Leo Amery, Indian-English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1873)
Leopold Charles Maurice Stennett Amery, (22 November 1873 – 16 September 1955), also known L. S. Amery, was a British Conservative journalist, politician, and member of numerous Cabinets. During his career, he was noted for his interest in military preparedness, British India and the British Empire and for his opposition to appeasement. After his retirement and death, he was perhaps best known for the remarks he made to his colleagues in the House of Commons on 7 May 1940 during the Norway Debate.
In these remarks, Amery pitilessly attacked the Prime Minister, his old acquaintance Neville Chamberlain, for incompetence in the fight against Hitler’s Germany. Many of Amery’s Parliamentary contemporaries pointed to this speech as one of the key drivers in the division of the House on the following day, 8 May, which led to Chamberlain being forced out of office and his replacement by Winston Churchill.
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1955Sep, 16
Leo Amery
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Events on 1955
- 7Jan
Metropolitan Opera
Contralto Marian Anderson becomes the first person of color to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera. - 13Feb
Dead Sea Scrolls
Israel obtains four of the seven Dead Sea Scrolls. - 18Feb
Nevada Test Site
Operation Teapot: Teapot test shot "Wasp" is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp is the first of fourteen shots in the Teapot series. - 14May
Warsaw Pact
Cold War: Eight Communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defense treaty called the Warsaw Pact. - 23Oct
State of Vietnam referendum, 1955
Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm defeats former emperor Bảo Đại in a referendum and founds the Republic of Vietnam.