<![CDATA[Five days after Nazi soldiers marched into Paris, Congress unanimously voted 316–0 in favor of the Two-Ocean Navy Act authorizing the construction of more than 40 major surface ships, 115 destroyers,43 submarines, and (gulp!) 15,000 aircraft. Sponsored by Rep. Carl Vinson, a Georgia Democrat — if you ever wondered why we have a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier named after him — the bill was signed into law by FDR on July 19, 1940, belatedly readying this country for the rising Nazi threat in the Atlantic and Imperial Japan in the Pacific.]]>