Explore 6096 historical events from 1940–1949.
Bill Alter was a former Missouri Republican politician who served in the Missouri Senate. He lived in High Ridge, Missouri, with his wife Merijo.
Bill Alter, American police officer and politician
James Ridout "Jesse" Winchester Jr. was an American-Canadian musician and songwriter. He was born and raised in the southern United States. Opposed to the Vietnam War, he moved to …
Jesse Winchester, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2014)
Albert Louis Hammond OBE is a Gibraltarian singer, songwriter and record producer. As a songwriter he has collaborated with songwriters Mike Hazlewood, John Bettis, Hal David, Dian…
Albert Hammond, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
Winfried Georg Sebald, known as W. G. Sebald or Max Sebald, was a German writer and academic. At the time of his death at the age of 57, he was according to The New Yorker "widely …
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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.
A diary is a written or audiovisual memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have t…
Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from the Westerbork transit camp…
The 11th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army which was created in March 1941 during the Second World War. The division was formed in response to the unan…
World War II: The British 11th Armoured Division liberates the Belgian city of Antwerp.
The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a F…
World War II: Finland exits from the war with Soviet Union.
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)
Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France to…
Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg constitute Benelux.
Ypres is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name Ieper is the official one, the city's French name Ypres is most commonly used in E…
World War II: The city of Ypres, Belgium is liberated by Allied forces.
The V-2 rocket, with the development name Aggregat-4 (A4), was the world's first practical, modern ballistic missile and suborbital launch vehicle. The missile, powered by a liquid…
World War II: London is hit by a V-2 rocket for the first time.
The Fatherland Front was a Bulgarian pro-communist political resistance movement, which began in 1942 during World War II. The Zveno movement, the communist Bulgarian Workers Party…
World War II: The Fatherland Front takes power in Bulgaria through a military coup in the capital and armed rebellion…
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the First World Wa…
World War II: RAF bombing raid on Darmstadt and the following firestorm kill 11,500.
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)
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
World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was invaded and swiftly conquered by Axis forces and partitioned among Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bu…
World War II: The liberation of Yugoslavia from Axis occupation continues. Bajina Bašta in western Serbia is among the…
Maastricht is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the M…
World War II: Maastricht becomes the first Dutch city to be liberated by allied forces.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving US president and the…
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet in Quebec as part of the Octagon Conference to discuss strategy.
The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II by the US military, was fought between the United States and Japan during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign of World Wa…
World War II: The Battle of Peleliu begins as the United States Marine Corps' 1st Marine Division and the United…