#ThrowbackThursday – 15 August
It’s 15 August, and that means it’s time for another edition of Throwback Thursday! Today, we’re taking a look back at three prominent events that went down on this day in history:
1936 – Mein Küss
“I simply embraced him because he appeared so friendly and gracious. I don’t know why I did it. Certainly, I hadn’t planned such a thing. It’s just that I’m a woman of impulses, I guess.”
These are the words of Carla de Vries, an American woman who managed to plant a kiss on Adolf Hitler during the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany!
On 15 August, De Vries and her husband attended the Olympic Games; Hitler, the chancellor of Germany, was also in attendance. During the 1 500 metres freestyle swimming event, De Vries saw Hitler in his spectator box and, being “a woman of impulses”, decided to approach him and take a picture of him.
Despite the attempts of Hitler’s bodyguards to keep the determined 40-year-old American woman away, De Vries’ persistence won as she managed to break through and come face-to-face with the chancellor. That’s when the infamous kiss occurred.
“It happened when I went down to take Hitler’s picture with my small movie camera,” she explained in an interview later in her life. “He was leaning forward, smiling, and he seemed so friendly that I just stepped up and asked for his autograph, which he wrote on my swimming ticket.
“He kept on smiling and so I kissed him. People sitting near his box began to cheer and applaud so loudly that I ran back to my husband and told him we had better leave.”
A photograph from that day indeed shows Hitler and other spectators laughing and looking cheerful as De Vries greeted him in the manner that she did. However, behind the scenes, the chancellor was far from pleased: he apparently took out his irritation on his bodyguards, some of whom were demoted or dismissed from their posts.
Considering the loathsome actions of Hitler in the coming years, it can be said that his bodyguards – as well as De Vries – were fortunate enough to escape any harsher repercussions for that seemingly innocent encounter.
1939 – Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Today marks the 85th anniversary of the premiere of the much beloved musical film, “The Wizard of Oz”!
Based on L. Frank Baum’s novel of the same name – and dedicated to “those of you who have been faithful to it in return … and to the young in heart”, per the opening title card – the plot is as follows: a young girl named Dorothy (played by Judy Garland) and her dog, Toto, are swept away from her dull home in Kansas to the magical, colourful land of Oz.
In order to return home, Dorothy needs to find the legendary Wizard of Oz and get his help. On her way, she befriends the brainless Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), the heart-seeking Tin Man (Jack Haley) and the cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), who are also in need of the Wizard’s help. However, the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) is hot on their trail, for Dorothy holds in her possession a magical pair of ruby slippers.
After undergoing countless rewrites, a gruelling filming and make-up schedule, and arduous production work to bring the Technicolour sequences to life (the first Hollywood film to do so), “The Wizard of Oz” made its premiere at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on 15 August 1939.
Per this 1939 review from The Hollywood Reporter: “The production is remarkable in every department. Its cast is superb, its music delightfully tuneful, its settings as remarkably effective as they are unusual. Costuming, special effects and photography add embellishing touches which further clinch the picture’s claims to highly significant achievement.”
Considered one of the best films in history, “The Wizard of Oz” was nominated for five Academy Awards: it won Best Original Song for “Over the Rainbow” and Best Original Score. It further won – and continues to win – the hearts of millions of people around the world, thus cementing itself as a timeless classic.
2015 – Time Out for North Korea
For 105 years, North Korea had shared the same time zone as South Korea and Japan, that being GMT+9. That all changed on 15 August 2015, when the East Asian country officially set its clocks back by 30 minutes.
On 7 August 2015, national news agency KCNA reported that North Korea would transition to a new time zone called “Pyongyang Time” (GMT+8.5). This time zone was previously used when North Korea and South Korea were united before the country was colonised by Japan in 1910.
To commemorate 70 years of independence from the “evil Japanese imperialists”, KCNA announced that the adjustment to Pyongyang Time would take effect on 15 August 2015.
The change in time zones would undoubtedly have been an inconvenience, particularly given the limited communication that existed between the two Koreas. Fortunately, Pyongyang Time was in effect for only three years before North Korea reverted to GMT+9 in 2018, a move aimed at strengthening ties with its southern counterpart.
