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WWII TIMETOAST TIMELINE
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Germany Invades Poland
Germany surprise attacks Poland. Bombing their cities including Poland's capital, Warsaw. Germany was able to defeat Poland in only a few weeks. Germany was able to do this with over 2,000 tanks and over 1,000 planes. Continuing this, France declared war on Germany. -
County Fair Peace Demonstration
Thousands of people of all religions attended a county fair and joined in a peace demonstration as Great Britain declared war on Germany. -
France Surrenders to Germany
On May 10th, 1940 the invasion of troops began the fall of France when they pushed through terrain to cut off Allies located in Belgium. German troops invaded the Maginot Line for a better attack on France on June 5th.France signed and armistice with Germany, declaring German victory on June 22. -
Highland Park Zoo Reopens
All of the construction on Highland Park Zoo was completed and the zoo was modernized. On the morning of June 28, the zoo was finally reopened to the public. -
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Japanese started heading towards Pearl Harbor on November 26th. On December 7th, they set up their battle group 275 miles North of Hawaii. Fighter air crafts, torpedo bombers. high-level bombers, and even dive bombers were all assembled by 6 am on this day. -
Frank Conrad Passes Away
Frank Conrad, a radio broadcaster, who worked as the Assistant Chief Engineer for the Westinghouse Electric Company, was the founder of KDKA. On December 12th of 1941, he passed away. -
John O'Leary Takes Control of Miners
The U.S. miners' vice president, Philip Murray, was fired as a result of his break with John L. Lewis. After this John O'Leary was hosen to take over. -
Battle of Midway
Japan had planned to over take Midway and use this for an advance base. This war was fought by the Central Pacific island of Midway. The war was started at a little after midnight. The last atack happened on June 6th. They were able to sink the heavy cruiser Mikuma. -
The Battle of Stalingrad
This war was the turning point in the war, or that is what some people view it as. It has been said that this war was caused only on the fact that Hitler had emmense hate for Stalin. General Paulus assisted with the Fourth Panzer Army into the city of Stalingrad. -
Wage Increase for Steel Workers
On July 17 at William Penn Hotel, a policy commitee meeting took place to raise wages for United Steel Workers.All wages were raised to 44-cents-a-day granted by War Labor Board to employees of "Little Steel" firms. -
D Day
There were 160,000 troops along the coastline. There were over 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft involved in the D Day. Much more than 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed on this day. -
Westinghouse Rally
On June 8th, 1944, there was a mass rally outside Westinghouse. This rally went agianst the no stirke law. There was over 20,000 employees at the strike. -
Pittsburgh Gives Money
On August 7th, 1944, a survey showed that war contracts in Pittsbrugh district plants were completed to date or underway. This totaled to $9,398,644, with $322,000,000 going to the front lines. This means they were doing very well. -
Allies Liberate (free) Paris
Under General Philippe Leclerc, the French Second Armored Division was the first to enter the city of Paris. How Paris became liberated and the actual plan to liberate it was incidently not the same. Even after this occured, Paris still owed the United States much money. -
Snow Storm!
On December 11th, 1944, many downtown, Christmas shoppers were stuck in a 15-inch snowfall. All hotels were full forcing the lobbies to act as shelter. Schools, malls, and other activities were closed for to days! -
Battle of the Bulge
This battle was fought in Ardennes Mountains in Belgium. This battle was known as Germany's attempt to seperate the British and American troops. This was to be done by surprise attacking. -
Highest Paid Educator
On February 16th, 1945, the nation's highest paid educator Dr. John G. Bowman resigned. He was the chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh for 15 years and was paid $31,500 a year. Dr. Rufus H. Fitzgerld was designated his successor. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
This battle was caused by America wanting to capture air fields in Iwo Jima. The United States won this battle on March 26th of the same year. -
100th Aneversary of Great Fire
The city marked its 100th anniversary of the Great Fire in Pittsburgh. The fire occured on this date in 1845. They celebrated with a parade and pageantry. -
FDR dies, Truman becomes President
On this day, Mayor Scully asked all the city and county governments, schools, businesses, amusement parks, and all other activities to be suspended. There were church masses and prayer sessions that had also become reschedualed. -
Hitler Commits Suicide
In his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and then shooting himself in the head. Shortly after, Germany surrendered to the Allies. -
VE Day
Hitler's death left Berlin in ruins, therefore resulting in a surrender from Germany which was signed on May 7 but was ratified the following day. This event was basically the Allies finally defeat Germany. -
Councilman Passes Away
Councilman George E. Evan dies at the age of 69. He was chairman of the Pittsburgh Housing Authority an a pioneer in slum-clearance planning. -
Pittsburgh Coal Company Merges
The Pittsburgh Coal Company decided to merge with the Consolidation Coal Company. It was a very smart choice in many ways, increasing income and production. -
Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima
The target of this bomb was the city of Hiroshima. All of this happened the morning of August 6 when Enola Gay took off from the island of Tinian and headed toward Japan. -
Atomic Bomb dropped on Nagasaki
Three days after an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Truman orded another to be dropped on Nagasaki. At 3:47 a.m. on August 9, 1945, a bomber lifted off from Tinian and headed toward Kokura Arsenal. The bomb resulted in approximately 73,000 casualties. -
Russians Come Tour Our Mills
A group of Russian labor leaders arrived in Pittsburgh. Their plan was to tour the Pittsburgh district's steel mills. -
Pittsburgh Celebrates Surrender
The city of Pittsburgh was over-joyed by the surrender of Japan and end to World War II. They expressed their happiness by holding many celebrations. -
VJ Day
On this day, a surrender ceremony was performed in Tokyo Bay and Japan.VJ Day is the name that was given to the surrender of Japan. This was all in corrilation with the surrender if Germany, which is known as VE. -
War Contract Cancelled!
The first cancellation of a war contract became effective. Pittsburgh laid off over 7000 workers.
