Explore 4729 historical events from 1940–1949.
Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was a German army officer who is best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wol…
Claus von Stauffenberg, German soldier who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler (born 1907)
Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, vicomte de Saint-Exupéry, known simply as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was a French writer, poet, journalist and aviator.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French pilot and poet (born 1900)
Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier, and politician who served as the second president of the Philippines from 19…
Manuel L. Quezon, Filipino soldier, lawyer, and politician, 2nd President of the Philippines (born 1878)
Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, was a Polish poet and Home Army soldier, one of the most well known of the Generation of Columbuses, the young generation of Polish poets, of whom severa…
Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Polish soldier and poet (born 1921)
Maurice Joseph Lawson Turnbull was a Welsh cricketer who played in nine Test matches for the England cricket team between 1930 and 1936.
Maurice Turnbull, Welsh cricketer and rugby player (born 1906)
Job Wilhelm Georg Erwin Erdmann von Witzleben was a German Generalfeldmarschall in the Wehrmacht and Oberbefehlshaber West, during the Second World War. A leading conspirator in th…
Erwin von Witzleben, German field marshal (born 1881)
Michael Wittmann was a German Waffen-SS tank commander during the Second World War. He is known for his ambush of elements of the British 7th Armoured Division during the Battle of…
Michael Wittmann, German commander (born 1914)
Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. was an American naval aviator who was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. He was a member of the Kennedy family and the oldest of the nine children born to Jo…
Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., American lieutenant and pilot (born 1915)
Jacques Pellegrin was a French zoologist.
Jacques Pellegrin, French zoologist (born 1873)
Ernst Johannes Fritz Thälmann was a German communist politician, revolutionary, and leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) from 1925 to 1933.
Ernst Thälmann, German soldier and politician (born 1886)
Sir Henry Joseph Wood was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly ha…
Henry Wood, English conductor (born 1869)
Abdülmecid II or Abdul Mejid II, commonly known as Abdülmecid Efendi, was the last Ottoman caliph, the only caliph elected by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, and head of the…
Abdülmecid II, Ottoman caliph (born 1868)
Stefan Filipkiewicz was a Polish painter and designer. He was born in Tarnów, Austria-Hungary, and died in Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, Nazi Germany, during the Holocaust. …
Stefan Filipkiewicz, Polish painter and illustrator (born 1879)
Friedrich Adam von Trott zu Solz was a German lawyer and diplomat who was involved in the conservative resistance to Nazism. A declared opponent of the Nazi regime from the beginni…
Adam von Trott zu Solz, German lawyer and diplomat (born 1909)
Georg von Boeselager was a German nobleman and an officer in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany, who led the Nazi security warfare operations in the Army Group Centre Rear Area on the E…
Georg von Boeselager, German soldier (born 1915)
Attik was a significant Greek composer of the early 20th century.
Attik, Greek pianist and composer (born 1885)
Bella Rosenfeld Chagall was a Russian Jewish writer and the first wife of painter Marc Chagall. She was the subject of many of Chagall's paintings including Bella au col blanc in …
Bella Rosenfeld, Russian-American model and author (born 1895)
Sir John Lumsden was an Irish physician. He was famous for his role as Chief Medical Officer of Guinness Brewery, during which time he founded both St James's Gate F.C. and the St …
John Lumsden, Irish physician, founded the St. John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland (born 1869)
Fritz Erich Fellgiebel was a German Army general of signals and a resistance fighter, participating in both the 1938 September Conspiracy to topple dictator Adolf Hitler and the Na…
Erich Fellgiebel, German general (born 1886)
James Cannon Jr. was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, elected in 1918. He was a prominent leader in the temperance movement in the United States in the …
James Cannon Jr., American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (born 1864)
Jan Pieter Hendrik van Gilse was a Dutch conductor and composer. Among his works are five symphonies and the Dutch-language opera Thijl (1940).
Jan van Gilse, Dutch composer and conductor (born 1881)
William Heath Robinson was an English cartoonist, illustrator and artist who drew whimsically elaborate machines to achieve simple objectives.
W. Heath Robinson, English cartoonist (born 1872)
Gustav Adolf Bauer was a German Social Democratic Party leader and the chancellor of Germany from June 1919 to March 1920. Prior to that, he was minister of labour in the last cabi…
Gustav Bauer, German journalist and politician, 11th Chancellor of Germany (born 1870)
Robert George Cole was an American soldier who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Normandy in World War II. Cole, the commander of the 3rd Battalion o…
Robert G. Cole, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1915)