-
Germany invaded Poland using fast-moving attacks called blitzkrieg. This caused Britain and France to declare war on Germany, starting World War II. -
The Battle of Britain was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's Air Force. -
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at its naval base at Pearl Harbor -
The Battle of Midway was a decisive U.S. naval victory over Japan that is widely considered the turning point of World War II in the Pacific Theater. -
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, beginning when Nazi Germany and its Axis allies attacked and became locked in a protracted struggle with the Soviet Union for control over the Soviet city of Stalingrad in southern Russia. -
Operation Torch was the code-name for the first major Anglo-American amphibious invasion of French North Africa during World War II, launched on November 8, 1942. -
A group of historians, artists, and museum experts who protected and recovered art stolen or threatened during the war. They helped save thousands of important cultural treasures. -
The Battle of Kursk was the largest tank battle in history and resulted in a decisive Soviet victory. Ending the German army's capacity for strategic offensive operations in the East -
The Allies landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, to begin liberating Western Europe from Nazi control. It was the largest invasion in history. -
The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II -
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps and United States Navy landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. -
The Battle of Okinawa was the last major battle of World War II, fought on the island of Okinawa. -
President Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a stroke while still in office. Vice President Harry Truman became president and led the U.S. through the end of the war. -
Hitler took his own life in his bunker. His death signaled the collapse of Nazi Germany. -
Three days after Hiroshima, the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Japan announced its surrender, ending WWII. -
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. The bomb called "Fat Man” killed an estimated 40,000 people instantly, with the death toll rising to at least 70,000 by the end of the year from injuries and radiation poisoning.