1944 world war ii american and australian forces landed on the j 09 15
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1939 87 years ago Selected Events October 14 6 sources

Second World War: The German submarine U-47 torpedoed and sank the Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak while the latter was anchored at Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland.

On October 14, in the year 1939, Second World War: The German submarine U-47 torpedoed and sank the Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak while the latter was anchored at Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland. This event is recorded as a Selected Events event in the history of October 14, a notable event in this corner of history.

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 engaging in total war on an unprecedented scale. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the deaths of 60 to 75 million people, a majority of whom were civilians. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on October 14, 1939 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Selected Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 6 Wikipedia articles.
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 28 September 2026.

On This Date in History

Type Year Date Event
Historical Events 2025 Oct 14 A coup d'état successfully overthrows Malagasy president Andry Rajoelina.
Notable Deaths 2024 Oct 14 Thomas J. Donohue, American business executive (born 1938)
Notable Deaths 2024 Oct 14 Tina Kaidanow, American diplomat and government official (born 1965)
Notable Deaths 2024 Oct 14 Janet Nelson, British historian (born 1942)
Notable Deaths 2024 Oct 14 Philip Zimbardo, American psychologist and academic (born 1933)
Historical Events 2023 Oct 14 Australians vote to reject a constitutional amendment that would have established an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Notable Deaths 2022 Oct 14 Robbie Coltrane, Scottish actor, comedian and writer (born 1950)
Historical Events 2021 Oct 14 About 10,000 American employees of John Deere go on strike.
Notable Deaths 2021 Oct 14 Lee Wan-koo, South Korean politician, 39th Prime Minister of South Korea
Selected Events 2021 Oct 14 Approximately 10,000 John Deere employees went on strike in one of the largest private-sector strikes in the United…
Notable Deaths 2019 Oct 14 Harold Bloom, American literary critic (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2019 Oct 14 Sulli, South Korean actress, singer, and model (born 1994)
Historical Events 2017 Oct 14 An Al-Shabaab suicide bomber detonated a massive truck bomb at the Zobe junction in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu,…
Notable Deaths 2016 Oct 14 Helen Kelly, New Zealand trade union leader (born 1964)
Historical Events 2015 Oct 14 A suicide bomb attack in Tonsa, Pakistan kills at least seven people and injures 13 others.
Notable Deaths 2015 Oct 14 Nurlan Balgimbayev, Kazakh politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Kazakhstan (born 1947)
Notable Deaths 2015 Oct 14 Mathieu Kérékou, Beninese soldier and politician, President of Benin (born 1933)
Notable Deaths 2015 Oct 14 Margaret Keyes, American historian and academic (born 1918)
Notable Deaths 2015 Oct 14 Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani, Indian admiral (born 1930)
Historical Events 2014 Oct 14 A snowstorm and avalanche in the Nepalese Himalayas triggered by the remnants of Cyclone Hudhud kills 43 people.
Historical Events 2014 Oct 14 The Serbia vs. Albania UEFA qualifying match is canceled after 42 minutes due to several incidents on and off the…
Notable Deaths 2014 Oct 14 A. H. Halsey, English sociologist and academic (born 1923)
Notable Deaths 2014 Oct 14 Leonard Liggio, American author and academic (born 1933)
Notable Deaths 2014 Oct 14 Elizabeth Peña, American actress (born 1959)
Selected Events 2014 Oct 14 A snowstorm and series of avalanches occurred on and around the Himalayan peaks of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri, resulting…
Notable Deaths 2013 Oct 14 Wally Bell, American baseball player and umpire (born 1965)
Notable Deaths 2013 Oct 14 Max Cahner, German-Catalan historian and politician (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2013 Oct 14 Kōichi Iijima, Japanese author and poet (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2013 Oct 14 Bruno Metsu, French footballer and manager (born 1954)
Notable Deaths 2013 Oct 14 Frank Moore, American painter and poet (born 1946)
Notable Deaths 2013 Oct 14 Käty van der Mije-Nicolau, Romanian-Dutch chess player (born 1940)
Historical Events 2012 Oct 14 Felix Baumgartner successfully jumps to Earth from a balloon in the stratosphere.
Notable Deaths 2012 Oct 14 John Clive, English actor and author (born 1933)
Notable Deaths 2012 Oct 14 Max Fatchen, Australian journalist and author (born 1920)
Notable Deaths 2012 Oct 14 James R. Grover Jr., American lawyer and politician (born 1919)
Notable Deaths 2012 Oct 14 Larry Sloan, American publisher, co-founded Price Stern Sloan (born 1922)
Notable Deaths 2012 Oct 14 Arlen Specter, American lieutenant and politician (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2012 Oct 14 Dody Weston Thompson, American photographer (born 1923)
Notable Deaths 2012 Oct 14 Gart Westerhout, Dutch-American astronomer and academic (born 1927)
Selected Events 2012 Oct 14 Felix Baumgartner jumped from a helium balloon in the stratosphere to become the first person to break the sound…
Notable Deaths 2011 Oct 14 Reg Alcock, Canadian businessman and politician (born 1948)
Notable Deaths 2011 Oct 14 Ashawna Hailey, American computer scientist and philanthropist (born 1949)
Selected Events 2011 Oct 14 Michael Woodford was dismissed as the CEO of the optics manufacturer Olympus after uncovering internal financial…
Notable Deaths 2010 Oct 14 Simon MacCorkindale, English actor, director, and producer (born 1952)
Notable Deaths 2010 Oct 14 Benoit Mandelbrot, Polish-American mathematician and economist (born 1924)
Notable Deaths 2009 Oct 14 Martyn Sanderson, New Zealand actor and screenwriter (born 1938)
Notable Deaths 2009 Oct 14 Collin Wilcox, American actress (born 1935)
Notable Deaths 2009 Oct 14 Lou Albano, American professional wrestler (born 1933)
Notable Deaths 2008 Oct 14 Robert Furman, American engineer and intelligence officer (born 1915)
Notable Deaths 2008 Oct 14 Kazys Petkevičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach (born 1926)

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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