10 th June

1922 Judy Garland was born.

1940 Italy attacked France.

1942 Lidice, Czechoslovakia was wiped out.

1946 Mussolini was overthrown, and Italy became a republic.

Today marks the anniversary of both a low and high point in Italian history. In 1940, Italy joined forces with Nazi Germany in attacking France. Under Mussolini’s dictatorship, Italy’s action was described by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as, “. . . the hand that held the dagger has stuck it into the back of its neighbor.” But in 1946, the same country overthrew its dictator, and formally became a republic.

Do you recognize the name Lidice? Do you have to stop and think about it? Don’t be disturbed if that is the case, because Lidice is not a happy memory. On this day, in 1942, after Gestapo leader Reinhard Heydrich was killed, Nazi forces wiped out the entire town of Lidice, Czechoslovakia. Even in the midst of the Second World War, this was a shocking event.

Loved by one and all for her singing and acting, Frances Ethel Gumm was born on this date in 1922. Perhaps you know her by another name. This young girl from Grand Rapids, Minnesota, changed her name to Judy Garland and became a star before she even entered high school.