Explore 3967 historical events from 1940–1949.
Yekaterina Vasilyevna Budanova, nicknamed Katya (Катя), was a fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during World War II. Usually credited with five or more aerial victories, along …
Yekaterina Budanova, Russian captain and pilot (born 1916)
Carlo Zangarini i was an Italian librettist, poet, and academic. He lived his entire life in the city of Bologna, and is best remembered today for penning the libretti for the oper…
Carlo Zangarini, Italian poet and opera librettist (born 1873)
Charles William Paddock was an American athlete and two-time Olympic champion.
Charley Paddock, American runner and actor (born 1900)
Louis Vauxcelles was a French art critic. He is credited with coining the terms Fauvism (1905) and Cubism (1908). He used several pseudonyms in various publications: Pinturrichio, …
Louis Vauxcelles, French art critic (born 1870)
Hedley Verity was a professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left-arm orthodox bowler, he took 1,956 wickets in first-class cricket…
Hedley Verity, English cricketer and soldier (born 1905)
Chaïm Soutine was a French painter of Belarusian-Jewish origin of the School of Paris, who made a major contribution to the Expressionist movement while living and working in Paris…
Chaïm Soutine, Belarusian-French painter and educator (born 1893)
Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak, also known as Lilya, was a fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during World War II. Historians' estimates for her total victories range from thirteen …
Lydia Litvyak, Soviet lieutenant and pilot (born 1921)
Frumka Płotnicka was a Jewish Polish resistance fighter during World War II; activist of the Jewish Fighting Organization (ŻOB) and member of the Labour Zionist organization Dror. …
Frumka Płotnicka, Polish resistance fighter during World War II (born 1914)
Vittorio Sella was an Italian photographer and mountaineer, whose photographs of mountains are regarded as some of the finest ever made.
Vittorio Sella, Italian photographer and mountaineer (born 1859)
Joseph James Kelley was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who starred in the outfield of the Baltimore Orioles teams of the 1890s. Making up the nucleus of th…
Joe Kelley, American baseball player and manager (born 1871)
Ali Agha Ismail Agha oghlu Shikhlinski was an Azerbaijani lieutenant-general of the Imperial Russian Army, Deputy Minister of Defense and General of the Artillery of Azerbaijan Dem…
Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, Azerbaijani general (born 1865)
Sir William Hill Irvine was an Australian politician and judge. He served as Premier of Victoria (1902–1904), Attorney-General of Australia (1913–1914), and Chief Justice of Victor…
William Irvine, Irish-Australian politician, 21st Premier of Victoria (born 1858)
Henrik Pontoppidan was a Danish realist writer who shared with Karl Gjellerup the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917 for "his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark.…
Henrik Pontoppidan, Danish journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1857)
Antonio Alice was an Argentine portrait painter. He was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1904.
Antonio Alice, Argentinian painter and educator (born 1886)
Ettore Muti was an Italian aviator and Fascist politician. He was party secretary of the National Fascist Party from October 1939 until shortly after the entry of Italy into World …
Ettore Muti Italian aviator, adventurer and politician (born 1902)
Simone Adolphine Weil was a French philosopher, mystic, political activist and labourer. Despite her short life, her ideas concerning religion, spirituality and politics have remai…
Simone Weil, French philosopher and activist (born 1909)
Bîmen Şen was a composer and lyricist of Armenian descent.
Bîmen Şen, Turkish composer and songwriter (born 1873)
Georg Hellat was an Estonian architect.
Georg Hellat, Estonian architect (born 1870)
Boris III was the Tsar of the Kingdom of Bulgaria from 1918 until his death in 1943.
Boris III of Bulgaria (born 1894)
The Emilia Plater Independent Women's Battalion was a unit of the Soviet First Polish Army during the Second World War. It was created in 1943 with the intention of serving as a fr…
The all-female Emilia Plater Independent Women's Battalion was formed in the Soviet Union's First Polish Army.
Dysentery, historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of i…
After suffering train derailments, defections, and outbreaks of dysentery and typhoid fever which killed two members, th
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and air…
Second World War: The Royal Navy submarine HMS Seraph began Operation Mincemeat to deceive Germany about the upcoming in
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and air…
Second World War: Australian Hospital Ship Centaur was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Queens
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and air…
Second World War: The Royal Air Force's "Dambusters" squadron embarked on an attack on German dams using bouncing bombs