Explore 3967 historical events from 1940–1949.
The Luttra Woman is a skeletonised bog body discovered in a peat bog in Falbygden near Luttra, Sweden. The remains were found on 20 May 1943 by a peat cutter. The skull was well-pr…
The Luttra Woman (skull pictured), a bog body from the Early Neolithic period, was discovered near Luttra, Sweden
The Junkers Ju 88 is a twin-engined multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works. It was used extensively du…
Eight German Junkers Ju 88s shot down British Overseas Airways Corporation Flight 777 over the Bay of Biscay off the coa
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…
World War II: The Royal Air Force began Operation Bellicose, a four-day shuttle-bombing mission that included raids on G
The United States Army is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is designated as the army of the United States in the United States Constitution. As a part …
Amid racial tensions, U
Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski was a Polish military and political leader. Before World War I, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promote…
The aircraft carrying Władysław Sikorski, prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile, crashed off Gibraltar,…
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. World War II …
World War II: The Battle of Saipan concluded after a mass Japanese suicide attack was repelled by American forces.
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. World War II …
World War II: German and Soviet forces engaged each other at the Battle of Prokhorovka (tanks pictured), one of the…
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. World War II …
World War II: Operation Fustian, an Allied operation to capture the Primosole Bridge in Sicily, was launched.
The Grand Council of Fascism was the main body of Mussolini's government in the Kingdom of Italy, which held and applied great power to control the institutions of government. It w…
The Grand Council of Fascism voted a motion of no confidence against Benito Mussolini, who was arrested the same day…
The 1943 Surprise Hurricane was the first hurricane to be entered by a reconnaissance aircraft. The first tracked tropical cyclone of the 1943 Atlantic hurricane season, this syste…
As the Surprise Hurricane struck Texas, a United States Army Air Forces pilot made the first reconnaissance flight…
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, during the Second World …
Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt met in a highly secret military conference (pictured) held in Quebec City.
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, with many eng…
World War II: The Royal Air Force began a strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany's V-weapon programme by…
Ian Melville Stephens was a British journalist who was the editor of the Indian newspaper The Statesman in Kolkata, West Bengal, from 1942 to 1951. He became known for his independ…
Ian Stephens, editor of The Statesman, defied British censorship to publish pictures of death and misery (example…
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, with many eng…
Second World War: A decisive Soviet victory against German forces at the Battle of Kursk gave the Red Army the…
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" d…
French prisoner of war General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Königstein Fortress
Pierre Jean Marie Laval was a French politician. He served as Prime Minister of France three times: 1931–1932 and 1935–1936 during the Third Republic, and 1942–1944 during Vichy Fr…
Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France
The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids was a series of bombing raids by the Luftwaffe on the United Kingdom during World War II in April and May 1942. Towns and cities in England wer…
World War II: Baedeker Blitz: German bombers hit Exeter, Bath and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck
The 11th Army was a World War II field army.
World War II: The German 11th Army begins Operation Trappenjagd (Bustard Hunt) and destroys the bridgehead of the three
Phayap Army was the hastily combined forces between the Royal Thai Army (RTA) and the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) that invaded the Siamese Shan States of Burma on 10 May 1942 durin…
World War II: The Thai Phayap Army invades the Shan States during the Burma Campaign
A tanker is a ship designed to transport or store liquids or gases in bulk. Major types of tanker ship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, cargo ships, and a gas carrier. …
World War II: The U
The Battle of Gazala, also the Gazala Offensive was fought near the village of Gazala during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, west of the port of Tobruk in Liby…
World War II: The Battle of Gazala begins, in present-day Libya
The German city of Cologne was bombed in 262 separate air raids by the Allies during World War II, all by the Royal Air Force (RAF). A total of 34,711 long tons (35,268 t) of bombs…
World War II: One thousand British bombers launch a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany
The Tsardom of Bulgaria, also known as the Third Bulgarian Tsardom, commonly known in English as the Kingdom of Bulgaria, or simply Bulgaria, was a constitutional monarchy in South…
World War II: The United States declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania
Annelies Marie Frank was a German-born Jewish diarist and Holocaust victim. She gained worldwide notability posthumously for keeping a diary documenting her life in hiding during t…
Anne Frank receives a diary for her thirteenth birthday