Today in History

History & Celebrations Today – October 23

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Celebrations Today – October 23

Holidays and observances

Celebrations Today – USA: October 23

National Boston Cream Pie Day
National Mole Day
National TV Talk Show Host Day  (Johnny Carson’s birthday)
Swallows Depart from San Juan Capistrano Day
iPod Day
National Canning Day
National iPod Day
National Slap Your Irritating Co-Worker Day
National TV Talk Show Host Day

Today in US History: October 23

The Lend-Lease Act

“And so our country is going to be what our people have proclaimed it must be-the arsenal of democracy.”President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Speech on Lend-Lease Act, March 15, 1941


Lend-Lease to Britain. English Girls, Members of the Auxiliary Territorial Service, Move Armfuls of American Rifles Just Arrived from the United States under Lend-Lease,
[between 1940 and 1946].
America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, ca. 1935-1945

The Senate passed a $5.98 billion supplemental Lend-Lease Bill on October 23, 1941, bringing the United States one step closer to direct involvement in World War II. The Lend-Lease Act, approved by Congress in March 1941, had given President Roosevelt virtually unlimited authority to direct material aid such as ammunition, tanks, airplanes, trucks, and food to the war effort in Europe without violating the nation’s official position of neutrality. The supplemental bill brought the amount of available aid to nearly $13 billion. This aid was intended to assist in the defense of nations whose security was deemed vital to the security of the United States. President Roosevelt, who favored U.S. intervention in WWII, advocated creating the program as a way to provide indirect support for the Allies without engaging the U.S. in a war for which there was not yet overwhelming public support.

The United States formally entered the war itself in December 1941, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.


President Roosevelt Signing the Declaration of War against Japan,
December 1941.
By Popular Demand: Portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies, 1789-Present

Initially created to help Great Britain, within months, the Lend-Lease program was expanded to include China and the Soviet Union. By the end of the war, the United States had extended over $49 billion in Lend-Lease aid to nearly forty nations.


Lend-Lease to Britain. A Shipment of 155 mm. Howitzers Just Arrived from the United States under Lend-Lease is Prepared for Service at an Ordnance Depot in England,
[between 1940 and 1946].
America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, ca. 1935-1945


Cincinnati, Ohio. Preparing Canned Pork (Russian: “svinaia tushonka”) for Lend-Lease Shipment to the USSR at the Kroger Grocery and Baking Company…,
Howard R. Hollem, photographer,
June 1943.
America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, ca. 1935-1945


Baby Betty Rothwell Loves her Orange Juice. She was Very Thin and Ailing until Lend-Lease Concentrated Orange Juice Arrived in England…,
April 1943.
America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, ca. 1935-1945

For more information about lend-lease and the United States during World War II:

Today in History – October 23-External Links

Today’s Weather in History
Today in Earthquake History
This Day in Naval History
Today’s Document from the National Archives
Today’s Events, Births & Deaths –Wikipedia
Today in History by AP
On this Day -1950 to 2005 – Today’s Story–BBC
On This Day: The New York Times
This Day in History –History.com
Today in Canadian History – Canada Channel
History of Britain that took place On This Day
Russia in History –Russiapedia

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