We visited Bran Castle – allegedly Dracula’s castle, but really a royal residence – yesterday. It’s like a Disney house!
Tag Archives: Romanian History
On this day: the bombing of Romania
US bomber The Sandman, piloted by Robert Sternfels, emerges from a cloud of smoke in Ploiești, Romania on the 1st of August, 1943.
Romania aligned itself with Nazi Germany during the Second World War, and participated in the invasion of the Soviet Union.
Ploiești was the main Allied target in the country, as it was the main site of Romania’s oil industry. The attack was named Operation Tidal Wave.
On this day: a war crime in progress
This photograph, dated the 17th of July, 1941, is of Romanian soldiers marching Jewish women and children from their homes. It is listed as evidence of a war crime in progress.
Romania aligned themselves with Nazi Germany in the Second World War, and played a large part in the invasions of, and fighting in, Ukraine and Stalingrad (Russia).
On this day: the Treznea Massacre
Hungarian troops nearby the day before the massacre
On the 9th of September, 1940, at least 93 (and up to 263, depending on which country is reporting) Romanians were massacred by Hungarian troops in the village of Treznea during the handing over of Northern Transylvania.
Amongst the dead were the local priest, the schoolteacher and his wife. The Orthodox church was partially burnt down.
This is a controversial event in the history of the Second World War, and historians in Hungary present a very different version of events to historians in Romania.
On this day: Nadia Comaneci’s first “Perfect Ten”
Despite the way it is commonly reported, Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci was not the first gymnast to earn a perfect score of ten. She was, however, the first to do so at the Olympic Games, and there’s no denying her incredible influence on gymnastics.
On the 18th of July, 1976, Comăneci was yet to have her fifteenth birthday when she earned that perfect score on the uneven bars. She’d go on to finish her first Olympics with three gold and one silver medal. Some of the skills she was famous for are still performed.
Here is that historic performance. It is the compulsory routine, so not the routine with all her big skills, but you can see her clean technique.
In Times Gone By... 
