“The Government of the United States of America acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China.” With this Second Joint Communiqué of the U.S. and China, issued on January 1, 1979, the Carter Administration no longer recognized Taiwan as a sovereign state, but rather preserved the “cultural,… Read More "The U.S. De-recognizes Taiwan in Favor of Communist China — January 1, 1979"
Castro’s Cuba – The Early Days
On January 1, 1959, after a sustained armed revolt led by Fidel Castro and others took control over most of the country, Fulgencio Batista fled Havana, marking the end of one era and the beginning of another. With the departure of the despised dictator, there was initially hope that life in Cuba would improve. William… Read More "Castro’s Cuba – The Early Days"
New Year’s Eve with the Roosevelts
For most of us, New Year’s Eve means watching the ball drop in Times Square on TV. For a lucky few, it may mean a fun party. For Abraham Sirkin, December 31st, 1941 was spent at the White House, ringing in the New Year with President and Mrs. Roosevelt. Invited to the White House by the… Read More "New Year’s Eve with the Roosevelts"
Ringing in Y2K — on Fiji
The Year 2000 Problem, more commonly referred to as Y2K, was a worldwide scare stemming from the belief that when clocks ticked over from 1999 to 2000, chaos would reign as computers and everything they controlled, including stop lights, electrical grids, and even nuclear missiles, would malfunction because the code, which was often written decades… Read More "Ringing in Y2K — on Fiji"
The Lockerbie Bombing and Its Aftermath
On December 21, 1988, Pan American flight 103 flying from London Heathrow to JFK Airport in New York exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing a total of 270, including 11 people on the ground. Following a three-year investigation, murder warrants were issued in November 1991 for two Libyans. Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi eventually handed them over for trial in 1999… Read More "The Lockerbie Bombing and Its Aftermath"
The Dramatic Hostage Crisis and Daring Rescue at the Japanese Embassy in Peru
It sounds like something out of a novel: a group of rebels, helped by an American, seize an embassy in a South American country and hold dozens of people hostage for more than four months. Indeed, the Japanese Embassy hostage crisis inspired the 2001 best-selling novel Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, winner of the PEN/Faulkner… Read More "The Dramatic Hostage Crisis and Daring Rescue at the Japanese Embassy in Peru"
John S. Service – The Man Who “Lost China,” Part II
John Service, the son of missionaries who grew up in China, was one of the Department’s “China hands,” an expert on the region who also served as a key member of the “Dixie Mission,” which met with Mao and other Communist Chinese in Yenan in 1944. He and a few others correctly predicted that Chiang Kai-Shek,… Read More "John S. Service – The Man Who “Lost China,” Part II"
The Failed Attempt to Avert War with Japan, 1941
The attack by the Imperial Japanese Army against the Naval Base at Pearl Harbor catapulted the United States into World War II. While many are familiar with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, less is known about the attempts by Japan and the U.S. to avert war. Tensions were running high between Japan and the United… Read More "The Failed Attempt to Avert War with Japan, 1941"
A Day That Will Live in Infamy
December 7, 1941 will forever be one of the most memorable dates in American history. The attack on Pearl Harbor, a preemptive assault to prevent the U.S Pacific Fleet from entering the War in the Pacific, began at exactly 7:48 a.m. Over 350 Japanese fighter planes destroyed 188 U.S aircraft, 4 naval battleships, and killed 2,402 Americans, as… Read More "A Day That Will Live in Infamy"
The Burning of the JFK Library in Cairo — Thanksgiving Day, 1964
On November 28, 1964 — Thanksgiving Day — several hundred students from the Congo and elsewhere set fire to the newly christened John F. Kennedy Library, completely burning it to the ground. The Congo had been in a state of chaos after being granted independence from Belgium in 1960. After the Soviets intervened on behalf… Read More "The Burning of the JFK Library in Cairo — Thanksgiving Day, 1964"