The 1940s

1941 85 years ago

Soviet leader Joseph Stalin consolidates the Commissariats of Home Affairs and National Security to form the NKVD and…

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from its formation in 1922 until its dissol…

Soviet leader Joseph Stalin consolidates the Commissariats of Home Affairs and National Security to form the NKVD and…

1941 85 years ago

World War II: Battle of Grand Harbour, British forces on Malta destroy an attack by the Italian Decima Flottiglia MAS.…

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. World War II …

World War II: Battle of Grand Harbour, British forces on Malta destroy an attack by the Italian Decima Flottiglia MAS.…

1941 85 years ago

Ben Nelson, American lawyer and politician, 37th Governor of Nebraska

Earl Benjamin Nelson is an American politician, attorney, and businessman who served as a United States senator from Nebraska from 2001 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, h…

Ben Nelson, American lawyer and politician, 37th Governor of Nebraska

1941 85 years ago

Gino Brito, Canadian wrestler and promoter

Louis Gino Acocella, better known by his ring name Gino Brito, is a retired Canadian professional wrestler and promoter. He was most popular in Montreal. As Louis Cerdan, he was a …

Gino Brito, Canadian wrestler and promoter

1941 85 years ago

Malcolm Longair, Scottish astronomer, physicist, and academic

Malcolm Sim Longair is a British physicist. From 1991 to 2008 he was the Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Sinc…

Malcolm Longair, Scottish astronomer, physicist, and academic

1941 85 years ago

Denis Hart, Australian archbishop

Denis James Hart is a retired Australian prelate of the Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Melbourne from 2001 to 2018.

Denis Hart, Australian archbishop

1941 85 years ago

World War II: In response to the Japanese occupation of French Indochina, the United States, Britain and the…

French Indochina, officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to…

World War II: In response to the Japanese occupation of French Indochina, the United States, Britain and the…

1941 85 years ago

The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich…

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: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich…

1941 85 years ago

World War II: The Battle of Smolensk concludes with Germany capturing about 300,000 Soviet Red Army prisoners.

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: The Battle of Smolensk concludes with Germany capturing about 300,000 Soviet Red Army prisoners.

1941 85 years ago

World War II: Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt sign the Atlantic Charter of war stating postwar aims.

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: Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt sign the Atlantic Charter of war stating postwar aims.

1941 85 years ago

Nora Ephron, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2012)

Nora Ephron was an American writer, playwright, journalist, and filmmaker. Known for writing and directing romantic comedy films, she received numerous accolades including a BAFTA …

Nora Ephron, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2012)

1941 85 years ago

Igor Judge, Baron Judge, Maltese-English lawyer and judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales (died 2023)

Igor Judge, Baron Judge, was an English judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, the head of the judiciary, from 2008 to 2013. He was previously President of th…

Igor Judge, Baron Judge, Maltese-English lawyer and judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales (died 2023)

1941 85 years ago

Goh Chok Tong, Singaporean politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Singapore

Goh Chok Tong, also known by his initials GCT, is a Singaporean retired politician who served as the second prime minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004 and as a senior minister o…

Goh Chok Tong, Singaporean politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Singapore

1941 85 years ago

John Strasberg, American actor and teacher

John Strasberg is the son of Lee and Paula Strasberg of the Actors Studio, and brother of actress Susan Strasberg.

John Strasberg, American actor and teacher

1941 85 years ago

Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad for espionage at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last…

Josef Jakobs was a German spy and the last person to be executed at the Tower of London. He was captured shortly after parachuting into the United Kingdom during the Second World W…

Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad for espionage at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last…

1941 85 years ago

Germany and Romania sign the Tiraspol Agreement, rendering the region of Transnistria under control of the latter.

Nazi Germany, officially the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the countr…

Germany and Romania sign the Tiraspol Agreement, rendering the region of Transnistria under control of the latter.

1941 85 years ago

The Holocaust: Adolf Hitler orders the cessation of Nazi Germany's systematic T4 euthanasia program of the mentally…

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: Adolf Hitler orders the cessation of Nazi Germany's systematic T4 euthanasia program of the mentally…

1941 85 years ago

World War II: Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran: The United Kingdom and the Soviet Union jointly stage an invasion of the…

The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, also known as the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Persia or the Allied invasion of Iran, was the joint invasion of the officially neutral Imperial State…

World War II: Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran: The United Kingdom and the Soviet Union jointly stage an invasion of the…

1941 85 years ago

World War II: Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is occupied by Nazi Germany following an occupation by the Soviet Union.

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: Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is occupied by Nazi Germany following an occupation by the Soviet Union.

1941 85 years ago

Martin Carthy, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Martin Dominic Forbes Carthy MBE is an English singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in English folk music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob…

Martin Carthy, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1941 85 years ago

Bobby Cox, American baseball player and manager

Robert Joe Cox was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played as a third baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees and managed for the At…

Bobby Cox, American baseball player and manager

1941 85 years ago

Ambrose Greenway, 4th Baron Greenway, English photographer and politician

Ambrose Charles Drexel Greenway, 4th Baron Greenway, is a British marine photographer and shipping consultant. He was one of the ninety hereditary peers elected to remain in the Ho…

Ambrose Greenway, 4th Baron Greenway, English photographer and politician

1941 85 years ago

The Tighina Agreement, a treaty regarding administration issues of the Transnistria Governorate, is signed between…

The Tighina Agreement was an agreement between Nazi Germany and Romania about administration, economy and security issues of the Transnistria Governorate that entered into force on…

The Tighina Agreement, a treaty regarding administration issues of the Transnistria Governorate, is signed between…

1941 85 years ago

World War II: Serbian paramilitary forces defeat Germans in the Battle of Loznica.

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: Serbian paramilitary forces defeat Germans in the Battle of Loznica.