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HomePage 7: Historical Events In May - 17
Saturday, 21 February 2026
1939 British issue the Palestine "White Paper" fixing the upper limit to 75000 Jews to be admitted into Palestine over the next five years. 
1939 King George VI 1895-1952 and Queen Elizabeth disembark at Wolfe's Cove from the CP ship Empress of Australia to start a month-long royal visit to Canada
1939 Royal Tour of Canada commences with the arrival of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Wolfe's Cove, Quebec on the Empress of Canada. The 12 car train, (five from CP, five from CN and the two vice-regal cars), in royal blue and aluminum, left Quebec City on May 18. A pilot train, carrying officials and the press, preceeded the royal train by one hour and no other trains were permitted to travel within this period. The travel arrangements were shared by the two railways with CP being responsible for the westward journey to Victoria. CP used 4-6-4 locomotives 2850 and 2851 for the royal and pilot trains respectively, except for the Ottawa to Brighton, Ont, section, which was over CN track. 2850 hauled the royal train without change right through to Vancouver, a total distance of 3224 miles. Royal crowns were affixed to the running boards of both locomotives and these were eventually fitted to the entire class (2820-2864) which, following approval from their majesties, came to be known as Royal Hudsons
1939 Sweden, Norway and Finland reject Germany's non-aggression pact
1939 1st sports telecast-Columbia vs Princeton-college baseball.
1940 Germany begins the invasion of France
1940 Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.
1940 The Belgian government moves to Ostend because of invading German forces
1940 Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium and begins invasion of France
1942 Dutch SS vows loyalty to Hitler.
1943 Only 8 of the 17 British and Canadian Lancasters of the Dambusters Squadron return from breaching the Mohne and the Eder dams in Germany's industrial Ruhr basin;
1943 Montagu Love, actor (Wind), dies at 65.
1944 Allied air raid on Surabaja, Java.
1944 Chinese/US armed forces take Myitkyina Airport, Burma.
1944 General Eisenhower sets D-Day for June 5th.
1944 Operation Straightline Allies land in Netherlands New-Guinea
1944 The Bureau of Aeronautics authorized CGAS Floyd Bennett Field to collaborate with the Sperry Gyroscope Company in making an automatic pilot installation in a HNS-1 helicopter
1944 Operation Straightline: Allies land in Netherlands New-Guinea
1945 2 US P-47 Thunderbolts bomb Kiushu.
1945 Jan van Geenen, resistance fighter, dies
1946 KVP Labor/Communists win inaugural post-WW2 Dutch parliamentary elections
1946 President Truman seizes control of nation's railroads to delay a strike.
1948 Israel liberates Acre, Nebi Yusha and Telel-Kadi.
1948 Soviet Union recognized Israel
1949 British government recognizes Republic of Ireland.
1950 Eduardo Fabini, composer, dies at 67.
1951 Karl Heinrich David, composer, dies at 66
1953 Eric De Lamarter, composer, dies at 73.
1954 Supreme Court unanimously rules on Brown v Topeka Board of Education reversed 1896 "separate but equal" Plessy Vs Ferguson decision.
1955 Dutch Government of Drees steps down.
1955 Alan Fairfax, cricketer (10 Tests for Australia 1928-31), dies
1957 Prayer Pilgrimage, biggest civil rights demonstration to date (District of Columbia)
1957 Shalva Azmayparashvili, composer, dies at 54
1958 Emergency crisis proclaimed in Algeria.
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