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Nazi Germany Invaded Poland
German forces bombard Poland on land and from the air, as Adolf Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and ultimately rule Poland. World War II had begun. -
Sitzkrieg
The Phoney War refers to an eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there were no major military land operations on the Western Front -
Battle of Britain
A significant turning point of World War II, the Battle of Britain ended when Germany's Luftwaffe failed to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force despite months of targeting Britain's air bases, military posts and, ultimately, its civilian population. -
France Fell to Germany
Consisted of two operations: The first one was Case Yellow or Fall Gelb and is when the armored units of Germany cut off allied units which had advanced into the country of Belgium at the Ardennes. -
Destroyers-for-Bases Deal
In the Destroyers for Bases Agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, fifty mothballed Caldwell, Wickes, and Clemson-class US Navy destroyers were transferred to the Royal Navy from the United States Navy in exchange for land rights on British possessions. -
America First Committee Launched
The America First Committee was the foremost non-interventionist pressure group against the American entry into World War II. Peaking at 800,000 paid members in 450 chapters, it was one of the largest anti-war organizations in American history. -
Congress Instituted the Draft
The registration of men between the ages of 21 and 36 began exactly one month later. -
Four Freedoms
In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed four fundamental freedoms that people "everywhere in the world" ought to enjoy -
Lend-Lease
It permitted him to "sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of, to any such government [whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States] any defense article." -
USS Kearny Attacked
Eleven men died in the attack, it was one more incident hardening the attitude of the American people. Ten days later President Roosevelt was to address the nation: -
Reuben James Sank
The first United States Navy ship sunk by hostile action in the European theater of World War II and the first named for Boatswain's Mate Reuben James, who distinguished himself fighting in the Barbary Wars. -
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
"a date which will live in infamy." On that day, Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. The bombing killed more than 2,300 Americans. -
Battle of Bataan
Represented the most intense phase of Imperial Japan's invasion of the Philippines during World War II. -
Bataan Death March
The forcible transfer from Saisaih Pt. and Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war -
Battle of Coral Sea
A major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a crucial and decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II. -
Island Hopping Campaign Begins
A a military strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War against Japan and the Axis powers during World War II. The idea was to bypass heavily fortified Japanese positions and instead concentrate the limited Allied resources on strategically important islands that were not well defended but capable of supporting the drive to the main islands of Japan. -
Battle of El Alamein
Took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. Wikipedia -
Casablanca Conference
The most notable developments at the Conference were the finalization of Allied strategic plans against the Axis powers in 1943, and the promulgation of the policy of “unconditional surrender.” -
Battle of Stalingrad
A major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia, on the eastern boundary of Europe. -
Tehran Conference
A strategy meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill -
D-Day
More than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which, “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end, the Allies gained a foot-hold in Continental Europe. -
MacArthur Returned to the Philippines
After advancing island by island across the Pacific Ocean, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur wades ashore onto the Philippine island of Leyte, fulfilling his promise to return to the area he was forced to flee in 1942. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. -
FDR Elected to a 4th Term
The only president to be elected to three terms in office, is inaugurated to his fourth term. -
Yalta Conference
The World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Stemmed from the need for a base near the Japanese coast. Following elaborate preparatory air and naval bombardment, three U.S. marine divisions landed on the island in February 1945. Iwo Jima was defended by roughly 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops, who fought from an elaborate network of caves, dugouts, tunnels and underground installations. Despite the difficulty of the conditions, the marines wiped out the defending forces after a month of fighting, and the battle earned a place in Ameri -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa has been called the largest sea-land-air battle in history. It is also the last battle of the Pacific War.
Three months of desperate combat leave Okinawa a "vast field of mud, lead, decay, and maggots."
More than 100,000 Okinawan civilians perish, with over 72,000 American and 100,000 Japanese casualties. -
FDR Died / Harry Truman Became President
On this day in 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passes away after four momentous terms in office, leaving Vice President Harry S. Truman in charge of a country still fighting the Second World War and in possession of a weapon of unprecedented and terrifying power. -
VE Day
Marked the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces. -
Manhattan Project Began
The first atomic bomb — a weapon that atomic scientists had nicknamed "Gadget." -
Potsdam conference
The Big Three met in Potsdam, Germany to negotiate terms for the end of World War II. -
Little Boy Dropped on Hiroshima
It was the first atomic bomb to be used in warfare. -
Fat Man Dropped on Nagasaki
Its detonation marked the third ever man-made nuclear explosion in history. -
VJ Day
News of the surrender was announced to the world. This sparked spontaneous celebrations over the final ending of World War II -
Nuremberg Trials
A series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949. The defendants, who included Nazi Party officials and high-ranking military officers along with German industrialists, lawyers and doctors, were indicted on such charges as crimes against peace and crimes against humanity. -
Japanese War Crime Trials
called to try the leaders of the Empire of Japan for three types of war crimes.
