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The Battle of Britain
German and British air forces clashed in the skies over the United Kingdom, the largest sustained bombing campaign. A 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. Britain’s decisive victory saved the country from a ground invasion and possible occupation by German forces while proving that air power alone could be used to win a major battle. -
The Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. The bombing killed more than 2,300 Americans. This is important because this caused the U.S. to get involved in WWII. -
the Battle of Midway
One of the most decisive U.S. victories against Japan during World War II–begins. During the four-day sea-and-air battle, the outnumbered U.S. Pacific Fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing only one of its own, the Yorktown, to the previously invincible Japanese navy. -
The Battle of Stalingrad
The successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in the U.S.S.R. Russians consider it to be the greatest battle of their Great Patriotic War.It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles in history, with combined military and civilian casualties of nearly 2 million. -
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa during the North African Campaign of WWII. In both a direct and an indirect sense, Torch’s impact was enormous on the course of Anglo-American strategy during the remainder of the war. It may have been the most important strategic decision that Allied leaders would make. -
Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Program
In a race against time, a special force of American and British museum directors, curators, art historians, and others, called the Monuments Men, risked their lives scouring Europe to prevent the destruction of thousands of years of culture by Nazis. Without the work of these curators and professors, tens of thousands of priceless works of art would have been lost to the world forever. -
The Battle of Kursk
An unsuccessful German offensive against Soviet forces. The Soviet line at Kursk protruding into enemy territory, the Germans attempted to attack from different directions. Giving them time to reposition their defenses, the Soviets held off the offensive before launching a counterattack, and reclaimed the cities of Orel and Kharkov. Kursk was to be the biggest tank battle of WWII -
D-Day
The Battle of Normandy resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Operation Overlord known as D-Day, some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. -
The Battle of the Bulge
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 with a surprise blitzkrieg thrust. Lieutenant General George S. Patton’s successful maneuvering of the Third Army to Bastogne proved vital to the Allied defense, leading to the neutralization of the German counteroffensive despite heavy casualties. -
The Battle of Iwo Jima
American soldiers make their first strike on the Japanese Home Islands at Iwo Jima. The invasion of the volcanic island was the bloodiest battle of the war. About 7,000 Marines were killed and another 23,000 wounded. -
The Battle of Okinawa
Operation Iceberg was the largest amphibious landing in the Pacific theater of World War II. It also resulted in the largest casualties with over 100,000 Japanese casualties and 50,000 casualties for the Allies. -
The Death of FDR
In April 1945, FDR returned to Warm Springs, Georgia, a destination that had served since the 1920s as his favorite retreat. There, on April 12, while sitting for a portrait, he collapsed and died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Vice President Harry Truman took the oath of office the same day. -
The Death of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler killed himself by gunshot in his Führerbunker in Berlin. His wife Eva committed suicide with him by taking cyanide. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending Hitler's dreams of a “1,000-year” Reich. -
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. This and Nagasaki led to Japan's surrender. -
Atomic Bombing Nagasaki
After the Hiroshima bombing, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.”
