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Albert Einstein writes to FDR
Source:
Albert Einstein writes President Franklin D. Roosevelt, alerting the President to the importance of research on nuclear chain reactions and the possibility that research might lead to developing powerful bombs. Einstein notes that Germany has stopped the sale of uranium and German physicists are engaged in uranium research. -energy.gov -
Nazi Germany Invades Poland
Source:
German forces have invaded Poland and its planes have bombed Polish cities, including the capital, Warsaw.
The attack comes without any warning or declaration of war.- bbc.co.uk
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Period: to
World War II
World War two takes place. -
Great Britain and France Declare War on Germany
Source:
Britain and France are at war with Germany following the invasion of Poland two days ago. At 1115 BST the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, announced the British deadline for the withdrawal of German troops from Poland had expired. -bbc.co.uk -
Chamberlain replaced by Churchill as British Prime Minister
Source:
Neville Chamberlain was forced to resign after the disastrous British campaign in Norway. Attempts to repel the Germans culminated in the loss of about 4,000 British troops and ultimately German occupation of the country. ...Lord Halifax was offered the position of prime minister but turned it down and Winston Churchill was chosen as leader.- bbc.co.uk
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German Troops Enter Paris
Source:
German troops marched into Paris in the early hours of this morning as French and allied forces retreated. The enemy met no resistance as it entered the capital, which was declared an open town yesterday by the city's French military governor, General Hering.- bbc.co.uk
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Battle of Britain started by Luftwaffe
Source:
Luftwaffe, has mounted a series of attacks on shipping convoys off the south-east coast of England.
It is the first major assault by the Luftwaffe and is being seen as what the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, dubbed in a speech three weeks ago as the beginning of the "Battle of Britain".- bbc.co.uk
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British victory at Battle of Britain
Source:
RAF Fighter Command is claiming victory over the Luftwaffe after a day of heavy bombing raids ended in big losses for the enemy.
According to the RAF, 176 enemy aircraft were destroyed by fighter planes. At least another nine aircraft were hit by anti-aircraft guns. British casualties were much lighter - only 25 aircraft lost with 13 pilots killed or missing.- bbc.co.uk
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Plutonium is Discovered
"Plutonium was identified by nuclear chemist Glenn T. Seaborg and his colleagues Joseph W. Kennedy, Edwin M. McMillan, and Arthur C. Wahl, in 1941 at the University of California - Berkeley. However, wartime secrecy prevented them from announcing the discovery until 1948."
- epa.gov This would be significant in creating an atomic weapon. -
Operation Barbarossa launched by Germany
Source:
German forces have invaded the Soviet Union.
In a pre-dawn offensive, German troops pushed into the USSR from the south and west, with a third force making their way from the north towards Leningrad.- bbc.co.uk
- bbc.co.uk
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U.S. and Britain Form Alliance
Source:
The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, has spent the last few days in top-secret meetings with the American President, Franklin D Roosevelt. Details of the meetings only emerged after the announcement of a joint declaration by Britain and America on the basic principles for a post-war world, sealing the alliance between the two countries for the downfall of Hitler. -
Japan Bombs U.S. at Pearl Harbor
Source:
Japan has launched a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and has declared war on Britain and the United States. The US president, Franklin D Roosevelt, has mobilised all his forces and is poised to declare war on Japan.- bbc.co.uk
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U.S. Declares War on Japan
Source:
President Roosevelt called the attack on Pearl Harbor "a day that will live in infamy" and America declared war on Japan ending its policy of isolationism.- bbc.co.uk
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Germany and Italy Declare War on U.S.
Source:
Germany and Italy have announced they are at war with the United States. America immediately responded by declaring war on the two Axis powers... Today Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, made his declaration first...Then Adolf Hitler made his announcement at the Reichstag in Berlin.- bbc.co.uk
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British Surrender to Japan at Singapore
British forces in Singapore have surrendered unconditionally to the Japanese seven days after enemy troops first stormed the island...The British and Japanese commanders-in-chief, Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival and Lieutenant-General Yamashita Tomoyuki met in the Ford motor plant at the foot of Bukit Timah Hill to sign the surrender documents. Prime Minister Winston Churchill described the fall of Singapore as "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history."- bbc.co.uk
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FDR Gives Go-Ahead for Nuclear Weapon Development
Source:
President Roosevelt signed an order creating a secret project to develop the nuclear weapon. The program that developed the atomic bomb for the United States during World War II was the largest secret project ever undertaken by the U.S. government.- u-s-history.com
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U.S. Victory at Battle of Midway
Source:
The United States has routed the Japanese Navy in a major three-day battle over a remote US naval and air base at Midway Island in the Pacific Ocean. The victory has dealt a severe blow to Japan's ambitions to advance right across the Pacific towards the US coast. The tiny island, 1,000 miles north-west of Hawaii, was targeted as a potential launching pad for the Japanese advance. -
Germans Retreat at El Alamein
Source: The German army in North Africa is in full retreat, after suffering a comprehensive defeat in Egypt at the hands of the 8th Army under General Bernard Montgomery. It went on to say that Allied troops have captured more than 9,000 prisoners of war, including the commander of Germany's Afrika Korps, General Ritter von Thoma. Casualties among German Troops are known to have been high.
- bbc.co.uk -
Germans Surrender at Stalingrad
Source:
The Soviet Government has announced the final defeat of the German 6th Army at the port of Stalingrad, in southern Russia.
A statement late this evening said: "Our forces have now completed the liquidation of the German Fascist troops encircled in the area of Stalingrad. "The last centre of enemy resistance in the Stalingrad area has thus been crushed."- bbc.co.uk
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Allies Invade Sicily
Source: The armed forces of Britain, the United States and Canada have landed on the Mediterranean island of Sicily.It is the first major landing of British troops on European soil since the fall of Crete two years ago. Initial resistance has been surprisingly weak against British forces with little anti-aircraft fire and no enemy naval intervention. However, the US forces faced a tougher fight on their beaches.- bbc.co.uk
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Italian Dictator Mussolini Quits
Source:
The Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, is reported to have stepped down as head of the armed forces and the government.
King Victor Emmanuel has assumed control of the army and... Marshal Pietro Badoglio is the new prime minister. Mussolini's resignation will be seen as a blow to the Axis powers. -
Allies Invade Mainland Italy
British troops have landed on the Italian mainland four years to the day after war was declared on Germany. Their arrival in the "toe" of Italy follows two days of heavy bombardment by warships and Flying Fortresses of railways and communication lines. General Sir Bernard Montgomery commanding the British and Commonwealth 8th Army has said the aim is to take over the whole country and eliminate Italy from the war.
- bbc.co.uk -
Italy's Surrender is Announced
Source: Italy has signed an unconditional armistice with the Allies, General Dwight D Eisenhower has announced. The surrender was signed five days ago in secret by a representative of Marshal Pietro Badoglio, Italy's prime minister since the downfall of Benito Mussolini in July. General Eisenhower - the commander in chief of Allied forces in the Mediterranean. -bbc.co.uk -
Allied Leaders Meet in Tehran
Source:
Allied leaders of Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union have ended a landmark conference held in Tehran, the capital of Iran. It was the first time Winston Churchill, President Franklin D Roosevelt and Marshal Joseph Stalin had met together. The three allies said they had reached agreement on a second front although actual details were not given.- bbc.co.uk
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Soviets Break Through Germans at Leningrad
Source:
The Soviet Army has lifted the blockade of Leningrad that has been besieged since German forces cut the land link to the city on 8 July 1941. Soviet soldiers broke through the German line of defence at key points and recaptured hundreds of towns and villages in the region, according to a Russian communique issued by General Leonid Govorov, commander of the Leningrad front. -
Rome Liberated by Allies
Source:
The people of Rome have crowded onto the streets to welcome the victorious Allied troops. The first American soldiers, members of the 5th Army, reached the centre of Rome late last night after encountering dogged resistance from German forces on the outskirts of the city. Early this morning it was announced the German troops had been ordered to withdraw.
- bbc.co.uk -
D-Day: The Invasion of Europe
Source:Thousands of Allied troops have begun landing on the beaches of Normandy in northern France at the start of a major offensive against the Germans. Thousands of paratroops and glider-borne troops have also been dropped behind enemy lines and the Allies are already said to have penetrated several miles inland. About 1,300 RAF planes were involved in the first wave of assaults then 1,000 American bombers took up the attack dropping bombs on targets in northern France
- bbc.co.uk -
Paris Liberated, Germans Surrender
Source: After four years under German occupation, Paris is now free.
Last night, the French 2nd Armoured Division under General Philippe Leclerc was the first Allied force to enter the city, greeted by loud cheers from Parisians after many days of fighting between the Resistance and the German occupiers.
- bbc.co.uk -
Auschwitz Concentration Camp Liberated
Source:The Red Army has liberated the Nazis' biggest concentration camp at Auschwitz in south-western Poland.According to reports, hundreds of thousands of Polish people, as well as Jews from a number of other European countries, have been held prisoner there in appalling conditions and many have been killed in the gas chambers. Few details have emerged of the capture of Auschwitz, which has gained a reputation as the most notorious of the Nazi death camps. -bbc.co.uk -
Bombs dropped on Dresden
Source:
British and US bombers have dropped hundreds of thousands of explosives on the German city of Dresden. The city is reported to be a vital command centre for the German defence against Soviet forces approaching from the east. Last night, 800 RAF Bomber Command planes let loose 650,000 incendiaries and 8,000lb of high explosives and hundreds of 4,000lb bombs in two waves of attack.
-bbc -
U.S. Flag raised over Iwo Jima
Source:
US troops have raised the Stars and Stripes over Iwo Jima four days after landing on the Japanese-held volcanic island.
The 28th Regiment of the 5th Marine Division took Mount Suribachi at 1030 local time. The extinct volcano offers a strategic vantage point for the ongoing battle for control of the island.
-bbc.co.uk (Feb. 23,1945)
U.S. Marines secured the island on March 26, 1945. -
Red Army nears Berlin
Source:
Russian troops have captured some outlying suburbs of Berlin at the beginning of what promises to be a bitter battle for control of the city. The Red Army approached the German capital from three directions, north, east and south-east. The northeastern suburb of Weissensee is the closest to the centre being only three miles away.
-bbc.co.uk -
Italian Dictator Mussolini Dead
Source:
Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy until his downfall in 1943, has been killed by partisans along with his mistress, Clara Petacci, and some close associates. Their bodies were taken to Milan from the Lecco district near Lake Como where they were arrested and then killed yesterday. -bbc.co.uk -
German Dictator Hitler is Dead
Source:Adolf Hitler has been killed at the Reich Chancery in Berlin, according to Hamburg radio. At 2230 local time a newsreader announced that reports from the Fuhrer's headquarters said Hitler had "fallen at his command post in the Reich Chancery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany". It said he had appointed Grand Admiral Doenitz as his successor.
- bbc.co.uk
It was later known that Hitler had committed suicide. -
Germany Surrenders
Source:Germany has signed an unconditional surrender bringing to an end six years of war in Europe, according to reports from France.
This evening the Ministry of Information has confirmed that an official statement declaring the end of the war, will be made simultaneously in London, Washington and Moscow tomorrow.
The day has been declared a national holiday to mark Victory in Europe Day (VE Day). The following day (9 May) will also be a national holiday.
- bbc.co.uk -
Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima
Source:The first atomic bomb has been dropped by a United States aircraft on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
President Harry S Truman, announcing the news from the cruiser, USS Augusta, in the mid-Atlantic, said the device was more than 2,000 times more powerful than the largest bomb used to date.
An accurate assessment of the damage caused has so far been impossible due to a huge cloud of impenetrable dust covering the target. Hiroshima is one of the chief supply depots for the Japanese army.
-BBC -
Atomic Bomb dropped on Nagasaki
Source:
American forces have dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki - the second such attack on Japan in three days.
The bomb was dropped by parachute from an American B29 Bomber at 1102 local time.
It exploded about 1,625 ft (500m) above the ground and is believed to have completely destroyed the city, which is situated on the western side of the Japanese island of Kyushu.
-bbc.co.uk -
Japan Surrenders to end WWII
Japanese officials have signed the act of unconditional surrender, finally bringing to an end six years of world war.
In the presence of 50 Allied generals and other officials, the Japanese envoys boarded the American battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay to sign the surrender document.
Within half-an-hour of the signing, a convoy of 42 US ships entered Tokyo Bay and landed 13,000 American troops.
-bbc.co.uk
