- July 15
- Greenwich Observatory in England damaged by V-1 flying bomb. [1]
- July 17
- Two ammunition ships explode at Port Chicago, California, killing 322. [1]
- July 20
- (about 1800 hours) Berlin Radio reports Adolf Hitler is alive. [10]
- July 21
- (0030 hours) In Berlin, on orders from General Erich Fromm, a firing squad shots and kills Colonel of the General Staff Mertz von Quirnheim, General Friedrich Olbricht, Colonel Klaus von Stauffenberg, and Lieutenant Wernere von Haeften. [10]
- (0100) Adolf Hitler broadcasts a speech throughout occupied Europe. He tells of the unsuccessful attempt on his life, naming Klaus von Stauffenberg as the intended assassin. Hitler appoints Heinrich Himmler Commander-in-Chief of the Replacement Army, and in charge of punishing the coup conspirators. (As a result of the failed coup, between 600 and 1000 Germans are are killed for their roles in resistance between now and the end of the war.) [10]
- American Marines land on Guam. [10]
- Japanese premier Hedeki Tojo resigns. [10]
- American forces recapture Guam. [504.58]
- July 22
- Soviets set up Polish Committee of National Liberation. [1]
- The International Monetary Fund is created at the conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. [458.40]
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- July 23
- US forces invade Japanese-held Tinian in WW II. [1]
- July 25
- (0938 hours) In France, Operation Cobra begins, with eight squadrons of the US 8th Air Force bombers attacking an area south of the St.Lô-Périers highway, in preparation for a breakout operation by the US 1st Army. 1500 heavy bombers, 380 medium bombers, and 550 fighter-bombers drop 4000 tons of bombs and napalm. Short bombing kills 111 Americans, and injures 490. The operation is incredibly effective. [10]
- In France, the U.S. 1st Army breaks through enemy positions near St. Lô. [10]
- First jet fighter used in combat (German Messerschmitt 262). [1]
- July 27
- First British jet fighter used in combat (Gloster Meteor). [1]
- US regains possession of Guam from Japanese. [1]
- July 31
- In Warsaw, Poland, the Polish Home Army of about 2500 attempts to seize control of the city against 15,000 Germans. [10]
- August 3
- Heinrich Himmler orders the entire Stauffenberg family exterminated. Tens of thousands of family members are arrested. Some are killed, some infants are sent away to be raised with SS families. [10]
- August 4
- German Gestapo discover the hiding place of Anne Frank and family, and others hiding in a warehouse. They are sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, but Anne's diary is left behind, undiscovered by the Germans, later found in 1947. [1] [129]
- August 5
- (0200 hours) In Cowra, Australia, over 900 Japanese prisoners-of-war stage a mass escape. They set their quarters on fire, and rush the barbed wire fences and gun posts. 378 escape, but all are recaptured in following days. In total, 234 are killed, 108 wounded, and four Australian guards are killed. [10]
- August 6
- Deportation of 70,000 Jews from Lodz, Poland to Auschwitz begins. [1]
- August 7
- IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the [5]
- August 10
- At Hotel Maison Rouge in Strasbourg, Martin Bormann meets with top German business leaders and Nazi party officials to prepare for post-war commercial success, economic resurgence of Germany. Code name of the first phase of the plan is Operation Eagle Flight, involving the massive movement of money, technology, and specialists from Germany. [861.110]
- August 15
- The Allies launch Operation Anvil, as a second Allied invasion force under Lieutenant-General Jacob Devers lands on the Mediterranean coast of France between Cannes and Toulon. [10]
- August 17
- Canadian army forces in France capture Falaise. A pocket of 100,000 German forces is nearly surrounded, with only a gap 40 miles long, 11-15 miles wide. [10]
- August 21
- Dumbarton Oaks conference opens in Washington, DC; establishes United Nations. [1]
- August 22
- In Normandy, France, the Falaise Gap is declared officially closed. (About 250,000 to 500,000 trapped Germans were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.) [10]
- Adolf Hitler issues a directive to the German commander of Paris, France, to destroy the city. [10]
- August 23
- Romania is liberated; King Michael unconditionally surrenders to the Allies. Political coup deposes Marshal Ion Antinescu. [10] [1005.71]
- August 25
- French General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque leads the 2nd Division into Paris, France. [994.954]
- (1530 hours) German commander of Paris, France, Von Choltitz surrenders the city to Allied armies. [10]
- Finland requests an armistice with the Soviet Union. [10]
- French General Charles de Gaulle enters liberated Paris. [10]
- August 26
- Romania declares war on Germany. [10]
- August 29
- (2000 hours) The Slovak army of 60,000 mutinies against the government. [10]
- 15,000 American troops liberating Paris march down Champs Elysees. [1]
- August 30
- In Italy, Canadian forces crosses the Foglia River, and pierce the Gothic Line of German defences. [10]
- Former Paris Military Governor Colonel-General Karl Heinrich von Stülpnagel is hanged. [10]
- Soviet troops enter Bucharest, Romania. [1]
- Russian forces capture Ploesti, Romania. [10]
- September 2
- The last V-1 bomb launched from France reaches England. Total deaths from V-1 bombs in England: 6184; seriously wounded: 17,981. [10] [861.50]
- September 3
- The British 2nd Army reaches Brussels, Belgium, liberating the city. [10]
- September 4
- The Belgian port of Antwerp falls to the British 2nd Army. (The port is mostly undamaged, but the narrow approaches remain heavily fortified.) [10]
- September 8
- (1845 hours British) The first German A-4 (V-2) rocket hits London, England, landing on Staveley Road in Chiswick, killing three and injuring 20. The explosion creates a crater 10-20 feet deep and 40 feet across. The full name of the rocket is Vergeltungswaffe 2 (Revenge Weapon 2), named by Adolf Hitler. [10]
- September 9
- Allied forces liberate Luxembourg. [1]
- Bulgaria liberated from German control (often referred to as the invasion of Bulgaria by Russia). [1]
- Bulgaria signs an armistice with the Allies. [10]
- September 11
- Allied land forces cross into Germany. [10]
- In Quebec City, Canada, Prime Minister William King hosts a nine-day meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American President Franklin Roosevelt. They discuss Germany, European military strategy, and the war against Japan. [10]
- September 16
- Adolf Hitler meets with military advisors at Wolfsschanze in East Prussia. Hitler announces he will launch an offensive through the Ardennes, with objective being Antwerp, Belgium. The idea is to isolate the British, Canadian, and two American armies in the north, and force their surrender. The reduced strength of the US might then cause them to make peace, fearful of communist Soviet Union. [10]
- September 17
- British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery launches Operation Market Garden, with 14 divisions. Nearly 2000 American CG-4A and 700 British Horga and Hamilcar gliders are launched from southern England, carrying the British 2nd Army and the US 101st Airborne Division. They land along 60 miles of road in Holland, leading into Germany. The objective is to capture bridges at Grave, Nijmegen, and Arnhem over the Rhine river. [10]
- (to September 20) German and Allied forces battle in San Marino. [501.156]
- September 19
- Finland and the Soviet Union sign an armistice, ending the conflict between their countries. [10]
- September 21
- German forces begin a second V-2 rocket offensive, on European targets, mainly Antwerp, Belgium, plus ten others. [10]
- September 22
- Boulogne reoccupied by Allies. [1]
- September 23
- The Soviet Army crosses the border into southeastern Hungary. [1005.71]
- September 28
- First TV musical comedy (The Boys from Boise). [1]
- Battle of Arnhem, Germans defeat British airborne in Netherlands. [1]
- September 29
- Soviet troops invade Yugoslavia. [1]
- September 30
- Calais, France, reoccupied by Allies. [1]
- October 1
- Newspaper editor Alejandro Córdova assassinated in Guatemala. [1]
- October 3
- The Warsaw uprising is completely destroyed. In two months of fighting, an estimated 200,000 Poles were killed, ninety percent of them civilian. Estimated property losses: seventy percent of national wealth. [10]
- October 8
- Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet debuts on CBS radio in the USA. [1]
- October 9
- In Moscow, Russia, representatives of Great Britian and the Soviet Union meet over twelve days to discuss Balkan spheres of influence, Poland, and the Soviet entry into the war against Japan. [10]
- October 11
- German Colonel Baron Alexis von Roenne is executed by German authorities for treason. He was the head of German intelligence, and had convinced Adolf Hitler that the Allied landing would be in the Pas de Calais of France. [10]
- October 13
- US 1st Army begins battle of Aachen. [1]
- October 14
- German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel commits suicide at age 52 rather than face trial for his part in an attempt to overthrow Adolf Hitler. [1]
- British forces liberate Athens, Greece. [10]
- England's Daily Mail newspaper reports interruption of all telephone service in Berlin for three days without explanation. (Possibility is electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear detonation.) [861.61]
- October 15
- Hungarian Regent Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya calls on the Hungarian Army to cease resistance to advancing Red Army. Hours later, he is forced to retract order, and transfers power as Head of State to Ferenc Szálasi. [536.18] [1005.71]
- October 18
- Soviet troops invade Czechoslovakia. [1]
- October 20
- 30 blocks of Cleveland, Ohio, USA burn after a liquid gas factory explodes. [1]
- Revolution by workers and students in Guatemala. [1]
- American General Douglas MacArthur and 200,000 troops begin amphibious landings on Leyte in the central Philippines. [10]
- October 21
- US troops capture Aachen, first large German city to fall. [1]
- October 22
- Albanian General Enver Hoxha proclaims Albania a democratic republic. [995.40]
- October 23
- Soviet army invades Hungary. [1]
- October 26
- The Battle of Leyte Gulf ends, as the Japanese fleet withdraws from the victorious American fleet. The Japanese lost 34 ships, including four carriers, three battleships, and forty cruisers. (This is the greatest battle in the history of modern naval warfare to date.) [10]
- November 1
- Japanese begin launching large balloons with bombs destined for the west coast of North America. The balloons maintain a range of altitude by releasing sandbags or hydrogen automatically during their flight. The bombs are set to be released when all sandbags have been dropped. (Over five months, 9300 such balloons are launched, with only about 300 reaching North America. Due to tight control on North American media reporting, the Japanese believe the balloons are ineffective and stop sending them.) [10]
- November 6
- Plutonium is first produced at the Hanford Atomic Facility in the USA, subsequently used in the Fat Man Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. [5]
- November 7
- US President Franklin Roosevelt wins fourth term in office, defeating Thomas E Dewey (Republican). [1]
- November 8
- 25,000 Hungarian Jews are loaned to Germany for forced labor. [1]
- November 12
- Twelve British Lancaster bombers from Lossiemouth, Scotland, carrying special 12,000-pound bombs, attack German battleship Tirpitz. They score three hits, causing a great explosion, sinking the ship near Tromsö, Norway, off Hakey Island. [10]
- November 24
- US bombers based on Saipan first attack Tokyo, Japan. [1]
- November 25
- (1225 hours) A German V-2 rocket strikes the crowded Woolworths store on New Cross Road, in Deptford, central London, England, killing 160, seriously injuring 77, and injuring 122 others. [10]
- November 29
- Albania liberated from German control. [1]
- John Hopkins Hospital performs first open heart surgery. [1]
- December 1
- Mail routing resumes in free South Netherlands. [1]
- December 2
- Charles de Gaulle meets with Josef Stalin in Moscow, over nine days. A military alliance is signed, against Germany now, and after the war. [10]
- German troops seize Betuwse dikes. [1]
- US 95th Infantry division occupies bridge at Saar. [1]
- December 3
- British order to disarm causes general strike in Greece. [1]
- Hungarian death march of Jews ends. [1]
- US 5th Armour division occupies Brandenburg Hürtgenwald. [1]
- December 4
- Germans destroy Rhine dikes, flooding Betuwe. [1]
- December 5
- German troops rob all the silver coin in Utrecht. [1]
- December 6
- US 95th Infantry division reaches German Westwall. [1]
- December 7
- Convention on International Civil Aviation drawn up in Chicago, Illinois, USA. [1]
- General Radescu forms Romanian government. [1]
- December 9
- In Washington DC, 44 governments sign an agreement to create the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. [979.619]
- December 10
- Nine Dutch citizens are hanged by Germans. [1]
- German counter-attack at Dillingen-bridgehead at Saar. [1]
- France and the Soviet Union sign a mutual assistance pact. [10]
- December 13
- Japanese kamikaze crashes into US cruiser Nashville, kills 138. [1]
- The New York Times reports American Air Force airmen have encountered silver-colored spheres in the air over German territory. [861.54]
- December 14
- US Congress establishes rank of General of the Army (five-star General). [1]
- German occupiers forbid use of electricity in parts of Holland. [1]
- A US government report "Reports on the Atom-splitting Bomb" includes a decoded message intercept from Japanese embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, to headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, noting that the "atom-splitting bomb" was first used by the German Army in 1943 against the 19th Infantry Regiment of Russians, 150km southeast of Kursk, a few 5kg bombs wiped them out, and were also previously used versus Russians in the Crimea. [861.63]
- December 15
- Hizbu'allah (Arm forces for Allah) forms. [1]
- US Congress gives General Dwight Eisenhower his fifth star. [1]
- US troops lands on Mindoro. [1]
- December 16
- (0530 hours) Adolf Hitler launches Operation Autumn Mist (Herbstnebel). A short (30 minutes) artillery burst commences prior to troop movement. A German force of 20-22 divisions attacks along a 60-mile front from Monschau to Echternach through the Ardennes, in a surprise attack on the West. 200,000 German tank and infantry troops take part in the offensive versus 83,000 along the American line. [10]
- A German V-2 rocket hits the Rex Theatre in Antwerp, Belgium, killing 492-567, the worst missile attack of the war. [10]
- US 2nd Infantry division occupies "Heartbreak Crossroads" Wahlerscheid. [1]
- December 17
- US Army announces end of excluding Japanese-Americans from West Coast; Japanese-Americans are released from detention camps. [1]
- December 18
- US Destroyers Hull, Spence, and Monaghan sink in typhoon off Philippines, 790 killed. [1]
- German occupiers of Amsterdam destroy electricity plants. [1]
- December 20
- Battle of Bastogne, Germans surround US 101st Airborne. [1]
- December 22
- American forces in Bastogne, Belgium, are told by a German commanding officer to surrender or be annihilated. US General Anthony McAuliffe replies "NUTS!". [10]
- December 26
- Battle of Bastogne-US General Patton's 4th Pantzers repulse the Germans. [1]
- Budapest surrounded by Soviet army. [1] [1005.71]
- December 30
- King George II of Greece abdicates his throne. [1]
- December 31
- 48 people die in a train accident in Ogden, Utah, USA. [1]
- Japanese army evacuates harbor city Akyab. [1]
- Adolf Hitler launches Operation Nordwind, the second surprise offensive at the southern flank of the Allied line in Germany. [10]
- Year
- Global mean surface temperature at peak highest point since accurate measurements in 1880, beginning of gradual decline. [58]
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