Explore 6096 historical events from 1940–1949.
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
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)
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)
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
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: Montenegrins begin the Trinaestojulski ustanak (Thirteenth of July Uprising), a popular revolt against…
Joseph Paul DiMaggio, nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major…
Joe DiMaggio hits safely for the 56th consecutive game, a streak that still stands as an MLB record.
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…
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.…
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…
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
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
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
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
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…
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.
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.
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…
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.
Ronald Isley is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Isley is the lead singer, a founding member, and last surviving original member of the family music group The I…
Ronald Isley, American singer-songwriter and producer
Walter Menzies "Ming" Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, was a Scottish politician, advocate and athlete. A senior figure in the Liberal Democrats, he served as the Member of …
Menzies Campbell, Scottish sprinter and politician (died 2025)
Zalman King was an American film director, writer, actor and producer. His films are known for incorporating sexuality, and are often categorized as erotica.
Zalman King, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2012)
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…
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…
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.