Explore 4729 historical events from 1940–1949.
The Allies, or Allied powers, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during World War II (1939–1945) to oppose the Ax…
World War II: The Allies land at Salerno and Taranto, Italy.
Operation Achse, originally called Operation Alaric, was the German operation to forcibly disarm the Italian armed forces after Italy's armistice with the Allies on 3 September 194…
World War II: In the course of Operation Achse, German troops begin their occupation of Rome.
The Gran Sasso raid on 12 September 1943 freed Benito Mussolini from imprisonment in a hotel on the Gran Sasso d'Italia massif. The World War II operation was codenamed "Operation …
World War II: Benito Mussolini is rescued from house arrest by German commando forces led by Otto Skorzeny.
Albert Hofmann was a Swiss chemist known for being the first to synthesize, ingest, and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Hofmann's team also is…
Albert Hofmann deliberately doses himself with LSD for the first time, three days after having discovered its effects on
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 British submarine HMS Seraph surfaces near Huelva to cast adrift a dead man dressed as a courier and c
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was a Soviet revolutionary and politician who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held office as general secretary of the Commun…
Joseph Stalin dissolves the Comintern (or Third International)
Operation Chastise, commonly known as the Dambusters Raid, was an attack on German dams carried out on the night of 16/17 May 1943 by 617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command, later called …
World War II: Dambuster Raids commence by No
The Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered ar…
The Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends
The 10th Army was a World War II field army of the Wehrmacht (Germany).
World War II: The German Tenth Army reports that it can no longer contain the Allied bridgehead around Salerno.
The history of Jews in Denmark goes back to the 1600s. Although there were very likely Jewish merchants, sailors, and others who entered Denmark during the Middle Ages, no efforts …
World War II: Adolf Hitler orders the deportation of Danish Jews.
Petro Taras Ostap Tyschtschenko is a German businessman best known for his role in developing the European market for the American computer company Commodore International.
Petro Tyschtschenko, Austrian-German businessman
John Russell Watkins is a former Australian cricketer who played in one Test match in 1973.
John Watkins, Australian cricketer
Operation Chastise, commonly known as the Dambusters Raid, was an attack on German dams carried out on the night of 16/17 May 1943 by 617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command, later called …
Operation Chastise is undertaken by RAF Bomber Command with specially equipped Avro Lancasters to destroy the Mohne, Sor
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's 1943 address to Congress took place May 19 at 12:30 p.m. EWT before a joint meeting of the United States Senate and House of Representati…
Winston Churchill's second wartime address to the U
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, a bog body from the Early Neolithic period (radiocarbon-dated c
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was a Soviet revolutionary and politician who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held office as the General Secretary of the Co…
Joseph Stalin disbands the Comintern
The Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered ar…
The Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer of the Zigeunerfamilienlager (Romani family camp) at Auschwit
Margo Symington MacDonald was a Scottish politician, teacher and broadcaster. She was the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Govan from 1973 to 197…
Margo MacDonald, Scottish journalist and politician (died 2014)
Alan James Beith, Baron Beith, is a British Liberal Democrat politician who represented Berwick-upon-Tweed as its Member of Parliament (MP) from 1973 to 2015.
Alan Beith, English academic and politician
Sir John Eliot Gardiner is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000, perf…
John Eliot Gardiner, English conductor and director
BOAC Flight 777 was a KLM flight scheduled as a British Overseas Airways Corporation civilian airline flight from Portela Airport in Lisbon, Portugal to Whitchurch Airport near Bri…
BOAC Flight 777 is shot down over the Bay of Biscay by German Junkers Ju 88s, killing British actor Leslie Howard and le
Los Angeles (LA) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3.87 millio…
In Los Angeles, California, white U
The 1943 Argentine Revolution was a coup d'état on 4 June 1943 that ended the government of Ramón Castillo, who had been fraudulently elected to the office of vice-president befor…
A military coup in Argentina ousts Ramón Castillo
The Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered ar…
The Holocaust: Germany liquidates the Jewish Ghetto in Brzeżany, Poland (now Berezhany, Ukraine)