, things began to get hard for her. Her husband died in 1942 and it was after shortly after that Szabo joined the Special Operations Executive (or the SOE). The purpose of the SOE was to find people who could get behind enemy lines as a spy and find out crucial information for the Allied Forces. During her time in the SOE, she went by the code name of Louise. Later, she reorganized a French resistance group. She was captured in 1944 by the Germans during a mission. She was interrogated for four days in Limoges. After that, she was transferred to the headquarters of the Gestapo, where she was interrogated and tortured. Szabo was moved to the concentration camp of Ravensbruck in August 1944, where she suffered from the effects of malnutrition and hard labor. On February 5th, 1945, she was executed. Szabo was only 23 years old. Posthumously, she was awarded the Croix de Guerre, the George Cross, and Medaille de la Resistance.
In 1934, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (pictured above) signs the Federal Credit Union Act. This action is what established credit unions. These were created to help make credit more widely available and to help promote national thrift by the use of cooperative and nonprofit credit unions. Although there have been many revisions and amendments, this act is still in use today.
1921 was the year that Violette Szabo (pictured above) was born. Szabo was an Allied secret agent in World War Two. Born in Paris, France, Szabo later moved to London. After getting married and having one child, things began to get hard for her. Her husband died in 1942 and it was after shortly after that Szabo joined the Special Operations Executive (or the SOE). The purpose of the SOE was to find people who could get behind enemy lines as a spy and find out crucial information for the Allied Forces. During her time in the SOE, she went by the code name of Louise. Later, she reorganized a French resistance group. She was captured in 1944 by the Germans during a mission. She was interrogated for four days in Limoges. After that, she was transferred to the headquarters of the Gestapo, where she was interrogated and tortured. Szabo was moved to the concentration camp of Ravensbruck in August 1944, where she suffered from the effects of malnutrition and hard labor. On February 5th, 1945, she was executed. Szabo was only 23 years old. Posthumously, she was awarded the Croix de Guerre, the George Cross, and Medaille de la Resistance.
In 1934, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (pictured above) signs the Federal Credit Union Act. This action is what established credit unions. These were created to help make credit more widely available and to help promote national thrift by the use of cooperative and nonprofit credit unions. Although there have been many revisions and amendments, this act is still in use today.
June 17th was also the day the Kansas City Massacre occurred. In 1933, Vernon Miller (mugshot above) lead a gang to free federal prisoner Frank Nash. Nash was being transported to the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas (the same prison he escaped from three years earlier). The gang sprung into action as Nash was being put into a transport car. Although the massacre only lasted approximately thirty seconds, four law enforcement officers were killed, as well as gang member Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd. Because of this massacre, a year later the FBI gave agents the authorization to carry firearms and make arrests (which they could not previously do).
On the topic of historical birthdays, Jacques-Yves Cousteau (pictured above) was born on this date in 1910. Cousteau was a French inventor and explorer. He also did things in ecology, writing, photography, film, and research. He specialized in the subject of the ocean, studying the sea and its inhabitants. Cousteau was a co-developer of the aqua-lung, which was one of the first underwater breathing systems.
