The Phoney War was an eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front, when French troops invaded Germany's Saar district. The Phoney period began with the declaration of war by the United Kingdom and France against Nazi Germany on 3 September 1939, ended with the German invasion of France and the Low Countries on 10 May 1940. Although there was no large-scale military action by Britain and France, they did begin economic warfare with the naval blockade, shut down German surface raiders, they created elaborate plans for numerous large-scale operations designed to swiftly and decisively cripple the German war effort. These included opening an Anglo-French front in the Balkans, invading Norway to seize control of Germany's main source of iron ore and a strike against the Soviet Union, to cut off its supply of oil to Germany. Only the Norway plan came to fruition, it was too little too late in April 1940; the quiet of the Phoney War was punctuated by a few Allied actions.

In the Saar Offensive in September, the French attacked Germany with the intention of assisting Poland, but it fizzled out within days and they withdrew. In November, the Soviets attacked Finland in the Winter War, resulting in much debate in France and Britain about an offensive to help Finland, but the forces assembled for this campaign were delayed until it ended in March; the Allied discussions about a Scandinavian campaign caused concern in Germany and resulted in the German invasion of Denmark and Norway in April, the Allied troops assembled for Finland were redirected to Norway instead. Fighting there continued until June when the Allies evacuated, ceding Norway to Germany in response to the German invasion of France. On the Axis side, the Germans launched attacks at sea in the autumn and winter against British aircraft carriers and destroyers, sinking several including the carrier HMS Courageous with the loss of 519 lives. Action in the air began on 16 October 1939 when the Luftwaffe launched air raids on British warships.

There were various minor bombing raids and reconnaissance flights on both sides. The term Phoney War customarily appears using the British spelling in North America, rather than the American phony, although some American sources do not follow the pattern; the first known recorded use of the term in print was in September 1939, in a US newspaper which used the British spelling, although other contemporary American reports sometimes used "phony" since both spellings were in use at the time in the US. The term appeared in Great Britain by January 1940 as the only acceptable spelling there; the Phoney War was referred to as the "Twilight War" and as the Sitzkrieg. In French, it is referred to as the drôle de guerre; the term "Phoney War" was coined by US Senator William Borah, commenting in September 1939 on the inactivity on the Western Front, said, "There is something phoney about this war." The Polish Army general plan for defence, Plan West, assumed that the Allies' offensive on the Western front would provide significant relief to the Polish front in the East.

While most of the German army was engaged in Poland, a much smaller German force manned the Siegfried Line, their fortified defensive line along the French border. At the Maginot Line on the other side of the border and French troops stood facing them, but there were only some local, minor skirmishes, while in the air there were occasional dogfights between fighter planes; the Royal Air Force dropped propaganda leaflets on Germany and the first Canadian troops arrived in Britain, while western Europe was under a period of uneasy calm for seven months. In the first few months of the war, Germany still hoped to persuade Britain to agree to peace. Although London hospitals prepared for 300,000 casualties in the first week, Germany unexpectedly did not attack British cities by air, German pilots that attacked Scottish naval bases said that they would have been court-martialled and executed for bombing civilians. Both sides found that attacks on military targets, such as a British attack on Kiel on the second night of the war, led to high losses of aircraft.

They feared retaliation for bombing civilians. Civilian attitudes in Britain to their German foes were still not as intense as they were to become after the Blitz. On 30 April 1940, a German Heinkel 111 bomber crashed at Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, killing its crew and injuring 160 people on the ground, they were all laid to rest in the local cemetery, provided with support from the Royal Air Force. Wreaths with messages of sympathy for the casualties were displayed on the coffins. British pilots mapped the Siegfried Line; when Leopold Amery suggested to Kingsley Wood that the Black Forest be bombed with incendiaries to burn its ammunition dumps, Wood—the Secretary of State for Air—amazed the member of parliament by responding that the forest was "private property" and could not be bombed. Some British officers in France imported packs of foxhounds and beagles in 1939, but were thwarted by the French authorities in their attempts at introducing live foxes. In their hurry to re-arm and France both bought large amounts of weapons from manufacturers in the US at the outbreak of hostilities, supplementing their own production.

The non-belligerent US contributed to the Western Allies by discounted sales. Despite

Asima Chatterjee was an Indian organic chemist noted for her work in the fields of organic chemistry and phytomedicine. Her most notable work includes research on vinca alkaloids, the development of anti-epileptic drugs, development of anti-malarial drugs, she authored a considerable volume of work on medicinal plants of the Indian subcontinent. She was the first woman to receive a Doctorate of Science from an Indian university. Asima Chatterjee was born on 23 September 1917 in Bengal, she was the eldest of the two children of a medical doctor Indra Narayan Mukherjee and his wife, Kamala Devi. Chatterjee grew up in Calcutta in a middle-class family where she was encouraged to get an education, her father was interested in botany and Chatterjee shared in his interest. She graduated with honors in chemistry from the Scottish Church College of the University of Calcutta in 1936. Asima Chatterjee received a master's degree and a doctoral degree in organic chemistry from the University of Calcutta, she was the first Indian woman to earn a doctorate in science.

Her doctoral research focused on the chemistry of synthetic organic chemistry. Among her notable instructors at the time were Satyendra Nath Bose. Additionally, she had research experience from the University of Wisconsin and Caltech with László Zechmeister. Chatterjee's research concentrated on natural products chemistry and resulted in anti-convulsive, anti-malarial, chemotherapy drugs, she spent around forty years researching various alkaloid compounds. She discovered anti-epileptic activity in Marsilea minuta and anti-malarial activity in the plants Alstonia scholaris, Swertia chirata, Picrorhiza kurroa and Caesalpinia crista; these agents, have not been shown to be clinically competitive with the medications used for these conditions. Her work led to the development of an epilepsy drug called several anti-malarial drugs. Chatterjee wrote around 400 papers which were published in both national and international journals. Chatterjee's contributions to science include the following: Initiated chemical investigation of alkaloids in Rauwolfia canescens.

Investigated the chemistry of all principal types of indole alkaloids. Contributions to the elucidation of the structure and stereochemistry of ajmalicine and sarpagine. First suggested stereo-configuration of sarpagine. Isolated and characterised geissoschizine, a key precursor in biogenesis of indole alkaloids from Rhazya stricta. Carried out synthetic studies on a number of complex indole and isoquinoline alkaloids. Developed procedures for the preparation of beta-phenylethanolamines in connection with alkaloid synthesis. Elucidated the structure of luvangetin isolated from Luvanga scandens. Studied the action of various Lewis acids on prenylated coumarins and devised simple synthetic routes to a number of complex coumarin systems. Investigated the mechanism of acid-catalysed hydramine fission of beta phenylethanol amines. Introduced the use of periodic acid as a reagent for the detection and location of both terminal and exocyclic double bonds in organic compounds, she joined the Lady Brabourne College of the University of Calcutta and founded the department of chemistry there.

In 1954, Asima Chatterjee joined the University College of Science of the University of Calcutta, as reader in pure chemistry. She was a Premchand Roychand Scholar of the University of Calcutta. From 1962 to 1982, she was the Khaira Professor of Chemistry, one of the most prestigious and coveted chairs of the University of Calcutta. In 1972, she was appointed as the Honorary Coordinator of the Special Assistance Programme to intensify teaching and research in natural product chemistry, sanctioned by the Indian University Grants Commission. In 1960, she was elected a Fellow of New Delhi. In 1961, she received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in chemical science, becoming the first female recipient of this award. In 1975, she was conferred the prestigious Padma Bhushan and became the first female scientist to be elected as the General President of the Indian Science Congress Association, she was conferred the D. Sc. degree by several universities. She was nominated by the President of India as a Member of the Rajya Sabha from February 1982 to May 1990.

On 23 September 2017, the search engine Google deployed a 24-hour Google Doodle in honour of the 100th anniversary of Chatterjee's birth. Google Doodle, on 23 September 2017 celebrated the 100th birthday of Asima Chatterjee to be the first Indian woman to receive doctorate in science from an Indian institute. Timeline of women in science Asima Chatterjee. Indian Academy of Science

Sir Thomas Rouse, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1654 and 1660 and supported the Parliamentary cause during the English Civil War. Rouse was the son of Sir John Rouse of Rouse Lench, Worcestershire, MP in 1626, he matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford on 20 October 1626 and was awarded BA from Corpus Christi, Oxford on 31 January 1628. In 1628, he entered Middle Temple, he was created Baronet Rouse of Rouse Lench on 23 July 1641. Rouse was added to the Committee for Worcestershire in 1645 and was High Sheriff of Worcestershire in 1648. In 1654, he was elected Member of Parliament for Worcestershire in the First Protectorate Parliament, he was an assessment commissioner in 1656 and was Custos Rotulorum in 1656. In 1660, Rouse was elected MP for Evesham in the Convention Parliament, he became a J. P. on 10 July 1660. Rouse was buried at Rouse Lench, where there is a monument. Rouse married firstly Jane Ferrers daughter of Sir John Ferrers of Tamworth Castle, secondly Frances Murray daughter of David Murray and thirdly Ann