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The Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was a turning point in World War II; if the RAF had not held off the Luftwaffe, Hitler would have likely moved forward with his Operation Sea Lion land invasion of the British Isles. This would have been devastating to the British people and all efforts to stem Hitler's rise to power. -
The Bombing of Pearl Harbor
The Bombing of Pearl was on December 7, 1941. This is when the Japanese air force bombed our naval fleet (Pearl Harbor). This is so important because it is the reason that the United States got into WW2 and it helped us get out of the Great Depression. -
The Battle of Stalingrad
The battle of Stalingrad was the turning point in WWII. It was the first time that the Hitler regime admitted a military defeat, which also made it the psychological turning point of the war for both Germany and the Soviet Union. After the battle, Germany was on the defensive until the end of the war in 1945. -
The Battle of Midway
The U.S. Navy's decisive victory in the air-sea battle (June 3-6, 1942) and its successful defense of the major base located at Midway Island dashed Japan's hopes of neutralizing the United States as a naval power and effectively turned the tide of World War II in the Pacific. -
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the first time U.S. troops saw action against Nazi Germany, trapping Erwin Rommel's army in a pincer as it fled from El-Alamein. Although U.S. planners had favored a direct assault on Europe, the British argued that this was too risky given the limited forces available. -
Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Program
The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program, often referred to as the Monuments Men, was an international group established in 1943 that worked under the Civil Affairs and Military Government Sections to help protect cultural property during and after World War II. -
The Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was the largest tank battle in history, involving some 6,000 tanks, 2,000,000 troops, and 4,000 aircraft. It marked the decisive end of the German offensive capability on the Eastern Front and cleared the way for the great Soviet offensives of 1944–45. -
D-Day
Allied forces launched the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare. Codenamed Operation 'Overlord', the Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy marked the start of a long and costly campaign to liberate north-west Europe from Nazi occupation. -
The Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge marked the last German offense on the Western Front. The catastrophic losses on the German side prevented Germany from resisting the advance of Allied forces following the Normandy Invasion. Less than four months after the end of the Battle of the Bulge, Germany surrendered to Allied forces -
The Battle of Iwo Jima
It was a battle between American forces invading Japanese forces on the island Iwo Jima. It is so important we used the island as a landing strip for bomber planes. It also was a place for planes to land for an emergency. -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was drug out over nearly three months and included some of the worst kamikaze attacks of the war. By the time Okinawa was secured by American forces on June 22, 1945, the United States had sustained over 49,000 casualties including more than 12,500 men killed or missing -
The Death of FDR
The death of FDR was awful for the country but when he died he died during the end of his term. Truman was made president afterwards and was told information about the Manhattten project and put it into work. -
The Death of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler, chancellor and dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, died by suicide via gunshot on 30 April 1945 in the Führerbunker in Berlin after it became clear that Germany would lose the Battle of Berlin, which led to the end of World War II in Europe. -
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
The United States bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, were the first instances of atomic bombs used against humans, killing tens of thousands of people, obliterating the cities, and contributing to the end of World War II. -
Atomic Bombing Nagasaki
This was the second use of an atomic bomb to kill thousands. It was used because the Japanese people would not give up and this basically forced them to surrender.