Volume 12 , Issue 48

This Day In History - November 29

It was on this day in 1942, WWII, that coffee rationing began. Coffee joined the list of items rationed in the USA, despite record coffee production in Latin-American countries. Scarcity or shortages were rarely the reason for rationing during the war.

Rationing was generally employed for two reasons: (1) to guarantee a fair distribution of resources and foodstuffs to all citizens; and (2) to give priority to military use for certain raw materials, given the present emergency.

On this day in history, 1864, during the Civil War, the "Sand Creek Massacre" took place at Sand Creek, Colorado, when peaceful Southern Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians were massacred by a band of Colonel John Chivington's Colorado volunteers.

On this day in 1929, Byrd flies over the South Pole -- Richard Byrd, American explorer, and three companions made the first flight over the South Pole, flying from their base on the Ross Ice Shelf to the pole and back in 18 hours and 41 minutes.

Richard Evelyn Byrd learned how to fly in the US Navy and served as a pilot in WWI. An excellent navigator, he was deployed by the navy to Greenland in 1924 to help explore the Arctic region by air. Enamored with the experience of flying over glaciers and sea ice, he decided to attempt the first flight over the North Pole.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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