Explore 3967 historical events from 1940–1949.
A prison ship, is a current or former seagoing vessel that has been modified to become a place of substantive detention for convicts, prisoners of war or civilian internees. Some p…
World War II: Sinking of the prison ships Cap Arcona, Thielbek and Deutschland by the Royal Air Force in Lübeck Bay, re
Neuengamme was a network of Nazi concentration camps in northern Germany that consisted of the main camp, Neuengamme, and more than 85 satellite camps. Established in 1938 near the…
World War II: Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg is liberated by the British Army
Terence Joseph Willesee is an Australian retired journalist and television and radio presenter.
Terry Willesee, Australian journalist and television host
Hugh Colin Hopper was a British progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and other bands.
Hugh Hopper, English bass guitarist (died 2009)
Catherine Lara is a French violinist, composer, singer, and author. Over a career spanning more than five decades, she has established herself as an icon in French pop/rock music a…
Catherine Lara, French singer-songwriter and violinist
Thomasina Winifred Montgomery, professionally known as Tammi Terrell, was an American singer-songwriter, widely known as a star singer for Motown Records during the 1960s, notably …
Tammi Terrell, American soul singer-songwriter (died 1970)
On 4 May 1945, at 18:30 British Double Summer Time, at Lüneburg Heath, south of Hamburg, British Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery accepted the unconditional surrender of the Ge…
World War II: The German surrender at Lüneburg Heath is signed, coming into effect the following day
The Prague uprising was a partially successful attempt by the Czech resistance movement to liberate the city of Prague from German occupation in May 1945, during the end of World W…
World War II: The Prague uprising begins as an attempt by the Czech resistance to free the city from German occupation
Fu-Go was an incendiary balloon weapon deployed by Japan against the United States during World War II. It consisted of a hydrogen-filled paper balloon 33 feet (10 m) in diameter…
World War II: A Fu-Go balloon bomb launched by the Japanese Army kills six people near Bly, Oregon
Mildred Elizabeth Gillars was an American broadcaster employed by Nazi Germany to disseminate Axis propaganda during World War II. Following her capture in post-war Berlin, Gillars…
World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops
The Prague offensive was the last major military operation of World War II in Europe. The offensive was fought on the Eastern Front from 6 May to 11 May 1945. Fought concurrently w…
World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins
The Prague uprising was a partially successful attempt by the Czech resistance movement to liberate the city of Prague from German occupation in May 1945, during the end of World W…
End of the Prague uprising, celebrated now as a national holiday in the Czech Republic
Sir John Michael Brady is an emeritus professor of oncological imaging at the University of Oxford. He has been a Fellow of Keble College, Oxford, since 1985 and was elected a fore…
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Annie Dillard is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and nonfiction. She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as…
Annie Dillard, American novelist, essayist, and poet
Margarita Mimi Baez Fariña was an American singer-songwriter and activist, the youngest of three daughters of mother Joan Chandos Bridge and Mexican-American physicist Albert Baez.…
Mimi Fariña, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist (died 2001)
The Halifax VE-Day riots, 7–8 May 1945, in Halifax and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, began as a celebration of the World War II victory in Europe. This rapidly evolved into a rampage by …
The Halifax riot starts when thousands of civilians and servicemen rampage through Halifax, Nova Scotia
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 Channel Islands are liberated from Nazi occupation
The Battle of Poljana took place outside of Poljana, near the town of Prevalje in Yugoslavia between the Yugoslav Army and a column of 30,000 retreating Axis soldiers, which consis…
World War II: The Battle of Poljana, the final skirmish in Europe is fought near Prevalje, Slovenia
The Levant Crisis, also known as the Damascus Crisis, the Syrian Crisis, or the Levant Confrontation, was a military confrontation that took place between British and French forces…
Beginning of the Levant Crisis between Britain and France in Syria
Syrians are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultu…
Syrian demonstrators in Damascus are fired upon by French troops injuring twelve, leading to the Levant Crisis
Michael John Smith, was an American engineer and astronaut. He served as the pilot of the Space Shuttle Challenger when it was destroyed during the STS-51-L mission, breaking up 73…
Michael J
Rita Coolidge is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on Billboard magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two…
Rita Coolidge, American singer-songwriter
Alexander Minto Hughes, better known as Judge Dread, was an English reggae and ska musician. He was the first white recording artist to have a reggae hit in Jamaica, and the BBC ha…
Judge Dread, English singer-songwriter (died 1998)
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was a German Nazi politician and military leader. He was the 4th Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel from 1929 to 1945. He was a leading member of the Nazi …
World War II: Heinrich Himmler, head of the Schutzstaffel, commits suicide while in Allied custody