Never Forget: December 7
Never Forget: December 7
The Maundy Morning Newsletter - This Week in History December 5 - 11.
Thanks for your continued support of Okay History. Happy Monday!
December 7 is a date in infamy in the United States. It’s mostly known for the attack on Pearl Harbor, which I mention below, but we also declared war on the Austria-Hungary Empire back in 1917.
In April 1917, the U.S. declared war on Germany, which was beginning its annoying practice of being the heels during world wars. President Woodrow Wilson was able to snag that declaration from Congress easily because Germany was sinking American ships and invading Belgium (we love their waffles), and the existence of the Zimmerman Telegraph. What is the Zimmerman Telegraph?
Our British friends intercepted and decoded a secret diplomatic communication between Germany and Mexico. German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmerman publicly confirmed the document’s authenticity, stating that should the United States enter World War I, Mexico would ally with Germany. In return, Mexico would get all the states back that the U.S. took from them when President Polk decided he wanted some TexMex. This brings me to three points:
First. How hilarious is it when a guy was like, “Yep, we wrote that. So what?” In today’s age, we deny everything.
Second. Why exactly would Mexico want Texas? Look at where I ranked it.
Third. I love Mexican food. That alone would motivate me to align with Mexico. So I get it.
The Declaration of War on December 2, 1917, was simple. Austria- Hungary was an ally of Germany, so they received their special declaration after Wilson suggested patience when the German declaration was decided. I’m not sure why the wait was necessary, but we did. In the end, Austria and Hungary are two different nations, and neither qualified for the 2022 World Cup.
Okay, let's highlight what else happened this week. Here's what I got:
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The surprise military strike resulted from a decades-long buildup of tension between the two countries. The U.S. would go on to repeat as World War Champions.
Apollo 17 blasted off on December 7, 1972. The final moon mission broke several lunar landing mission records. I’ll ask Anonymous, but I’m pretty sure lunar and moon mean the same thing.
President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev signed the INF treaty on December 8, 1987. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) eliminated about 3,000 missiles by 1991. President Trump withdrew the U.S. in August 2019. Either way, we have a ton of bombs.
Don’t forget to email me at chris@okayhistory.com with your guess of the winning state in our rankings. You will not win if you texted me, came to my house, told me, or whatever.
Just email me. You’ll get a prize befitting what random state rankings would offer. The deadline is this Friday, December 9, at 7:00 a.m. EST. Good luck!
See you on Friday, and have a great week!
Okay,
Chris
Also this week in Okay History:
December 10, 1987: Illustrious Older Brother graduated from U.S. Army Basic Combat Training at Fort Sill, OK, while your faithful correspondent and the rest of the family were visiting in a marathon car drive from OH to OK. This is no information available on whether the similarities in those states abbreviations had any negative impact on the trip, since there were enough gas stations that sold pretzels and Diet Coke to make up for the lack of handhelp GPS Systems. Older Brother continued in Army training at the PERSHING Missile Crewmember Course, where he first encountered GPS equipment that was the size of a pickup truck bed.