Meredith College : No Ordinary Time:

Timeline of Major Events in No Ordinary Time

FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT, 1882-1945 ANNA ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, 1884-1962

1905

Eleanor and Franklin are married; the following year their first child, Anna, is born.

1918

Eleanor discovers Franklin's affair with Lucy Mercer; he promises never to see Lucy again.

1921

1929

1933

1940

May. Germany invades Western Europe. Late May-early June, Allies are evacuated from Dunkirk.
June 22. France surrenders. Britain is the only country still at war with Germany.
July. Eleanor in a speech to the Democratic Convention uses the phrase "no ordinary time."”

FDR nominated for an unprecedented 3rd term.
September. Congress approves the first peace time draft in U.S. history.

British cities are heavily bombed by Germans (the Blitz).

Beginning of U.S. aid to Britain—destroyers for bases deal.
November. FDR elected for a third term; inaugurated on January 20, 1941.

1941

March. Lend-lease program of aid to Britain passes Congress; it is later extended to Russia.
June. Missy LeHand has a stroke; she can no longer serve as Roosevelt's secretary and hostess.
June 22. Germany invades the Soviet Union
August. First meeting between FDR and Churchill is held off the coast of Newfoundland.
December 7. At 7:55 a.m., Japan attacks the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
December 8. U.S. declares war on Japan. December 11. Germany declares war on U.S.

1942

February. FDR issues an executive order establishing internment camps for Japanese-Americans.
June 3-6. Battle of Midway. In first major victory, U.S. stops Japanese navy northwest of Hawaii.
June 18. Churchill comes to Hyde Park. June 21, British defeated at Tobruk.
October. Eleanor leaves for a tour of U.S. military installations in Britain.
November. Off-year elections in which Republicans make gains but Democrats retain control.
November 8. Americans land in North Africa.

1943

January. FDR and Churchill meet in Casablanca; agree to invade Sicily.
January. Germany surrenders at Stalingrad. This is the turning point in the land war in Europe.
May. The relationship between FDR and Lucy is renewed.
June 20. Detroit race riot begins. 25 blacks and 9 whites are killed.
August-September. Eleanor goes on a five week tour of troops in the South Pacific.
November. First Big Three conference is held in Tehran.

1944

January. Anna comes to live in the White House; she worries about her father's health, and she becomes the liaison between Franklin and Lucy.
March. Physical exam reveals that FDR is suffering from congestive heart failure.
April. FDR vacations in South Carolina. Lucy Mercer visits him.
June 6. D-Day, cross-channel invasion at Normandy establishes a second front in France.
November. Roosevelt with Harry Truman as his running mate wins with 53.5% of popular vote.
December. Battle of the Bulge in Luxembourg and Belgium. This is the last German offensive.

1945

January. FDR is inaugurated for the fourth time.
January. Yalta Conference between the Big Three is held in the Crimean.
February 19-March 16. Battle of Iwo Jima.
March. FDR goes to Warm Springs, Georgia; Lucy Mercer joins him.
April 1-June 22. Battle of Okinawa. Allies suffer 50,000 casualties; 100,000 Japanese are killed.
April 12. FDR suffers a cerebral hemorrhage and dies; he is buried at Hyde Park on April 15.
May 8. Victory in Europe. (V-E Day)
August 6. Atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima. August 9, it is dropped on Nagasaki.
August 15. Japan surrenders. (V-J Day)
December. Truman appoints Eleanor as a member of the American delegation to the U.N.