Building of Highland Park Ford Plant in Highland Park, Michigan,United States. Heavy automobile and pedestrian traffic on the street in front of the plant, celebrating the 10 millionth Ford Model-T, and the beginning of its motorcade from New York to San Francisco.
American college football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg passes away in California, United States. He had coached at the University of the Pacific (where he was named Coach of the Year at the age of 82). He also coached for 40 years at the University of Chicago. A college football game in progress. A large crowd of fan gathered to watch the football ga,e. An official discussing with the American football coach Amos Stagg and presenting the coach an award. People gather to celebrate Coach Stagg's 90th birthday. The birthday cake on the table with lettering wishing Stagg happy birthday from the Touchdown Club of San Francisco. The celebration of the 100th birthday of Coach Stagg who died at the age of 102. Narrator indicates that Stagg pioneered the forward pass.
Opening scene shows Adolf Hitler reviewing German troops on parade. German paratroopers jumping from Junkers Ju-52 aircraft. View from the ground of paratroopers descending from three Ju-52s. The Japanese attack on Pearl harbor, December 7, 1941. Heavy smoke rising from the leaning USS Arizona after she is hit by bombs. Newspaper headline reading "Pearl Harbor Bombed!" American soldiers leaving Camp Stoneman, are seen assembled on a pier at the Pittsburg California waterfront to board one of the ferries that would take them to Piers 15 and 45 on the Embarcadero in San Francisco. A sign at pier reading:"Through these portals pass the best damned soldiers in the West." Glimpses of soldiers firing howitzers in World War 2. Glimpses of the civilians supporting the war effort. Auto factory workers walking near a war production plant during shift change. A new army truck leaves a factory. War production workers assembling the turret on a Sherman tank. Guns and turrets being manufactured. Factory floor filled with new pursuit airplanes. A B-25 Mitchell bomber aircraft taking off. Aerial view from bomber of its bombs exploding over enemy target below. Freight trains carrying United States military supplies. Supplies being loaded aboard a ship for the U.S. and Allies. The American battleship USS New Mexico firing a gun, and firing guns from triple turrets. Workers assembling aircraft engines in a war plant. A woman at work in a war materiel production plant. Gun camera images from warplane strafing a ground target. World War 2 Victory parade along 5th Avenue, New York City, in 1946. Washington Square triumphal arch in background. Various views of the parade. Laid off war plant workers looking for new jobs. Troops welcomed home: Ship carrying returning United States soldiers back home after the end of World War 2. Disabled soldiers and sailors making their war to a Military Air Transport Service C-54 aircraft. More views of the disabled veterans who were injured during World War II.
Amelia Earhart and her crew take off from the U.S. Naval Air Station, Oakland, California, to begin their flight around the world. Views from another aircraft as their Lockheed Electra flies low over Western Span of the Bay Bridge and San Francisco, heading West toward the Pacific Ocean. Scene on the ground, several days earlier, Paul Mantz and Amelia Earhart Putnam converse, as he secures a dzuz fastener on the aircraft fuselage. Mechanic Bo McKneely helps Earhart step from the wing of the airplane. She talks with husband, George P. Putnam. Paul Mantz, talks with Earhart and George Putnam while Bo McKneely refuels the Lockheed Electra. In final scenes, ground crew pushes the Lockheed Electra into a Hangar at the Naval Air Station.
Pope Pius XII delivers an Easter message to a quarter of a million Easter pilgrims from St. Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro 00120 Città del Vaticano Vatican City) in the Vatican City. A huge crowd gathers at the square to attend the Pope's Easter Urbi et Orbi address. People walk through flooded streets in New York City. People cover their heads with umbrellas and boxes to avoid getting wet while entering Saint Patrick's Cathedral (5th Ave, New York, NY 10022, United States). A woman holds a live Easter rabbit.
Rose Bowl parade and fete in Pasadena, California. Men stand with poster that reads '52nd annual tournament of roses'. A girl on a float waves. Name on a float reads 'our navy'. Model of an eagle on a float. Float of San Francisco with model of Golden Gate Bridge on it. Floats of Stanford, Nebraska, Ventura, Los Angeles and Glendale go by.