Explore 3967 historical events from 1940–1949.
Wolfgang Lüth was a German U-boat captain of World War II who was credited with the sinking of 46 merchant ships plus the French submarine Doris sunk during 15 war patrols, for a t…
Wolfgang Lüth, Latvian-German captain (born 1913)
Elizabeth Isis Pogson, was a British astronomer and meteorologist who was one of the first women to be elected as a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Isis Pogson, English astronomer and meteorologist (born 1852)
Frederick Joseph Ricketts was an English composer of marches for band. Under the pen name Kenneth J. Alford, he composed marches which are considered to be great examples of the ar…
Kenneth J
Charles Walter Stansby Williams was an English poet, novelist, playwright, theologian and literary critic. Most of his life was spent in London, where he was born, but in 1939 he m…
Charles Williams, English author, poet, and critic (born 1886)
Philipp Bouhler was a German senior Nazi Party functionary who was both a Reichsleiter and Chief of the Chancellery of the Führer of the NSDAP. He was also the SS official responsi…
Philipp Bouhler, German soldier and politician (born 1889)
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 …
Heinrich Himmler, German commander and politician, Reich Minister of the Interior and head of the SS (born 1900)
Robert Ritter von Greim was a German Generalfeldmarschall and First World War flying ace. In April 1945, in the last days of World War II in Europe, Adolf Hitler appointed Greim co…
Robert Ritter von Greim, German field marshal and pilot (born 1892)
Enno Lolling was a Nazi doctor. As a member of the SS, he served as a Lagerarzt at Dachau concentration camp. He later headed up the medical division for all the SS concentration c…
Enno Lolling, German physician (born 1888)
Odilo Lothar Ludwig Globočnik was a Nazi Party official and a perpetrator of the Holocaust. A high-ranking member of the SS, Globočnik was the leader of Operation Reinhard, the org…
Odilo Globocnik, Italian-Austrian SS officer (born 1904)
Albert Viktor Julius Joseph Michael Graf von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein was an Austro-Hungarian diplomat who served as Ambassador to London at the outbreak of World War I.
Count Albert von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein, Austrian diplomat
Athanasios Klaras, better known by the nom de guerre Aris Velouchiotis, was a Greek journalist and politician. He was a member of the Communist Party of Greece and the most promine…
Aris Velouchiotis, Greek general (born 1905)
Florence Bascom was a pioneer American woman geologist and educator. Bascom was the second woman to earn a PhD in geology in the United States. She received her PhD in 1893 from …
Florence Bascom, American geologist and educator (born 1862)
Bruno Frank was a German author, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and humanist.
Bruno Frank, German author, poet, and playwright (born 1878)
Kitarō Nishida was a Japanese moral philosopher, philosopher of mathematics and science, and religious scholar. He was the founder of what has been called the Kyoto School of phil…
Kitaro Nishida, Japanese philosopher and academic (born 1870)
Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. was a lieutenant general in the United States Army during World War II who served in the Pacific Theater. As commanding general of Alaska Defense Command,…
Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr
Isamu Chō was a Japanese officer in the Imperial Japanese Army known for his support of ultranationalist politics and involvement in a number of attempted coup d'états in pre-Wor…
Isamu Chō, Japanese general (born 1895)
Mitsuru Ushijima was a Japanese general who served during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. He was the commanding general of the 32nd Army, which fought in the Battle…
Mitsuru Ushijima, Japanese general (born 1887)
Giuseppina Tuissi, better known as Gianna was an Italian communist and partisan during World War II. She was part of the 52nd Brigata Garibaldi "Luigi Clerici". From September 1944…
Giuseppina Tuissi, Italian journalist and activist (born 1923)
Emil Dominik Josef Hácha was a Czech lawyer, serving as the president of Czechoslovakia from November 1938 to March 1939. In March 1939, after the breakup of Czechoslovakia, Hácha …
Emil Hácha, Czech lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Czechoslovakia (born 1872)
Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu was a Turkish journalist and the founder of the newspaper Cumhuriyet. He was known for his support for Turkish nationalism and his sympathies with the Nazi reg…
Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu, Turkish journalist (born 1879)
John Curtin was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor …
John Curtin, Australian journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Australia (born 1885)
Boris Grigoryevich Galerkin was a Soviet mathematician and an engineer.
Boris Galerkin, Russian mathematician and engineer (born 1871)
Wolfram Karl Ludwig Moritz Hermann Freiherr von Richthofen was a German World War I flying ace who rose to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall in the Luftwaffe during World War II.
Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, German field marshal (born 1895)
Alla Aleksandrovna Nazimova was a Russian-born American actress. Hailed by modern scholars as the "founding mother of Sapphic Hollywood", Nazimova was a celebrated nonconformist ar…
Alla Nazimova, Russian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter (born 1879)