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The Battle of Britian
The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, and was also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign to that date. The Battle of Britain marked the first defeat of Hitler’s military forces. -
The Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Japan attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor. The attack damaged eighteen US naval vessels, including eight battleships, and completely destroyed or damaged 300 US aircraft, while killing 2,403 men. -
The Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was one of the most important battles of World War II. It was the turning point of the war in the Pacific between the United States and Japan. The battle took place over four days between June 4th and June 7th in 1942. -
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The Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the largest and deadliest battles in World War II. It was a turning point in the war. After losing the battle, the German army lost so many soldiers and took such a defeat that they never quite recovered. -
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the name given to the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1942. Operation Torch was the first time the British and Americans had jointly worked on an invasion plan together. -
The 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. -
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The Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk, which involved the largest tank battle of the Second World War, was fought on the steppe of Kursk oblast. It was initiated by the Germans who, concentrated 50 divisions, two tank brigades, three tank battalions, and eight artillery assault divisions comprising 2,700 Tiger and Panther tanks, some two thousand aircraft, and 900,000 men in all. -
D-Day
The D-Day invasion is significant in history for the role it played in World War II. D-Day marked the turn of the tide for the control maintained by Nazi Germany; less than a year after the invasion, the Allies formally accepted Nazi Germany's surrender. -
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The Battle of the Bulge
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said the Battle of the Bulge was 'undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war'. It was also one of the bloodiest. The Allies could offset these losses, but Germany had drained its manpower and material resources. The Allies resumed their advance and in early spring crossed into the heart of Germany. -
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The Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle of World War II in the Pacific. It was an American invasion of the Japan-held island of Iwo Jima which was approximately 575 miles from the homeland islands of Japan. The United States wanted to take control over the island, and its three airfields in hopes of using the island as a staging ground for the United States’ attack against Japan's Mainland. -
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The Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was the largest landing in the Pacific theater of World War II. It resulted in the largest casualties with over 100,000 Japanese casualties and 50,000 casualties for the Allies. -
The Death of FDR
Roosevelt won reelection in the 1944 presidential election on his post-war recovery platform. His physical health began declining during the later war years, and less than three months into his fourth term, Roosevelt passed. -
The Death of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler committed suicide by gunshot in his underground bunker in Berlin. -
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 immediately killed an estimated 80,000 people. -
Atomic Bombing Nagasaki
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, during World War II, American bombing raids on the Japanese cities of Nagasaki marked the first use of atomic weapons in war.