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Nazi Germany Invaded Poland
was a joint invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent, that marked the beginning of World War II in Europe. -
Sitzkrieg
The Phoney War refers to an eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there were no major military land operations on the Western Front. -
France Fell to Germany
The German plan of attack, codenamed Case Yellow, entailed an armoured offensive through the Ardennes Forest, which bypassed the strong French frontier defences of the Maginot Line. The advance would then threaten to encircle French and British divisions to the north, stationed on the Belgian frontier. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the Second World War defence of the United Kingdom by the Royal Air Force against an onslaught by the German Air Force -
America First Committee Launched
The America First Committee was the foremost non-interventionist pressure group against the American entry into World War II. Peaking at 800,000 paid members in 450 chapters, it was one of the largest anti-war organizations in American history. -
Destroyers-for-Bases Deal
Britain had purchased US small arms in the summer of 1940, but needed an alternative to cash transactions. The Roosevelt administration came up with the straight trade concept, and in September 1940, Roosevelt signed the Destroyers-for-bases Agreement. -
Congress Instituted the Draft
the Burke-Wadsworth Act is passed by Congress, by wide margins in both houses, and the first peacetime draft in the history of the United States is imposed. Selective Service was born. -
Lend-Lease
the principal means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. It authorized the president to transfer arms or any other defense materials for which Congress appropriated money to “the government of any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States. -
Four Freedoms
goals articulated by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech, he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people "everywhere in the world" ought to enjoy: Freedom of speech. -
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor, also known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor, the Hawaii Operation or Operation AI by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, and Operation Z during planning, was a surprise -
USS Kearny Attacked
was torpedoed on her starboard side by a German U-boat while on patrol off Greenland but did not sink. The crew confined the flooding to the forward fire room enabling the ship to get out of the danger zone form power from the aft fire room. After regaining power in her forward fire room Kearny steamed to Iceland. Eleven men were killed and 22 other were injured in the explosion. -
MacArthur Returned to the Philippines
After advancing island by island across the Pacific Ocean, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur wades ashore onto the Philippine island of Leyte, fulfilling his promise to return to the area he was forced to flee -
Reuben James Sank
a post-World War I, four-funnel Clemson-class destroyer—was the first United States Navy ship sunk by hostile action in the European theater of World War II -
Battle of Bataan
represented the most intense phase of Imperial Japan's invasion of the Philippines during World War II. -
Bataan Death March
was the forcible transfer from Saisaih Pt. and Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war -
Battle of Coral Sea
The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought during 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a crucial and decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II. -
Island Hopping Campaign Begins
launching an ‘Island Hopping’ campaign. Their strategy was to capture the Pacific islands one by one, advancing towards Japan and bypassing and isolating centres of resistance. Macarthur and Nimitz planned a two pronged attack: -
Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein was a major battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia, on the eastern boundary of Europe. -
Casablanca Conference
was a meeting between U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the city of Casablanca, Morocco that took place -
Tehran Conference
was a meeting between U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin in Tehran, Iran, between November 28 and December 1, 1943. Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill at the Tehran Conference. -
D-Day
were the landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. -
FDR Elected to a 4th Term
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected to an unprecedented fourth term in office. FDR remains the only president to have served more than two terms. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was 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. -
Little Boy Dropped on Hiroshima
The blast, which was the first detonation of a uranium-based nuclear device in history, instantly killed 70,000 people, while the lasting effects of the radiation brought the toll up to 140,000 -
Yalta Conference
a meeting of British prime minister Winston Churchill, Soviet premier Joseph Stalin, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt early in February 1945 as World War II was winding down -
Battle of Iwo Jima
a major battle in which the U.S. Marines landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II -
Battle of Okinawa
codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a series of battles fought in the Ryukyu Islands, centered on the island of Okinawa, and included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific -
FDR Died / Harry Truman Became President
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passes away after four momentous terms in office, leaving Vice President Harry S. Truman in charge of a country still fighting the Second World War and in possession of a weapon of unprecedented and terrifying power -
VE Day
Victory in Europe Day, generally known as V-E Day, VE Day or simply V Day was the public holiday celebrated to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces. -
Potsdam conference
The Big Three—Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Harry Truman—met in Potsdam, Germany, from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to negotiate terms for the end of World War II. -
Manhattan Project Began
This once classified photograph features the first atomic bomb — a weapon that atomic scientists had nicknamed "Gadget." The nuclear age began on July 16, 1945, when it was detonated in the New Mexico desert. -
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. This is the minimum amount of fissionable material needed to start a chain reaction. -
VJ Day
news of the surrender was announced to the world. This sparked spontaneous celebrations over the final ending of World War II -
Nuremberg Trials
Held for the purpose of bringing Nazi war criminals to justice, the Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany -
Japanese War Crime Trials
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trials, the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, or simply the Tribunal, was convened on April 29, 1946, to try the leaders of the Empire of Japan for three types of war crimes.
