Events
Below, the events of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
have the "WWII" prefix.
January
![Landing at Anzio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Landing_at_Anzio.jpg)
*
January 2
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – The Roman legions in Germania Superior refuse to swear loyalty to Galba. They rebel and proclaim Vitellius as emperor.
* 366 – The Alemanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading the Roman Empi ...
– WWII:
**
Free French
Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...
General
Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny (2 February 1889 – 11 January 1952) was a French général d'armée during World War II and the First Indochina War. He was posthumously elevated to the dignity of Marshal of France in 1952.
As ...
is appointed to command
French Army B
The First Army (french: 1re Armée) was a field army of France that fought during World War I and World War II. It was also active during the Cold War.
First World War
On mobilization in August 1914, General Auguste Dubail was put in the ...
, part of the
Sixth United States Army Group
The 6th United States Army Group was an Allied Army Group that fought in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. Made up of field armies from both the United States Army and the French Army, it fought in France, Germany, Austr ...
in North Africa.
**
Landing at Saidor
The landing at Saidor, codenamed Operation Michaelmas, was an Allied amphibious landing at Saidor, Papua New Guinea on 2 January 1944 as part of Operation Dexterity during World War II. In Allied hands, Saidor was a stepping stone towards Ma ...
: 13,000 US and Australian troops land on
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
, in an attempt to cut off a Japanese retreat.
*
January 8
Events Pre-1600
* 307 – Emperor Huai of Jin, Jin Huaidi becomes emperor of China in succession to his father, Emperor Hui of Jin, Jin Huidi, despite a challenge from his uncle, Sima Ying.
* 871 – Æthelred I, King of Wessex, Æthel ...
– WWII:
Philippine Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 ...
troops enter the province of
Ilocos Sur
Ilocos Sur, officially the Province of Ilocos Sur ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Sur; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Sur), is a province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region in Luzon. Located on the mouth of the Mestizo River is the capital o ...
in northern
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
and attack Japanese forces.
*
January 11
Events Pre-1600
* 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence.
* 630 – Conquest of Mecca: The prophet Muhamma ...
** President of the United States
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
proposes a
Second Bill of Rights
The Second Bill of Rights or Bill of Economic Rights was proposed by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt during his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, January 11, 1944. In his address, Roosevelt suggested that the nation had come ...
for social and economic security, in his
State of the Union
The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current conditio ...
address.
** The Nazi German administration expands
Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp
, known for =
, location =
, coordinates =
, built by =
, operated by = Nazi Germany
, commandant = Amon Göth (until September 1944)Arnold Büscher (September 1944 – January 1945)
...
into the larger standalone ''Konzentrationslager Plaszow bei Krakau'' in occupied Poland.
*
January 12
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
*1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reigned s ...
– WWII:
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
and
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
begin a 2-day conference in
Marrakech
Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...
.
*
January 14
Events Pre-1600
*1236 – King Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence.
*1301 – Andrew III of Hungary dies, ending the Árpád dynasty in Hungary.
1601–1900
*1639 – The "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, Fundamenta ...
– WWII: Soviet troops start the offensive at
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and
Novgorod
Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...
.
*
January 15
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, beginning a reign of only three months.
* 1541 – King Francis I of France gives Jean-François Roberval a commission to settle the province of ...
** WWII: The
27th Polish Home Army Infantry Division
27th Volhynian Infantry Division ( pl, 27 Wołyńska Dywizja Piechoty) was a World War II Polish Armia Krajowa unit fighting in the Volhynia region in 1944. It was created on January 15, 1944, from smaller partisan self-defence units during the ...
is re-created, marking the start of
Operation Tempest
file:Akcja_burza_1944.png, 210px, right
Operation Tempest ( pl, akcja „Burza”, sometimes referred to in English as "Operation Storm") was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II against occupying German forces by the Polish Home ...
by the Polish
Home Army
The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...
, a resistance force.
**
1944 San Juan earthquake
The 1944 San Juan earthquake took place in the province of San Juan, in the center-west area of Argentina, a region highly prone to seismic events. This moderate to strong earthquake (estimated moment magnitudes range from 6.7 to 7.8) destroye ...
: An earthquake hits
San Juan, Argentina
San Juan () is the capital and largest city of the Argentine province of San Juan in the Cuyo region, located in the Tulúm Valley, west of the San Juan River, at above mean sea level, with a population of around 112,000 as per the (over ...
, killing an estimated 10,000 people, in the worst natural disaster in Argentina's history.
*
January 17
Events Pre-1600
* 38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
* 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on ...
– WWII:
** The
Battle of Monte Cassino
The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...
begins in Italy. British forces cross the
Garigliano
The Garigliano () is a river in central Italy.
It forms at the confluence of the rivers Gari (also known as the Rapido) and Liri. Garigliano is actually a deformation of "Gari-Lirano" (which in Italian means something like "Gari from the Liri"). ...
River.
U.S. Fifth Army
The United States Army North (ARNORTH) is a formation of the United States Army. An Army Service Component Command (ASCC) subordinate to United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM), ARNORTH is the joint force land component of NORTHCOM. troops, commanded by Lieutenant-General
Mark W. Clark
Mark Wayne Clark (May 1, 1896 – April 17, 1984) was a United States Army officer who saw service during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. He was the youngest four-star general in the US Army during World War II.
During World War I ...
, arrive at the Garigliano, to begin their attack against the
Gustav Line
The Winter Line was a series of German and Italian military fortifications in Italy, constructed during World War II by Organisation Todt and commanded by Albert Kesselring. The series of three lines was designed to defend a western section of ...
south of Rome. The
French Expeditionary Corps There have been several French Expeditionary Corps (French ''Corps expéditionnaire'' 'français'':
* Expeditionary Corps of the Orient 'Corps expéditionnaire d'Orient'', CEO(1915), during World War I
* Expeditionary Corps of the Dardanelles 'Co ...
, under command of General
Alphonse Juin
Alphonse Pierre Juin (16 December 1888 – 27 January 1967) was a senior French Army Army general (France), general who became Marshal of France. A graduate of the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, École Spéciale Militaire class of 1912, ...
, moves into the mountains north of
Monte Cassino
Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first h ...
.
** The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
ceases production of the
Mosin–Nagant 1891/30 sniper rifle
A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long-range rifle. Requirements include accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment and optics for anti-personnel, anti-materiel and surveillance uses of the military sniper. The modern sniper rifle is a por ...
.
*
January 20
Events Pre-1600
* 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
* 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
* 1156 &ndas ...
– WWII:
** The
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin.
** The
United States 36th Infantry Division in Italy attempts to cross the
Rapido River.
*
January 22
Events Pre-1600
* 613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (''Caesar'') by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.
* 871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vi ...
– WWII:
Operation Shingle
The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that took place from January 22, 1944 (beginning with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle) to June 5, 1944 (ending with the capture of Rome). The ope ...
: The
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
begin the assault on
Anzio
Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome.
Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a Port, fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine I ...
, Italy. The
U.S. 45th Infantry Division
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
stand their ground at Anzio against violent assaults for four months.
*
January 25
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate.
* 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty ...
– A
total solar eclipse
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...
is visible in Pacific Ocean, South America, Atlantic Ocean and Africa, the 48th solar eclipse of
Solar Saros 130
Saros cycle series 130 for solar eclipses occurs at the Moon's descending node, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 73 events. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon's descending node.
This solar saros is linked to Lunar Sa ...
.
*
January 27
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.
* 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to becom ...
– WWII:
** The two-year
Siege of Leningrad
The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...
is lifted.
**
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
is sunk by a
Henschel Hs 293
The Henschel Hs 293 was a World War II German radio-guided glide bomb. It is the first operational anti-shipping missile, first used unsuccessfully on 25 August 1943 and then with increasing success over the next year, ultimately damaging or sink ...
guided missile
In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket ...
, from a German aircraft off
Anzio
Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome.
Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a Port, fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine I ...
, western Italy, with the loss of 46 men.
*
January 29
Events
Pre-1600
* 904 – Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.
* 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu'izz al-Dawla, ruler o ...
– WWII:
Koniuchy massacre
The Koniuchy (Kaniūkai) massacre was a World War II massacre of civilians, mostly women and children, carried out in the village of Koniuchy (now Kaniūkai, Lithuania) on 29 January 1944 by a Soviet partisan unit together with a contingent o ...
– A unit of
Soviet partisans
Soviet partisans were members of resistance movements that fought a guerrilla war against Axis forces during World War II in the Soviet Union, the previously Soviet-occupied territories of interwar Poland in 1941–45 and eastern Finland. The ...
accompanied by
Jewish partisans
Jewish partisans were fighters in irregular military groups participating in the Jewish resistance movement against Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II.
A number of Jewish partisan groups operated across Nazi-occupied Europ ...
kills at least 38 civilians in the village of
Koniuchy in
Nazi occupied Lithuania
The military occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany lasted from the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 to the end of the Battle of Memel on January 28, 1945. At first the Germans were widely welcomed as liberators from the re ...
.
*
January 30
Events Pre-1600
*1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.
*1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.
1601–1900
*1607 – An estimated ...
– WWII:
** The
Battle of Cisterna
The Battle of Cisterna took place during World War II, on 30 January–2 February 1944, near Cisterna, Italy, as part of the Battle of Anzio, part of the Italian Campaign. The battle was a clear German victory which also had repercussions on th ...
opens, as
United States Army Rangers
United States Army Rangers, according to the US Army's definition, are personnel, past or present, in any unit that has the official designation "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the US Army Ranger School, even if t ...
attempt to break out of the
Anzio
Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome.
Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a Port, fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine I ...
beachhead.
** United States troops invade
Majuro, Marshall Islands
Majuro (; Marshallese: ' ) is the capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district of the Ratak (Sunrise) Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atol ...
.
*
January 31
Events Pre-1600
* 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
* 1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the t ...
– WWII:
Battle of Kwajalein
The Battle of Kwajalein was fought as part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. It took place from 31 January – 3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Employing the hard-learned lessons of the Battle of Tarawa, the Un ...
: American forces land on
Kwajalein Atoll
Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilia ...
and other islands, in the Japanese-held
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
.
February
![Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2005-0004, Italien, Monte Cassino](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-2005-0004%2C_Italien%2C_Monte_Cassino.jpg)
* The
Zadran tribe rises up against the Afghan government, starting the
Afghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947
The Afghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947 or the Khost disturbances were a series of tribal revolts in the Kingdom of Afghanistan by Zadran, Safi and Mangal tribesmen which lasted from February 1944 to January 1947. The causes of the revolts la ...
.
*
February 2
Events Pre-1600
* 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of "Roman law".
* 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King ...
– The first issue of ''
Human Events
''Human Events'' is an American conservative political news and analysis website. Founded in 1944 as a print newspaper, ''Human Events'' became a digital-only publication in 2013.
''Human Events'' takes its name from the first sentence of the Un ...
'' is published in Washington, D.C.
*
February 3
Events Pre-1600
* 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
*1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
*1488 – ...
– WWII: United States troops capture the
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
.
*
February 7
Events Pre-1600
* 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor.
* 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
* 1301 &nd ...
– WWII: At
Anzio
Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome.
Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a Port, fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine I ...
, German forces launch a counteroffensive.
*
February 8
Events Pre-1600
* 421 – Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
* 1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir.
*1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al ...
– WWII:
** 2,765 drown when American
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
torpedoes Japanese troop transport ''
Lima Maru
''Lima Maru'' was a 6,989-ton Japanese troop transport during World War II, which sank on 8 February 1944 with great loss of life.
The ''Lima Maru'' was built in 1920 by the Mitsubishi Zosen Kaisha in Nagasaki for the Nippon Yusen shipping compan ...
''.
** 2,670 drown when British submarine torpedoes German-captured carrying Italian prisoners of war.
*
February 14
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis ...
– WWII: An anti-Japanese revolt breaks out on
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
.
*
February 15
Events Pre-1600
* 438 – Roman emperor Theodosius II publishes the law codex Codex Theodosianus
* 590 – Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia.
* 706 – Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberi ...
– WWII:
Battle of Monte Cassino
The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...
– The monastery atop
Monte Cassino
Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first h ...
is destroyed by Allied bombing.
*
February 17
Events Pre-1600
* 1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
* 1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of ...
– WWII:
Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
– The
Battle of Eniwetok
The Battle of Eniwetok was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought between 17 February 1944 and 23 February 1944, on Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The invasion of Eniwetok followed the American success in the Battle ...
begins when U.S. forces invade the atoll in the
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
.
*
February 18
Events Pre-1600
* 1229 – The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
* 1268 &ndas ...
– WWII: British light cruiser is torpedoed and sunk by
''U-410'' in the Mediterranean; 417 of her crew, including the captain, go down with the ship; 206 survive.
*
February 20
Events Pre-1600
*1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated.
*1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland ...
– WWII:
** The "
Big Week
Big Week or Operation Argument was a sequence of raids by the United States Army Air Forces and RAF Bomber Command from 20 to 25 February 1944, as part of the Strategic bombing during World War II#US bombing in Europe, European strategic bombin ...
" begins, with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.
** The United States takes
Eniwetok Atoll
Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...
.
**
Norwegian heavy water sabotage
The Norwegian heavy water sabotage ( nb, Tungtvannsaksjonen; nn, Tungtvassaksjonen) was a series of Allied-led efforts to halt German heavy water production via hydroelectric plants in Nazi Germany-occupied Norway during World War II, involvi ...
: The
Norwegian resistance
The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:
*Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled government, ...
sinks train ferry
SF ''Hydro'' which is carrying a shipment of
heavy water from the
Vemork
Vemork is a hydroelectric power plant outside Rjukan in Tinn, Norway. The plant was built by Norsk Hydro and opened in 1911, its main purpose being to fix nitrogen for the production of fertilizer. At opening, it was the world's largest power pl ...
plant to Germany along
Tinnsjå
Tinnsjå ( eng, Lake Tinn), also called ''Tinnsjø'' and ''Tinnsjøen'', is one of the largest lakes in Norway, and one of the deepest in Europe. It is located between the municipalities of Tinn and Notodden in Vestfold og Telemark county. At it ...
in
Telemark
Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...
.
*
February 22
Events Pre-1600
* 1076 – Having received a letter during the Lenten synod of 14–20 February demanding that he abdicate, Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
* 1316 – The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdina ...
– WWII: The
United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe
The United States Strategic Air Forces (USSTAF) was a formation of the United States Army Air Forces. It became the overall command and control authority of the United States Army Air Forces in Europe during World War II.
USSTAF had started as ...
is organized from the Eighth Air Force's strategic planning staff, subsuming strategic planning for all
US Army Air Force
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
s in Europe and Africa.
*
February 23
Events Pre-1600
* 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
* 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
– WWII:
**
Deportation of the Chechens and Ingush
The deportation of the Chechens and Ingush ( ce, До́хадар, Махках дахар, inh, Мехках дахар), or Ardakhar Genocide ( ce, Ардахар Махках), and also known as Operation Lentil (russian: Чечевица ...
("Operation Lentil"): Forced deportation of
Chechens
The Chechens (; ce, Нохчий, , Old Chechen: Нахчой, ''Naxçoy''), historically also known as ''Kisti'' and ''Durdzuks'', are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group of the Nakh peoples native to the North Caucasus in Eastern Europe. "Europ ...
and
Ingush people
The Ingush (, inh, ГIалгIай, translit=Ghalghaj, pronounced ) per Oxford dictionary "a member of a people living mainly in Ingushetia in the central Caucasus." Ingushetia is a federal republic of Russian Federation. The Ingush are predomi ...
from
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...
to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
by the Soviet authorities begins.
** The
Battle of Eniwetok
The Battle of Eniwetok was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought between 17 February 1944 and 23 February 1944, on Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The invasion of Eniwetok followed the American success in the Battle ...
concludes when U.S. forces secure the last islands in the
Eniwetok Atoll
Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...
.
*
February 24
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.
* 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence.
* 13 ...
– WWII: American submarine torpedoes Japanese transports and ; 7,998 drown.
*
February 26
Events Pre-1600
*747 BC – According to Ptolemy, the epoch (origin) of the Nabonassar Era began at noon on this date. Historians use this to establish the modern BC chronology for dating historic events.
* 364 – Valentinian I is p ...
**
Kurt Gerron
Kurt Gerron (11 May 1897 – 28 October 1944) was a German History of the Jews in Germany, Jewish actor and film director. He and his wife, Olga were murdered in the Holocaust.
Life
Born Kurt Gerson into a well-off merchant family in Berlin, he ...
begins shooting the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
propaganda film ''
Theresienstadt
Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...
'' in
Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...
. He and many others who are featured in it are transferred to
Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
and gassed upon the film's completion.
**
Sue S. Dauser
Sue S. Dauser was the fifth Superintendent of the United States Navy Nurse Corps, guiding the Nurse Corps through World War II.
Early life
Dauser was born in Anaheim, California, on 20 September 1888. She graduated from the California Hospital Sc ...
becomes the first woman appointed to the substantive rank of
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
, in the
United States Navy Nurse Corps
The United States Navy Nurse Corps was officially established by Congress in 1908; however, unofficially, women had been working as nurses aboard Navy ships and in Navy hospitals for nearly 100 years. The Corps was all-female until 1965.
Pre-190 ...
.
*
February 29
February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to leap years. A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth's revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in mos ...
– WWII:
Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
– The
Admiralty Islands campaign
The Admiralty Islands campaign (Operation Brewer) was a series of battles in the New Guinea campaign of World War II in which the United States Army's 1st Cavalry Division took the Japanese-held Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands ar ...
(Operation Brewer) opens when U.S. forces land on
Los Negros Island
Los Negros Island is the third largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is significant because it contains the main airport of Manus Province on its eastern coastline, at Momote. It is connected to Lorengau, the capital of the province, on Manus I ...
in the
Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 18 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island.
These rainforest-co ...
.
March
*
March
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...
– Austrian-born
economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian–British economist, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical liberalism. Haye ...
publishes his book ''
The Road to Serfdom
''The Road to Serfdom'' ( German: ''Der Weg zur Knechtschaft'') is a book written between 1940 and 1943 by Austrian-British economist and philosopher Friedrich Hayek. Since its publication in 1944, ''The Road to Serfdom'' has been popular among ...
'' in London.
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first Roman triumph, triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor ...
– WWII: American submarine torpedoes Japanese merchant cruiser ; 2,495 drown.
*
March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his ''bucellarii'' are almost cut o ...
– The
16th Academy Awards
The 16th Academy Awards were held on March 2, 1944, to honor the films of 1943. This was the first Oscar ceremony held at a large public venue, Grauman's Chinese Theatre. The ceremony was broadcast locally on KFWB, and internationally by CBS R ...
Ceremony is held, the first Oscar ceremony held at a large public venue,
Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Grauman's Chinese Theatre (branded as TCL Chinese Theatre for naming rights reasons) is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.
The original Chines ...
in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
. ''
Casablanca
Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
'', directed by
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz ( ; born Manó Kaminer; since 1905 Mihály Kertész; hu, Kertész Mihály; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed cla ...
, wins the Academy Award for Best Picture, Award for Best Picture.
* March 3 – WWII: The Order of Nakhimov and the Order of Ushakov are instituted in the USSR.
* March 4 – Louis Buchalter, the leader of 1930s crime syndicate Murder, Inc., is executed at Sing Sing, in Ossining (village), New York, Ossining, New York, along with Emanuel Weiss and Louis Capone.
* March 6 – WWII: Soviet Army planes attack Narva, Estonia, destroying almost the entire baroque old town.
* March 9 – WWII: Soviet Army planes Bombing of Tallinn in World War II, attack Tallinn, Estonia, killing 757 and leaving 25,000 homeless.
* March 10
** In Britain, the prohibition on married women working as teachers is lifted.
** Resistance leader Joop Westerweel is arrested while returning to the Netherlands, having escorted a group of Jewish children to safety in Spain.
* March 12 – WWII: The Political Committee of National Liberation is created in Greece.
* March 15
** WWII:
Battle of Monte Cassino
The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...
: Allies of World War II, Allied aircraft bomb the monastery, and an assault is staged.
** WWII: The National Council of the French Resistance approves the Resistance movement, Resistance programme.
** The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
introduces State Anthem of the Soviet Union, a new anthem, replacing ''The Internationale''.
* March 18
**The last eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy kills 26, and causes thousands to flee their homes.
**WWII: The Nazis execute almost 400 prisoners, Soviet citizens and anti-fascist Romanians at Rîbnița.
* March 19
** WWII: Operation Margarethe: German forces occupy Hungary.
** The secular oratorio ''A Child of Our Time'' by Michael Tippett is premiered at the Adelphi Theatre in London.
[ ]
* March 20 - WWII:
** Landing on Emirau: 4,000 United States Marines land on Emirau Island in the Bismarck Archipelago to develop an airbase, as part of Operation Cartwheel.
** British
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade's bomber is hit over Germany, and he has to bail out without a parachute from a height of over . Tree branches interrupt his fall and he lands safely on deep snow.
* March 23 – WWII: Members of the Italian Resistance attack Nazis marching in Via Rasella, killing 33.
* March 24 – WWII:
** Ardeatine massacre: In Rome, 335 Italians are killed, including 75 Jews and over 200 members of the Italian Resistance from various groups.
** In Markowa, Poland, German police kill Józef and Wiktoria Ulm, their 6 children and 8 Jews they were hiding.
** Stalag Luft III#The great escape, The "Great Escape": 76
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
prisoners of war escape by tunnel "Harry" from Stalag Luft III this night. Only 3 men (2 Norwegians and a Dutchman) return to the UK; of those recaptured, 50 are summarily executed soon afterwards, in the Stalag Luft III murders.
* March 27 – In Sweden, Ruben Rausing patents Erik Wallenberg's method of packaging milk in paper, origin of the international company Tetra Pak.
April
*April 2 – WWII: Ascq massacre: Members of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, 12th SS Panzer Division ''Hitlerjugend'' shoot 85 civilians suspected of blowing up their train on its approach to the Gare d'Ascq in France.
*April 4 WWII:
**Allied bombardment of Bucharest, Romania begins. The United States Air Force and British Royal Air Force, with approximately 3,640 bombers of different types, accompanied by about 1,830 fighters bomb Romania for the following 4½ months. As collateral damage, 5,524 inhabitants are killed, 3,373 injured, and 47,974 left homeless.
**An Allied Aerial reconnaissance, photoreconnaissance aircraft of 60 Squadron SAAF photographs part of Auschwitz concentration camp.
*April 10 – The Holocaust: Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from Auschwitz concentration camp; on April 25–27 they prepare the Vrba–Wetzler report, one of the earliest and most detailed descriptions of the extermination of Jews in the camp.
*April 14 – Bombay Explosion (1944), Bombay Explosion: Freighter SS ''Fort Stikine'', carrying a mixed cargo of ammunition, cotton bales and gold, explodes in harbour at Bombay (India), sinking surrounding ships and killing around 800 people.
*April 15 – Italian fascist philosopher Giovanni Gentile is assassinated in Florence by :it:Bruno Fanciullacci, Bruno Fanciullacci, a member of the partisan Gruppi di Azione Patriottica.
*April 16 – WWII: Allied forces start bombing Belgrade, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing falls on the Orthodox Christian Easter.
*April 19 – WWII:
** The Japanese launch the Operation Ichi-Go offensive in central and south China.
** :fr:Semaine rouge (Rouen), Semaine rouge: American and British planes bomb the city of Rouen.
*April 25
** The Holocaust: SS-''Obersturmbannführer'' Adolf Eichmann opens "blood for goods" negotiations with Joel Brand, to offer the release of thousands of Jews from eastern Europe to the Hungarian Aid and Rescue Committee, in exchange for supplies for the German Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front.
** The United Negro College Fund is incorporated in the United States.
*April 26 – WWII:
**Kidnap of General Kreipe, German General Kreipe is kidnapped on Crete, Greece.
** American submarine torpedoes Japanese cargo carrier ; 2,649 drown.
*April 28 – WWII: Allied convoy T4, forming part of amphibious Exercise Tiger (a full-scale rehearsal for the Normandy landings) in Start Bay, off the Devon coast of England, is attacked by E-boats, resulting in the deaths of 749 American servicemen from Landing Ship, Tank, LSTs.
May
![CommonwealthPrimeMinisters1944](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/CommonwealthPrimeMinisters1944.jpg)
* May – Jean-Paul Sartre's Existentialism, existentialist drama ''No Exit'' (''Huis Clos'') premières in Nazi-occupied Paris.
* May 1 – WWII: Two hundred Communist prisoners Kaisariani executions, are shot by the Germans at Kaisariani, Athens, Greece, in reprisal for the killing of General Franz Krech by Partisans at Molaoi.
* May 5 – WWII: Mohandas Gandhi is released from jail in India, on health grounds.
* May 9 – WWII: In the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol, Soviet troops completely drive out German forces, who had been ordered by Hitler to “fight to the last man.”
["Year by Year 1944" – History Channel International]
* May 12 – WWII: Soviet troops finalize the liberation of the Crimea.
* May 14 – The Holocaust: Predominantly Muslim Albanian troops of the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian), 21st ''Waffen'' Mountain Division of the SS ''Skanderbeg'' (1st Albanian) round up 281 Jews in Pristina, and hand them over to the Germans for transportation to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
* May 15–July 8 – The Holocaust: Hungarian Jews are deported to
Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
and other Nazi concentration camps.
* May 18 – WWII:
**
Battle of Monte Cassino
The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...
: The Germans evacuate
Monte Cassino
Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first h ...
and Allies of World War II, Allied forces, led by Władysław Anders from Polish II Corps, take the stronghold after a struggle that has claimed 20,000 lives.
** Deportation of the Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatars are deported by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
* May 24 – WWII: West Loch disaster: Six Landing Ship, Tank, LSTs are accidentally destroyed and 163 men killed, in Pearl Harbor.
* May 30 – Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois, Princess Charlotte Louise Juliette Louvet Grimaldi of Monaco, heir to the throne, resigns in favor of her son Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, Prince Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi, who later reigns as Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
* May 31 – WWII: American destroyer escort sinks the sixth Japanese submarine in two weeks. This anti-submarine warfare performance remains unmatched through the 20th century.
June
![NormandySupply edit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/NormandySupply_edit.jpg)
* June 1 – Two K-class blimps of the United States Navy complete the first transatlantic crossing by Blimp, non-rigid airships, from the U.S. to French Morocco, with two stops.
* June 2 – WWII: The Provisional Government of the French Republic is established.
* June 3 – Hans Asperger publishes his paper on Asperger syndrome.
* June 4 – WWII:
** Rome falls to the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
, the first Axis powers, Axis capital to fall.
** A hunter-killer group of the United States Navy captures the , marking the first time a U.S. Navy vessel has captured an enemy vessel at sea since the War of 1812. Some significant intelligence data is acquired.
* June 5 – WWII:
** The German navy's Enigma machine, Enigma messages are decoded in England almost in real time.
** British Group Captain James Stagg correctly forecasts a brief improvement in weather conditions over the English Channel, which will permit the following day's Normandy landings to take place (having been deferred from today due to unfavourable weather).
** At 10:15 p.m. local time, the BBC transmits coded messages including the second line of the Paul Verlaine poem "Chanson d'automne" to the French Resistance, indicating that the invasion of Europe is about to begin.
** More than 1,000 British bombers drop 5,000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast, in preparation for D-Day.
** US and British airborne forces, airborne divisions drop into Normandy, in preparation for D-Day.
** D-Day naval deceptions are launched.
* June 6 – WWII: Normandy landings, D-Day: 155,000 Allies of World War II, Allied troops shipped from England land on the beaches of Normandy in northern France, beginning Operation Overlord and the Invasion of Normandy. The Allied soldiers quickly break through the Atlantic Wall and push inland, in the largest amphibious military operation in history. This operation helps liberate France from Germany, and also weakens the Nazi hold on Europe.
* June 7 – WWII:
** Bayeux is liberated by British troops.
** Operation Perch, a British attempt to capture Caen from the Germans, commences; it is abandoned on June 14.
** The steamer ''Danae'' ( el, Δανάη), carrying 600 Crete, Cretans (including 350 Greek Jews) on the first leg of the journey to
Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
, is sunk, with no known survivors, off Santorini.
** Joel Brand is intercepted by British agents in Aleppo.
* June 9 – WWII: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin launches the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive against Finland, with the intent of defeating Finland before pushing for Berlin.
* June 10 – WWII: Oradour-sur-Glane massacre: 642 men, women and children are killed in France.
* June 13 – WWII: Germany launches the first V-1 flying bomb attack on London.
* June 15 – WWII: Battle of Saipan: United States forces land on Saipan.
* June 15–June 16, 16 – WWII: Bombing of Yawata (June 1944), Bombing of Yawata – The United States Army Air Forces conduct the first air raid on the Japanese home islands.
* June 16 – At age 14, George Stinney becomes the youngest person ever executed in the United States.
* June 17 – Iceland declares full independence from Denmark.
* June 19 – WWII: A severe storm badly damages the Mulberry harbours on the Normandy coast.
* June 20 – WWII: A V-2 rocket becomes the first man-made object to cross the Kármán line and reach the edge of space.
* June 22 – WWII:
** Operation Bagration: A general attack by Soviet Union, Soviet forces clears the German forces from Belarus, resulting in the destruction of German Army Group Centre, possibly the greatest defeat of the Wehrmacht during WWII.
** Burma Campaign: The Battle of Kohima ends in a British victory.
* June 23 – The Holocaust: Maurice Rossel of the International Committee of the Red Cross visits
Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...
, uncritically accepting the propaganda view of it presented by the ''Schutzstaffel''.
* June 25 – WWII:
** Battle of Tali-Ihantala (the largest battle ever in the Nordic countries): Finland is able to resist the Soviet attack, and thus manages to remain an independent nation.
** Bombardment of Cherbourg, Cherbourg is bombarded by ships of the United States Navy and British Royal Navy, in support of U.S. ground troops.
* June 26 – WWII: American troops enter Cherbourg-Octeville, Cherbourg.
* June 29 – WWII: American submarine torpedoes Japanese troop transport ; 5,400 drown.
[
* June 30 – WWII: American submarine torpedoes Japanese troop transport ; 3,219 drown.
]
July
* July–October – WWII: Germans are driven out of Lithuania leading to reimposition of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.
* July 1 – The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference begins at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States.
* July 3 – WWII:
** Soviet troops liberate Minsk.
** Battle of Imphal: Japanese forces call off their advance, ending the battle with a British victory.
* July 6 – WWII: At Camp Hood, Texas, future baseball star and 1st Lt. Jackie Robinson is arrested and later court-martialed, for refusing to move to the back of a segregated U.S. Army bus (he is eventually acquitted).
* July 9 – WWII: British and Canadian forces capture Caen.
* July 10–July 11, 11 – WWII: Operation Jupiter (1944), Operation Jupiter during the Battle of Normandy of World War II: British strategic victory over German Panzer Corps.
* July 10 – WWII: Soviet troops begin operations to liberate the Baltic states, Baltic countries from Nazi occupation.
* July 12–July 21, 21 – WWII: Dortan massacre – 35–36 French civilians are killed by ''Ostlegionen'' (Cossacks) serving with the ''Wehrmacht''.
* July 13 – WWII: Vilnius is freed by Soviet forces.
* July 16 – WWII: The first contingent of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force arrives in Italy.
* July 17 – WWII:
** The largest convoy of the war embarks from Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia, under Royal Canadian Navy protection.
** Port Chicago disaster: The SS ''E. A. Bryan'', loaded with ammunition, explodes at the Port Chicago, California, Naval Magazine, killing 320 sailors and civilian personnel.
* July 18 – WWII:
** American forces push back the Germans in Saint-Lô, capturing the city.
** British forces launch Operation Goodwood, an armoured offensive aimed at driving the Germans from the high ground to the south of Caen. The offensive ends 2 days later with minimal gains.
** Hideki Tōjō resigns as Prime Minister of Japan due to numerous setbacks in the war effort and is succeeded on July 22 by Kuniaki Koiso.
* July 20
** WWII: Adolf Hitler survives the 20 July plot to assassinate him led by Claus von Stauffenberg; he and his fellow conspirators in this and Operation Valkyrie are executed the following day.
** The annular solar eclipse of July 20, 1944 is visible in Africa, Indian Ocean, Asia, Pacific Ocean and Australia, and is the 35th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 135.
* July 21 – WWII:
** Battle of Guam (1944), Battle of Guam: American troops land on Guam (the battle ends August 10).
** The Soviet-sponsored Polish Committee of National Liberation is created, in opposition to the Polish government-in-exile.
* July 22
**The Bretton Woods Conference ends with agreements signed to set up the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and International Monetary Fund.
**The new Polish Committee of National Liberation publishes the PKWN Manifesto in Chełm, calling for a continuation of fighting against Nazi Germany, radical reforms including nationalisation of industry, and a "decent border in the West" (the Oder–Neisse line).
**''United States v. Masaaki Kuwabara'', the only Japanese American draft avoidance case to be dismissed on a due process violation of the U.S. Constitution.
* July 24 – The Holocaust: Majdanek concentration camp is liberated by the Soviet Red Army and much incriminating evidence of the atrocities committed there is found.
* July 25 – WWII:
**Operation Spring: One of the bloodiest days for Canadian forces during the war results in 1,550 casualties, including 450 killed, during the Operation Overlord, Normandy Campaign.
**Battle of Tannenberg Line (or "Battle of the Blue Hills") in northeastern Estonia begins: The Red Army will gain a Pyrrhic victory by August 10.
* July 26 – WWII: A Messerschmitt Me 262 becomes the first Jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft to have an operational victory.
* July 31 – WWII: American submarine torpedoes Japanese troop transport ''Yoshino Maru''; 2,495 drown.
August
* August 1 – WWII: The Warsaw Uprising begins.
* August 2 – WWII:
** Single-party period of the Republic of Turkey#World War II, Turkey ends diplomatic and economic relations with Germany.
** The First Assembly of ASNOM (the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the People's Liberation of Independent Macedonia (1944), Macedonia) is held in the Prohor Pčinjski Monastery, Prohor Pčinjski monastery.
* August 3 – The Education Act 1944, Education Act in the United Kingdom, promoted by Rab Butler, creates a Tripartite System, Tripartite system of education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
* August 4 – WWII:
** The Holocaust: A tip from a Netherlands, Dutch informer leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse, where they find Jewish diarist Anne Frank, her family, and others in hiding. All will die in captivity, except for Otto Frank, Anne's father.
** The Parliament of Finland, Finnish Parliament, by derogation, elects Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, C. G. E. Mannerheim as President of Finland to replace Risto Ryti, who has resigned.
* August 5 – WWII:
** The Warsaw Uprising:
*** The Wola massacre begins. Between now and August 12, 40,000 to 50,000 Polish civilians will be indiscriminately massacred by occupying SS troops.
*** The Holocaust: Polish insurgents liberate a German labor camp in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.
** Cowra breakout: Over 500 Japanese prisoners of war attempt a mass breakout from the Cowra camp in Australia. In the ensuing manhunt, 231 Japanese escapees and four Australian soldiers are killed.
* August 7 – IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I).
* August 9 – The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release the first posters featuring Smokey Bear.
* August 12 – WWII:
** The Allies capture History of Florence#20th century, Florence, Italy.
** Operation Pluto: The world's first undersea oil pipeline is laid between England and France.
* August 15 – WWII: Operation Dragoon lands Allies in southern France. The U.S. 45th Infantry Division
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
participates in its fourth assault landing at Sainte-Maxime, spearheading the drive for the Belfort Gap.
* August 18 – WWII: American submarine sinks ''Teia Maru'', ''Eishin Maru'', ''Teiyu Maru'', and aircraft carrier from Japanese convoy HI71, in one of the most effective American "Wolfpack (naval tactic), wolfpack" attacks of the war.
* August 19 – WWII:
** American submarine torpedoes Japanese landing craft depot ship ; more than 4,400 Japanese servicemen drown.
** Liberation of Paris starts with resistance forces staging an insurrection against the German occupiers.
* August 20 – WWII:
** American forces successfully defeat Nazi forces at Chambois, Orne, Chambois, closing the Falaise Pocket.
** 168 captured Allied airmen, including Phil Lamason, accused of being "terror fliers" by the Gestapo, arrive at Buchenwald concentration camp, where they form the KLB Club.
* August 21
** The Dumbarton Oaks Conference (Washington Conversations on International Peace and Security Organization) opens in Washington, D.C.: U.S., British, Chinese, French and Soviet representatives meet to plan the foundation of the United Nations.
** WWII: Operation Tractable concludes, when Canadian troops relieve the Polish and link with the Americans, capturing remaining German forces in the Falaise Pocket, and securing the strategically important French town of Falaise, Calvados, Falaise, in the final offensive of the Battle of Normandy.
* August 22 – WWII:
** , an unmarked Japanese passenger/cargo ship, is sunk by torpedoes launched by the submarine off Akuseki-jima, killing 1,484 civilians, including 767 schoolchildren.
** Holocaust of Kedros: German ''Wehrmacht'' infantry begin an intimidatory razing operation, killing 164, against the civilian residents of nine villages in the Amari Valley on the occupied Greek island of Crete.
* August 23 – WWII:
** King Michael's Coup: Ion Antonescu, the Conducator of Romania and Mihai Antonescu prime minister of Romania, are arrested and a new military government established. Romania leaves the war against the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, joining the Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
. General Constantin Sanatescu is the "armed force" of the coup d'état and will be appointed by King Michael of Romania as prime minister of Romania on September 1.
** Padule di Fucecchio massacre: At least 174 Italian civilians are killed by members of the 23rd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) as a reprisal for the wounding of two soldiers.
* August 24 – WWII:
** Liberation of Paris: The Allies enter Paris, successfully completing Operation Overlord.
** Japanese vessels attack and sink the submarine off Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
.
* August 25 – WWII:
** Liberation of Paris#German surrender (25 August), German surrender of Paris: General Dietrich von Choltitz surrenders Paris to the Allies, in defiance of Hitler's orders to destroy it.
** Maillé massacre: 129 civilians (70% women and children) are massacred by the Gestapo at Maillé, Indre-et-Loire.
** Hungary decides to Hungary in World War II, continue the war together with Germany.
** The Red Ball Express convoy system begins operation, supplying tons of materiel to Allied forces in France.
* August 29 – WWII: The Slovak Republic (1939–45), Slovak National Uprising against the Axis powers begins.
* August 31 – The Mad Gasser of Mattoon apparently resumes his mysterious attacks in Mattoon, Illinois for two weeks.
September
* September – The Dutch famine of 1944, Dutch famine ("Hongerwinter") begins, in the occupied northern part of the Netherlands.
* September 1 – WWII: In Bulgaria, the Ivan Ivanov Bagryanov, Bagryanov government resigns.
* September 2
** The Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from Westerbork to Auschwitz concentration camp, arriving 3 days later.
** ''¡Hola!'' magazine is launched in Barcelona.
** The last execution of a Finn in Finland will take place when soldier Olavi Laiho is executed by shooting in Oulu.
* September 3 – WWII: The Allies liberate Brussels.
* September 4 – WWII:
** The British 11th Armoured Division (United Kingdom), 11th Armoured Division liberates the city of Antwerp, Belgium.
** Finland breaks off relations with Germany.
* September 5
** WWII: The Soviet Union declares war on Bulgaria.
** Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg constitute Benelux.
* September 6 – WWII: The Tartu Offensive in Estonia concludes, with Soviet forces capturing Tartu.
* September 7 – WWII:
** The Belgian government in exile returns to Brussels from London.
** Members of Vichy France's collaborationist government are relocated to Germany where an enclave is established for them in Sigmaringen Castle.
** Shin'yō Maru incident, ''Shin'yō Maru'' incident: Japanese cargo ship is torpedoed and sunk in the Sulu Sea by American submarine USS Paddle (SS-263), USS ''Paddle'' while carrying 750 American prisoners of war; 688 perish.
* September 8 – WWII:
** The first V-2 rocket attack on London takes place.
** The French town of Menton is liberated from German forces.
** Bulgaria declares war on Germany.
* September 9 – WWII: The Bulgarian government is 1944 Bulgarian coup d'état, overthrown by the Fatherland Front (Bulgaria), Fatherland Front coalition, which establishes a pro-Soviet government.
* September 10 – WWII: Liberation of Luxembourg.
* September 11 – WWII:
** The Laksevåg floating dry dock at Bergen (Norway) is sunk by British X-class submarine ''X-24''.
** An approaching formation of 36 US bombers is engaged by a German fighter squadron (''Jagdgeschwader'') in the Battle over the Ore Mountains. After the first German attack on the bombers, US ''North American P-51, Mustangs'' attack the German squadron in aerial dogfights.
* September 12 – WWII: Allied forces from Operation Overlord (in northern France) and Operation Dragoon (in the south) link up near Dijon.
* September 13 – WWII: The Battle of Meligalas begins, between the Greek Resistance forces of the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) and the Hellenic State (1941–1944), collaborationist Security Battalions.
* September 14 – 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, The Great Atlantic hurricane makes landfall in the New York City area.
* September 15 – WWII: The Battle of Peleliu begins in the Pacific.
* September 17 – WWII: Operation Market Garden: Allied airborne landings begin in the Netherlands and Germany.
* September 17–September 20, 20 – WWII: Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign – In the Battle of San Marino, British and Empire forces take the occupied neutral republic of San Marino from the German Army.
* September 18 – WWII:
** British submarine torpedoes Japanese "hell ship" ; 5,620 drown.
** After German forces declare the evacuation of Estonia the day before, the Estonian national government Estonia in World War II#Attempt to restore independence, briefly resumes control of Tallinn before the Soviet advance.
* September 19 – WWII:
** An armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union is signed, ending the Continuation War.
** The Battle of Hürtgen Forest begins, east of the Belgian–German border.
* September 22 – WWII: The Red Army captures Tallinn, Estonia. Prime Minister in Duties of the President of Estonia Jüri Uluots and 80,000 Estonian civilians manage to escape to Sweden and Germany. The evacuees include almost the entire population of Estonian Swedes. Soviet bombing raids on the evacuating ships sink several, with thousands on board.
* September 24 – WWII: The U.S. 45th Infantry Division
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
takes the strongly defended city of Épinal in France before crossing the Moselle River and entering the western foothills of the Vosges.
* September 26 – WWII:
** Operation Market Garden ends in an Allied withdrawal.
** On the Gothic Line#Central Front (5th Army), middle front of the Gothic Line#Battle, Gothic Line, Brazilian troops control the Serchio valley region after 10 days of fighting.
October
* October 2 – WWII: Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
troops end the Warsaw Uprising. This is followed by the Destruction of Warsaw.
* October 4 – WWII: Milan Nedić's Collaborationism, collaborationist puppet government of the Axis powers, the Government of National Salvation in Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia, Nazi-occupied Serbia, is disbanded.
* October 5 – WWII: Royal Canadian Air Force pilots shoot down the first German Messerschmitt Me 262, Me 262 over the Netherlands.
* October 6
** WWII: The Battle of Debrecen starts on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front, lasting until October 29.
** Milan Nedić, president of the Serbian Collaborationism, collaborationist puppet state of the Axis powers, the Government of National Salvation, flees from Belgrade in Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia, Nazi-occupied Serbia by air together with other Serbian collaborators and German officials, via Hungary to Austria.
** The Holocaust: Members of the Sonderkommando (Jewish work units) in Auschwitz concentration camp stage a revolt, killing 3 Schutzstaffel, SS men before being massacred themselves.
** The Dumbarton Oaks Conference concludes.
* October 8 – ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' radio show debuts in the United States.
* October 9 – WWII: Fourth Moscow Conference (1944), Moscow Conference: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
and Soviet Union, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin begin a 9-day conference in Moscow, to discuss the future of Europe.
* October 10
** The Holocaust/Porajmos: 800 Romani people, Romani children are systematically murdered at the Auschwitz concentration camp.
** WWII: Formosa Air Battle#Background, 10/10 Air Raid: Allied forces inflict significant losses upon Imperial Japanese Navy ships moored in Naha Harbor, destroying much of the city of Naha, Okinawa prefecture, Okinawa as well..
* October 11 – The Tuvan People's Republic is annexed into the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
* October 12
** WWII: The Allies land in Athens.
** Canadian Arctic explorer Henry Larsen (explorer), Henry Larsen returns to Vancouver, becoming the first person successfully to navigate the Northwest Passage in both directions, in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police schooner . His westbound voyage is the first completed in a single season, and the first passage through the Prince of Wales Strait.
* October 13 – WWII:
** Riga, the capital of Latvia, is taken by the Red Army.
** The first V-2 rocket attack on Antwerp takes place.
* October 14 – WWII: German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel commits forced suicide rather than face public disgrace and execution for allegedly conspiring against Adolf Hitler.
* October 16 – WWII: American bombing of Salzburg destroys the dome of Salzburg Cathedral, the city's cathedral and most of a Mozart family home.
* October 18 – WWII: The Volkssturm Nazi militia is founded, on Adolf Hitler's orders.
* October 19 – The Guatemalan Revolution begins with the overthrow of Federico Ponce Vaides by a popular leftist movement.
* October 20 – WWII:
** Belgrade Offensive ends when Belgrade is liberated by Yugoslav Partisans, together with the Bulgarian Land Forces, Bulgarian Army and the Red Army, and the remnants of Nedić's collaborationist Serbian puppet state, the Government of National Salvation, are abolished.
** American and Filipino troops (with Filipino guerrillas) begin the Battle of Leyte in the Philippines. American forces land on Red Beach in Palo, Leyte, as General Douglas MacArthur returns to the Philippines with Philippine Commonwealth president Sergio Osmeña and Armed Forces of the Philippines Generals Basilio J. Valdes and Carlos P. Romulo. American forces land on the beaches in Dulag, Leyte, accompanied by Filipino troops entering the town, and fiercely opposed by the Japanese occupation forces. The combined forces liberate Tacloban.
** Operation Pheasant begins – an offensive in the Netherlands which supports the ongoing Battle of the Scheldt.
* October 21 – WWII: Aachen, the first German city to fall, is captured by American troops.
* October 23–October 26, 26 – WWII: Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines – In the largest naval battle in history by most criteria and the last naval battle in history between battleships, combined United States and Australian naval forces decisively defeat the Imperial Japanese Navy. This is the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carry out organized ''kamikaze'' attacks.
* October 24
** Battle of Leyte Gulf: The is sunk by United States aircraft.
** The Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
recognise Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
's cabinet as the provisional government of France.
* October 25
** WWII: The Red Army liberates Kirkenes, the first town in Norway to be liberated.
** WWII: is sunk in the Formosa Strait by one of her own torpedoes. Medal of Honor-winning submarine ace Richard O'Kane becomes a prisoner of war.
** 76-year-old American amateur soprano Florence Foster Jenkins gives a sell-out public recital in Carnegie Hall, New York. The audience and press are scathing: "she can sing everything except notes". 5 days later she suffers a fatal heart attack, dying at home on November 26.
* October 27 – WWII: German forces capture Banská Bystrica, the center of anti-Nazi opposition in Slovakia, bringing the Slovak National Uprising to an end.
* October 30
** The Holocaust: Anne Frank and her sister Margot Frank, Margot are deported from Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
** ''Appalachian Spring'', a ballet by Martha Graham with music by Aaron Copland, debuts at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., with Graham in the lead role.
* October 31 – Serial killer Dr Marcel Petiot is apprehended at a Paris Métro station after 7 months on the run.
November
* November 1–December 7 – Delegates of 52 nations meet at the International Civil Aviation Conference in Chicago, to plan for postwar international cooperation, framing the constitution of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
* November 3 – WWII: Two supreme commanders of the Slovak National Uprising, Generals Ján Golian and Rudolf Viest, are captured, tortured and later executed by German forces.
* November 7
** 1944 United States presidential election: Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
wins reelection over Republican Party (United States), Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey, becoming the only U.S. president elected to a fourth term.
** Rail transport in Puerto Rico#Tragedy on election day in 1944, Election day rail accident in Puerto Rico: A passenger train derails at Aguadilla due to excessive speed on a downgrade; 16 are killed, 50 injured.
* November 10 – WWII: Ammunition ship disintegrates from the accidental detonation of 3,800 tons of cargo, in the Seeadler Harbor fleet anchorage at Manus Island. 22 small boats are destroyed, 36 nearby ships damaged, 432 men are killed and 371 more are injured.
* November 11 – Operational ships of the French Navy re-enter their base at Toulon.
* November 12 – WWII: Operation Catechism – is sunk by British Royal Air Force Avro Lancaster, Lancaster bombers near Tromsø (city), Tromsø. Estimated casualties range from 950 to 1,204.
* November 14 – WWII:American submarine torpedoes Japanese aircraft carrier Akitsu Maru, Japanese aircraft carrier ''Akitsu Maru'' in the East China Sea; 2,246 drown.
* November 16 – WWII: U.S. forces begin the month-long Operation Queen in the Rur Valley.
* November 18
** The Popular Socialist Youth is founded in Cuba.
** WWII: American submarine torpedoes Japanese landing craft depot ship ; 3,546 drown.[
* November 22
** Conscription Crisis of 1944, Conscription Crisis: Prime Minister of Canada William Lyon Mackenzie King, William Mackenzie King agrees a one-time conscription levy in Canada for overseas service.
** Laurence Olivier's film ''Henry V (1944 film), Henry V'', based on Henry V (play), Shakespeare's play, opens in London. It is the most acclaimed and the most successful movie version of a Shakespeare play made up to this time, and the first in Technicolor. Olivier both stars and directs.
* November 24 – WWII: German forces Moonsund Landing Operation, evacuate from the West Estonian Archipelago.
* November 27
** RAF Fauld explosion: Between 3,450 and 3,930 tons (3,500 and 4,000 tonnes) of Ammunition#Ordnance ammunition, ordnance explodes at an underground storage depot in Staffordshire, England, leaving about 75 dead and a explosion crater, crater across and deep. The blast is one of the List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions, largest non-nuclear explosions in history, and the largest on UK soil.
** Operation Tigerfish: ]Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
bombing of Freiburg im Breisgau kills 2,800.
* November 29 – WWII: American submarine sinks Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano, Japanese aircraft carrier ''Shinano'', the largest carrier built to this date, and will remain through the twentieth century the largest ship sunk by a submarine.
December
* December 1 – Edward Stettinius, Jr. becomes the last United States Secretary of State of the Franklin D. Roosevelt, Roosevelt administration, filling the seat left by Cordell Hull.
* December 3 – WWII:
** Dekemvriana, Fighting breaks out between KKE, Communists and royalists in newly liberated Greece, eventually leading to a full-scale Greek Civil War.
** The Home Guard (United Kingdom) is stood down.
* December 7
** The Convention on International Civil Aviation is signed in Chicago, creating the International Civil Aviation Organization.
** The Arab Women's Congress of 1944 is hosted by the Egyptian Feminist Union in Cairo, leading to establishment of the Arab Feminist Union.
** 1944 Tōnankai earthquake, An earthquake along the coast of Wakayama Prefecture in Japan causes a tsunami which kills 1223 people.
* December 10 – Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini leads a concert performance of the first half of Beethoven's ''Fidelio'' (minus its spoken dialogue) on NBC Radio, starring Rose Bampton. He chooses this opera for its political message: a statement against tyranny and dictatorship. Presenting it in German, Toscanini intends it as a tribute to the German people who are being oppressed by Hitler. The second half is broadcast a week later. The performance is later released on LP and CD, the first of 7 operas that Toscanini conducts on radio.
* December 12–December 13, 13 – WWII: British units attempt to take the Italian hilltop town of Tossignano, but are repulsed.
* December 13 – WWII: Battle of Mindoro – United States, Australian and Philippine Commonwealth troops land on Mindoro Island in the Philippines.
* December 14
** The Soviet government changes Turkish place names to Russian in the Crimean Peninsula, Crimea.
** The film ''National Velvet (film), National Velvet'' is released in the United States, bringing a young Elizabeth Taylor to stardom.
* December 15 – A USAAF utility aircraft carrying bandleader Major Glenn Miller disappears in heavy fog over the English Channel, while flying to Paris.
* December 16 – WWII:
** Germany begins the Ardennes offensive, later known as the Battle of the Bulge.
** General George C. Marshall becomes the first General of the Army (United States), U.S. Five-Star General.
* December 17 – WWII:
** Malmedy massacre: German SS troops under Joachim Peiper machine gun American prisoners of war captured during the Battle of the Bulge near Malmedy, and elsewhere in Belgium.
** Bombing of Ulm in World War II, Bombing of Ulm: 707 people are killed and 25,000 left homeless.
* December 18 – General Douglas MacArthur becomes the second General of the Army (United States), U.S. Five-Star General.
* December 19 – The daily newspaper ''Le Monde'' begins publication in Paris.
* December 20
** The United States Women Airforce Service Pilots are disbanded.
** General Dwight D. Eisenhower is promoted to the rank of 5-star General of the Army (United States), U.S. Five-Star General.
* December 22
** WWII: Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe, commander of the U.S. forces defending Bastogne, refuses to accept demands for surrender by sending a one-word reply, "Nuts!", to the German command.
** The Vietnam People's Army is formed in French Indochina.
* December 24
** WWII: Troopship is sunk in the English Channel by . Approximately 763 soldiers of the 66th Infantry Division (United States), U.S. 66th Infantry Division, bound for the Battle of the Bulge, drown.
** WWII: German tanks reach the furthest point of the Bulge at Celles, Houyet, Celles.
** WWII: Fifty German V-1 flying bombs, air-launched from Heinkel He 111 bombers flying over the North Sea, target Manchester in England, killing 42 and injuring more than 100 in the Oldham area.
** WWII: List of massacres in Belgium, Bande massacre: 34 men between the ages of 17 and 32 are executed by the Sicherheitsdienst near Bande, Belgium, in retaliation for the killing of 3 German soldiers.
** The first complete U.S. production of Tchaikovsky's ballet ''The Nutcracker'' is presented in San Francisco, choreographed by Willam Christensen. It will become an annual tradition there, and for the next ten years, the San Francisco Ballet will be the only company in the United States performing the complete work.
* December 24–26 – Agana race riot in Guam between white and black United States Marines.
* December 26
** WWII: American troops repulse German forces at Bastogne.
** The original stage version of ''The Glass Menagerie'' by Tennessee Williams premieres in Chicago.
** Esztergom, Hungary, is captured by the Russians.
* December 30
** King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving his throne vacant.
** ''Stage Door Cartoon'' is the first cartoon produced by Eddie Selzer.
* December 31 – WWII: Battle of Leyte – Tens of thousands of Imperial Japanese Army soldiers are killed in action, in a significant Filipino/Allied military victory.
Date unknown
* The 1944 Summer Olympics, scheduled for London (together with the 1944 Winter Olympics, February Winter Olympics scheduled for Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy), are suspended due to WWII.
* National Committee for Education on Alcoholism, predecessor of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, is established in the United States by Marty Mann.
* Last known evidence of the existence of the Asiatic lion in the wild in Khuzestan Province, Persia.
* The BC Žalgiris professional basketball club is founded in Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Births
January
* January 1
** Omar al-Bashir, 7th President of Sudan
** Mohammad Abdul Hamid, President of Bangladesh
** Jumabek Ibraimov, 5th Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan (d. 1999)
** Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Pakistani politician, 15th Prime Minister of Pakistan (d. 2020)
** Robert Lee Minor, American actor, stunt performer
* January 2
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – The Roman legions in Germania Superior refuse to swear loyalty to Galba. They rebel and proclaim Vitellius as emperor.
* 366 – The Alemanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading the Roman Empi ...
– Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Cambodian politician (d. 2021)
* January 3 – Chris von Saltza, American swimmer
* January 6
** Bonnie Franklin, American actress, singer, dancer and television director (d. 2013)
** Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* January 7 – Mike Hebert, American volleyball coach (d. 2019)
* January 8
Events Pre-1600
* 307 – Emperor Huai of Jin, Jin Huaidi becomes emperor of China in succession to his father, Emperor Hui of Jin, Jin Huidi, despite a challenge from his uncle, Sima Ying.
* 871 – Æthelred I, King of Wessex, Æthel ...
– Terry Brooks, American fantasy fiction writer
* January 9
** Harun Farocki, German filmmaker, author and lecturer (d. 2014)
** Ian Hornak, American painter, draughtsman and sculptor (d. 2002)
** Jimmy Page, English rock guitarist (Led Zeppelin)
* January 10
** Rory Byrne, South African engineer and car designer
** William Sanderson, American actor
** Frank Sinatra Jr., American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2016)
* January 12
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
*1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reigned s ...
** Joe Frazier, African-American boxer (d. 2011)
** Vlastimil Hort, Czechoslovak-born German chess Grandmaster
** Carlos Villagrán, Mexican actor and comedian
** Klaus Wedemeier, German politician
* January 17
Events Pre-1600
* 38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
* 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on ...
** Jan Guillou, Swedish author
** Françoise Hardy, French singer
* January 18
** Paul Keating, 24th Prime Minister of Australia
** Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria
* January 19 – Shelley Fabares, American actress, singer
* January 20
Events Pre-1600
* 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
* 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
* 1156 &ndas ...
– Isao Okano, Japanese judoka
* January 23
** Sergei Belov, Soviet basketball player (d. 2013)
** Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor, writer and environmentalist (d. 2019)
* January 24
** David Gerrold, American screenwriter and novelist
** Klaus Nomi, German singer (d. 1983)
* January 25
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate.
* 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty ...
** Sally Beauman, English journalist and novelist (d. 2016)
** Evan Chandler, American screenwriter and dentist (suicide 2009)
* January 26
** Angela Davis, African-American political activist, academic and author
** Jerry Sandusky, American child molester, Penn State coach
* January 27
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.
* 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to becom ...
** Peter Akinola, Nigerian religious leader
** Mairead Maguire, Northern Irish peace activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
** Nick Mason, English rock drummer (Pink Floyd)
* January 28
** Susan Howard, American actress
** Rosalía Mera, Spanish fashion retailer (Zara (retailer), Zara) (d. 2013)
** John Tavener, English composer (d. 2013)
* January 29
Events
Pre-1600
* 904 – Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.
* 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu'izz al-Dawla, ruler o ...
– Susana Giménez, Argentinian television presenter
* January 31
Events Pre-1600
* 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
* 1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the t ...
– Connie Booth, American writer, actress
February
* February 2
Events Pre-1600
* 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of "Roman law".
* 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King ...
** Geoffrey Hughes (actor), Geoffrey Hughes, English actor (d. 2012)
** Oqil Oqilov, Tajikistani politician, 7th Prime Minister of Tajikistan
* February 4
** Punch Gunalan, Malaysian badminton star (d. 2012)
** Maruja Carrasco, Spanish botanist and academic (d. 2018)
* February 5
** Al Kooper, American rock musician (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
** Thekla Carola Wied, German actress
* February 8
Events Pre-1600
* 421 – Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
* 1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir.
*1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al ...
** Bunky Henry, American professional golfer (d. 2018)
** Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor (d. 2014)
* February 9 – Alice Walker, African-American novelist, writer, poet and activist
* February 10
** Peter Allen (musician), Peter Allen, Australian-born Academy Award-winning composer and lyricist (d. 1992)
** Jean-Daniel Cadinot, French photographer, director and producer (d. 2008)
* February 11 – Michael G. Oxley, American politician (d. 2016)
* February 12 – Moe Bandy, American country music singer
* February 13
** Stockard Channing, American actress
** Michael Ensign, American actor
** Jerry Springer, English-born American politician and television personality
* February 14
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis ...
** Carl Bernstein, American journalist
** Sir Alan Parker, English film director, producer, actor and writer (d. 2020)
* February 15
Events Pre-1600
* 438 – Roman emperor Theodosius II publishes the law codex Codex Theodosianus
* 590 – Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia.
* 706 – Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberi ...
** Mick Avory, English rock drummer (''The Kinks'')
** Dzhokhar Dudayev, Chechen leader, first President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (d. 1996)
* February 16
** Richard Ford, American fiction writer
** António Mascarenhas Monteiro, President of Cape Verde (d. 2016)
* February 17
Events Pre-1600
* 1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
* 1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of ...
** Karl Jenkins, Welsh composer
** Bernie Grant, British Labour Party MP (d. 2000)
* February 19 – Donald F. Glut, American writer, film director and screenwriter
* February 20
Events Pre-1600
*1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated.
*1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland ...
** Abdul Hamid Zainal Abidin, Malaysian politician and diplomat (d. 2014)
** Willem van Hanegem, Dutch footballer and coach
* February 22
Events Pre-1600
* 1076 – Having received a letter during the Lenten synod of 14–20 February demanding that he abdicate, Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
* 1316 – The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdina ...
** Jonathan Demme, American film director, producer and writer (d. 2017)
** Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player
** Robert Kardashian, American attorney and businessman (d. 2003)
* February 23
Events Pre-1600
* 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
* 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
– Johnny Winter, American rock musician (d. 2014)
* February 24
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.
* 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence.
* 13 ...
** Ivica Račan, Croatian politician (d. 2007)
** David J. Wineland, American Nobel-laureate physicist
* February 25 – François Cevert, French racing driver (d. 1973)
* February 27
** Ken Grimwood, American fantasy fiction writer (d. 2003)
** Roger Scruton, English philosopher and writer (d. 2020)
* February 28
** Fanny Cano, Mexican actress and producer (d. 1983)
** Sepp Maier, German footballer
* February 29
February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to leap years. A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth's revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in mos ...
– Dennis Farina, American actor (d. 2013)
March
* March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first Roman triumph, triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor ...
** John Breaux, American politician
** Roger Daltrey, English singer-songwriter (The Who), actor
* March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his ''bucellarii'' are almost cut o ...
** Uschi Glas, German actress
** Leif Segerstam, Finnish conductor and composer
* March 3 – Odessa Cleveland, American actress (''M*A*S*H'')
* March 4
** Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer and race car designer (d. 1999)
** Bobby Womack, African-American singer and songwriter (d. 2014)
* March 5 – Peter Brandes, Danish artist
* March 6
** Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, New Zealand soprano
** Mary Wilson (singer), Mary Wilson, African-American singer (The Supremes) (d. 2021)
* March 7
** Michael Rosbash, American geneticist and chronobiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
** Townes Van Zandt, American country singer (d. 1997)
* March 8 – Buzz Hargrove, Canadian labour leader
* March 11
** Graham Lyle, Grammy-winning Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for writing several international hits for Tina Turner
** Don Maclean, English comedian and broadcaster
* March 15
** Emmerich Danzer, Austrian figure skater
** Ralph MacDonald, American percussionist, songwriter (d. 2011)
* March 17
** Pattie Boyd, English model and first wife of George Harrison and Eric Clapton
** John Sebastian, American singer-songwriter (The Lovin' Spoonful)
* March 18 – Dick Smith (entrepreneur), Dick Smith, Australian entrepreneur
* March 19
** Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize
** Sirhan Sirhan, Palestinian assassin of Robert F. Kennedy
* March 20 – Erwin Neher, German biophysicist
* March 21 – Hilary Minster, English actor (d. 1999)
* March 23 – Ric Ocasek, American singer-songwriter and record producer (''The Cars'') (d. 2019)
* March 24 – R. Lee Ermey, American actor and Marine drill instructor (d. 2018)
* March 26 – Diana Ross, African-American actress and singer
* March 27 – Ann Sidney, Miss World
* March 28
** Rick Barry, American basketball player
** Ken Howard, American actor (d. 2016)
* March 29
** Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana
** Denny McLain, American baseball player
April
* April 3
** Grover Furr, American historical negationist and professor of English literature
** Tony Orlando, American pop singer-songwriter, producer and actor
* April 4
** Faisal bin Musaid, assassin and nephew of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia (d. 1975)
** Magda Aelvoet, Belgian politician
** Craig T. Nelson, American actor
* April 5 – Peter T. King, American politician
* April 6
** Judith McConnell, American actress
** Anita Pallenberg, Italian-born model and actress (d. 2017)
** Dame Felicity Palmer, English soprano
**Charles Sobhraj, French-Indian serial killer
* April 7
** Shel Bachrach, American insurance broker, investor, businessman and philanthropist
** Warner Fusselle, American sportscaster (d. 2012)
** Makoto Kobayashi (physicist), Makoto Kobayashi, Japanese physicist
** Oshik Levi, Israeli singer and actor
** Gerhard Schröder, Chancellor of Germany (Federal Republic), Chancellor of Germany
* April 8
** Burny Bos, Dutch producer, scenarist and children's book writer.
** Odd Nerdrum, Norwegian painter
** Jimmy Walker (basketball, born 1944), Jimmy Walker, American professional basketball player (d. 2007)
* April 10 – Abubakar Habu Hashidu, Nigerian politician (d. 2018)
* April 11 – John Milius, American film director, producer and screenwriter
* April 13 – Jack Casady, American rock musician (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna)
* April 14 – Nguyễn Phú Trọng, Vietnamese politician, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of Vietnam, President
* April 15 – Kunishige Kamamoto, Japanese footballer, manager and politician
* April 18
** Isao Shibata, Japanese baseball player
** Charlie Tuna, American disc jockey and game show announcer (d. 2016)
* April 19
** Bernie Worrell, American keyboardist, composer (Parliament-Funkadelic) (d. 2016)
** James Heckman, American economist, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Nobel Prize laureate
* April 20 – Thein Sein, Burmese politician, 8th President of Myanmar
* April 22 – Steve Fossett, American millionaire aviator, sailor and adventurer (d. 2007)
* April 24 – Tony Visconti, American record producer, musician and singer
* April 25 – Len Goodman, British ballroom dancer and television personality
* April 26
** Amien Rais, Indonesian politician
** Larry H. Miller, American sports owner (Utah Jazz; d. 2009)
* April 27
** Michael Fish, British TV weatherman
** Cuba Gooding Sr., American actor and singer (d. 2017)
* April 28 – Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe, Belgian politician
* April 29
** Princess Benedikte of Denmark
** Richard Kline, American actor and television director
* April 30
** Rudi Assauer, German footballer and manager (d. 2019)
** Jill Clayburgh, American actress (d. 2010)
** Michael Angelis, English actor (d. 2020)
May
* May 1
** Costa Cordalis, German singer (d. 2019)
** Suresh Kalmadi, Indian politician
** Marva Whitney, American singer (d. 2012)
* May 4, May 2 – Gloria Lizárraga de Capriles, Venezuelan politician (d. 2021)
*May 4
** Walker Boone, Canadian actor (d. 2021)
** Russi Taylor, American actress (d. 2019)
* May 5
** Roger Rees, Welsh actor and director (d. 2015)
** John Rhys-Davies, Welsh actor
* May 8 – Gary Glitter (Paul Gadd), English glam rock singer and paedophile
* May 9
** Richie Furay, American rock singer-songwriter (Poco, Buffalo Springfield)
** Lars Norén, Swedish playwright, novelist and poet (d. 2021)
** Laurence Owen, American figure skater (d. 1961)
* May 10
** Jim Abrahams, American film director
** Jackie Lomax, English rock singer-songwriter, guitarist (d. 2013)
* May 12 – Sara Kestelman, English actress
* May 13
** Armistead Maupin, American fiction writer
** Carolyn Franklin, American soul singer-songwriter (d. 1988)
* May 14
** Connie Lawn, American journalist (d. 2018)
** George Lucas, American film director and producer
* May 15
** Ulrich Beck, German sociologist (d. 2015)
** Gunilla Hutton, Swedish-born American actress and singer
* May 16 – Danny Trejo, Hispanic-American actor
* May 17
** Luís de Matos Monteiro da Fonseca, Cape Verdean diplomat and civil servant
** Jesse Winchester, American-Canadian country singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
* May 19 – Peter Mayhew, English-American actor (d. 2019)
* May 20
** Joe Cocker, English rock singer (d. 2014)
** Boudewijn de Groot, Batavian-born Dutch folk singer-songwriter
** Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman (d. 2022)
* May 21 – Mary Robinson, President of Ireland
* May 22 – Roberto A. Abad, Filipino lawyer
* May 23
** John Newcombe, Australian tennis player
** Avraham Oz, Israeli theater professor, translator and political activist
* May 24
** Patti LaBelle, American singer, actress and entrepreneur
** David Mark Berger, Israeli weightlifter (d. 1972)
* May 25 – Frank Oz, English puppeteer and film director
* May 26 – Jan Schakowsky, U.S. Representative, Illinois's 9th congressional district
* May 27 – Chris Dodd, American politician
* May 28
** Rudy Giuliani, American politician, Mayor of New York City
** Gladys Knight, American singer
** Sondra Locke, American actress and director (d. 2018)
** Rita MacNeil, Canadian folk singer (d. 2013)
** Gary Stewart (singer), Gary Stewart, American country rock singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2003)
** Patricia Quinn (Northern Irish actress), Patricia Quinn (Lady Stephens), Northern Irish actress
* May 29 – Helmut Berger, Austrian actor
* May 30 – Meredith MacRae, American actress (d. 2000)
* May 31 – Ayad Allawi, 38th Prime Minister of Iraq
June
* June 1 – Robert Powell, English actor
* June 2
** Garo Yepremian, American football player (d. 2015)
** Marvin Hamlisch, American composer, conductor (d. 2012)
* June 3 – Edith McGuire, American sprinter
* June 4 – Michelle Phillips, American singer and actress
* June 5
** Colm Wilkinson, Irish actor and singer
** Whitfield Diffie, American cryptographer
* June 6
** Phillip Allen Sharp, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
** Edgar Froese, German electronic musician (d. 2015)
** Tommie Smith, American athlete
* June 7 – Annette Lu, Taiwanese politician, 8th Vice President of the Republic of China
* June 8
** Mark Belanger, American baseball player (d. 1998)
** Don Grady, American actor and singer (d. 2012)
** Marc Ouellet, Canadian cardinal
** Boz Scaggs, American singer and guitarist
* June 10 – Ze'ev Friedman, Israeli weightlifter (d. 1972)
* June 13 – Ban Ki-moon, South Korean politician and 8th United Nations Secretary-General, Secretary-General of the United Nations
* June 15 – Malaysia Vasudevan, Tamil playback singer and actor (d. 2011)
* June 16 – Henri Richelet, French painter (d. 2020)
* June 17 – Bill Rafferty, American comedian and impressionist (d. 2012)
* June 18
** Salvador Sánchez Cerén, 45th President of El Salvador
** Rick Griffin, American graphic artist (d. 1991)
** Sandy Posey, American pop singer
** Bonar Sianturi, Indonesian army officer (d. 2022)
* June 19 – Chico Buarque, Brazilian singer-songwriter
* June 21
** Carmen Cardinali, Chilean professor, governor of Rapa Nui
** Franco Cordova, Italian international football player
** Corinna Tsopei, Greek actress, model and beauty queen, winner of Miss Universe 1964
** Sir Ray Davies, English rock singer-songwriter, co-founder of The Kinks
** Kenny O'Dell, American country singer-songwriter (d. 2018)
** Tony Scott, English film director (d. 2012)
** Luigi Sgarbozza, Italian road racing cyclist
** Chris Wood (rock musician), Chris Wood, English rock musician (Traffic (band), Traffic) (d. 1983)
* June 22
** Ercole Gualazzini, Italian professional road bicycle racer
** Gérard Mourou, French electrical engineer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics
* June 23
** Silvestre Bello III, Filipino businessman and lawyer
** Gan Ee Kiang, Malaysian pharmacologist
* June 24
** Jeff Beck, English rock musician
** Dennis Butler, English footballer and football manager
** John "Charlie" Whitney, English guitarist
* June 25 – Ricardo Salgado, Portuguese economist and banker
* June 27
** Paul Koslo, German-Canadian actor (d. 2019)
** Zezé Motta, Brazilian actress and singer
** Patrick Sercu, Belgian cyclist (d. 2019)
* June 28 – Luis Nicolao, Argentine butterfly swimmer
* June 29
** Gary Busey, American actor
** Seán Patrick O'Malley, American cardinal
* June 30
** Daniel Kablan Duncan, Ivorian politician
** Terry Funk, American professional wrestler
** Raymond Moody, American parapsychologist
** Alan C. Fox, American author, philanthropist and entrepreneur
** Glenn Shorrock, English-born Australian rock singer-songwriter
July
* July 1
** Mercedes Bresso, Italian politician
** Mike Horan, Australian politician
** Nurul Haque Miah, Bangladeshi professor of chemistry and textbook writer (d. 2021)
** Diron Talbert, American football player
** Syd Jackson (footballer, born 1944), Syd Jackson, Australian rules footballer
* July 2
** Billy Campbell (Northern Irish footballer), Billy Campbell, Northern Irish footballer
** Vicente de la Mata (born 1944), Vicente de la Mata, Argentine football midfielder
** Paul Schudel, American football player and coach
* July 3 – Michel Polnareff, French singer
* July 4
** Joe Berardo, Portuguese businessman, investor and art collector
** Joe Critchlow, Canadian football player
** Albert Kapengut, Soviet chess master
* July 5
** Mick Andrews, English international motorcycle trials rider
** Hendrik Born, German vice admiral
** Enrique Irazoqui, Spanish movie actor
* July 6
** Tim Brown (darts player), Tim Brown, Australian darts player
** Gunhild Hoffmeister, East German middle-distance runner
** Max Timisela, Indonesian footballer
* July 7
** Feri Cansel, Turkish-Cypriot actress (d. 1983)
** Nicholas, Crown Prince of Montenegro
** Mark Burgess (cricketer), Mark Burgess, New Zealand cricketer
** Jürgen Grabowski, German footballer
** Tony Jacklin, English golfer
** Feleti Sevele, Prime Minister of Tonga
** Michael Walker, Baron Walker of Aldringham, British Army officer
* July 8
**Jaimoe, Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson, American drummer
** Jeffrey Tambor, American actor
**William H. Pitsenbarger, United States Air Force Medal of Honour recipient (d. 1966)
* July 10 – Carlos Ruckauf, Argentine politician
* July 11
** Keith Doncon, Australian rules footballer
** Neil Vant, Canadian Anglican clergyman, prospector, businessman and political figure
** Valdeir Vieira, Brazilian football manager
* July 12
** Terry Cooper (footballer, born 1944), Terry Cooper, English football player and manager
* July 13 – Ernő Rubik, Hungarian inventor
* July 16
** Clarence Parfitt, Bermudian and Scottish cricketer
** Jose L. Cuisia Jr., Philippine diplomat and banker
* July 17
** Mark Burgess (cricketer), Mark Burgess, New Zealand cricket Captain (cricket), captain
** Catherine Schell, Hungarian actress
** Charles Lapointe, Canadian businessman, politician and public servant
** Tom Kalinske, American businessman
** Carlos Alberto Torres, Brazilian footballer (d. 2016)
* July 18 – David Hemery, British Olympic athlete
* July 20
** Mel Daniels, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
** W. Cary Edwards, American politician (d. 2010)
* July 21
** John Atta Mills, 13th President of Ghana (d. 2012)
** Paul Wellstone, U.S. Senator from Minnesota (d. 2002)
* July 26
** Celeste Yarnall, American actress (d. 2018)
** Kiel Martin, American actor (d. 1990)
* July 28 – Jozo Križanović, Bosnian politician (d. 2009)
* July 31
** Geraldine Chaplin, English-American actress
** Robert C. Merton, American economist, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Nobel Prize laureate
August
* August 1
** Andrew G. Vajna, Hungarian-American film producer (d. 2019)
** Yury Romanenko, Soviet cosmonaut
* August 2
** Jim Capaldi, British drummer, singer and songwriter (d. 2005)
** Naná Vasconcelos, Brazilian percussionist and vocalist (d. 2016)
* August 3 – Jonas Falk, Swedish actor (d. 2010)
* August 4
** Richard Belzer, American actor and comedian
** William Frankfather, American actor (d. 1998)
** Orhan Gencebay, Turkish musician, composer, singer and actor
* August 7
** John Glover (actor), John Glover, American actor
** Robert Mueller, American lawyer, FBI director
* August 8
** Michael Johnson (singer), Michael Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
** Hasyim Muzadi, Indonesian Islamic scholar (d. 2017)
* August 9 – Sam Elliott, American actor
* August 11
** Ian McDiarmid, Scottish actor
** Frederick W. Smith, American founder of FedEx
* August 12 – Larry Troutman, American funk musician (d. 1999)
* August 13 – Kevin Tighe, American actor
* August 15 – Sylvie Vartan, French singer
* August 18
** Robert Hitchcock, Australian sculptor
** Volker Lechtenbrink, German television actor and singer
** Helena Rojo, Mexican actress and model
* August 19
** Mordechai Spiegler, Israeli footballer and manager
** Charles Wang, Chinese-born American businessman, philanthropist and sports team owner (d. 2018)
** Bodil Malmsten, Swedish novelist and poet (d. 2016)
* August 20 – Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (d. 1991)
* August 21
** Kari S. Tikka, Finnish Professor of Finance (d. 2006)
** Peter Weir, Australian film director
* August 22 – Ayşen Gruda, Turkish actress and comedian (d. 2019)
* August 23
** Saira Banu, Indian actress
** Roberto D'Aubuisson, Salvadorean Army officer and right-wing political leader (d. 1992)
* August 24 – Rocky Johnson, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 2020)
* August 25 – Christine Chubbuck, American television reporter (d. 1974)
* August 25
** Pat Martino, American jazz guitarist (d. 2021)
** Abdullah Tarmugi Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore
* August 26 – Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
* August 27 – G. W. Bailey, American actor
* August 30 – Tug McGraw, American baseball player (d. 2004)
* August 31
** Jos LeDuc, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 1999)
** Earnie Shavers, African-American professional wrestler
September
* September 1 – Leonard Slatkin, American conductor
* September 2 – Gilles Marchal, French singer-songwriter
* September 3 – Ty Warner, American businessman, inventor of Beanie Babies
* September 4 – Tony Atkinson, British economist (d. 2017)
* September 6
** Christian Boltanski, French artist
** Swoosie Kurtz, American actress
* September 7
** Abul Hayat, Bangladeshi actor
** Earl Manigault, American basketball player (d. 1998)
** Bora Milutinović, Serbian footballer and coach
** Sam Sloan, American chess player and autodidact
* September 11 – Serge Haroche, French physicist
* September 12
** Leonard Peltier, Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American activist and convicted murderer
** Barry White, African-American singer (d. 2003)
* September 13
** Carol Barnes, British newsreader (d. 2008)
** Jacqueline Bisset, English actress
** Peter Cetera, lead singer and guitarist of American rock group Chicago
* September 15
** Yoweri Museveni, Ugandan politician, 9th President of Uganda
** Graham Taylor, English footballer and football manager (d. 2017)
* September 16 – B.J. Ward (actress), B.J. Ward, American voice actress
* September 17 – Reinhold Messner, Italian mountaineer
* September 18
** Veronica Carlson, English actress and model
** Satan's Angel, American exotic dancer
* September 19 – İsmet Özel, Turkish poet
* September 21
** Caleb Deschanel, American cinematographer and film director
** Hamilton Jordan, Jimmy Carter's first White House Chief of Staff (d. 2008)
* September 22 – Frazer Hines, British actor
* September 25 – Michael Douglas, American actor and producer
* September 26 – Anne Robinson, British television host
* September 27 – Angélica María, American-born Mexican singer-songwriter and actress
* September 28 – Miloš Zeman, 3rd President of the Czech Republic
* September 30 – Jimmy Johnstone, Scottish footballer (d. 2006)
October
* October 2 – Vernor Vinge, American science fiction writer
* October 4
** Rocío Dúrcal, Spanish singer and actress (d. 2006)
** Tony La Russa, American baseball player and manager
* October 5 – Arnhim Eustace, Vincentian politician and 3rd Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
* October 6
** Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, born Chatsumarn Kabilsingh, pioneering female Thai Buddhist monk, previously academic
** Mylon LeFevre, American singer and evangelist
* October 7
** Donald Tsang, Sir Donald Tsang, 2nd Chief Executive of Hong Kong
* October 8 – Dale Dye, American actor, technical advisor, radio personality and writer
* October 9
** John Entwistle, English rock bass guitarist and singer-songwriter (The Who) (d. 2002)
** Nona Hendryx, American R&B singer (Labelle)
** Peter Tosh, Jamaican singer and musician (d. 1987)
* October 14 – Udo Kier, German actor
* October 15
** Mac Collins, American politician (d. 2018)
** Şerif Gören, Turkish film director
** Haim Saban, Israeli-American media proprietor
** David Trimble, Northern Irish Unionist political leader; recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize 1998 (d. 2022)
* October 16 – Elizabeth Loftus, American cognitive psychologist and memory specialist
* October 20 – Clive Hornby, English actor (d. 2008)
* October 21 – Jean-Pierre Sauvage, French scientist; recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016
* October 25
** Jon Anderson, English rock singer-songwriter and musician
** Ron Coote, Australian rugby league player
** Kati Kovács, Hungarian jazz, pop and rock musician
** Azizan Abdul Razak, Malaysian politician (d. 2013)
* October 27 – Nikolai Karachentsov, Russian actor (d. 2018)
* October 28
** Dennis Franz, American actor
** Marián Labuda, Slovak actor (d. 2018)
** Ian Marter, English actor and writer (d. 1986)
* October 30 – Ahmed Chalabi, Iraqi businessman and politician (d. 2015)
* October 31 – Hal Wick, American politician (d. 2018)
November
* November 1
** Kinky Friedman, American singer-songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician and columnist
** Rafic Hariri, 2-Time Prime Minister of Lebanon (d. 2005)
** Bobby Heenan, American professional wrestling manager and commentator (d. 2017)
** Oscar Temaru, President of French Polynesia
* November 2
** Michael Buffer, American ring announcer and actor
** Keith Emerson, English keyboardist (d. 2016)
* November 4 – Linda Gary, American actress (d. 1995)
* November 7 – Luigi Riva, Italian footballer
* November 10
** Askar Akayev, 1st President of Kyrgyzstan
** Silvestre Reyes, American politician
** Tim Rice, English lyricist, writer and broadcaster
* November 11 – Kemal Sunal, Turkish comedian
* November 12
** Booker T. Jones, American R&B singer-songwriter, musician and producer
** Al Michaels, American sportscaster
* November 17
** Jim Boeheim, American basketball player and coach
** Gene Clark, American singer-songwriter (d. 1991)
** Danny DeVito, American actor, film producer and director
** Gary Goldman, American animator, film producer and director
** Rem Koolhaas, Dutch architect
** Lorne Michaels, Canadian television and film producer
** Tom Seaver, American baseball pitcher (d. 2020)
** Sammy Younge Jr., American civil rights activist (d. 1966)
* November 18
** Wolfgang Joop, German artist, fashion designer and art collector
** Ed Krupp, American astronomer, director of the Griffith Observatory
* November 20 Louie Dampier, American basketball player
* November 21
** Dick Durbin, American politician
** Earl Monroe, American basketball player
** Harold Ramis, American actor, director and comedy writer (d. 2014)
* November 23 – Peter Lindbergh, German fashion photographer and film director (d. 2019)
* November 24
** Candy Darling, American actress (d. 1974)
** Ibrahim Gambari, Nigerian scholar and diplomat
* November 25
** Ben Stein, American law professor, actor and author
** Michael Kijana Wamalwa, Kenyan politician, 8th Vice President of Kenya
* November 30 – George Graham (footballer, born 1944), George Graham, Scottish football player and manager
December
* December 1 – John Densmore, drummer, member of The Doors.
* December 2
** Cathy Lee Crosby, American actress (''That's Incredible!'')
** Ibrahim Rugova, 1st President of Kosovo (d. 2006)
* December 3 – Ralph McTell, English folk singer-songwriter
* December 4 – Dennis Wilson, American pop singer-songwriter and drummer (d. 1983)
* December 5 – Jeroen Krabbé, Dutch actor and film director
* December 6
** Kit Culkin, American stage actor
** Ron Kenoly, American Christian leader
** Sutiyoso, Indonesian politician and general, governor of Jakarta
** Jonathan King, English music producer
* December 7
** Daniel Chorzempa, American organist
** Georges Coste, French rugby player and coach
* December 8 – Sharmila Tagore, Indian actress and model
* December 9
** Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, 80th List of Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (d. 2020)
** Tadashi Irie, Japanese yakuza boss
** Ki Longfellow, American novelist
** Neil Innes, English writer, comedian and musician (d. 2019)
* December 10 – Andris Bērziņš (Latvian President), Andris Bērziņš, 8th President of Latvia
* December 11
** Brenda Lee, American singer
** Lynda Day George, American actress
** Teri Garr, American actress
* December 12
** Diana Bracho, Mexican actress
** Kenneth Cranham, Scottish born actor
** Cara Duff-MacCormick, Canadian stage actress
* December 17 – Bernard Hill, British actor
* December 19
** Mitchell Feigenbaum, American mathematical physicist (d. 2019)
** María Martha Serra Lima, Argentine singer (d. 2017)
** Tim Reid, African-American actor and film director
** Terry Underwood, Australian author
* December 20 – Ray Martin (television presenter), Ray Martin, Australian journalist and television presenter
* December 21
** Bill Atkinson (footballer, born 1944), Bill Atkinson, English footballer
** Michael Tilson Thomas, American conductor
** Zheng Xiaoyu, Chinese bureaucrat (d. 2007)
* December 22 – Steve Carlton, American baseball player
* December 23
** Wesley Clark, U.S. general and NATO Supreme Allied Commander
** Ingar Knudtsen, Norwegian novelist and poet
* December 24 – Erhard Keller, German speed skater
* December 25
**Jairzinho, Brazilian football player
** Kenny Everett, British comedian and radio DJ. (d. 1995)
* December 26
** Bill Ayers, American education theorist, previously radical anti-war activist
** Jane Lapotaire, British actress
** Aleksey Mikhalyov (translator), Aleksey Mikhalyov, Russian translator
* December 28
** Kary Mullis, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
** Edgar Vivar, Mexican actor (Señor Barriga and Ñoño in ''El Chavo del Ocho'')
* December 29 – King Birendra of Nepal (d. 2001)
* December 30 – Joseph Hilbe, American statistician and author
* December 31
** Neil Ross, British-American voice actor and announcer
** Jan Widströmer, Swedish painter and poet
Deaths
January
* January 1
** Edwin Lutyens, Sir Edwin Lutyens, British architect (b. 1869)
** Charles Turner (Australian cricketer), Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (b. 1862)
* January 3 – Franz Reichleitner, Austrian SS officer and Nazi concentration camp commandant (b. 1906)
* January 4 – Kaj Munk, Danish playwright, Lutheranism, Lutheran pastor and martyr (b. 1898)
* January 6 – Ida Tarbell, American journalist and muckraker (b. 1857)
* January 7 – Lou Henry Hoover, First Lady of the United States (b. 1874)
* January 9 – Antanas Smetona, President of Lithuania (b. 1874)
* January 10
** William Emerson Ritter, American biologist (b. 1856)
** Andrey Toshev, Bulgarian scientist and diplomat, 26th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (b. 1867)
* January 11
Events Pre-1600
* 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence.
* 630 – Conquest of Mecca: The prophet Muhamma ...
** Italian leaders of the Grand Council of Fascism executed following the Verona Trial
*** Emilio De Bono, general (b. 1866)
*** Galeazzo Ciano, aristocrat and diplomat (b. 1903)
*** Giovanni Marinelli, politician (b. 1879)
** Charles King (musical actor), Charles King, American actor (b. 1889)
** Edgard Potier, Belgian spy (suicide) (b. 1903)
* January 12
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
*1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reigned s ...
** Nicholas Bunkerd Kitbamrung, Thai Roman Catholic priest and blessed (b. 1895)
** Juliette Atkinson, American tennis champion (b. 1873)
* January 13 – King Yuhi V of Rwanda (b. 1883)
* January 14
Events Pre-1600
*1236 – King Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence.
*1301 – Andrew III of Hungary dies, ending the Árpád dynasty in Hungary.
1601–1900
*1639 – The "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, Fundamenta ...
– Mehmet Emin Yurdakul, Turkish writer (b. 1869)
* January 18 – Léon Brunschvicg, French philosopher (b. 1869)
* January 20
Events Pre-1600
* 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
* 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
* 1156 &ndas ...
– James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (b. 1860)
* January 21 – Yoshimi Nishida, Japanese general (b. 1892)
* January 23 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (b. 1863)
* January 25
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate.
* 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty ...
– Teresa Grillo Michel, Italian Roman Catholic nun and blessed (b. 1855)
* January 29
Events
Pre-1600
* 904 – Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.
* 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu'izz al-Dawla, ruler o ...
– William Allen White, American journalist (b. 1868)
* January 31
Events Pre-1600
* 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
* 1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the t ...
** Jean Giraudoux, French writer (b. 1882)
** Árpád Weisz, Hungarian footballer (b. 1896)
February
* February 1 – Piet Mondrian, Dutch painter (b. 1872)
* February 3
Events Pre-1600
* 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
*1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
*1488 – ...
– Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (b. 1867)
* February 7
Events Pre-1600
* 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor.
* 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
* 1301 &nd ...
– Robert E. Park, American sociologist (b. 1864)
* February 9 – Agnes Mary Frances Duclaux, British poet, essayist and novelist (b. 1857)
* February 11 – Carl Meinhof, German linguist (b. 1857)
* February 12
** Kenneth Gandar-Dower, English sportsman, aviator, explorer and author (b. 1908)
** Margaret Woodrow Wilson, American singer; Woodrow Wilson, Presidential daughter (b. 1886)
* February 13 – Edgar Selwyn, American screenwriter (b. 1875)
* February 16
** Carl August Ehrensvärd (1858-1944), Carl August Ehrensvärd, Swedish admiral (b. 1858)
** Henri Nathansen, Danish writer and director (b. 1868)
* February 21 – Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian-born race car driver (b. 1873)
* February 23
Events Pre-1600
* 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
* 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
– Leo Baekeland, Belgian-born American chemist (b. 1863)
* February 29
February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to leap years. A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth's revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in mos ...
– Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, Finnish politician, 1st Prime Minister of Finland, Prime Minister and 3rd President of Finland (b. 1861)
March
*March 3 – Paul-Émile Janson, Belgian politician, 30th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1872)
* March 4 – Louis Buchalter, Jewish-born American mobster, head of Murder, Inc. (executed) (b. 1897)
* March 5
**Max Jacob, French poet (b. 1876)
**Neel E. Kearby, American fighter ace (killed in action) (b. 1911)
*March 8 - Xu Zonghan, Chinese medical doctor, politician and revolutionary (b. 1877)
* March 9 – Demetrios Capetanakis, Greek poet, essayist and critic (b. 1912)
* March 11
** Hendrik Willem van Loon, Dutch-born American historian, journalist and writer (b. 1882)
** Irvin S. Cobb, American writer (b. 1876)
* March 15
**Otto von Below, German general (b. 1857)
**Mariya Oktyabrskaya, Soviet national hero (b. 1905)
* March 17 – Mario Bravo, Argentinian politician and writer (b. 1882)
* March 19
** Giuseppe de Liguoro, Italian actor and director (b. 1869)
** Noël Édouard, vicomte de Curières de Castelnau, French general (b. 1851)
* March 22 – Pierre Brossolette, journalist and French Resistance fighter (b. 1903)
* March 23 – Myron Selznick, American film producer (b. 1898)
* March 24
** Aldo Finzi (politician), Aldo Finzi, Italian politician (executed) (b. 1891)
** Pietro Pappagallo, Italian Roman Catholic priest and blessed (b. 1888)
** Orde Wingate, British soldier (b. 1903)
* March 25 – Omelyan Kovch, Soviet Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox priest, martyr and blessed (b. 1884)
* March 28 – Stephen Leacock, British-born Canadian humorist, author and economist (b. 1869)
* March 31
** Antoni Kiewnarski, Polish WWII hero (b. 1899)
** Mineichi Koga, Japanese admiral (b. 1885)
** Włodzimierz Kolanowski, Polish army officer (b. 1913)
April
* April 1 – Sharifzyan Kazanbaev, Soviet army officer (b. 1916)
* April 2 – John Batchelor (missionary), John Batchelor, British missionary and reverend (b. 1855)
* April 9 – Yevgeniya Rudneva, Soviet WWII heroine (b. 1920)
* April 13 – Bartolomeo Gosio, Italian scientist (b. 1863)
* April 15 – Giovanni Gentile, Italian philosopher and Fascist politician (assassinated) (b. 1875)
* April 17 – J. T. Hearne, English cricketer (b. 1867)
* April 21 – Hans-Valentin Hube, German army general (b. 1890)
* April 24 – Charles Jordan (magician), Charles Jordan, American magician (b. 1888)
* April 25 – George Herriman, American cartoonist (b. 1880)
* April 28
** Mohammed Alim Khan, Emir of Bukhara (b. 1880)
** Frank Knox, American Secretary of the Navy during WWII (b. 1874)
* April 29
** Billy Bitzer, American cinematographer (b. 1874)
** Bernardino Machado, Portuguese political figure, 2-time Prime Minister of Portugal and 2-time President of Portugal, leader of the World War I (b. 1851)
* April 30 – Paul Poiret, French couturier (b. 1879)
May
* May 5 – Bertha Benz, German automotive pioneer, wife and business partner of automobile inventor Karl Benz (b. 1849)
* May 7 – William Ledyard Rodgers, American admiral and military and naval historian (b. 1860)
* May 11 – Leon Kozłowski, Polish archaeologist and politician, 25th Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1892)
* May 12
** Max Brand, American author (b. 1892)
** Harold Lowe, British sailor, 5th officer of the RMS Titanic, RMS ''Titanic'' (b. 1882)
** Arthur Quiller-Couch, British writer and academic (b. 1863)
** Edel Quinn, Irish Roman Catholic laywoman, missionary and venerable (b. 1907)
* May 15 – Patriarch Patriarch Sergius of Moscow, Sergius I (b. 1867)
* May 16
** George Ade, American author (b. 1866)
** Filip Mișea, Aromanian activist, physician and politician (b. 1873)
* May 17 – Milena Jesenská, Czechoslovakian journalist, writer, editor and translator (b. 1896)
* May 20
** Fraser Barron, New Zealand bomber pilot during WWII (b. 1921)
** Eugenio Colorni, Italian philosopher and activist (b. 1909)
** Vincent Rose, American musician and band leader (b. 1880)
* May 21
**Edmund Mortimer (actor), Edmund Mortimer, American actor and director (b. 1874)
**Li Jiayu, Chinese general of the National Revolutionary Army (b. 1892)
* May 23 – Thomas Curtis (athlete), Thomas Curtis, American Olympic athlete (b. 1873)
* May 24
** Inigo Campioni, Italian admiral (executed) (b. 1878)
** Matsuji Ijuin, Japanese admiral (b. 1893)
** Luigi Mascherpa, Italian admiral (b. 1893)
** Harold Bell Wright, American writer (b. 1872)
* May 25 – Clark Daniel Stearns, 9th Governor of American Samoa (b. 1870)
* May 30
** Patriarch Mesrob I Naroyan of Constantinople (b. 1875)
** Jessie Ralph, American actress (b. 1864)
June
* June 5 – Józef Beck, Polish statesman (b. 1894)
* June 6
** Joseph Campbell (poet), Joseph Campbell, Northern Irish poet and lyricist (b. 1879)
** Wilhelm Falley, German general (killed in action) (b. 1897)
** Don Pratt, American general (killed in action) (b. 1892)
** Ker-Xavier Roussel, French painter (b. 1867)
* June 12 – Erich Marcks, German general (b. 1891)
* June 14 – George Stinney, American executed minor (b. 1929)
* June 16
** Marc Bloch, French historian (b. 1886)
** Prafulla Chandra Ray, Sir Prafulla Chandra Ray, Indian chemist (b. 1861)
* June 18 – Harry Fielding Reid, American geophysicist and seismologist (b. 1859)
* June 25
** Dénes Berinkey, 21st Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1871)
** Lucha Reyes (Mexican singer), Lucha Reyes, Mexican singer (b. 1906)
** María Chinchilla Recinos, Guatemalan teacher (b. 1909)
* June 27 – Milan Hodža, Slovak politician, champion of regional integration in Europe (b. 1878)
* June 28 – Anton Breinl, Australian medical practitioner and researcher (b. 1880)
July
* July 1 – Carl Mayer, Austrian screenwriter (b. 1894)
* July 6
** Andrée Borrel, French World War II heroine (b. 1919)
** Vera Leigh, British World War II heroine (b. 1903)
** Chūichi Nagumo, Japanese admiral (b. 1887)
** Sonya Olschanezky, German World War II heroine (b. 1923)
** Diana Rowden, British World War II heroine (b. 1915)
* July 7
** Georges Mandel, French politician and WWII hero (b. 1885)
** Leonie von Meusebach–Zesch, American dentist (b. 1882)
* July 8
** George B. Seitz, American director (b. 1888)
** Takeo Takagi, Japanese admiral (killed in action) (b. 1892)
* July 9
** Ingvar Fredrik Håkansson, Swedish pilot (b. 1920)
** Kent Rogers, American voice actor (b. 1923)
* July 12
** Jesus Baza Duenas, Guamese Roman Catholic priest, martyr and blessed (b. 1911)
** Theodore Roosevelt Jr., American political and business leader (b. 1887)
* July 14 – Asmahan, Syrian-born Egyptian singer (b.1912)
* July 15 – Joseph Sadi-Lecointe, French aviator (b. 1891)
* July 16 – Moncena Dunn (inventor), Moncena Dunn, American inventor (b. 1867)
* July 17 – Tarsykiya Matskiv, Soviet Eastern Catholic religious sister and blessed (b. 1919)
* July 18
** Augusto De Angelis, Italian writer and journalist (b. 1888)
** George Holt (actor), George Holt, American actor and director (b. 1878)
** Rex Whistler, British artist (b. 1905)
* July 20
** Ludwig Beck, German general and Chief of the German General Staff (b. 1880)
** Heinz Brandt, German officer (b. 1907)
** Mildred Harris, American actress (b. 1901)
** Günther Korten, German colonel-general, chief of staff of the Luftwaffe (b. 1898)
** Claus von Stauffenberg, German resistance leader (b. 1907)
* July 21
** Werner von Haeften, German resistance member (executed) (b. 1908)
** Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim, German resistance leader (b. 1905)
** Hans-Ulrich von Oertzen, German resistance member (suicide) (b. 1915)
** Friedrich Olbricht, German resistance leader (b. 1888)
** Henning von Tresckow, German general and resistance leader (suicide) (b. 1901)
* July 23 – Eduard Wagner, German general and resistance member (suicide) (b. 1894)
* July 25
** Lesley J. McNair, American general (b. 1883)
** Jakob von Uexküll, Baltic German biologist (b. 1864)
* July 26
** Clóvis Beviláqua, Brazilian jurist, historian and journalist (b. 1859)
** Wessel Freytag von Loringhoven, German resistance member (suicide) (b. 1899)
** Takakazu Kinashi, Japanese army officer (b. 1902)
** Reza Shah, 20th Prime Minister of Iran and Pahlavi dynasty, Shah of Iran (b. 1877)
* July 27 – Perry McGillivray, American Olympic swimmer (b. 1893)
* July 28 – Werner Schrader, German resistance member (suicide) (b. 1895)
* July 30
**Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov, Soviet aeronautical engineer and aircraft designer (b. 1892)
**Lee Powell (actor), Lee Powell, American actor (b. 1908)
* July 31 – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French pilot and children's writer (b. 1900)
August
* August 1
** Jean Prévost, French writer and journalist, member of the Maquis (World War II), Maquis (b. 1901)
** Manuel L. Quezon, Filipino statesman, soldier and politician, 2nd President of the Philippines (b. 1878)
* August 2 – Kakuji Kakuta, Japanese admiral (b. 1890)
* August 4 – Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Polish poet (b. 1921)
* August 5 – Jędrzej Moraczewski, Polish politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1870)
* August 7
** Agustín Barrios, Paraguayan guitarist and composer (b. 1885)
** Jadwiga Falkowska, Polish teacher and activist (b. 1889)
* August 8
** Robert Bernardis, German resistance fighter (executed) (b. 1908)
** Albrecht von Hagen, German resistance fighter (executed) (b. 1904)
** Paul von Hase, German general and resistance leader (executed) (b. 1885)
** Erich Hoepner, German colonel-general and resistance leader (executed) (b. 1886)
** Juliusz Kaden-Bandrowski, Polish journalist and novelist (b. 1885)
** Hellmuth Stieff, German resistance fighter (executed) (b. 1901)
** Michael Wittmann, German tank commander (killed in action) (b. 1914)
** Erwin von Witzleben, German field marshal and resistance leader (executed) (b. 1881)
** Peter Yorck von Wartenburg, German resistance fighter (executed) (b. 1904)
* August 9 – Felix Nussbaum, German painter (b. 1904)
* August 10
** Alfred Kranzfelder, German resistance fighter (b. 1908)
** Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg, German resistance fighter (b. 1902)
** Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, Nazi opponent and lawyer (b. 1905)
** Hans Albrecht, Hereditary Prince of Schleswig-Holstein (b. 1917)
* August 11
** Francesco Federico Falco, Italian doctor (b. 1866)
** Hideyoshi Obata, Japanese general (b. 1890)
* August 12
** Jose Garvida Flores, Filipino writer, poet and playwright (b. 1900)
** Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., American fighter pilot, oldest son of Joseph P. Kennedy (b. 1915)
** Suzanne Spaak, Belgian World War II heroine (b. 1905)
* August 15
** Egbert Hayessen, German resistance fighter (b. 1913)
** Hans Bernd von Haeften, German resistance fighter (b. 1905)
** Wolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorff, German police chief and resistance fighter (b. 1896)
* August 17
** Franciszek Brodniewicz, Polish actor (b. 1892)
** Eugénio de Castro, Portuguese poet and writer (b. 1869)
* August 18
** Eugeniusz Horbaczewski, Polish pilot (b. 1917)
** Ernst Thälmann, German Communist leader (executed) (b. 1886)
* August 19
** Günther von Kluge, German field marshal (suicide) (b. 1882)
** Henry Wood, Sir Henry Wood, British conductor (b. 1869)
* August 21
** Friedrich Gustav Jaeger, German resistance fighter (b. 1895)
** Maciej Kalenkiewicz, Polish engineer and military officer (b. 1906)
** Marian Lalewicz, Polish architect (b. 1876)
* August 23
** Aleksander Augustynowicz, Polish painter (b. 1865)
** Abdülmecid II, last Caliph of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1868)
** Nikolai Roslavets, Soviet composer (b. 1880)
* August 24 – Carlo Emanuele Buscaglia, Italian aviator (b. 1915)
* August 25 – Teresio Vittorio Martinoli, Italian pilot (b. 1917)
* August 26
** Hans Georg Klamroth, German resistance fighter (executed) (b. 1898)
** Otto Kiep, German resistance fighter (b. 1886)
** Hans Leesment, Estonian general (b. 1873)
** Ludwig Freiherr von Leonrod, German resistance fighter (executed) (b. 1906)
** Adam von Trott zu Solz, German diplomat and resistance fighter (executed) (b. 1909)
* August 27
** Carlo Fecia di Cossato, Italian navy officer (b. 1908)
** Princess Mafalda of Savoy (b. 1902)
* August 28
** Teresa Bracco, Italian Roman Catholic religious sister and blessed (killed in battle) (b. 1924)
** Rudolf Breitscheid, German politician (b. 1874)
** Bronislaw Kaminski, Polish army officer (b. 1899)
* August 30
** Moissaye Boguslawski, American pianist and composer (b. 1887)
** Eberhard Finckh, German resistance fighter (b. 1899)
** Hans Otfried von Linstow, German resistance fighter (b. 1899)
** Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, German general and resistance leader (b. 1886)
September
* September 1 – Krystyna Dąbrowska, Polish sculptor and painter (b. 1906)
* September 2 – Maria Vetulani de Nisau, Polish soldier (b. 1898)
*September 3 - Friedrich Alpers, German Nazi politician and general (b. 1901)
* September 4
** Erich Fellgiebel, German general and resistance fighter (b. 1886)
** Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort, German resistance fighter (b. 1909)
** Fritz Thiele, German general and resistance fighter (b. 1894)
* September 5 – Gustave Biéler, Swiss WWII hero (b. 1904)
* September 6 – Jan Franciszek Czartoryski, Polish Dominican Order, Dominican friar, martyr and blessed (b. 1897)
* September 7 – Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes, Cuban composer (b. 1897)
* September 8
** Georg Hansen, German resistance fighter (b. 1904)
** Ulrich von Hassell, German diplomat and resistance fighter (b. 1881)
** Paul Lejeune-Jung, German resistance fighter (b. 1882)
** Ulrich Wilhelm Graf Schwerin von Schwanenfeld, German resistance fighter (b. 1902)
** Günther Smend, German resistance fighter (b. 1912)
** Josef Wirmer, German resistance fighter (b. 1901)
* September 9 – Robert Benoist, French race car driver and war hero (b. 1895)
* September 11 – Joseph Müller (priest), Joseph Müller, German Roman Catholic priest and Servant of God (executed) (b. 1894)
* September 12 – Robert Fiske (actor), Robert Fiske, American actor (b. 1889)
* September 13
** Grigore Bălan, Romanian general (died of wounds) (b. 1896)
** Yolande Beekman, French WWII heroine (executed) (b. 1911)
** Madeleine Damerment, French WWII heroine (executed) (b. 1917)
** Noor Inayat Khan, Indian WWII heroine (executed) (b. 1914)
** Eliane Plewman, British WWII heroine (executed) (b. 1917)
** W. Heath Robinson, British cartoonist and illustrator (b. 1872)
* September 14
** Heinrich Graf zu Dohna-Schlobitten, German resistance fighter (executed) (b. 1882)
** John Kenneth Macalister, Canadian WWII hero (b. 1914)
** Michael Graf von Matuschka, German resistance fighter (executed) (b. 1888)
** Frank Pickersgill, Canadian WWII hero (b. 1915)
** Roméo Sabourin, Canadian WWII hero (b. 1923)
** Nikolaus von Üxküll-Gyllenband, German resistance fighter (executed) (b. 1877)
** Hermann Josef Wehrle, German Catholic priest and resistance member (executed) (b. 1899)
* September 16 – Gustav Bauer, 11th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1870)
* September 18
** Hendrikus Colijn, Dutch policeman, politician and businessman, 25th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1869)
** Anton Saefkow, German communist (executed) (b. 1903)
* September 22 – Fritz Lindemann, German army officer (died of wounds) (b. 1894)
* September 23 – Matylda Palfyova, Czechoslovakian artistic gymnast (b. 1912)
* September 25
** Walter Breisky, Austrian civil servant, acting Chancellor of Austria (b. 1871)
** Eugeniusz Lokajski, Polish athlete, gymnast and photographer (b. 1909)
** Leo Chiozza Money, Italian-British economist and politician (b. 1870)
* September 27
** Aimee Semple McPherson, Canadian-American Pentecostal evangelist (b. 1890)
** Aristide Maillol, French sculptor and painter (b. 1861)
** David Dougal Williams, British painter (b. 1888)
* September 28 – Josef Bürckel, German Nazi gauleiter (b. 1895)
* September 29
** Otto Herfurth, German general and resistance fighter (b. 1893)
** Wilhelm Leuschner German politician and resistance fighter (b. 1890)
** Joachim Meichssner, German resistance fighter (b. 1906)
** Joachim Sadrozinski, German resistance fighter (b. 1907)
October
* October 1
** William Mulock, Sir William Mulock, Canadian lawyer, politician and businessman (b. 1843)
** Rudolf Schmundt, German general (b. 1896)
* October 2
** Benjamin Fondane, Romanian-French Symbolist poet, critic and existentialist philosopher (gassed in Auschwitz concentration camp) (b. 1898)
** Julián Felipe, Filipino musician and bandleader (b. 1861)
** Maeda Toshisada, Japanese politician (b. 1874)
* October 4 – Al Smith, American politician (b. 1873)
* October 5 – Prince Gustav of Denmark (b. 1887)
* October 8 – Wendell Willkie, American politician (b. 1892)
* October 9
** Kitty Marion, German-born actress and women's rights activist in England and the United States (b. 1871)
** Stefanina Moro, Italian resistance member (b. 1927)
* October 12
** Ramón Castillo, Argentinian politician, 25th President of Argentina (b. 1873)
** Carl Langbehn, German resistance member (b. 1901)
** Rudolf von Marogna-Redwitz, German resistance member (b. 1886)
* October 13
** Hans-Jürgen von Blumenthal, German resistance member (b. 1907)
** Roland von Hößlin, German resistance member (b. 1915)
* October 14 – Erwin Rommel, German field marshal (b. 1891)
* October 17 – Anton Hafner, German aviator (b. 1918)
* October 18
** Alexander, Prince of Erbach-Schönberg (b. 1872)
** Josef Maria Eder, Austrian chemist (b. 1855)
* October 19
** Isadore Bernstein, American screenwriter (b. 1876)
** Deneys Reitz, South African soldier and diplomat (b. 1882)
* October 20
** Eduard Brücklmeier, German diplomat and resistance member (b. 1903)
** Hermann Maaß, German politician and resistance member (b. 1897)
** Adolf Reichwein, German politician and resistance member (b. 1898)
* October 21 – Hilma af Klint, Swedish abstract painter (b. 1862)
* October 22 – Richard Bennett (actor), Richard Bennett, American actor (b. 1870)
* October 23 – Charles Glover Barkla, British physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)
* October 24
** Louis Renault (industrialist), Louis Renault, French industrialist, founder of ''Renault'' (b. 1877)
** Karl Freiherr von Thüngen, German general and resistance member (executed) (b. 1893)
* October 25
** Shōji Nishimura, Japanese vice admiral (b. 1889)
** Yukio Seki, Japanese kamikaze pilot (b. 1921)
* October 26
** Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, youngest and last surviving child of Queen Victoria (b. 1857)
** Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, Japanese fighter ace (b. 1920)
** José de la Riva-Agüero y Osma, Peruvian historian, writer and politician, 84th Prime Minister of Peru (b. 1885)
** William Temple (bishop), William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1881)
* October 27 – Judith Auer, German World War II resistance fighter (b. 1905)
* October 31
** Henrietta Crosman, American actress (b. 1861)
** Joseph Hubert Priestley, British botanist (b. 1883)
November
* November 1
** Ismael Pérez Pazmiño, Ecuadoran journalist and politician (b. 1876)
** Andrey Sheptytsky, Soviet Eastern Catholic archbishop and venerable (b. 1865)
* November 2
** Karol Irzykowski, Polish writer (b. 1873)
** Thomas Midgley Jr., American chemist and inventor (b. 1889)
* November 4 – John Dill, Sir John Dill, British field marshal (b. 1881)
* November 5 – Alexis Carrel, French surgeon and biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1873)
* November 7
** Max Bergmann, German biochemist (b. 1886)
** Richard Sorge, Soviet spy, executed (b. 1895)
** Hannah Szenes, Hungarian World War II heroine, poet, executed (b. 1921)
* November 10
** Wang Jingwei, Chinese statesman, President of the Nanjing-based and Japanese-supported collaborationist Government of the Republic of China (b. 1883)
** Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg, German diplomat and resistance member (b. 1875)
* November 12
** George David Birkhoff, American mathematician (b. 1884)
** George Houston (actor), George Houston, American actor (b. 1896)
** Otto Frank (physiologist), Otto Frank, German physiologist (b. 1865)
* November 13
** Carl Lampert, Austrian Roman Catholic priest and blessed (b. 1894)
** Friedrich Lorenz, German Roman Catholic priest and blessed (b. 1897)
* November 14
** Walter Cramer, German resistance member (b. 1886)
** Trafford Leigh-Mallory, British aviator and Royal Air Force Air Chief Marshal (b. 1892)
** Bernhard Letterhaus, German trade unionist and resistance member (b. 1894)
** Ferdinand von Lüninck, German politician and resistance member (b. 1888)
* November 16 – Maria Rodziewiczówna, Polish writer (b. 1863)
* November 19 – Ignacio Bolívar, Spanish naturalist and entomologist (b. 1850)
* November 22
** Joseph Caillaux, French politician, 57th Prime Minister of France (b. 1863)
** Arthur Eddington, Sir Arthur Eddington, British astronomer, physicist and mathematician (b. 1882)
** Sadakichi Hartmann, Japanese-born American critic and poet (b. 1867)
** Johan Pitka, Estonian entrepreneur, sea captain and admiral (b. 1872)
* November 25 – Kenesaw Mountain Landis, 1st commissioner of Major League Baseball (b. 1866)
* November 26 – Florence Foster Jenkins, American socialite and singer (b. 1868)
* November 30 – Lilo Gloeden, German resistance member (b. 1903)
December
* December 1 – Franciszek Pius Radziwiłł, Polish nobleman and activist (b. 1878)
* December 2
** Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Italian poet, editor and art theorist, founder of the Futurism, Futurist movement (b. 1876)
** Josef Lhévinne, Soviet pianist (b. 1874)
* December 3 – Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (b. 1882)
* December 4 – Roger Bresnahan, American baseball player and member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1879)
* December 9 – Laird Cregar, American actor (b. 1913)
* December 11 – Montgomery Cunningham Meigs (1919-1944), Montgomery Cunningham Meigs, American WWII hero (b. 1919)
* December 12 – Bernard Chrzanowski, Polish activist (b. 1861)
* December 13 – Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born Polish artist (b. 1866)
* December 14 – Lupe Vélez, Mexican actress, dancer and singer (b. 1908)
* December 15 – Glenn Miller, American band leader (accident) (b. 1904)
* December 19 – King Abbas II of Egypt (b. 1874)
* December 20
** Caesar von Hofacker, German resistance member (b. 1896)
** Carl Wentzel, German resistance member (b. 1875)
* December 22 – Harry Langdon, American comedian (b. 1884)
* December 26 – George Bellamy (actor), George Bellamy, British actor (b. 1866)
* December 27
** Amy Beach, American pianist and composer (b. 1867)
** Peter Deunov, Bulgarian spiritual teacher (b. 1864)
** Sára Salkaházi, Hungarian Roman Catholic religious sister and blessed (b. 1899)
* December 30 – Romain Rolland, French writer, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
* December 31
**Vicente Lim, Filipino general of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (b. 1888)
**Ruth Hanna McCormick, American politician, activist and publisher (b. 1880)
Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Isidor Isaac Rabi
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Otto Hahn
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Medicine – Joseph Erlanger, Herbert Spencer Gasser
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Johannes V. Jensen
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – International Committee of the Red Cross
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1944
1944,
Leap years in the Gregorian calendar