8.TT.1.2

The 1940's was a very interesting decade, filled with hardships, life-changing inventions, andlife-changing events. The events that took place in this marvelous decade have changed theentire world forever, some for better, and some for worse. In the 40's era, many questions were asked, and many questions were answered. Everyone will remember the 1940's forever! Operation Weserubung, also called the invasion of Norway, began at 11:00pm on April 8th,1940 when the Norwegian security vessel “Pol III” was on a patrol in the Oslo Fjord.During Pol III's patrol, the men on board the security vessel discovered unidentified ships onthe horizon. A peaceful night on patrol quickly turned into a battle when Pol III was rammedinto and shot at by a German torpedo boat. The Norwegian defenders were extremelyconfused by this random attack. Why were the Germans attacking their society? They haddone nothing wrong. They were correct, they had done nothing wrong, but Adolf Hitler, themain coordinator for Operation Weserubung thought differently. Hitler thought that the Aryanrace was the “master race”, and he intended to kill every other race until the Aryan race wasthe only race of people left. Hitler firmly believed in this plot, and he was very confidentthat it would work. Operation Weserubung was the first major combined operation where thearmy, navy, and air force all worked together. Many people died in the horrible, tragicinvasion of Norway. The invasion did not end until 1945. On a better note, the movie “Dumbo” was released to theaters on October 23rd, 1941. Themovie “Dumbo” was the fourth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and was anAmerican animated film. The main character of the movie is Jumbo Jr., who was nicknamedDumbo in the movie because of his massive ears. “Dumbo” was based on a very popularchildrens story by Helen Aberson. Although “Dumbo”, was a very nice, emotion-filled story,the movie lacked much detail. This movie lacked the nice detail because supervising director,Ben Sharpsteen, was given orders to keep the film simple and inexpensive, and it was justthat. Surprisingly, “Dumbo” the movie only cost $950,000 to produce and make, and broughtin a whopping $1.6 million during its original release in theaters. “Dumbo” the movie was popular for both adults and children, and it still is! The Declaration of the United Nations was signed by 26 allied nations on January 1st, 1942.These allied nations were as follows: United States, the United Kingdom, the Union of SovietSocialist Republics, China, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia,Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Luxembourg,Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Poland, South Africa, and Yugoslavia.The Declaration of the United Nations consisted of 30 articles. Each article said somethingabout human rights and how all humans, no matter their skin color, or religion, should betreated equally. The White Rose was an intellectual resistance group located in Nazi, Germany. The resistancegroup began in June of 1942 and lasted until February of 1943, when all of the groupmembers were arrested and later beheaded. The White Rose resisted the Nazi's authority andbelieved that they should not be doing these bad things for absolutely no reason. The WhiteRose group was known for an anonymous leaflet and graffiti campaign. The White Rosegroup members were all students from the University of Munich. Today, all eighteenmembers of the group are honored in Germany, where the Nazi's once ruled, amongst it's greatest heroes. Smokey the Bear was created in 1944 to educate the public about the dangers of forest fires,and is the official mascot of the United States Forest Service. When Smokey the Bear wasfirst created, his name was just “Smokey Bear”. The “the” in “Smokey the Bear was addedyears later to give the name more rhythm. Ever since Smokey the Bear's big premiere in1944, wildfire percentages have gone down 25%! That is quite a lot when your talking aboutthe precious forests and animals in our world. Smokey Bear's most popular message, “Onlyyou can prevent wildfires”, is very well recognized by 95% of adults and 77% of children.Wildfire percentages continue to drop today because of Ol' Smokey Bear!

In 1945, the first “Slinky” toy was invented. The first slinky was invented by Richard James,like many inventions, on accident, when trying to develop a meter designed to monitorhorsepower on naval battleships. A spring from the horsepower monitor dropped to the floorand kept bouncing and bouncing. Richard James then spent two long years trying to decidewhich kind of spring to use for the toy. After building a couple hundred prototypes all byhimself, Richard James decided to sell them. The Slinky first debuted at Gimbel's Departmentstore in Philadelphia, and during the demonstration presentation alone, 400 prototyped Slinkieswere sold. “What walks down stairs, alone of in pairs, and makes a slinkity sound? A spring,a spring, a marvelous thing. Everyone knows its a Slinky. It's Slinky, it's Slinky, for fun it's awonderful toy. It's Slinky, it's Slinky, it's fun for a girl and a boy!” Today, all Slinkys are made in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. The first microwave oven was invented in 1946 by Dr. Percy Spencer. The microwave oven was invented, like many other inventions, on accident, during a radar-research project. Dr. Percy Spencer was a self-taught, very smart engineer. Dr. Percy Spencer was amazed when the objects that were inside the microwave started to melt, and change in shape. When food was placed inside the box and microwave energy fled in, the temperature of the food rose very rapidly. The first few microwave ovens were gigantic and VERY expensive. The first microwave's were nearly six feet tall and weighed over 750 pounds! That's six times the height and more than 30 times the weight of microwave's now. The first microwave ovens cost $5000 each! That's crazy! Also, plumbing installation was required inside for a microwave. That sounds extremely complicated. Now, all you have to do is go to the store, pick up a measly five pound microwave oven, pay only around $20 for it, and take it home, then plug it into the wall! The Roswell crash was a very interesting event that happened in 1947. The Roswell crash was when an “alien spaceship” crashed into Roswell, New Mexico. The Roswell crash was also known as the “alien fender bender”. Though no humans were hurt in the crash, the four “alien” creatures that were inside the ship when it crashed suffered from broken limbs and one died from head trauma immediately. The three surviving extraterrestrial creatures were taken to a top secret base to be studied.

The board game Scrabble was invented by Alfred Butts, and was first marketed in 1948. The original Scrabble board game was made entirely out of wood and was called “Criss Cross Words”. Alfred Butts only made Criss Cross Words board games for his close friends and family. Mr. and Mrs. James Brunot, close friends of Alfred Butts, had the first idea to market the game, and it's been very much uphill ever since. Today, Scrabble is one of the leading board games in America. Also, Scrabble is the second best-selling board game in all of U.S history, closely behind Monopoly. The first Emmy awards were given out on the very special night of January 25th, 1949. The ceremony was held at the Hollywood Athletic club. The Emmy award looks like a winged woman. The first Emmy award was designed and made by Louis McManus, who used his wife as a model for the statue. An Emmy award is made out of a high-grade pewter and electroplated in copper, nickel, then silver. Finally, it is electroplated in beautiful 18-karat gold. Every Emmy award weighs 4-3/4 lbs and is sixteen inches tall. The original name for the award was Immy, a nickname for an orthicon tube, part of an early type of camera, but the Academy began referring to it as an Emmy, because it was a more feminine name. Overall, the 1940's era played a very important role in history then, and life now. Almost everyone in the entire world has probably used, or seen, something that was invented in the 40's. Everyone will remember the 40's forever!

Nelson, Pamela. "How the Emmy Awards Work." //HowStuffWorks//. Web. 08 Mar. 2012. .  "Operation Weserubung." //Www.nuav.net//. Web. 08 Mar. 2012. <[]>. Gallawa, J. Carlton. "The History of the Microwave Oven." //Welcome to the Gallawa Family Web Site//. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. .  Bellis, Mary. "History of the SlinkyÂ Toy." //About.com Inventors//. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. .  "White Rose." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 July 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. .  Chew, John. "History of SCRABBLE." //NSA Home Page//. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. .  "CloseSmokey Bear Mobile Club." //SmokeyBear.com//. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. .  Allison Boswell  3/6/12  Reid  SS 3