This day in history

Chancellor Adolf Hitler becomes sole leader of Germany upon the death of President Paul von Hindenburg. The German army swear allegiance to the Führer, who planned the rearmament of Germany and vast territorial expansion.

In little more than a decade, the Nazi Party had risen from a radical splinter group to Germany’s ruling party, allowing Hitler to seize powers previously divided among president, chancellor and the Reichstag. With Hindenburg’s death, the last remnants of Germany’s democratic government were dismantled, leaving Hitler in command of the nation.

The European Court of Human Rights rules against the British Government and in favour of a British businessman who had his phoned tapped whilst on trial for handling stolen goods. The Court ruled that this practise was illegal and a breach of the European convention. 

Right-wing terrorists explode a bomb at Bologna Railway Station in northern Italy which kills 85 people and injures another 100.

The end of the Potsdam Conference at which the Allied leaders decided on the post-war treatment of Germany and call for the unconditional surrender of Japan.

Scientist Albert Einstein, concerned that Germany is working on powerful uranium bombs, writes to U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, urging him to start research into building an atomic bomb.

In England, Tower Subway opens in London, the world’s first underground railway.

William II of England, son of William the Conqueror, is killed by an arrow while hunting in the New Forest, Hampshire. The King was supposedly mistaken for a deer.