-
Nazi Germany Invaded Poland
1.5 million German troops invade Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory. Simultaneously, the German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea. -
Sitzkrieg
An eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front, when French troops invaded Germany's Saar district. -
America First Committee Launched
The America First Committee (AFC) was the foremost United States non-interventionist pressure group against the American entry into World War II. -
France Fell to Germany
German tanks outflanked the Maginot Line and pushed deep into France. German forces occupied Paris unopposed on 14 June after a chaotic period of flight of the French government that led to a collapse of the French army. -
Battle of Britain
A military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by the German Air Force. -
Destroyers-for-Bases Deal
Fifty 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. -
Congress Instituted the Draft
U.S. Congress passes a conscription act that produces the first wartime draft of U.S. citizens in American history. -
USS Kearny Attacked
A United States Navy warship during World War II noted for being torpedoed by a German U-boat. -
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. The bombing killed more than 2,300 Americans. It completely destroyed the American battleship U.S.S. -
Reuben James Sank
The first United States Navy ship sunk by hostile action in the European theater of World War II. -
Four Freedoms
People in all nations of the world shared Americans' entitlement to four freedoms: the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom to worship God in his own way, freedom from want and freedom from fear. -
Lend-Lease
The principal means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. -
Battle of Midway
Fought almost entirely with aircraft, in which the United States destroyed Japan’s first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots. -
Bataan Death March
What followed became known as the Bataan Death March—one of the worst atrocities in modern history -
Battle of Bataan
U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II -
Battle of Coral Sea
A major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia, taking place in the Pacific Theater of the Second World War. -
Battle of El Alamein
a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. With the Allies victorious, it was the watershed of the Western Desert Campaign. -
Island Hopping Campaign Begins
A military strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War against Japan and the Axis powers during World War II. -
Manhattan Project Began
A secret military project created to produce the first US nuclear weapon. -
Battle of Stalingrad
the most major confrontation of World War II in which Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia. -
Casablanca Conference
held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, French Morocco, from January 14 to 24, 1943, to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II -
Tehran Conference
A strategy meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill. -
FDR Elected to a 4th Term
This was the first and only time a president has been inaugurated for a fourth term. -
D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. -
FDR Died / Harry Truman Became President
An American statesman who served as the 33rd President of the United States, taking the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. -
Potsdam Conference
Held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm, in Potsdam, occupied Germany. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
A major battle in which the United States Marine Corps landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. -
VE Day
Victory in Europe Day, generally known as V-E Day, VE Day or simply V Day, was the public holiday celebrated on 8 May 1945 to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. -
MacArthur Returned to the Philippines
A few hours after his troops landed, MacArthur waded ashore onto the Philippine island of Leyte. That day, he made a radio broadcast in which he declared, “People of the Philippines, I have returned!” -
Little Boy Dropped on Hiroshima
"Little Boy" was the code name for the atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima -
VJ Day
Victory over Japan Day is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II. -
Battle of Okinawa
Codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Marine and Army forces against the Imperial Japanese Army. -
Fat Man Dropped on Nagasaki
An explosive nuclear chain reaction occurs when a sufficient quantity of nuclear fuel, such as uranium or plutonium, is brought together to form a critical mass. -
Yalta Conference
The three states were represented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Premier Joseph Stalin, respectively. The conference convened near Yalta in Crimea, Soviet Union within the Livadia, Yusupov, and Vorontsov Palaces. -
Nuremberg Trials
Judges from the Allied powers—Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States—presided over the hearings of twenty-two major Nazi criminals. Twelve prominent Nazis were sentenced to death. -
Japanese War Crime Trials
The Tokyo Trials or the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened to try the leaders of the Empire of Japan for "Class A" crimes, which were reserved for those who participated in a joint conspiracy.
