1941 Nine-Patch

On this day in 1940, Winston Churchill was first photographed giving the famous “V for Victory” sign. For months, England and much of Europe had been using this hand sign - two fingers up with the palm facing out - as a symbol that they were eagerly waiting for Germany to falter and be overthrown. At first, Churchill accidentally made the sign backwards, with the palm facing inward. Born to an aristocratic family, he didn’t know the sign he was making was known as a “two-fingered salute” to Britain’s lower classes. In case you were wondering, a two-fingered salute means pretty much the same thing as a one-fingered salute does. Eventually, Churchill stopped making the sign with the palm facing in, after it was explained to him that he was inadvertently “flipping the bird.”