1944 Coronado Amphibious Training Base football team
The 1944 Coronado Amphibious Training Base football team was an American football team that represented the United States Navy's Amphibious Training Base at Coronado, California. The base was commissioned in January 1944. The team compiled a 2–1–1 record.


1944 Coronado Amphibious Training Base football team
The team was coached by Al Nichelini, a former star at St. Mary's College who played two seasons in the NFL. Players included: Fred Naumetz, later an All-Pro center for the Los Angeles Rams; Ray King, an end who played for Minnesota; Bill Murphy, a back who played for Cornell; and E.F. Corrido, who played for Oklahoma.


1944 Costa Rican general election
General elections were held in Costa Rica on 13 February 1944. Teodoro Picado Michalski of the Victory Bloc won the presidential election with 75.1% of the vote. Voter turnout was 43.2%.


1944 Costa Rican general election, Background
Being deputy and president of the Congress, Teodoro Picado Michalski was officially invested as presidential candidate of the National Republican Party on May 2, 1942, two years before the elections.


1944 Costa Rican general election, Background
Having been elected deputy communist leader Manuel Mora in the mid-term elections of 1942, Mora was approached by businessman Jorge Hine (who was rumored as a possible candidate of the right-wing opposition in the next elections). Hine tried to enlist Mora in a coup d'état that the conservatives were plotting against Calderón, but Mora declined and the attack was never carried out nor did Hine appear as a candidate. Mora and the communist leadership, on the other hand, were in negotiations with the government and the Catholic Church led by Monsignor Víctor Sanabria Martínez.


1944 Costa Rican general election, Background
As part of the strategy of appeasement to the Church the Communist Party is formally dissolved and re-founded under the name Popular Vanguard Party. Consulted Monsignor Sanabria by Mora on whether there is an inconvenience in that Catholics militate in the new party, Sanabria responds that having studied their plan of government Christians have no moral dilemma in voting for the party.


1944 Costa Rican general election, Background
The opposition nominates former President León Cortés Castro, formerly Calderón's political godfather and who had resolutely supported him when Calderón was a candidate in 1940, now known enemies. Cortés was known for his fascist sympathies which was used in campaign against him, especially because the country was at that time officially at war against Nazi Germany and the Axis powers since 1941. This probably catapulted the Communists to ally with Calderón, being that the Popular Fronts to stop fascism were a guideline of Moscow. In any case, Cortés had the support of the richest conservative and business groups (which at some point gravitated around Hine) while Teodoro Picado became a candidate backed by the popular bases of Calderonism, Communism and the Catholicism.


1944 Costa Rican general election, Campaign
The campaign was quite harsh due to the increasing tensions between the ruling party and the opposition. There were terrorist attacks perpetrated by both sides.


1944 Costa Rican general election, Campaign
In general, the ruling party focused on highlighting the social achievements of Calderón's administration (who strongly supported the candidate Picado) and promised to deepen them, threatening to reach power Cortes would abolish them by having on their side the most reactionary segments and conservatives of the oligarchy and maintained the accusations of Fascist. Cortes, meanwhile, tried to get rid of these accusations and promised efficiency in public administration. The Democrats also accused the government of political persecution, closure of media opponents of the government and dissolution of political meetings of the Party. Although Mora also accused of threats against his person and aggressions against his supporters by the cortesistas.


1944 Costa Rican general election, Campaign
The violence during the elections left one dead in Sabanilla and three in Llano Grande. Three days later, while the Picadista triumph was being held, the presidential candidacy of Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia was announced for the next elections.


1944 Cotton Bowl Classic
The 1944 Cotton Bowl Classic was a postseason college football bowl game between the fourteenth ranked Texas Longhorns and the Randolph Field Ramblers, a military institution squad from San Antonio, TX.


1944 Cotton Bowl Classic, Background
Randolph boasted many former college football stars, most notably Tulsa's Glenn Dobbs, who had 1,867 all purpose yards for the year with 1,431 passing and 421 yards rushing. He was also their punter, with a 40.2 average per kick.


1944 Cotton Bowl Classic, Background
Martin Ruby became the first and only player to play on two different Cotton Bowl teams, having played in the 1942 Cotton Bowl Classic. He was named outstanding player in both games.


1944 Cotton Bowl Classic, Game summary
The game was played in a cold, steady rain described by Bible as the worst he had ever seen. Tex Aulds scored for Randolph on a touchdown catch from Glenn Dobbs. But Texas rallied back with a George McCall touchdown catch from Ralph Ellsworth to tie the game. The game stayed that way due to defense that allowed 260 yards combined from both teams.


1944 Cotton Bowl Classic, Attendance
32,000 tickets were sold for the game but only 15,000 spectators came to the game because of the weather.


1944 Coupe de France Final
The 1944 Coupe de France Final was a football match held at Parc des Princes, Paris on May 7, 1944, that saw EF Nancy-Lorraine defeat EF Reims-Champagne 4–0 thanks to goals by Marcel Parmeggiani, Marcel Poblomme (2) and Michel Jacques.


1944 Croatian First League
This article gives statistics of the Croatian First League in association football in the 1944 season.


1944 Cuban general election
General elections were held in Cuba on 1 June 1944. Ramón Grau San Martín won the presidential election running under the Auténtico-Republican Alliance banner, whilst the Partido Auténtico emerged as the largest party in the House of Representatives, winning 19 of the 70 seats.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane
The 1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane (also known as the 1944 San Lucas hurricane and the Sanibel Island Hurricane of 1944) was a large Category 4 tropical cyclone on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale that caused widespread damage across the western Caribbean Sea and Southeastern United States in October 1944. It inflicted over US$100 million in damage and caused at least 318 deaths, the majority of fatalities occurring in Cuba. One study suggested that an equivalent storm in 2018 would rank among the costliest U.S. hurricanes. The full extent of the storm's effects remains unclear due to a dearth of conclusive reports from rural areas of Cuba. The unprecedented availability of meteorological data during the hurricane marked a turning point in the United States Weather Bureau's ability to forecast tropical cyclones.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane
The disturbance began suddenly over the western Caribbean Sea, strengthening into a tropical storm on October 12 within hours of initial development. It intensified into a hurricane the next day, with a brief but slow westward path bringing it near Grand Cayman. There, the storm produced rough surf and torrential rainfall for several days, destroying all of the Cayman Islands' crops and damaging coastal property; the storm proved to be the rainiest hurricane in Grand Cayman's history. On October 16, the developing hurricane made a sharp turn northward and accelerated.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane
It made landfall on western Cuba two days later at peak strength with winds of 145 mph (230 km/h), making it a Category 4 hurricane. Cuba, hardest hit by the storm, saw at least 300 people killed and suffered extensive damage inflicted by winds and storm surge, especially in the Havana area. Numerous ships sank in Havana Harbor amid agitated waters and marine debris.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane
A gradual weakening trend began after the hurricane crossed Cuba, attenuated by the storm's large size. It crossed the Dry Tortugas as a major hurricane on October 18 before making a final landfall near Sarasota, Florida, as a Category 2 hurricane the following day. Although property damage was considerable in the Florida Keys and throughout the Florida coasts, the bulk of the storm's damage toll arose from significant losses of crops in the state's citrus-producing regions, curtailing record harvests. Eighteen people were killed in the state, half from the loss of a ship in Tampa Bay.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane
The storm continued to weaken as it passed over Florida and the Southeastern United States, producing heavy rains throughout the U.S. East Coast and gusty winds that led to widespread power outages. On October 20, the storm transitioned into an extratropical cyclone and tracked northeastwards along the U.S. East Coast. The system was last distinguishable east of Greenland four days later.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Meteorological history
The origin of this major hurricane was traced to a tropical disturbance that moved into the western Caribbean Sea by October 11, 1944. The system was initially broad; no observations of strong winds or low pressures indicated a tropical cyclone's presence. Nearby weather reports that day nonetheless suggested tropical cyclogenesis was underway. Based on aerial and surface observations, the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project determined in 2013 that the system organized into a tropical depression by 12:00 UTC on October 12.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Meteorological history
Operationally, the first evidence of a developing cyclone was a report of rough seas later that evening by a ship 100 mi (160 km) east of the Swan Islands. The incipient system tracked towards the north, quickly intensifying; tropical storm intensity was attained just six hours after the initial tropical depression classification, and it strengthened into a hurricane by 18:00 UTC on October 13.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Meteorological history
Two days later, the slow-moving hurricane took a more westward trajectory and passed south of Grand Cayman—sustained winds on the island peaked at 96 mph (154 km/h) with a gust to 118 mph (190 km/h), while the air pressure bottomed out at 984 mbar (hPa; 29.06 inHg). Between October 16–17, the storm made an abrupt turn towards the north along the 83rd meridian west and continued to strengthen, gradually accelerating northwards.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Meteorological history
It became a major hurricane by 18:00 UTC on October 17 and reached Category 4 intensity six hours later as it passed over the western portion of Isla de la Juventud, Cuba. The following morning, the cyclone reached its peak intensity with winds of 145 mph (233 km/h), a value extrapolated by the reanalysis project based on a pressure of 937 mbar (hPa; 27.67 inHg) observed on the northern coast of Cuba; this was the lowest pressure measured in connection with the hurricane. Maintaining peak strength, it made landfall on mainland Cuba at around 08:00 UTC on October 18, crossing the narrowest part of the island 10–15 mi (16–24 km) west of Havana before emerging into the Gulf of Mexico.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Meteorological history
The hurricane's interaction with Cuba caused the winds to taper slightly, bringing the storm down from its peak intensity to a Category 3 hurricane over the Straits of Florida. At 21:00 UTC on October 18, the eye passed over the Dry Tortugas, producing two hours of calm over the islands. During its passage, the storm had winds estimated at 120 mph (190 km/h). It had grown considerably in areal extent, with a radius of maximum wind nearly twice as large as climatologically expected. Gradual weakening continued as the storm accelerated towards the north-northeast.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Meteorological history
This lessened the storm's winds to 105 mph (170 km/h)—a Category 2 hurricane—as it made landfall just south of Sarasota, Florida, at 07:00 UTC on October 19. Due to the cyclone's large size, its weakening over the Florida peninsula was anomalously slow and at times underestimated by the model typically used to estimate the inland decay of tropical cyclones.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Meteorological history
The storm was still a hurricane when it passed east of Tampa Bay and over Central Florida later that day; a pressure of 967 mbar (hPa; 28.55 inHg) recorded at a weather station in Tampa, Florida, was a record low for the site in its over-50-year observational history. The large hurricane finally weakened to tropical storm status south of Jacksonville, Florida, on the afternoon of October 19. It straddled the Georgia coast before pressing farther inland over South Carolina.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Meteorological history
As it did so, the storm began to become more baroclinic, transitioning into a fully extratropical cyclone over South Carolina on October 20. These extratropical remnants maintained their composure, emerging over the Atlantic along the coast of the Mid-Atlantic states and passing over Nova Scotia on October 21. Some re-intensification occurred as the system traversed the Labrador Sea and Greenland before it merged with the Icelandic Low on October 24.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Warnings and preparations
The United States Weather Bureau issued 58 storm warnings and advisories via its hurricane warning centers in Miami, Florida, Washington, D.C., and Boston, Massachusetts. The 1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane was the first time widespread rawinsonde data were available for a fully developed hurricane; the first complete atmospheric sounding from the center of a tropical cyclone was later collected by a rawinsonde in the eye of the storm as it crossed Tampa.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Warnings and preparations
The head of the Weather Bureau's hurricane forecast office in Miami, Grady Norton, used the information from these upper-tropospheric observations to accurately predict the storm's general northward trajectory, despite the presence of a high-pressure area at the surface that would conventionally prevent a northerly track. The accuracy of his forecasts surprised his colleagues and motivated the expansion of the American rawinsonde network:


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Warnings and preparations
The two major hurricanes of the 1944 season, the September hurricane, and the ... [ Cuba–Florida hurricane], had circulation depth well above the top of ordinary pilot balloon observations. It was the ... [ rawinsonde] data reaching to much greater height that told the story of future movements, and without them future movements could not have been indicated with as much certainty in the forecast. ... It is urgently recommended that the Weather Bureau lend all possible support to the establishment of additional ... [rawinsonde sites] in the Caribbean and Gulf area to further implement the hurricane warning service.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Warnings and preparations
Cuba evacuated residents from its western low-lying coasts. The storm was considered the strongest hurricane to threaten the island nation since that of October 1926. Three thousand people sought refuge at El Capitolio, the nation's capitol building. U.S. soldiers stationed at San Antonio de los Baños Airfield were moved to the Cuban army's headquarters in Havana. Pan American World Airways canceled flights to and from Cuba in advance of the hurricane. Storm warnings in the United States were first issued for the Florida Keys on the morning of October 16.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Warnings and preparations
The Weather Bureau also noted a serious threat to western Cuba, the Yucatán Channel, and the Yucatán Peninsula. The first hurricane warnings were issued on the morning of October 18. At the height of the storm's impacts on Florida, hurricane warnings encompassed the Florida coast from Cedar Key on the Gulf coast to Fernandina Beach on the peninsula's Atlantic coast.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Warnings and preparations
The Red Cross chapter in Key West, Florida, initiated emergency operations on the afternoon of October 17. Of the hurricane evacuees throughout the state, 35,000 stayed at Red Cross shelters. Excluding Key West, 90 percent of residents on the Florida Keys evacuated in advance of the storm. U.S. Army and Navy aircraft and non-essential personnel were evacuated from Florida. In the Miami area, flights were grounded and schools were closed. A total of sixty schools and public buildings in Miami were repurposed as shelters by the Red Cross. The University of Miami suspended classes for a day.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Warnings and preparations
U.S. Coast Guard personnel assisted in storm preparations, evacuating small craft and allocating vehicles for municipal emergency use. Schools were closed in Pinellas County in advance of the storm and repurposed as potential shelters, though ultimately none were used. Fort Myers served as a place of refuge for soldiers stationed at nearby Buckingham Army Airfield and surrounding areas around the city. Storm preparations also began farther inland, with relief operations and evacuations in the Orlando area coordinated between the Red Cross and the Army Air Forces Tactical Center.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Warnings and preparations
On October 19, 125 people were evacuated from Sullivan's Island and Isle of Palms in South Carolina and housed at a county hall. Residents of Avon, North Carolina, were evacuated to Manteo and Elizabeth City late that day in advance of the weakened storm's approach. Five hundred people evacuated Long Beach Island off mainland New Jersey ahead of the hurricane's extratropical stages.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact
In the Monthly Weather Review, the United States Weather Bureau enumerated 318 deaths from the hurricane, noting that reports possibly indicating more deaths were yet to be received from Cuba and the Cayman Islands. The hurricane caused over $100 million in damage across its path.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Caribbean Sea
The hurricane brought squally conditions and rough surf to the Swan Islands over six days, the strongest measured gust reaching 58 mph (93 km/h). Three days of hurricane conditions destroyed all crops on the Cayman Islands. Rainfall totals reached 31.29 in (795 mm) on Grand Cayman—the highest rainfall total caused by a hurricane in the island's history. Red Bay and Prospect were flooded by the precipitation. Heavy seas destroyed many wooden shoreline installations including docks and piers, and extensive beach erosion exposed limestone outcrops.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Caribbean Sea
Three small ships were either lost or destroyed in the Caymans; one ship was later found aground off Pinar del Río in Cuba. Winds in Georgetown reached 116 mph (187 km/h), cutting communications between the city and the outside world. Considerable road damage was reported throughout Grand Cayman. E. S. Parsons, the clerk of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, said the storm was Grand Cayman's "severest hurricane since 1876".


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Caribbean Sea
Cuba was the nation hardest hit by the hurricane, though the full extent of casualties remains unknown as reports from rural areas of the island were never realized. Damage was most severe in eastern Pinar del Río. A powerful storm surge killed 20 people in a small village. The coastal port of Surgidero de Batabanó was destroyed, and 24 deaths were reported. The port's entire fishing fleet—numbering over 20 schooners—was carried inland by the storm surge, as was a Standard Oil barge that ended up 10 mi (16 km) inland.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Caribbean Sea
Havana Harbor was forced to close because of excessive debris and sunken craft in its waters. Two schooners running cargo routes between Havana and Miami sank in the harbor, as well as Cuban and Peruvian submarine chasers. One capsized vessel blocked the entrance to the harbor, preventing through traffic. A wind gust of 163 mph (262 km/h) was documented in Havana while the eye passed 10–15 mi (16–24 km) to the west; this was the strongest gust measured in Cuba until Hurricane Gustav in 2008.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Caribbean Sea
Hurricane-force winds were felt for 14 hours with gusts exceeding 125 mph (201 km/h) for  seven hours. The strong winds cut off most electricity in Havana and government telecommunications in Nueva Gerona, the capital of Isla de la Juventud, for three days. Buildings in Havana suffered extensively, exacerbated by felled trees and flying debris. Administrative buildings including the Presidential Palace and the American embassy sustained considerable damage. Preliminary estimates of the total loss incurred by the city reached several hundred thousand U.S. dollars. There were seven deaths and four hundred injuries. The damage on Isla de la Juventud was extensive but less than initially feared.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Caribbean Sea
In total, about half the crops in the outlying areas of Havana were lost, as well as 90 percent of tobacco warehouses. The storm's effects on the Cuban sugar crop remained uncertain, with estimates ranging from a four percent loss to a net increase due to beneficial rainfall. The total loss of food in Cuba was estimated by the U.S. embassy to be worth $3,000,000. This led to food shortages in the Cuban provinces of La Habana and Matanzas and the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
The hurricane caused $63 million in damages—largely to crops—in Florida. Eighteen deaths occurred in the state, including nine seamen who drowned when a tugboat sank off Bradenton; another 24 people were hospitalized for storm-related injuries elsewhere. In its monthly Climatological Data publication, the Weather Bureau said that "systematic evacuation of all dangerously exposed beaches doubtless saved many lives". In 2018, an analysis of historical U.S. landfalls suggested that a similar storm striking the same areas would inflict $73.5 billion in damage when normalized for 2018 demographics and inflation.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
On October 15, showers streaming north from the hurricane produced heavy rain and 25 mph (40 km/h) gusts over Florida. An instruction flight out of Naval Air Station Lake City crashed shortly after takeoff 5.5 mi (8.9 km) east of the base, weather being cited as a likely cause. All three crewmembers were killed. In advance of the eventual landfall, three tornadoes in the hurricane's rainbands struck the state on the afternoon of October 18, causing slight damage. They touched down in the cities of Arcadia and Wauchula as well as southern Polk County. The Wauchula tornado displaced a farmhouse from its foundation, unroofed a gas station, and uprooted 75 trees. Waterspouts were also observed before the hurricane's arrival.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
On the Dry Tortugas, an anemometer indicated winds of 120 mph (190 km/h) for two consecutive hours before it succumbed. Key West avoided the brunt of the storm as the eye passed 40 mi (65 km) to the west. No casualties were reported there, though infrastructure damage was considerable. In the rest of Monroe County, there were only two minor injuries. The hurricane's effects resulted in the loss of electricity and gas service to Key West.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
Roughly a third of the city was inundated by floodwaters, reaching a depth of at least 3 ft (0.91 m) and displacing approximately 5,000 people. The strong winds felled numerous trees, some blocking roadways. Many homes were damaged, including one removed from its foundation. Throughout the Florida Keys, the hurricane produced significant beach erosion. Beaches in Key West and Boca Chica Key were narrowed considerably, exacerbating the shoreline impacts of future hurricanes in 1948 and 1998.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
A 250 ft (76 m)-long segment of seawall typically rising 8 ft (2.4 m) above average high tide was destroyed in Key West, resulting in the flooding of an adjacent estate. In total, 4,000 ft (1,200 m) of seawall and road along South Roosevelt Boulevard was destroyed; it was repaired in 1951. Six U.S. Navy vessels ran aground along Key West. Farther offshore, a crew of 21 people was forced to abandon a lightship near the northwest entrance to the harbor at Key West while the storm passed.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
The majority of the $10–$13 million toll inflicted to property occurred along the coast, particularly from storm surge. It was highest on the western coast between Sarasota and the Everglades, the greatest tide-related damage occurring along the beaches of Fort Myers. At least fifteen cottages were destroyed on Estero Island, where Fort Myers Beach is located, as well as the island's fishing pier. The entire island was inundated under 3–6 ft (0.91–1.83 m) of seawater, flooding buildings. One apartment complex was half destroyed, part of its foundation caving in. Other longstanding landmarks on Fort Myers Beach were either destroyed or sustained severe damage, and many ships were lost or grounded well inland. The surge accumulated upstream in the Caloosahatchee River, flooding roads with 3–5 ft (0.91–1.52 m) of water.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
The hurricane's highest storm surge measured in Florida was 12.28 ft (3.74 m) above mean low tide at Jacksonville Beach. At the time, the 7.1 ft (2.2 m) high storm surge measured at Fernandina Beach was the second-highest observed there on record. There, nearly 50 beach houses collapsed, contributing to a $500,000 damage toll. As much as 150 ft (50 m) of beach eroded because of the elevated seas at Fernandina Beach. Winds of 35 mph (55 km/h) tore awnings and broke windows in downtown Jacksonville, and brought down the antenna of radio station WJCT.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
Waist-deep water in St. Augustine flooded many buildings including the headquarters of the St. Augustine Record newspaper, which did not print for the first time in a half-century. At an airfield near Daytona Beach, two hangars sustained heavy damage; three planes were damaged and two were destroyed. Off Cape Canaveral, two shrimp boats were stranded in the storm and eventually beached along Cocoa. Rough seas also washed out a segment of the bridge connecting Cocoa with Merritt Island. Likewise, a 100 ft (30 m)-section of the bridge between Titusville and the coast collapsed into the river below. Three commercial fishing vessels were either sunk or awash at Pass-a-Grille, and several sport craft were lost. Rough surf also occurred in Florida's interior lakes, waves in Lake Tohopekaliga breaching several hundred feet of seawall near Kissimmee.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
Damage was widespread across the western coast of the Florida peninsula, though its severity varied greatly. The Sarasota and Venice areas where the hurricane made landfall were particularly hard hit. Numerous groves in the region were damaged by high gusts. The combination of fallen trees, downed power lines, and storm surge blocked roadways. Punta Gorda farther south mostly avoided the storm's damaging effects, though downed trees were reported at nearby Nocatee and Arcadia. Communication service in Fort Myers suffered greatly, limiting connectivity to proximate locales. Sustained winds at Page Field were clocked at 90 mph (140 km/h) with gusts exceeding 100 mph (160 km/h).


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
Trees were downed in St. Petersburg by gusts to 90 mph (140 km/h). Power outages were extensive, exacerbated by an unexpected short-circuiting of an electrical plant during the storm. These outages disrupted the city's streetcar and water pump systems. Windows were blown out of 20 storefronts, and roofs were torn off some homes. Structural damage was minor overall, with damage evaluated at $25,000–$50,000. Damage from citrus losses and property damage in the rest of Pinellas County was valued at $1,000,000.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
Offshore, nine people were killed, and three crew members survived, after their ship sank at the mouth of Tampa Bay; Tampa suffered similarly to St. Petersburg, and experienced a lull in the winds as the center of the hurricane passed overhead. Plate glass windows and storefronts in the downtown area were broken. Short-circuiting wires triggered by the storm caused two major fires, destroying a home and burning most of a shipyard shop; Tampa firefighters also responded to another eight fires during the hurricane, though these caused minor damage. Strong winds uprooted trees in the Davis Islands and Gulfport along the coast of the Tampa Bay area. Similarly, downed trees were characteristic of the damage in Clearwater. Roofs of older buildings were torn by the strong winds, though damage overall was slight.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
Although storm damage in Miami was relatively minor, two people were killed—one from a downed electric line and another from a traffic collision—in the greater metropolitan area. Early green bean and tomato crops in neighboring Palm Beach County were ruined by the hurricane. Between 500–900 acres (200–360 ha) of snap bean crops were lost throughout the Everglades, battered by excessive rainfall of 8–10 in (200–250 mm), but growers were optimistic the rains would later lead to improved harvests. A 300 ft (90 m)-stretch of seawall was destroyed in El Cid Historic District along with an adjacent dock; this was the only structural damage in West Palm Beach.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
Gale-force winds affected the entire Florida peninsula, the westward extent of the strong winds reaching Tallahassee. Wind-field analyses later demonstrated that winds of at least 50 mph (80 km/h) spanned an area with a diameter of 300 mi (480 km). The strongest winds were focused within a 30 mi (48 km)-wide region east of the storm's center and penetrated far inland, with sustained winds of 82 mph (132 km/h) and a gust of 108 mph (174 km/h) reported in Orlando.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
These winds occurred over the state's core citrus-producing areas—De Soto, Hardee, Lake, Orange, Polk, and Sarasota counties—resulting in the loss of approximately 25 million boxes of fruit. Damage to Florida's citrus crop was estimated at $20 million, with an expected cut of $50 million to the state's annual citrus profits. As late as a week before the hurricane's arrival, 1944 had been expected to be the best year for Florida citrus production in history. Citrus losses extended beyond the core regions, with significant losses in Seminole and Osceola counties. The grapefruit harvest saw a 40 percent loss while the early- and mid-season orange harvest saw a 15–20 percent loss. Rainfall-related damage, primarily to tomatoes, cabbage, beans, and peppers, collectively resulted in a 75 percent loss of crops in the Hollywood area.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
Of Florida's interior cities, Orlando saw the most severe damage, amounting to several million dollars. While reports of severe property damage were relatively infrequent, damage to ancillary structures and roofs was widespread. Approximately 600–800 homes  and numerous stores were damaged. The hurricane disrupted most communications in Orlando and surrounding communities outside of downtown; only two cables linking the city with Jacksonville remained in service. Felled trees blocked a third of the city streets. Orlando recorded its rainiest 24-hour period since 1910, observing 7.49 in (190 mm) between October 18–19.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
Damage across Orange County was preliminarily estimated between $3–5 million, the damage in Orlando accounting for roughly half of the toll. One person was electrocuted in the downtown area. The Orlando Reporter-Star called the hurricane the Orlando's worst storm in 50 years. At nearby Winter Park, power failures caused the municipal water system to shut down. Many homes in Gotha were roofless from the storm's winds. Between Gotha and Windermere, more than half of the grapefruit trees were stripped of their fruits, as well as 10–20 percent of orange trees and five percent of tangerines.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Florida
Elsewhere in the Florida interior, two hangars at Alachua Army Air Field near Gainesville collapsed. Some trees in Gainesville were toppled onto houses. Severe property damage was noted in Bartow, and roofs were torn from a school and several homes in Williston and Groveland. Damage was limited primarily to crops in the Palatka and Crescent City areas, with only minor losses sustained otherwise. Heavy rains and gusts as high as 75 mph (121 km/h) were recorded in Lakeland, which lost all power during the storm.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Elsewhere in the United States
Total losses in the state of Georgia were estimated at between $250,000–$500,000. Most of the damage occurred before the arrival of the storm's center of circulation. Downed trees blocked streets and highways in several communities. Communication services were scant in some areas as telecommunication and power lines were severed by the storm. Strong winds also damaged the shingles of some buildings to varying degrees. The shipyard in Brunswick, Georgia, was hit particularly hard, several of its buildings and four cranes being damaged.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Elsewhere in the United States
Eastern extents of the city were also inundated by storm surge as far as 1 mi (1.6 km) inland, prompting the evacuation of affected homes. The high wind-swept tides caused coastal inundation throughout the Southeastern U.S. coast, destroying many fishing boats at the Port of Savannah. The highest tides in Georgia occurred in Fort Pulaski, where the sea rose 5.9 ft (1.8 m) above mean sea level. Water damage on the island of St. Simons forced the evacuation of 1,200 people. The hurricane's heaviest rainfall occurred at the Brunswick airport, where 11.4 in (290 mm) was recorded.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Elsewhere in the United States
Winds reaching 65 mph (105 km/h) brought down power and communication lines across the Carolinas, leaving much of Charleston, South Carolina, without electricity. Tides to 9 ft (2.7 m) inundated low-lying areas of the city, primarily around The Battery. Trees and signage were downed in Florence, located 70 mi (110 km) from the coast. Several railroad coaches traversing the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad just south of Florence were damaged. Heavy rains throughout South Carolina caused $350,000 in damage to property and crops. In northwestern parts of the state, unpicked cotton crops perished. Winds of 30–40 mph (50–65 km/h) damaged corn and lespedeza in North Carolina, constituting most of the $200,000 damage toll wrought by the storm there.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Elsewhere in the United States
The storm's effects tapered as precipitation and high seas spread north along the U.S. East Coast. Widespread rains were reported throughout Virginia. Some flooding occurred around Staunton, blocking some minor roads. High winds downed as many as 30 percent of unharvested apples. Greater Norfolk endured 35 mph (56 km/h) winds and a 2 ft (0.61 m) storm surge. In Newport News, the elevated seas rose over the seawall, inundating low-lying areas. A Weather Bureau meteorologist characterized the storm's effects in Maryland as "an old-fashioned nor'easter". Minor telecommunication disruptions were reported in Maryland by the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Impact, Elsewhere in the United States
Debris buildup in Baltimore blocked some sewage pipes. Rough surf topped bulkheads damaged by the 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane along the coast of North Jersey, flooding oceanside streets. Similar coastal flooding occurred along the barrier island, Long Beach Island, farther south. Strong winds blew out some windows in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, region. Gusts of 50 mph (80 km/h) grounded airplane traffic and yachts in New England. An empty coal barge was grounded upon Thompson Island, carried by wind-driven seas. One driver in Somersworth, New Hampshire, was killed after losing control of their car on a slick roadway—three passengers were injured. Downed wires in Newton and Quincy, Massachusetts, cut power to roughly 250 homes.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Aftermath
The Daily Gleaner, the Jamaican newspaper, coordinated with the Jamaican Central Storm Relief Committee to organize a storm relief fund for the Cayman Islands. The United States initiated relief operations in Cuba, focusing on augmenting food supplies. A Pan-American Clipper with American government officials onboard was dispatched to survey isolated areas of Cuba, including Pinar del Río. President of Cuba Ramón Grau visited hospitals after the storm's passage to aid relief efforts.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Aftermath
In the immediate aftermath, between 5,000 and 7,000 people across Florida were displaced and housed in temporary arrangements; three times as many people required dietary assistance. The city of Orlando coordinated with the Army Air Forces Tactical Center in debris cleanup operations. Assistance was also provided by line crews from Alabama and Georgia to restore power to the city. In response to the widespread citrus losses, the president of Gentile Bros. Co., a company with significant citrus operations in Florida, petitioned the Florida Citrus Commission to raise ceiling prices on citrus fruits sourced from the state.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Aftermath
On behalf of citrus interests, U.S. Senator Claude Pepper of Florida wrote letters to the Office of Price Administration (OPA), the War Food Administration (WFA), and the War Production Board (WPB), requesting their assistance in surveying the damage and to consider both the price ceilings on citrus and restrictions on tin usage; relaxing tin restrictions would allow the salvaging of wind-torn fruits by canning them as juices. Pepper also asked the agencies to consider the price ceilings for vegetables.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Aftermath
The Texas Agriculture Commissioner, James E. McDonald, asked Texas citrus growers to suspend shipments to allow Florida citrus growers to recover, echoing a similar gesture from Florida citrus growers following a hurricane in 1933. Officials from the OPA and WFA convened in Lakeland, Florida, on October 27 to discuss the calls to increase ceiling prices for citrus; Florida citrus growers contended that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's monthly crop report for October did not accurately reflect the losses caused by the hurricane and sent a delegation to raise the matter in Washington, D.C. in November. A temporary increase in ceiling prices on citrus fruits was eventually implemented for the state of Florida.


1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane, Aftermath
The WPB, operating jointly with the Red Cross, made 5,000,000 ft (1,500,000 m) of lumber and 5,000 shingle squares available for repairs and in the Tampa area. The Federal Housing Administration allowed mortgage loans of $5,400 for residents whose homes were destroyed by the hurricane, based on the agency's assessment that "property damage was limited to roofs and broken glass" in the state.


1944 Cup of the Ukrainian SSR
The 1944 Ukrainian Cup was a football knockout competition conducting by the Football Federation of the Ukrainian SSR and was known as the Ukrainian Cup.


1944 Cup of the Ukrainian SSR, Competition schedule, First Elimination Round
The main date for games was on 10 September 1944.


1944 Cup of the Ukrainian SSR, Competition schedule, Second Elimination Round
The main date for games was on 17 September 1944.


1944 Cup of the Ukrainian SSR, Competition schedule, Fourth Elimination Round
The main date for games was on 1 October 1944.


1944 Cup of the Ukrainian SSR, Competition schedule, Final group
All games were played in Kyiv in October 8 through 15, 1944.


1944 Dartmouth Indians football team
The 1944 Dartmouth Indians football team represented Dartmouth College during the 1944 college football season.


1944 Delaware State Hornets football team
The 1944 Delaware State Hornets football team represented the State College for Colored Students—now known as Delaware State University—in the 1944 college football season as an independent. Led by first-year head coach Tom Conrad, the Hornets compiled a 2–3 record. The team's captain was Henry Clay Aldridge. Conrad had been hired the year before, but Delaware State did not field a football team in 1943.


1944 Delaware gubernatorial election
The 1944 Delaware gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1944.


1944 Delaware gubernatorial election
Incumbent Republican Governor Walter W. Bacon defeated Democratic nominee Isaac J. MacCollum with 50.52% of the vote.


1944 Delaware gubernatorial election, Nominations, Democratic nomination
The Democratic convention was held on August 22 at Dover.


1944 Delaware gubernatorial election, Nominations, Republican nomination
The Republican convention was held on July 19 at Dover.


1944 Democratic National Convention
The 1944 Democratic National Convention was held at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois from July 19 to July 21, 1944. The convention resulted in the nomination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for an unprecedented fourth term. Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri was nominated for vice president. Including Roosevelt's nomination for the vice-presidency in 1920, it was the fifth time Roosevelt had been nominated on a national ticket. The keynote address was given by Governor Robert S. Kerr of Oklahoma, in which he "gave tribute to Roosevelt's war leadership and new deal policies."


1944 Democratic National Convention, Presidential nomination, Candidates
Unlike the previous convention, President Roosevelt faced no serious opposition for a fourth term, with the country's active involvement in World War II and the consequent need for stable leadership considered a more pressing issue than any concerns about his remaining in office. Several Southern delegates who were opposed to Roosevelt's racial policies tried to draft Virginia senator Harry F. Byrd to run for the presidential nomination, but Byrd decided against actively campaigning against the President. In the end, Byrd did win more delegates than any of the candidates who had tried to run against Roosevelt four years prior, but still fell far short of seriously challenging for the nomination.


1944 Democratic National Convention, Presidential nomination, Acceptance speech
Roosevelt delivered his acceptance speech remotely, from a Pacific Coast naval base. This was the last time a major party presidential candidate accepted their nomination remotely for a period of 80 years, until Joe Biden accepted his nomination in 2020 from a set in his home town of Wilmington, DE.


1944 Democratic National Convention, The vice-presidential nomination
Despite the obvious physical decline in the President's appearance, as well as rumors of secret health problems, Roosevelt's fourth nomination as President was largely unchallenged. The contention lay in the vice-presidential nomination. Henry Wallace had been elected Vice President in 1940. He was FDR's preferred choice and was very popular with rank and file Democratic voters. However, conservative Party leaders, such as James F. Byrnes, strongly opposed his renomination. They regarded Wallace as being too far to the left, too "progressive" and too friendly to labor to be next in line for the Presidency.


1944 Democratic National Convention, The vice-presidential nomination
Outgoing Democratic National Committee chairman Frank C. Walker, incoming chairman Robert E. Hannegan, party treasurer Edwin W. Pauley, strategist Edward J. Flynn, Chicago Mayor Edward Joseph Kelly and lobbyist George E. Allen all wanted to keep Wallace off the ticket. Their group was deemed by Allen as "The Conspiracy of the Pure in Heart." They privately told Roosevelt that they would fight Wallace's renomination, and they proposed Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman as FDR's new running mate. Truman had entered the Senate in January 1935 with a reputation as "the senator from Pendergast". Then he had become well known during the war as the chairman of a Senate investigating committee. Roosevelt personally liked Wallace and knew little about Truman, but he reluctantly agreed to accept Truman as his new running mate to preserve party unity.


1944 Democratic National Convention, The vice-presidential nomination
President Roosevelt traveled to the South Pacific in order to discuss military strategy with General Douglas MacArthur, and thus didn't attend the convention. This was the last time that a presidential nominee failed to attend a national convention during the 20th century. Even so, many delegates refused to abandon Wallace. In the first ballot, Wallace led with 429.5 votes and Truman got 319.5 votes. But Wallace was 159.5 votes short of a majority. The party leaders went to work talking to delegates, cutting deals and applying pressure to persuade them to select Truman. Truman won the second ballot by 1031 votes to 105. The maneuverings over the 1944 vice presidential nomination proved to be historic, as FDR died in April 1945, and Truman, not Wallace, thus became the nation's 33rd President.


1944 Democratic National Convention, The vice-presidential nomination
Senator Samuel D. Jackson, who had worked feverishly to secure Truman's nomination, later said he wanted his tombstone inscribed with the words "Here lies the man who stopped Henry Wallace from becoming President of the United States."


1944 Democratic National Convention, In popular culture
The events of the Chicago convention were dramatized in the second episode of the popular Showtime documentary series Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States which looks at how close Henry Wallace came to the US Presidency.


1944 Democratic Party presidential primaries
From March 14 to May 19, 1944, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1944 United States presidential election. The very popular incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1944 Democratic National Convention held from July 19 to July 21, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection
The Democratic Party's 1944 nomination for Vice President of the United States was determined at the 1944 Democratic National Convention, on July 21, 1944. U.S. Senator Harry S. Truman from Missouri was nominated to be President Franklin D. Roosevelt's running-mate in his bid to be re-elected for a fourth term.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection
How the nomination went to Harry S. Truman, who did not actively seek it, is, in the words of his biographer Robert H. Ferrell, "one of the great political stories of our century". The fundamental issue was that Roosevelt's health was seriously declining, and everyone who saw Roosevelt, including the leaders of the Democratic Party, realized it. If he died during his next term, the Vice President would become President, making the vice presidential nomination very important.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection
Truman's predecessor as Vice President, the incumbent Henry A. Wallace, was unpopular with some of the leaders of the Democratic Party, who disliked his liberal politics and considered him unreliable and eccentric in general. Wallace was, however, the popular candidate, and favored by the Convention delegates. As the Convention began, Wallace had more than half the votes necessary to secure his re-nomination. By contrast, the Gallup poll said that 2% of those surveyed wanted then-Senator Truman to become the Vice President. To overcome this initial deficit, the leaders of the Democratic Party worked to influence the Convention delegates, such that Truman received the nomination.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Anti-Wallace movement
A powerful group of party leaders tried to persuade Roosevelt to not keep Wallace as Vice President. Ferrell calls this process "a veritable conspiracy." The group consisted of Edwin W. Pauley, treasurer of the Democratic National Committee (DNC); Robert E. Hannegan, Democratic national chairman; Frank C. Walker, Postmaster General; George E. Allen, the Democratic party secretary; and Edward J. Flynn, political boss of New York. They considered several people to replace Wallace.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Anti-Wallace movement
Among the possible candidates were James F. Byrnes, Roosevelt's "assisting president," who initially was the prominent alternative, Associate Justice William O. Douglas, U.S. Senators Alben W. Barkley and Harry S. Truman as well as the industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn. Finally the group decided on Truman, but this decision was secondary to the goal of not nominating Wallace. By late spring 1944, the group had succeeded in turning Roosevelt against Wallace, but the president did not tell Wallace directly and still refused to endorse anybody other than him. In May the president sent Wallace on a trip to China and the Soviet Union, probably with the intention to get him out of the country at an inconvenient time and to obstruct his campaign.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Anti-Wallace movement
Roosevelt preferred Byrnes as the best alternative and decided to push him as the party's nominee for the vice presidency if the party delegates refused to renominate Wallace at the 1944 Democratic National Convention. On July 11, the leaders met with Roosevelt in the White House. They recommended Truman. The names of Sam Rayburn, Alben Barkley, James F. Byrnes, and John G. Winant were also raised, but they were dismissed, Byrnes because of his unpopularity among blacks and in the labor movement.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Anti-Wallace movement
Furthermore, Byrnes, who had been born a  Roman Catholic, had left the church to become an Episcopalian, which would have alienated many Catholic voters who were a central part of the New Deal coalition. Truman was an ideal compromise candidate. He supported the administration on most issues, was acceptable to the unions, and he had opposed Roosevelt's reelection to a third term, which pleased conservative anti-Roosevelt Democrats. He had supported Roosevelt's foreign policy but was close to Senate isolationists like Burton K. Wheeler. Roosevelt did not know Truman well, but he knew of the senator's leadership of the Truman Committee, and that he was a loyal supporter of the New Deal. Roosevelt suggested William O. Douglas but party officials countered by suggesting Truman.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Anti-Wallace movement
After much debate, the president said, "Bob [Hannegan], I think you and everyone else here want Truman." There are, however, other accounts of Roosevelt's exact statement. Pauley, for example, claimed that he said, "If that's the case, it's Truman." Just before the meeting ended, Roosevelt instructed Hannegan and Walker to notify Wallace and Byrnes, respectively, that they were out. After the group left the meeting, Hannegan asked Roosevelt to put his decision down in writing. Roosevelt wrote a note on a piece of scratch paper and gave it to Hannegan.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Anti-Wallace movement
The next day Hannegan and Walker thus tried to convince Wallace and Byrnes to withdraw, but they refused unless the president himself asked them. Roosevelt did not want to disappoint any candidate. He told Wallace, "I hope it will be the same old team." But Wallace nevertheless understood the president's real intentions, and he wrote in his diary, "He wanted to ditch me as noiselessly as possible." Roosevelt also promised to write a letter, saying that if he, Roosevelt, were a delegate to the convention he would vote for Wallace.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Anti-Wallace movement
To Byrnes Roosevelt said, "You are the best qualified man in the whole outfit and you must not get out of the race. If you stay in the race you are certain to win." He also explained to Byrnes that he was having trouble with Wallace, who refused to withdraw unless the president told him so, and that he would write Wallace a lukewarm letter.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Maneuvering
On July 15, Roosevelt was en route to San Diego. He stopped in Chicago, where the Democratic national convention was to be held. Hannegan and Edward J. Kelly, mayor of Chicago, met Roosevelt on board the train. They obtained a typewritten version of the note from July 11:


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Maneuvering
You have written me about Harry Truman and Bill Douglas. I should, of course, be very glad to run with either of them and believe that either one of them would bring real strength to the ticket.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Maneuvering
Grace Tully, the president's private secretary, asserted in her memoirs that the letter as originally written put Douglas's name first, but Hannegan asked her to switch the position of the names so it would appear as if Roosevelt preferred Truman. Hannegan, however, has denied this. Truman biographer Conrad Black wrote that Tully did switch the positions of the names, but it was probably at Roosevelt's wish. Truman later claimed that Hannegan had shown him a letter from Roosevelt that did not mention Douglas's name, saying "Bob, it's Truman. FDR." This letter has never been found.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Maneuvering
A photograph of FDR's original letter appears in a biography of Douglas.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Maneuvering
Hannegan also tried to get Roosevelt to tone down the Wallace letter. The situation became even more complicated because Roosevelt said pleasant things about Byrnes, so Hannegan believed the president had changed his mind and wanted Byrnes. However, Roosevelt also said that Hannegan must clear Byrnes' nomination with labor leader Sidney Hillman, whom he knew opposed Byrnes. The line "Clear it with Sidney" was subsequently used by Thomas Dewey and the Republicans in their campaign.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Maneuvering
On July 17, the chairman of the convention, Samuel D. Jackson, released Roosevelt's Wallace letter. Roosevelt said, somewhat ambiguously, that he, if a delegate, would vote for Wallace, but that he did not want to dictate to the convention. Because it was a lukewarm endorsement, the letter became known as the "kiss-of-death" letter among the Byrnes and Truman supporters, but on the other hand, as some people pointed out, Wallace was the only candidate who had received a written endorsement. Hannegan had not told anyone about the letter he received on July 15, but now he said that he had a letter in which the president mentioned Truman.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Maneuvering
On July 16 and 17, Sunday and Monday, Byrnes had several setbacks. One was Flynn's concern about losing black votes in case Byrnes got the nomination. The other, more serious, was the increasing opposition against Byrnes from labor, in particular Hillman. On Monday evening the party leaders telephoned Roosevelt, saying that labor would not accept Byrnes and mentioned Flynn's concern as well. Roosevelt concurred and told them to "go all out for Truman". Now, when the president had really decided on Truman, the leader's next step was to convince Truman that he was Roosevelt's pick.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Maneuvering
They let Byrnes's friend Leo Crowley inform Byrnes. Truman probably learned of Roosevelt's endorsement the same evening, but he was aware of the president's inconsistency and could not be sure of what it meant. Truman had previously, just like Hannegan, got the impression that Roosevelt wanted Byrnes. But the next morning Truman met with Hillman, who refused to accept Byrnes and said that labor's first choice was Wallace, and if that was impossible they could also consent to Truman or Douglas. Roosevelt had met Hillman the previous Thursday. There is no proof that Roosevelt conspired and struck a deal with Hillman not to accept Byrnes, but it might very well have been like that, according to Ferrell. Byrnes believed that Roosevelt had betrayed him.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Maneuvering
Only now, after his meeting with Hillman, did Truman know that he had a good chance to be nominated although Truman had planned to nominate Byrnes, and had the text of a nomination speech for him in his pocket. Truman had repeatedly said that he was not in the race and that he did not want to be Vice President, and he remained reluctant. One reason was that he had put his wife Bess on his Senate office payroll and he didn't want her name "drug over the front pages of the papers". Since 1943 he also had his sister Mary Jane on the payroll. Moreover, Bess disliked Roosevelt and the White House in general. Byrnes, who was disappointed with Roosevelt, withdrew on Wednesday, July 19, "in deference to the wishes of the president."


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Maneuvering
On Wednesday, Truman and the leaders gathered in Hannegan's suite in Blackstone Hotel. Hannegan called Roosevelt while Truman listened, and told him that Truman was a contrary Missouri mule. Roosevelt replied loudly, so everyone in the room could hear, "Well, tell him if he wants to break up the Democratic Party in the middle of a war, that's his responsibility," and slammed down the receiver. Truman was dumbstruck, but after a few moments replied, "Well, if that is the situation, I'll have to say yes. But why the hell didn't he tell me in the first place?" By another account he just said, "Jesus Christ." Before the call, Hannegan and Roosevelt had agreed what each one should say.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Maneuvering
On Thursday, July 20, Hannegan released the letter which Roosevelt had given him on board the train, and its text appeared in the newspapers the next morning, but as it mentioned both Truman and Douglas it made people confused. The ballot was also held on Thursday. Wallace supporters had packed the convention hall and tried to stampede the convention, as Wendell Willkie had successfully done at the Republican convention four years earlier for the presidential nomination. There were parades and chants for Wallace, and banners for him were everywhere.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Maneuvering
The organist played the Iowa song, "Iowa, Iowa, that's where the tall corn grows!" Entrance tickets for each day to the Chicago Stadium had been printed in the same color, and probably the Wallace supporters used all their tickets for the Thursday, and the ushers and takers at the gates couldn't see the difference. It is also possible that they counterfeited the tickets. To avoid a victory for Wallace, the leaders got the organist to change his tune and they had Jackson, a Wallace supporter, recognize Mayor David L. Lawrence of Pittsburgh, who moved an adjournment until the next morning.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Maneuvering
Until the next day, according to Truman biographer David McCullough, the leaders tried to convince the delegates to vote for Truman. He writes in his book Truman: "But Hannegan, Flynn, Kelly, and the others had been working through the night, talking to delegates and applying 'a good deal of pressure' to help them see the sense in selecting Harry Truman. No one knows how many deals were cut, how many ambassadorships or postmaster jobs were promised, but reportedly, by the time morning came, Postmaster General Frank Walker had telephoned every chairman of every delegation." But Robert Ferrell states that their tactics were not to make deals with delegates during the night, but to talk to the delegates during Friday and tell them the president wanted Truman. Meanwhile, police kept large numbers of Wallace supporters out of the convention venue.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Vote
At the presidential balloting, Roosevelt got an overwhelming majority, 1086 votes, far ahead of Harry F. Byrd with 89 votes and James A. Farley with one vote.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Analysis and aftermath
Both Ferrell and McCullough compare the way Truman was nominated with more recent presidential elections, where the candidates must participate in state primaries to receive delegates to the national convention. Ferrell remarks that Truman was a product of the boss system in Kansas City, and that he was nominated in 1944 by the boss system who had made it clear to Roosevelt that Wallace was unacceptable to them.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Analysis and aftermath
Ferrell also writes that Roosevelt was disingenuous, in particular towards Byrnes, and "elevated untruthfulness to a high art." Roosevelt used subordinates for tasks that were unpleasant, like telling Byrnes and Wallace to withdraw. The Roosevelt administration, writes Ferrell, saw many examples of the president welcoming enemies into the oval office, charming them, and giving every evidence of friendship, whereupon they later received unmistakable evidence of where they stood within the administration. Edward Flynn, however, believed that because of his poor health Roosevelt was reluctant to get involved in a quarrel: "I believe that in order to rid himself of distress or strife and rather than argue, he permitted all aspirants for the nomination to believe it would be an open convention."


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Analysis and aftermath
Ferrell asks himself if Truman, who appeared to gain the office without the effort, in reality was playing a calculated and sly game. Ferrell claims that everything suggests that Truman was trying to achieve the office he insisted he was not interested in. He would have been a strange politician otherwise, according to Ferrell. Roosevelt disliked ambitious people, and Truman knew this, so it was probably an advantage to be humble and deny he was a candidate.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Analysis and aftermath
As a border state senator and a political moderate compared with the liberal Wallace and the conservative Byrnes, Truman was humorously dubbed the "Missouri compromise." The liberal group of the party was disappointed with Truman's nomination. Some newspapers falsely claimed that he had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Additionally, he was criticized for having his wife Bess on the payroll. However, these controversies had no impact.


1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, Analysis and aftermath
Few Americans wanted to change their leadership as the Second World War was still going on, so Roosevelt and Truman easily defeated the Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey and his running mate John W. Bricker. On January 20, 1945, Truman was sworn in as Vice President of the United States. He was destined to hold the job for just 82 days. On April 12, 1945, he succeeded to the Presidency on Franklin D. Roosevelt's death.


1944 Denver Pioneers football team
The 1944 Denver Pioneers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Denver in the Mountain States Conference (MSC) during the 1944 college football season. Led by head coaches Adam Esslinger and Cac Hubbard, the team compiled a 4–3–2 record (2–1–1 against MSC opponents) and outscored opponents by a total of 193 to 120.


1944 Detroit Lions season
The 1944 Detroit Lions season was their 15th in the league. The team improved on their previous season's output of 3–6–1, winning six games. They failed to qualify for the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season.


1944 Detroit Lions season, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1944 Detroit Tigers season
The 1944 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the American League with a record of 88–66, just one game behind the first place St. Louis Browns.


1944 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season
On April 19, first baseman Rudy York recorded his 1,000th career hit.


1944 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season
On September 18, the Tigers found themselves in first place for the first time all season. The Yankees lost two games to the Athletics, while the Browns split two games with the White Sox. With the Tigers sweeping Cleveland, the Tigers jumped over the Yankees and Browns for first place. The Browns were a half game back, while the Yankees were two games back.


1944 Detroit Tigers season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1944 Detroit Tigers season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1944 Detroit Tigers season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 Detroit Tigers season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 Detroit Tigers season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 Dominican general election, Electoral system
The Legislative Council had eleven members; the Administrator as President, two ex officio members, three appointed members and five elected members. The Administrator could vote only to break a tie.


1944 Dominican general election, Results
The appointed members were Arthur Seagar Burleigh, Clement Joseph Leonard Dupigny and James O. Aird.


1944 Dominican general election, Aftermath
Nicholls died on 12 November 1945. In the subsequent by-election on 23 February 1946, Phillip Ivor Boyd was elected to replace him.


1944 Drexel Dragons football team
1944 Drexel Dragons football team was head coached by Maury McMains.


1944 Duke Blue Devils football team
The 1944 Duke Blue Devils football team was an American football team that represented Duke University as a member of the Southern Conference during the 1944 college football season. In its third season under head coach Eddie Cameron, the team compiled a 6–4 record (4–0 against conference opponents), won the conference championship, was ranked No. 11 in the final AP Poll, and defeated Alabama in the 1945 Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day. The Blue Devils outscored opponents by a total of 230 to 118.


1944 Dunedin mayoral election
The 1944 Dunedin mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1944, elections were held for the Mayor of Dunedin plus other local government positions including twelve city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.


1944 Dunedin mayoral election, Background
Andrew Henson Allen, the incumbent Mayor, declined to run for a third term. Gervan McMillan the retired Labour MP for Dunedin West contested the mayoralty for a second time, but was narrowly defeated by councillor Donald Cameron.


1944 Dunedin mayoral election, Background
Labour gained ground on the city council, winning six of the twelve seats, with three Citizens' councillors seeking re-election defeated.


1944 Edmonton municipal election
The 1944 municipal election was held November 1, 1944 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on the public school board, while three trustees were acclaimed to the separate school board. This was the first election to be held on the first Wednesday of November rather than the second Wednesday, in order to avoid future conflicts with the Armistice Day holiday, as happened in 1936 and 1942.


1944 Edmonton municipal election
There were ten aldermen on city council, but five of the positions were already filled: James McCrie Douglas (SS), Harry Ainlay (SS), Winslow Hamilton, Charles Gariepy, and Melvin Downey (SS) were all elected to two-year terms in 1943 and were still in office.


1944 Edmonton municipal election
There were seven trustees on the public school board, but four of the positions were already filled: Albert Ottewell (SS), Bertram Robertson, Frank Newson, and Roy Sutherland had been elected to two-year terms in 1943 and were still in office. The same was true of the separate board, where William Wilde (SS), Joseph Gallant, Thomas Malone, and J O Pilon were continuing.


1944 Edmonton municipal election, Voter turnout
There were 9,948 ballots cast out of 61,033 eligible voters, for a voter turnout of 16.4%.


1944 Edmonton municipal election, Results, Separate (Catholic) school trustees
Adrian Crowe (SS), Francis Killeen, and James O'Hara were acclaimed.


1944 Egypt Cup Final
1944 Egypt Cup Final, was the final match of 1943–44 Egypt Cup, when Farouk (Zamalek SC now) defeated Al-Ahly by a score of 6–0, the largest winning margin in the derby and Egypt cup finals, Farouk claimed the cup for the 7th time.


1944 El Toro Flying Marines football team
The 1944 El Toro Flying Marines football team represented the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station during the 1944 college football season. The station was located in Orange County, California, near the town of El Toro (later renamed Lake Forest). The team compiled an 8–1 record and was ranked No. 16 in the final AP Poll. Lt . Col. Dick Hanley was the team's coach. Cliff Battles and Jim Tuttle were assistant coaches.


1944 Estonian Football Championship
The Estonian Top Division 1944 was the 23rd football league season in Estonia. First round was scheduled from 21 May to 12 July. Second round from 20 July to 15 August. The season was discontinued after 7 rounds due to the Red Army attack. The front had reached Estonia on January and the battles on Estonian territory lasted until December. The system and majority of the clubs existing before were discontinued.


1944 Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Base Skymasters football team
The 1944 Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Base Skymasters football team was an American football team that represented the Air Transport Command at Suisun-Fairfield Air Base (now Travis Air Force Base) during the 1944 college football season. The team compiled a 1–7 record. John Giannoni, who played in the NFL for the Cleveland Rams in 1938, was the team's coach and also played for the team.


1944 Fijian general election
General elections were held in Fiji on 29 July 1944. The term of the Legislative Council elected in 1940 was due to end in 1943, but was extended by a year by the Governor.


1944 Fijian general election, Electoral system
The Legislative Council consisted of 32 members, including 16 'official' members who were civil servants, fifteen 'unofficial' members (five Europeans, five Fijians and five Indo-Fijians), and the Governor sitting as President of the Council.


1944 Fijian general election, Electoral system
For Europeans and Indo-Fijians, three of the five representatives were elected from single-member constituencies, with the other two appointed by the Governor. All five Fijian members were appointed from a list of ten candidates submitted by the Great Council of Chiefs.


1944 Fijian general election, Electoral system
Voting for Europeans remained restricted to men aged 21 or over who had been born to European parents (or a European father and was able to read, speak and write English), who were British subjects and had been continuously resident in Fiji for 12 months, and who either owned at least £20 of freehold or leasehold property or had an annual income of at least £120. For Indo-Fijians, eligibility was also restricted to men aged 21 or over.


1944 Fijian general election, Electoral system
They had to be a British subject or from British India, have lived continuously in the Fiji for at least two years, be able to read or write in English, Gujarati, Gurmukhi,  Hindi, Tamil, Telegu or Urdu, and for the previous six months, have either owned property with an annual value of five years, had a net annual cash income of at least £75, or held a Government or municipal licence worth at least £5 annually.


1944 Fijian general election, Electoral system
Special provision for overseas voting was set up for Fijian civil servants and military personnel serving outside the territory.


1944 Fleet City Bluejackets football team
The 1944 Fleet City Bluejackets football team was an American football team during the 1944 season. The Bluejackets represented the United States Navy's "Fleet City" facilities located near Dublin, California, which included Camp Parks, Camp Shoemaker, the Receiving Barracks, and a Navy Hospital. The team compiled a 6–4–1 record.


1944 Fleet City Bluejackets football team
The 1944 Fleet City team was coached by Jack Malevich, who played college football at Catholic University in the 1920s. Tracey Kellow, who played for the 1935 TCU team that won the Sugar Bowl, was an assistant coach.


1944 Fleet City Bluejackets football team
The team played its home games at Forster Field, named in honor of base commander O. N. Forster, who was described as a "rabid fan" of the team.


1944 Fleet City Bluejackets football team
Key players included Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Stydahar, College Football Hall of Famer Bob Suffridge, and halfback Bill Schroeder, who later played in the NFL.


1944 Florida Gators football team
The 1944 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1944 college football season. The season was the fourth for Tom Lieb as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The highlights of the season included the Gators' 13–6 homecoming victory over the Maryland Terrapins and their 13–0 shutout of the in-state rival Miami Hurricanes on the Hurricanes' home field. The Gators also scored solid victories over teams from two U.S. Naval Air Stations in nearby Jacksonville. Lieb's 1944 Florida Gators finished with a 4–3 overall record and a 0–3 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), placing tenth among twelve SEC teams.`


1944 Florida gubernatorial election
The 1944 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1944. Democratic nominee Millard Caldwell defeated Republican nominee Bert L. Acker with 78.94% of the vote.


1944 Florida gubernatorial election, Primary elections
Primary elections were held on May 2, 1944, with the Democratic runoff held on May 23, 1944.


1944 Florida gubernatorial election, General election
Bert Acker who ran as a Republican, would be against the New Deal in his campaign. He also wanted to eliminate laws he thought were useless and conflicting. Acker was in favor of leasing lands owned by the state government to be used by farmers and cattle ranchers. Acker wanted to allow mining and oil production to be done on state owned lands as well. Acker wanted to see the sugar industry in the state expanded as well.


1944 Florida gubernatorial election, General election
Acker was against taxes that were created as a result of World War II in the state and wanted to exempt homes that were valued at $15,000 from state taxes. In terms of infrastructure, he supported expanding the state highway system and widening roads physically themselves along with improving safety on bridges.


1944 Fort Pierce football team
The 1944 Fort Pierce football team represented the Fort Pierce Naval Amphibious Training Base in Tampa, Florida, during the 1944 college football season. The team compiled a 9–0 record and was ranked No. 18 in the final AP Poll.


1944 Fort Pierce football team
Three players from the Fort Pierce team were named to the Associated Press All-Service southern football team: back Bill Daley; tackle Donald Cohenour; and center Bill Godwin.


1944 Fresno State Bulldogs football team
The 1944 Fresno State Bulldogs football team represented Fresno State Normal School during the 1944 college football season.


1944 Fresno State Bulldogs football team
Fresno State was part of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). However, the conference was in hiatus because of WWII in 1944. Since most colleges did not field a team in 1944, the Bulldogs played primarily against junior colleges and military teams.


1944 Fresno State Bulldogs football team
The team was led by first-year head coach Earl Wight and played home games at Ratcliffe Stadium on the campus of Fresno City College in Fresno, California. They finished the season with a record of zero wins and six losses (0–6, 0–0 CCAA). The Bulldogs were outscored 18–95 for the season.


1944 Fresno State Bulldogs football team, Team players in the NFL
The following Fresno State Bulldog players were selected in the 1945 NFL Draft.


1944 Georgia Bulldogs football team
The 1944 Georgia Bulldogs football team represented the Georgia Bulldogs of the University of Georgia during the 1944 college football season.


1944 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team
The 1944 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represented the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets of the Georgia Institute of Technology during the 1944 college football season.


1944 German Ice Hockey Championship
The 1944 German Ice Hockey Championship was the 28th season of the German Ice Hockey Championship, the national championship of Germany. KSG Berlin won the championship by defeating LTTC Rot-Weiß Berlin in the final.


1944 German football championship
The  1944 German football championship, the 37th edition of the competition, was won by Dresdner SC, the club defending its 1943 title by defeating Luftwaffe team LSV Hamburg in the final.


1944 German football championship
The final years of the German Championship during the war saw many military teams compete in the championship, Luftwaffe teams, Luftwaffensportvereine, short LSV, and, Wehrmacht teams, Wehrmachtssportvereine, short WSV, became very competitive.


1944 German football championship
Dresden's Helmut Schön, who would later coach Germany to the 1974 FIFA World Cup, became the top scorer of the 1944 championship with 14 goals, the second-highest individual amount of any player in the history of the competition from 1903 to 1963.


1944 German football championship
It was the last edition of the tournament during the Second World War, with the competition not being held again until 1948. The thirty-one 1943–44 Gauliga champions, two more than in the previous season, competed in a single-leg knock out competition to determine the national champion.


1944 German football championship
Dresdner SC became the last club to be awarded the Viktoria, the annual trophy for the German champions from 1903 to 1944. The trophy disappeared during the final stages of the war, did not resurface until after the German reunification and was put on display at the DFB headquarters in Frankfurt until 2015, when it was moved to the new Deutsches Fußballmuseum in Dortmund.


1944 Gold Coast general election, Electoral system
The Legislative Council had 30 members, of which 16 were 'official' members (civil servants) and 14 'unofficial' members. Of the 14 unofficial members, three were Europeans appointed by the Governor to represent banking, mercantile and shipping interests, and two were Europeans elected by the Chamber of Commerce and Chamber of Mines. The remaining nine unofficial members were Africans, six of which were elected by the Provincial Councils (three by the Eastern Province Council, two by the Central Province Council and one by the Western Province Council) and three directly-elected members representing the municipalities of Accra, Cape Coast and Sekondi.


1944 Gold Coast general election, Campaign
In Cape Coast, the contest between Tufuhin Moore and Kofi Bentsi-Enchill saw both candidates using their supporters to bring voters to polling stations and trying to block their opponents voters from voting.


1944 Gold Coast general election, Results
In Cape Coast, Moore defeated Bentsi-Enchill by 298 votes to 232. Akilagpa Sawyerr was elected in Accra and C. W. Tachie-Menson in Sekondi.


1944 Governor General's Awards
The 1944 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the ninth rendition of the Governor General's Awards, Canada's annual national awards program which then comprised literary awards alone. The awards recognized Canadian writers for new English-language works published in Canada during 1944 and were presented in 1945. There were no cash prizes.


1944 Governor General's Awards
As every year from 1942 to 1948, there two awards for non-fiction, and four awards in the three established categories, which recognized English-language works only.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane
The 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane was a destructive and powerful tropical cyclone that swept across a large portion of the United States East Coast in September 1944. New England was most affected, though so were the Outer Banks, Mid-Atlantic states, and the Canadian Maritimes. The storm's ferocity and path drew comparisons to the 1938 Long Island Express, one of the worst storms in New England history.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane
Its precursor was first identified well east of the Lesser Antilles on September 4, but the disturbance only became well organized enough to be considered a tropical cyclone on September 9 northeast of the Virgin Islands. Tracking west-northwest, the storm gradually intensified, curved northward, and reached peak intensity as a Category 4-equivalent hurricane on September 13 north of the Bahamas. A day later, the storm passed the Outer Banks and later made landfall on Long Island and Rhode Island as a weaker hurricane on September 15. The storm eventually became an extratropical cyclone, moving northeast, and merged with another extratropical system off Greenland on September 16.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Meteorological history
The origins of the 1944 hurricane can be traced back to a tropical wave first identified well east of the Lesser Antilles on September 4. Over the next few days, the disturbance slowly traversed west-northwestward without producing any significant weather that would hint at tropical cyclogenesis. On September 7, an area of low pressure, albeit disorganized, formed in association with the tropical wave east of Barbados. The following day, the barometric depression became more well-defined, prompting the Weather Bureau in San Juan, Puerto Rico to issue advisories on the tropical disturbance.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Meteorological history
As a result of the sparseness of available surface observations east of the Lesser Antilles, a reconnaissance flight was dispatched to investigate the storm late on September 9; the flight reported that the disturbance had strengthened into a newly formed but fully-fledged hurricane.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Meteorological history
Due to the seemingly rapid development of the storm, the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project concluded that the storm likely began earlier and as a weaker system; thus, HURDAT—the official track database for hurricanes in the North Atlantic dating back to 1851—lists the tropical cyclone as having begun a tropical storm with winds of 50 mph (80 km/h) at 06:00 UTC on September 9.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Meteorological history
After formation, the tropical cyclone gradually intensified as it slowly moved west-northwestward, reaching the threshold for hurricane intensity at 06:00 UTC on September 10 while north of the Virgin Islands. Strengthening continued thereafter, and by September 12, the storm reached an intensity equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Later that day, the cyclone strengthened further into a Category 4-equivalent and was given the moniker of "Great Atlantic hurricane" by the Weather Bureau in Miami, Florida. Concurrently, the tropical cyclone began to curve and accelerate towards the north.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Meteorological history
At 12:00 UTC on September 13, the hurricane reached its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230 km/h), and five hours later, a ship documented a minimum barometric pressure of 933 mbar (hPa; 27.55 inHg). The storm's pressure may have been lower at the time as it is unknown whether or not the observation took place in the eye, though the 909 mbar (hPa; 26.85 inHg) pressure suggested by meteorologist Ivan Ray Tannehill was considered too low.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Meteorological history
The hurricane began to gradually weaken after reaching peak intensity on September 13. In the morning hours of September 14, the storm passed just east of Cape Hatteras and eastern Virginia as a small but powerful hurricane with winds of 125 mph (205 km/h). Afterwards, the cyclone curved slightly further towards the northeast and continued to accelerate; at 02:00 UTC on September 15, the hurricane made landfall near Southampton in eastern Long Island with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h).


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Meteorological history
The storm then crossed the island and Long Island Sound before making a second landfall two hours later near Point Judith, Rhode Island as a slightly weaker storm with winds of 100 mph (160 km/h). After crossing Rhode Island and Massachusetts, the tropical system transitioned into an extratropical cyclone off the coast of Maine on September 15; these extratropical remnants continued to track towards the northeast and across the Canadian Maritimes before they were last noted merging with another extratropical cyclone off of Greenland at 12:00 UTC on September 16.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Preparations
Upon being designated a tropical cyclone, the Weather Bureau began advising extreme caution to shipping within the expected path of the hurricane. Precaution was also urged in the eastern Bahamas. The first hurricane warning issued by the Weather Bureau in association with the storm was for the northern Bahamas on September 12. In Miami, Florida, the American Red Cross began preparing its resources for a potential regional calamity; however, the Weather Bureau did not necessarily anticipate the storm striking Miami. Royal Air Force aircraft stationed in Nassau were flown to Miami in order to avoid the storm.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Preparations
Although tropical cyclone naming was not in practice at the time, the Weather Bureau in Miami, Florida, began naming the system the "Great Atlantic hurricane" in their public advisories on September 12 to better convey the life-threatening risks associated with the powerful hurricane. The following day, storm warnings were issued for areas from the United States East Coast from Savannah, Georgia to Cape Hatteras. Small craft in offshore areas further south were advised to remain in port.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Preparations
As Morehead City, North Carolina was forecast to be submerged under several feet of water, the city's entire population was evacuated; other resort locales along the coast of North Carolina were also evacuated. Similarly, the 3000–4000 personnel constituting Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point were evacuated inland; U.S. Army and Navy aircraft were also sent inland.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Preparations
As the hurricane was passing near the Outer Banks, hurricane warnings were extended as far north as Portland, Maine, and storm warnings were issued as far north as Eastport, Maine. Precautions across New England and Mid-Atlantic states began in earnest once the storm began tracking northwards. Sixty buses were readied in Ocean City, Maryland to evacuate the seaside resort's permanent and tourist residents. The 3,000 residents of Fire Island, one of the barrier islands off of Long Island, were ordered to evacuate the islet.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Preparations
Nearby, the Brooklyn Red Cross Chapter began readying for possible relief work, stocking five mobile canteens with emergency rations. The United States First Naval District were directed to have personnel and rescue craft on standby to respond to emergencies. The Massachusetts State Police began relaying Weather Bureau bulletins to local public services via telecommunications. Personnel on duty were called back to barracks for later deployment in relief operations. The Massachusetts National Guard were ordered to standby and prepare for potential assistance of regional emergency services. Other Massachusetts state agencies were also allocating resources to aid in relief operations.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Impact, North Carolina and Virginia
Passing close to the Outer Banks and Hampton Roads area, strong hurricane-force winds were reported across eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia. Though the strongest winds recorded peaked at around 90 mph (145 km/h), winds up to 105 mph (170 km/h) were analyzed by the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project to have occurred between the two states. The strong winds knocked out telecommunications networks on the Outer Banks, with telephone lines in Manteo, North Carolina and Elizabeth City, North Carolina destroyed by the storm. Small homes in the two cities were also leveled by the winds.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Impact, North Carolina and Virginia
Power outages impacted New Bern, North Carolina. At the coast, the hurricane's storm surge pushed 50 ft (15 m) inland along unprotected coastline, destroying hundreds of boats, damaging boardwalks, and depositing debris along the Carolina beaches. Coastal farmland was inundated, with damage to corn and other crops initially estimated at "thousands of dollars."


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Impact, Jersey Shore
The hurricane was infamous for the amount of damage it caused along the New Jersey coastline. The shore towns on Long Beach Island, as well as Barnegat, Atlantic City, Ocean City, and Cape May all suffered major damage. Long Beach Island, Barnegat Island and Brigantine all lost their causeways to the mainland in the storm effectively cutting them off from the rest of New Jersey. Additionally both islands lost hundreds of homes, in particular the Harvey Cedars section of Long Beach Island where many homes in the town were swept out to sea.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Impact, Jersey Shore
In Atlantic City the hurricane's storm surge forced water into the lobbies of many of the resorts famous hotels. The Atlantic City boardwalk suffered major damage along with the Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ and the city's famous ocean piers. Both the famed Steel Pier and Heinz Pier were partially destroyed by the hurricane with only the Steel Pier getting rebuilt. Ocean City and Cape May also lost many homes in the storm with Ocean City's boardwalk suffering significant damage. Larry Savadove devotes a whole chapter in his book Great Storms of the Jersey Shore to the hurricane and the imprint and lore it left on the Jersey Shore.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Impact, New England
Rain totals of around 7 inches (178 mm) occurred in the Hartford, Connecticut area, and the city of Bridgeport saw the greatest official total at 10.7 inches (272.8 mm). Tobacco and fruit damage in Connecticut totaled to about $2 million (1944 USD), with similar overall damage costs occurring in Rhode Island. More than $5 million (1944 USD) in damage which occurred on Cape Cod can be attributed to lost boats, as well as fallen trees and utility damage. A total of 28 people died throughout New England as a result of the storm.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Impact, New England
In Bath, Maine, a 10-year-old boy was electrocuted when he came into contact with downed wires. In Augusta, Maine, a 40-year-old woman was run over by a bicyclist who was blinded by heavy rains. 4.34 inches of rain fell during the storm at Bates College. Many tree limbs were downed by high winds during the storm, and in Androscoggin County, Maine, 40% of the apple crop was destroyed.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Impact, USS Warrington and other ships
The storm was also responsible for sinking the Navy destroyer USS Warrington approximately 450 miles (720 km) east of Vero Beach, Florida, with a loss of 248 sailors. The hurricane was one of the most powerful to traverse the Eastern Seaboard, reaching Category 4 when it encountered Warrington, and producing hurricane-force winds over a diameter of 600 miles (970 km). The hurricane also produced waves in excess of 70 feet (21 m) in height. The hurricane and the sinking of USS Warrington are documented in the 1996 book The Dragon's Breath - Hurricane At Sea, written by Commander Robert A. Dawes, Jr. (a former Commanding Officer of Warrington), and published by Naval Institute Press.


1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Impact, USS Warrington and other ships
In addition to Warrington, the Coast Guard cutters CGC Bedloe (WSC-128) and CGC Jackson (WSC-142) both capsized and sank off Cape Hatteras. Seventy-five men managed to escape onto life rafts from Bedloe and Jackson, but only 32 survived the rough seas and subsequent hours of exposure to be rescued two days later. The 136-foot (41 m) minesweeper YMS-409 foundered and sank killing all 33 on board, while the lightship Vineyard Sound (LV-73) was sunk with the loss of all twelve aboard. Finally, the hurricane drove the SS Thomas Tracy aground in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.


1944 Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football team
The 1944 Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football team represented Great Lakes Naval Training Station during the 1944 college football season. The team compiled a 9–2–1 record, outscored opponents by a total of 348 to 134, and was ranked No. 17 in the final AP Poll.


1944 Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football team
In April 1944, Paul Brown, who coached at Ohio State before the war, was commissioned as a lieutenant and assigned to coach the Great Lakes football team.


1944 Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football team
The players on the 1944 Great Lakes team included backs Jim Youel (quarterback, Iowa), Eddie Saenz (left halfback, USC), Chuck Avery (right halfback, Minnesota), Jim Mello (fullback, Notre Dame), Don Lesher (halfback), Don Manglold (Indiana), Bob Hanlon, and Ara Parseghian (Miami (OH)), ends Cecil Souders and George Young (Georgia), and linemen Pete Krivonak (guard), Jesse Hahn (guard), and Carmen Izzo (center).


1944 Greek naval mutiny
The 1944 Greek naval mutiny was a mutiny by sailors on five ships of the Royal Hellenic Navy in April 1944 over the composition of the Greek government-in-exile, in support of the National Liberation Front (EAM). Petros Voulgaris was called from retirement and appointed vice-admiral to quell the revolt.


1944 Greek naval mutiny
The revolt began in Alexandria. Sailors Revolutionary Commissions were formed both on ships and the naval shore establishments on 4 April 1944.


1944 Green Bay Packers season
The 1944 Green Bay Packers season was their 26th season overall and their 24th season in the National Football League. The team finished with an 8–2 record under coach Curly Lambeau, earning them a first-place finish in the Western Conference. The Packers ended the season beating the New York Giants 14–7 in the NFL Championship Game, their sixth league title. Don Hutson led the NFL in touchdowns for a record-setting eighth time in his career.


1944 Green Bay Packers season, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1944 Guatemalan Constitutional Assembly election
Constitutional Assembly elections were held on 28–30 December 1944. The United Front of Arevalist Parties won 50 of the 65 seats.


1944 Guatemalan parliamentary by-election
By-elections to fill vacancies in the Congress were held in Guatemala on 13 October 1944. Congressional elections were blatantly manipulated to insure the election of government candidates. Following the example of former president Ubico, president Ponce Vaides rigged the congressional elections in October 1944, in which the official slate won 48,530 votes out of a total of 44,571 ballots. The ruling Progressive Liberal Party's candidates easily captured the five congressional seats available.


1944 Guatemalan parliamentary by-election
On 20 October 1944, young military officers deposed President Ponce in a lightning-quick coup. The junta immediately dissolved the legislature and set dates for three elections: congressional, 3-5 November; presidential, 17-19 December; and, constituent assembly, 28-30 December.


1944 Guatemalan parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Guatemala on 3–5 November 1944 to elect members of the Congress. The result was a victory for the United Front of Political Parties and Civic Associations (FUPP), which won all 76 seats. The FUPP was an alliance of the National Democratic Front, the Popular Liberation Front,  the Central Democratic Party, the Social Democratic Party, the National Renovation Party and the National Vanguard Party.


1944 Guatemalan presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Guatemala between 17 and 19 December 1944. The October Revolution had overthrown Jorge Ubico, the American-backed dictator, after which a junta composed of Francisco Javier Arana, Jacobo Árbenz and Jorge Toriello took power, and quickly announced presidential elections, as well as elections for a constitutional assembly. The subsequent elections were broadly considered free and fair, although only literate men were given the vote. Unlike in similar historical situations, none of the junta members stood for election. The front-runner was the philosophically conservative University professor Juan José Arévalo, of the National Renovation Party.


1944 Guatemalan presidential election
His closest challenger was Adrián Recinos, whose campaign included a number of individuals identified with the Ubico regime. The ballots were tallied on 19 December and Arévalo won in a landslide with 86.25% of the vote, receiving more than four times as many votes as the other candidates combined. The Constitutional Assembly elections took place on 28–30 December, with the United Front of Arevalist Parties winning 50 of the 65 seats.