Explore 5072 historical events from 1940–1949.
The Liberation of Paris was a battle that took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on 25 August 1944. Paris had b…
World War II: Liberation of Paris: Paris, France rises against German occupation with the help of Allied troops.
William Emanuel Cobham Jr. is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Or…
Billy Cobham, Panamanian-American drummer, composer, and bandleader
Antal Nagy is a Hungarian former professional footballer who played as a striker. In his only season for Standard de Liège (1968–69), he won the Belgian championship and he became …
Antal Nagy, Hungarian footballer
Friedrich Schorlemmer was a German Protestant theologian. He was a prominent member of the civil rights movement in East Germany, leading to the Peaceful Revolution. Remaining acti…
Friedrich Schorlemmer, German Protestant theologian (died 2024)
Peter William Mayhew was a British-American actor. He was best known for portraying Chewbacca in the Star Wars film series. He played the character in all of his live-action appear…
Peter Mayhew, English-American actor (died 2019)
John Robert "Joe" Cocker was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known sin…
Joe Cocker, English singer-songwriter (died 2014)
Between 20 August and 19 October 1944, 168 Allied airmen were held prisoner at Buchenwald concentration camp. Colloquially, they described themselves as the KLB Club. Of them, 166 …
World War II: One hundred sixty-eight captured allied airmen, including Phil Lamason, accused by the Gestapo of being…
The Dumbarton Oaks Conference, or, more formally, the Washington Conversations on International Peace and Security Organization, was an international conference at which proposals …
Dumbarton Oaks Conference, prelude to the United Nations, begins.
Operation Tractable was the final attack conducted by Canadian and Polish troops, supported by a British tank brigade, during the Battle of Normandy during World War II. The operat…
World War II: Canadian and Polish units capture the strategically important town of Falaise, Calvados, France.
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: Holocaust of Kedros in Crete by German forces.
Marseille is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the Bouches-du-Rhône department and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in Provence, it marks the eastern e…
World War II: Marseille is liberated by the Allied forces.
Frank Boudewijn de Groot is a Dutch singer-songwriter, known for "Welterusten mijnheer de president" (1966).
Boudewijn de Groot, Indonesian-Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist
Keith William Robert Fletcher is an English former first-class cricketer who played for Essex and England. He later became England's team manager. His nickname was "The Gnome of Es…
Keith Fletcher, English cricketer and manager
Dietrich Markwart Eberhart Mateschitz was an Austrian entrepreneur. He was the co-founder and 49% owner of Red Bull GmbH. In April 2022, Mateschitz's net worth was estimated at US$…
Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman, co-founder of Red Bull GmbH (died 2022)
Timo Pekka Olavi Siitoin was a Finnish neo-Nazi, Satanist, and occultist.
Pekka Siitoin, Finnish neo-Nazi and Satanist (d
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces against Nazi Germany and Vichy France in World War II and chaired the Provisi…
World War II: Charles de Gaulle enters Paris.
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: Marseille and Toulon are liberated.
The Slovak National Uprising was an attempted insurrection organised by the Slovak resistance during the Second World War. It was directed on the one hand against the German invasi…
World War II: Slovak National Uprising takes place as 60,000 Slovak troops turn against the Nazis.
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: Launch of Operation Ratweek, complicating German retreat.
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf …
The last execution of a Finn in Finland takes place when soldier Olavi Laiho is executed by shooting in Oulu.
Danny Trejo is an American actor. In his body of work he appears as a character actor. Films in which he has appeared have grossed over $3.7 billion worldwide.
Danny Trejo, American actor
Haleh Afshar, Baroness Afshar, was a British life peer in the House of Lords. She had a life-long interest in women's rights and Islamic law. She was a professor at the University …
Haleh Afshar, Baroness Afshar, Iranian-English academic and politician (died 2022)
Marcia Blank, known as Marcie Blane, is an American former pop singer known for her 1962 hit song, "Bobby's Girl".
Marcie Blane, American singer
Janet Anne Haradon Dailey was an American author of numerous romance novels as Janet Dailey. Her novels have been translated into nineteen languages and have sold more than 300 mil…
Janet Dailey, American author and entrepreneur (died 2013)