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On This Day: Nazis occupy Vichy, France, in WWII

On Nov. 10, 1942, Nazi troops entered previously unoccupied France, the de facto government of which was centered in Vichy state.

By UPI Staff
Vichy, France, Marshal Philippe Petain (L) greets Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in 1940. On November 10, 1942, Nazi troops entered previously unoccupied France, the de facto government of which was centered in Vichy state. Vichy was seen as a puppet government controlled by Germany. File Photo courtesy the German Federal Archive
1 of 4 | Vichy, France, Marshal Philippe Petain (L) greets Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in 1940. On November 10, 1942, Nazi troops entered previously unoccupied France, the de facto government of which was centered in Vichy state. Vichy was seen as a puppet government controlled by Germany. File Photo courtesy the German Federal Archive

Nov. 10 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1775, the United States Marine Corps, then known as the Continental Marines, was formed by order of the Second Continental Congress.

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In 1865, the superintendent of the notorious Andersonville prison camp, Major Henry Wirz, is hanged for war crimes.

In 1871, journalist Henry Stanley found Scottish missionary David Livingstone in a small African village. His famous comment: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

In 1898, a mob of more than 2,000 people, angry over the election of a Fusionist white mayor and a biracial city council, went on a rampage throughout the city of Wilmington, N.C., targeting and killing African Americans.

In 1918, a Western Union Cable Office in Nova Scotia received a top-secret message stating that all fighting related the Great War (World War I) would cease on Nov. 11, 1918.

File Photo by Madeline Marshall/UPI

In 1942, Nazi troops entered previously unoccupied France, the de facto government of which was centered in Vichy state. The occupation was spurred by Allied forces teaming up with free French forces in North Africa to battle Axis powers. Germany already occupied northern France in 1940 and Vichy, led by Marshal Philippe Petain in the south, was considered to be a puppet of the Germans.

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In 1951, area codes were introduced in the United States, Canada and parts of the Caribbean, allowing direct-dialing of long-distance telephone calls.

In 1969, Sesame Street premiered on PBS.

In 1975, the ore freighter Edmund Fitzgerald broke in two and sank during a storm on Lake Superior, killing all 29 crew members.

In 1982, Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev died at age 75 after 18 years in power.

File Photo by Frank Cancellare/UPI

In 1983, Microsoft released its Windows computer operating system.

In 1994, the only privately owned manuscript of Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci was sold at auction at Christie's in New York for $30.8 million, the highest amount paid for a manuscript. Bill Gates purchased the codex.

In 2006, Mexico City lawmakers officially recognized same-sex civil unions.

In 2009, John Allen Muhammad, convicted as the sniper who killed 10 people in a 2002 shooting spree in the Washington area, was executed in Virginia.

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File Photo by Chris Cordedr/UPI

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