“Pages of History” are excerpted from the archives of news magazines, including the Wilmington Morning Post and the Evening Post. See the archives at delawareonline.com.
December 8, 1941, Wilmington Morning News
U.S.-Japan Pacific War; White House says Army and Navy suffered heavy losses
This archival story uses language common at the time.
Japan has attacked all major American and British possessions in the Central and Western Pacific, and today invaded Thailand, a hasty but apparently well-planned war against her that began yesterday without any warning. continue.
Japanese planes caused casualties and destruction at Honolulu and Pearl Harbor at 7:35 a.m. Sunday Hawaii time, and two hours and 55 minutes later Tokyo officially declared war on the United States and Britain. …
An NBC broadcast said Japanese planes (estimated as many as 150 in the initial attack) attacked Ford Island at Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy’s powerful bastion in the Pacific, and dropped bombs on Honolulu. …
People near Pearl Harbor reported that one ship had rolled over and four other ships were on fire. According to United Press, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor also caused serious damage to 300 U.S. aircraft. …
The first official U.S. casualty report listed 104 dead and more than 300 injured at Hickam Airport near Honolulu alone. …
Residential areas in Honolulu were severely damaged, and the number of civilian deaths was numerous but uncountable. …
President Franklin Roosevelt will address a joint session of Congress today at 12:30 p.m.
December 9, 1980, “Morning News”
Former Beatle Lennon shot dead
John Lennon, the former Beatle who rose to stardom with the long-haired British rock band in the 1960s, was shot dead late last night outside a luxury apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Lennon, 40, was taken by police car to Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Doctors said he suffered seven serious wounds to his chest, back and left arm, but they did not know how many bullets struck him. …
Police said they had detained a suspect, whom they described as a “local weirdo” with no apparent motive. …
After news of the shooting spread, hundreds of people gathered outside the entrance to Lennon’s apartment building, many of them crying.
Historical Holiday Tours: These Delaware museums are decorated for Christmas
December 12, 1936, Wilmington Morning News
Edward bids farewell to the kingdom and goes into exile; George VI begins his reign
Britain’s Edward David Windsor today said a dramatic farewell to the empire he gave up for “the woman I love” and went into exile.
Twelve hours after becoming a private citizen, the former monarch rushed from Belvedere to Portsmouth, where he had completed a radio farewell ceremony.
Accompanied by Queen Mary and the new king, Edward broadcast his address to the half-billion people of the kingdom he once ruled (now in the hands of his brother, King George VI).
Edward told the world that he was laying down his ancestral scepter simply because he could not go on living without “the woman I loved,” the American-born, twice-divorced Wallis Warfield Simpson.
December 12, 1978, Evening News
$5 million robbery ‘went like clockwork’
NEW YORK — Armed bandits who stole as much as $5 million in cash from Kennedy Airport in what may be the largest currency theft in U.S. history should have had no trouble spending the money, much of it unmarked, authorities said old banknotes.
“Things went like clockwork,” one official said. “It was well planned, well organized and well executed.”
The gangsters – named number five by police but number seven by some witnesses – breached the security of a Lufthansa cargo hold early yesterday and escaped in a black van carrying passengers from Frankfurt Jewelry flown in and bags of foreign currency and dollars. …
Lufthansa spokesman Karl Koepcke estimated the value of the jewelry at $300,000.
If the $5 million figure is confirmed, it would be the largest cash theft in U.S. history, surpassing the $4.3 million loss at Purolator Security in Chicago in October 1974. …
The thieves subdued and handcuffed 10 employees and entered the German airline’s vault without triggering an alarm. …
A Chase Manhattan official said the theft appeared to be an “insider effort.”
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December 14, 2000, News Magazine
Final winner; Gower concedes to Bush
After 36 days of waiting, George W. Bush was finally sworn in as president last night, pledging to “seize this moment” to bring reconciliation and unity to a divided country. …
Al Gore has withdrawn from a tortuous and close race and urged the nation to put aside partisan rancor and support the new chief executive. …
In a televised speech that lasted less than 10 minutes, Gore mixed words of unity with an unmistakable message about his support for the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling that blocked Florida’s recount and prompted him to make concessions. Feeling wronged.
“While I strongly disagree with the court’s ruling, I accept it,” he said. …
Gower led his Republican rival by more than 300,000 votes out of 103 million cast nationwide. But the 25 electoral votes Florida will vote on December 18 and counted on January 6 will give Bush the total 271 electoral votes he needs to win the presidency. Thus ended an election for the history books, the closest in 124 years.
Contact reporter Ben Mace at rrace@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared in the Delaware News Journal: News Journal Archives Dec. 8-14: Pearl Harbor Attack, John Lennon Killed
