Most of the time the entries through my blog focus on academic issues related to academic access to college. I also have another part of me that focuses on history. As a formally-trained historian, I am curious about many things. A particular interest is World War Two. Sometimes people think that it was inevitable that the Allies would win and the Axis power would be defeated. A careful examination of history reveals the precarious nature of victory in World War Two. It is filled with turning points. If enough of those turning points had favored the Axis powers, history would have been different. If the U.S. aircraft carriers had been docked in Pearl Habour on the morning of December 7, 1941, the U.S. might have had to sue for peace. If the Germans had succeeded with developing the atomic bomb first, they could have been the ones to end the war in their favor. Another turning point was the invasion on June 6, 1944 which is called D-Day. The British have created a remarkable television program to celebrate the anniversay of the victory on D-Day.

D-Day: As It Happens was a real time 24-hour history event. Broadcast across TV, online and social media, we told the story of this pivotal event in a new way. You can still track the progress of seven people who were there on the day – each a real participant in the 1944 invasion. Check out the website for much more information about the seven people profiled and the larger scope of the battle, http://dday7.channel4.com/

New, unpublished research was used to gather film, photographs, radio reports and other records of D-Day, work out when and where each was shot, and assemble them on a 24-hour timeline. All the words in quotation marks have been taken from interviews with our D-Day 7 or accounts written by them – we simply converted them into the present tense, or shortened them to fit. Over the 24-hours, you could watch two programmes on Channel 4, follow all the action as it happened on the website, and follow the D-Day 7 on Twitter.