1944 world war ii commencement of operation overlord the allied 06 06
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1944 82 years ago Historical Events June 6 6 sources

World War II: Commencement of Operation Overlord: The Allied invasion of Normandy begins with the execution of Operation Neptune—commonly referred to as D-Day—the largest seaborne invasion in history. Nearly 160,000 Allied troops cross the English Channel with about 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers participating. By the end of the day, the Allies have landed on five invasion beaches and are pushing inland.

On June 6, in the year 1944, World War II: Commencement of Operation Overlord: The Allied invasion of Normandy begins with the execution of Operation Neptune—commonly referred to as D-Day—the largest seaborne invasion in history. Nearly 160,000 Allied troops cross the English Channel with about 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers participating. By the end of the day, the Allies have landed on five invasion beaches and are pushing inland. This event is recorded as a Historical Events event in the history of June 6, a notable event in this corner of history.

Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Normandy landings. A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on June 6, 1944 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Historical Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 6 Wikipedia articles.
  • The event is associated with a specific geographical location (see map below).
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 30 May 2026.

On This Date in History

Type Year Date Event
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Historical Events 2023 Jun 6 Russo-Ukrainian War: The Kakhovka Dam is destroyed
Selected Events 2021 Jun 6 A man rammed a pickup truck into Muslim Pakistani Canadian pedestrians in Ontario, Canada, killing 4 members of the same
Historical Events 2017 Jun 6 Syrian civil war: The Battle of Raqqa begins with an offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to capture the city
Selected Events 2017 Jun 6 Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (soldiers pictured) opened the Second Battle of Raqqa, the final phase of
Notable Deaths 2016 Jun 6 Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess grandmaster; arguably the best player never to become World Chess Champion (born 1931)
Notable Deaths 2016 Jun 6 Peter Shaffer, English playwright and screenwriter; works included Equus and Amadeus (born 1926)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jun 6 Vincent Bugliosi, American lawyer and author; prosecuting attorney in the Tate–LaBianca murders case (born 1934)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jun 6 Ludvík Vaculík, Czech journalist and author; noted for The Two Thousand Words which inspired the Prague Spring (born 192
Notable Deaths 2014 Jun 6 Lorna Wing, English psychiatrist and physician; pioneered studies of autism (born 1928)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jun 6 Jerome Karle, American crystallographer and academic; awarded the 1985 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for research into the mo
Notable Deaths 2013 Jun 6 Esther Williams, American swimmer and actress (born 1921)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jun 6 Vladimir Krutov, Russian ice hockey player; together with Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov, formed the famed KLM Line
Notable Deaths 2009 Jun 6 Jean Dausset, French-Spanish immunologist and academic; awarded the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his s
Notable Deaths 2006 Jun 6 Billy Preston, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (born 1946)
Notable Deaths 2005 Jun 6 Anne Bancroft, American film actress; winner of the 1963 Academy Award for Best Actress for The Miracle Worker (born 193
Historical Events 2002 Jun 6 Eastern Mediterranean event
Notable Births 2001 Jun 6 Rayan Aït-Nouri, French-Algerian footballer
Notable Births 2000 Jun 6 Haechan, South Korean singer
Notable Births 1998 Jun 6 Kenny Pickett, American football player
Notable Births 1996 Jun 6 Jack Hetherington, Australian rugby league player
Notable Deaths 1996 Jun 6 George Davis Snell, American geneticist and immunologist; awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1980 for
Notable Births 1995 Jun 6 Julian Green, American soccer player
Historical Events 1994 Jun 6 China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 crashes near Xi'an Xianyang International Airport, killing all 160 people on board
Notable Births 1994 Jun 6 Yvon Mvogo, Swiss footballer
Notable Deaths 1994 Jun 6 Mark McManus, Scottish actor (born 1935)
Notable Deaths 1994 Jun 6 Barry Sullivan, American film actor (born 1912)
Historical Events 1993 Jun 6 Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat wins the first presidential election in Mongolia
Notable Births 1993 Jun 6 Vic Mensa, American rapper and singer
Historical Events 1992 Jun 6 Copa Airlines Flight 201 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes into the Darién Gap in Panama, killing all 47 aboard
Notable Births 1992 Jun 6 DeAndre Hopkins, American football player
Notable Deaths 1991 Jun 6 Stan Getz, American saxophonist and jazz innovator (born 1927)
Notable Births 1990 Jun 6 Gavin Hoyte, English born footballer who represented Trinidad and Tobago
Notable Births 1990 Jun 6 Anthony Rendon, American baseball player
Notable Births 1990 Jun 6 Pape Souaré, Senegalese footballer
Notable Births 1988 Jun 6 Anthony Pilkington, Irish footballer
Notable Births 1986 Jun 6 Gin Wigmore, New Zealand singer and songwriter
Historical Events 1985 Jun 6 The grave of "Wolfgang Gerhard" is opened in Embu, Brazil; the exhumed remains are later proven to be those of Josef Men
Notable Births 1985 Jun 6 Sebastian Larsson, Swedish footballer
Notable Births 1985 Jun 6 Drew McIntyre, Scottish professional wrestler
Notable Births 1985 Jun 6 Becky Sauerbrunn, American footballer; twice a winner of the FIFA Women's World Cup, also an Olympic gold medallist
Selected Events 1985 Jun 6 The remains of Josef Mengele, a Nazi physician notorious for performing human experiments on Auschwitz inmates, were exh
Notable Births 1983 Jun 6 Michael Krohn-Dehli, Danish footballer
Notable Deaths 1983 Jun 6 Hans Leip, German author, poet, and playwright who wrote the lyrics of Lili Marleen (born 1893)
Historical Events 1982 Jun 6 1982 Lebanon War: The war begins as forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon during Op
Notable Deaths 1982 Jun 6 Kenneth Rexroth, American poet and academic (born 1905)
Selected Events 1982 Jun 6 Falklands War: The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Cardiff engaged and destroyed a British Army helicopter in a friendly-fire i
Notable Births 1980 Jun 6 Pete Hegseth, American author, political commentator and 29th United States Secretary of Defense
Notable Births 1979 Jun 6 Roberto De Zerbi, Italian football manager
Notable Deaths 1979 Jun 6 Jack Haley, American actor (born 1897)

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

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