| image1 = Into the Jaws of Death 23-0455M edit.jpg
| image2 = Warsaw Uprising - Długa Street.jpg
| image3 = Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-025-12, Zerstörte Lagerbaracke nach dem 20. Juli 1944.jpg
| image4 = 117th Infantry North Carolina NG at St. Vith 1945.jpg
| image5 = 194407 abandoned german vehicles belarus (revised).jpg
| image6 = Cassino (Italy) (3987431019).jpg
| image7 = Marines and King Kong on Saipan.jpg
| image8 = Terremoto San Juan 001.jpg
| image9 = Hartford circus fire.jpg
| total_width = 350
| footer = From top to bottom, left to right: The Allied invasion of Normandy on [[D-Day]] launches the largest amphibious assault in history, turning the Western Front; the [[Warsaw Uprising]] sees [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish fighters]] rise against [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] occupation but are crushed with massive civilian losses; the [[20 July plot]] fails as officers including [[Claus von Stauffenberg]] attempt to kill [[Adolf Hitler]]; the [[Battle of the Bulge]] is Nazi Germany’s final Western offensive, ultimately failing; [[Operation Bagration]] destroys Germany’s [[Army Group Centre]] and liberates [[Belarus]]; the [[Battle of Monte Cassino]] sees Allied forces breach the [[Gustav Line]] after months of fighting; the [[Battle of Saipan]] gives the [[United States]] a strategic Pacific foothold near the [[Empire of Japan|Japanese homeland]]; the [[1944 San Juan earthquake]] devastates [[San Juan Province, Argentina|Argentina’s San Juan Province]]; and the [[Hartford circus fire]] kills nearly 170 in [[Connecticut]], one of the deadliest U.S. fire disasters; with over 500 deaths, the [[Balvano train disaster]] is one of the deadliest railway disasters in history.
| image10 = Balvano train disaster (1944).jpg
}}
{{Year nav|1944}}
{{Year nav|1944}}
{{C20 year in topic}}
{{C20 year in topic}}
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===January===
===January===
{{Main article|January 1944}}
{{Main|January 1944}}
[[File:Landing at Anzio.jpg|thumb|US Army troops landing at [[Anzio]] during [[Operation Shingle]], late January 1944.]]
[[File:Landing at Anzio.jpg|thumb|US Army troops landing at [[Anzio]] during [[Operation Shingle]], late January 1944.]]
* [[January 2]] – WWII:
* [[January 2]] – WWII:
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* [[January 8]] – WWII: [[Philippine Commonwealth]] troops enter the province of [[Ilocos Sur]] in northern [[Luzon]] and attack Japanese forces.
* [[January 8]] – WWII: [[Philippine Commonwealth]] troops enter the province of [[Ilocos Sur]] in northern [[Luzon]] and attack Japanese forces.
* [[January 11]]
* [[January 11]]
** [[United States]] President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] proposes a [[Second Bill of Rights]] for social and economic security, in his [[State of the Union]] address.
** [[United States]] President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] proposes a [[Second Bill of Rights]] for social and economic security, in his [[State of the Union]] address.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1944 State of the Union Address Text - FDR Presidential Library & Museum |url=https://www.fdrlibrary.org/address-text |access-date=2025-09-02 |website=www.fdrlibrary.org |language=en-US}}</ref>
** The Nazi German administration expands [[Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp]] into the larger standalone ''Konzentrationslager Plaszow bei Krakau'' in occupied Poland.
** The Nazi German administration expands [[Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp]] into the larger standalone ''Konzentrationslager Plaszow bei Krakau'' in occupied Poland.
* [[January 12]] – WWII: [[Winston Churchill]] and [[Charles de Gaulle]] begin a 2-day conference in [[Marrakech]].
* [[January 12]] – WWII: [[Winston Churchill]] and [[Charles de Gaulle]] begin a 2-day conference in [[Marrakech]].
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===February===
===February===
{{Main article|February 1944}}
{{Main|February 1944}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2005-0004, Italien, Monte Cassino.jpg|thumb|The Abbey of [[Monte Cassino]] in ruins after being [[Battle of Monte Cassino|destroyed by Allied bombing]], February 1944.]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2005-0004, Italien, Monte Cassino.jpg|thumb|The Abbey of [[Monte Cassino]] in ruins after being [[Battle of Monte Cassino|destroyed by Allied bombing]], February 1944.]]
* The [[Zadran (Pashtun tribe)|Zadran]] tribe rises up against the Afghan government, starting the [[Afghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=ГЛАВА XXXVIII. ВОССТАНИЕ ПУШТУНСКИХ ПЛЕМЕН 1944 -1945 ГГ. В|url=https://scibook.net/stran-azii-istoriya/xxxviii-vosstanie-pushtunskih-plemen-1944-1945-38755.html|website=scibook.net|access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref>
* The [[Zadran (Pashtun tribe)|Zadran]] tribe rises up against the Afghan government, starting the [[Afghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=ГЛАВА XXXVIII. ВОССТАНИЕ ПУШТУНСКИХ ПЛЕМЕН 1944 -1945 ГГ. В|url=https://scibook.net/stran-azii-istoriya/xxxviii-vosstanie-pushtunskih-plemen-1944-1945-38755.html|website=scibook.net|access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref>
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===March===
===March===
{{Main article|March 1944}}
{{Main|March 1944}}
[[File:Mt Vesuvius Erupting 1944.jpg|thumb|The March 1944 eruption of [[Mount Vesuvius]].]]
[[File:Mt Vesuvius Erupting 1944.jpg|thumb|The March 1944 eruption of [[Mount Vesuvius]].]]
* [[March]] – Austrian-born [[economist]] [[Friedrich Hayek]] publishes his book ''[[The Road to Serfdom]]'' in [[London]].
* [[March]] – Austrian-born [[economist]] [[Friedrich Hayek]] publishes his book ''[[The Road to Serfdom]]'' in [[London]].
* [[March 1]] – WWII: American submarine {{USS|Trout|SS-202|6}} torpedoes Japanese merchant cruiser {{ship||Sakito Maru}}; 2,495 drown.<ref name="senbotsukisen">{{cite web|url=http://www.ric.hi-ho.ne.jp/senbotusen/siryo-deta/senbotukisenlist.pdf|title=List of sunken ships in Pacific War (太平洋戦争時の喪失船舶明細表)|publisher=Sunken Ships Record Association (戦没船を記録する会)|access-date=2012-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202233818/http://www.ric.hi-ho.ne.jp/senbotusen/siryo-deta/senbotukisenlist.pdf|archive-date=2013-12-02|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[March 1]] – WWII: American submarine {{USS|Trout|SS-202|6}} torpedoes Japanese merchant cruiser {{ship||Sakito Maru}}; 2,495 drown.<ref name="senbotsukisen">{{cite web|url=http://www.ric.hi-ho.ne.jp/senbotusen/siryo-deta/senbotukisenlist.pdf|title=List of sunken ships in Pacific War (太平洋戦争時の喪失船舶明細表)|publisher=Sunken Ships Record Association (戦没船を記録する会)|access-date=2012-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202233818/http://www.ric.hi-ho.ne.jp/senbotusen/siryo-deta/senbotukisenlist.pdf|archive-date=2013-12-02|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[March 2]] – The [[16th Academy Awards]] Ceremony is held, the first Oscar ceremony held at a large public venue, [[Grauman's Chinese Theatre]] in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]]. ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'', directed by [[Michael Curtiz]], wins the [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Award for Best Picture]].
* [[March 2]] – The [[16th Academy Awards]] Ceremony is held, the first Oscar ceremony held at a large public venue, [[Grauman's Chinese Theatre]] in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]]. ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'', directed by [[Michael Curtiz]], 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 3]]
** WWII: The [[Order of Nakhimov]] and the [[Order of Ushakov]] are instituted in the [[USSR]].
** [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]]: in one of the deadliest railway disasters in history, over 500 clandestine passengers die of [[carbon monoxide poisoning]] when a [[Steam train|steam]] [[freight train]] [[Balvano train disaster|stops]] in a [[Tunnel|railway tunnel]] near [[Balvano]], [[Basilicata]], [[Southern Italy]]
* [[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 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 [[Bombing of Narva in World War II|attack]] [[Narva]], [[Estonia]], destroying over 95% of the town.<ref name="kattago2">{{cite journal |last=Kattago |first=Siobhan |year=2008 |title=Commemorating Liberation and Occupation: War Memorials Along the Road to Narva |journal=[[Journal of Baltic Studies]] |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=431–449 |doi=10.1080/01629770802461225 |s2cid=145001694}}</ref>
* [[March 6]] – WWII: Soviet Army planes [[Bombing of Narva in World War II|attack]] [[Narva]], [[Estonia]], destroying over 95% of the town.<ref name="kattago2">{{cite journal |last=Kattago |first=Siobhan |year=2008 |title=Commemorating Liberation and Occupation: War Memorials Along the Road to Narva |journal=[[Journal of Baltic Studies]] |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=431–449 |doi=10.1080/01629770802461225 |s2cid=145001694}}</ref>
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===April===
===April===
{{Main article|April 1944}}
{{Main|April 1944}}
*[[April 1]] – The Swiss city of [[Schaffhausen]] is [[Aerial incidents in Switzerland in World War II#Schaffhausen|accidentally bombed]] by the United States causing serious damage to the city and killing or wounding more than 100 people.<ref>{{cite book |title=Air University Review |date=1976 |publisher=Department of the Air Force |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=py6oImEZoDMC&pg=RA3-PA20 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[April 1]] – The Swiss city of [[Schaffhausen]] is [[Aerial incidents in Switzerland in World War II#Schaffhausen|accidentally bombed]] by the United States causing serious damage to the city and killing or wounding more than 100 people.<ref>{{cite book |title=Air University Review |date=1976 |publisher=Department of the Air Force |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=py6oImEZoDMC&pg=RA3-PA20 |language=en}}</ref>
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===May===
===May===
{{Main article|May 1944}}
{{Main|May 1944}}
[[File:CommonwealthPrimeMinisters1944.jpg|thumb|The prime ministers of Britain and the four major dominions at the 1944 [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting|Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference]], May 1, 1944.]]
[[File:CommonwealthPrimeMinisters1944.jpg|thumb|The prime ministers of Britain and the four major dominions at the 1944 [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting|Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference]], May 1, 1944.]]
* [[May]] – [[Jean-Paul Sartre]]'s [[Existentialism|existentialist]] drama ''[[No Exit]]'' (''Huis Clos'') premières in Nazi-occupied Paris.
* [[May]] – [[Jean-Paul Sartre]]'s [[Existentialism|existentialist]] drama ''[[No Exit]]'' (''Huis Clos'') premières in Nazi-occupied Paris.
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===June===
===June===
{{Main article|June 1944}}
{{Main|June 1944}}
[[File:NormandySupply edit.jpg|thumb|Allied troops land on the beaches of Normandy during [[D-Day]].]]
[[File:NormandySupply edit.jpg|thumb|Allied troops land on the beaches of Normandy during [[D-Day]].]]
[[File:LVTs move toward Saipan, past bombarding cruisers, on 15 June 1944 (80-G-231838).jpg|thumb|[[Landing Vehicle Tracked|LVTs]] heading for shore on June 15, 1944, during the [[Battle of Saipan]].]]
[[File:LVTs move toward Saipan, past bombarding cruisers, on 15 June 1944 (80-G-231838).jpg|thumb|[[Landing Vehicle Tracked|LVTs]] heading for shore on June 15, 1944, during the [[Battle of Saipan]].]]
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* [[June 6]] – WWII: 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 6]] – WWII: 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:
* [[June 7]] – WWII:
** [[Bayeux]] is liberated by British troops.
** [[Bayeux]] is liberated by British troops.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The liberation of Bayeux in Normandy on June 7, 1944 - Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy |url=https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/memorial-museum-battle-of-normandy/your-visit/niveau-3/bayeux-liberated-7-june-1944/ |access-date=2025-09-24 |website=Bayeux Museum |language=en-US}}</ref>
** [[Operation Perch]], a British attempt to capture [[Caen]] from the Germans, commences; it is abandoned on June 14.
** [[Operation Perch]], a British attempt to capture [[Caen]] from the Germans, commences; it is abandoned on June 14.
** The steamer ''Danae'' ({{langx|el|Δανάη}}), carrying 600 [[Crete|Cretans]] (including 350 Greek Jews) on the first leg of the journey to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]], is sunk, with no known survivors, off [[Santorini]].
** The steamer ''Danae'' ({{langx|el|Δανάη}}), carrying 600 [[Crete|Cretans]] (including 350 Greek Jews) on the first leg of the journey to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]], is sunk, with no known survivors, off [[Santorini]].
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===July===
===July===
{{Main article|July 1944}}
{{Main|July 1944}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-025-12, Zerstörte Lagerbaracke nach dem 20. Juli 1944.jpg|thumb|Aftermath of the failed [[20 July plot]] to kill Hitler.]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-025-12, Zerstörte Lagerbaracke nach dem 20. Juli 1944.jpg|thumb|Aftermath of the failed [[20 July plot]] to kill Hitler.]]
[[File:19440816 soviet soldiers attack jelgava.jpg|thumb|Soviet soldiers fight in the streets of [[Jelgava]], summer 1944.]]
[[File:19440816 soviet soldiers attack jelgava.jpg|thumb|Soviet soldiers fight in the streets of [[Jelgava]], summer 1944.]]
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===August===
===August===
{{Main article|August 1944}}
{{Main|August 1944}}
{{multiple image
| direction = vertical
{{multiple image
| width = 250
| direction = vertical
| header=
| width = 250
| image1 = Polish Boy Scouts fighting in the Warsaw Uprising.jpg
| header =
| caption1 = [[Szare Szeregi]] Scouts also fought in the [[Warsaw Uprising]].
| image1 = Polish Boy Scouts fighting in the Warsaw Uprising.jpg
| image2 = Jewish prisones of KZGesiowka liberated by Polish Soldiers of Home Army Warsaw1944.jpg
| caption1 = [[Szare Szeregi]] Scouts also fought in the [[Warsaw Uprising]].
| caption2 = Jewish prisoners of [[Gęsiówka]] liberated by Polish soldiers from [[Batalion Zośka]], August 5, 1944.
| image2 = Jewish prisones of KZGesiowka liberated by Polish Soldiers of Home Army Warsaw1944.jpg
| image3 = Crowds of French patriots line the Champs Elysees-edit2.jpg
| caption2 = Jewish prisoners of [[Gęsiówka]] liberated by Polish soldiers from [[Batalion Zośka]], August 5, 1944.
| caption3 = Crowds of French people line the Champs Élysées following the [[Liberation of Paris]], August 26, 1944.}}
| image3 = Crowds of French patriots line the Champs Elysees-edit2.jpg
| caption3 = Crowds of French people line the Champs Élysées following the [[Liberation of Paris]], August 26, 1944.
}}
* [[August 1]]
* [[August 1]]
** WWII: The [[Warsaw Uprising]] begins.
** WWII: The [[Warsaw Uprising]] begins.
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** [[Single-party period of the Republic of Turkey#World War II|Turkey]] ends diplomatic and economic relations with Germany.
** [[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]].
** 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.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E_qyia33-PwC&q=The%20Education%20Act%20in%20the%20United%20Kingdom%2C%20promoted%20by%20Rab%20Butler%2C%20creates%20a%20Tripartite%20system%20of%20education%20in%20England%2C%20Wales%20and%20Northern%20Ireland&pg=PA221|title=Ulster Since 1600: Politics, Economy, and Society|last=Kennedy|first=Liam|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|isbn=9780199583119|pages=221}}</ref>
* [[August 3]] – The [[Education Act 1944|Education Act]] in the United Kingdom, promoted by [[Rab Butler]], provides for the postwar education system, including free secondary education for children of both sexes and raising of the school leaving age to 15.<ref>{{cite web|title=Education Act 1944|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/7-8/31/enacted|access-date=2025-07-02}}</ref>
* [[August 4]] – WWII:
* [[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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/01/opinion/prose-anne-frank-final-diary-entry|title=Anne Frank's final entry|first=Francine|last=Prose|author-link=Francine Prose|date=2014-08-01|publisher=CNN|quote=On Friday, August 4, 1944... a car pulled up in front of a spice warehouse at [[Anne Frank House|263 Prinsengracht]] in Amsterdam. Inside the car were an Austrian Gestapo officer and his Dutch subordinates, who, acting on a tip-off (whose source has never been identified), had come to arrest the eight Jews who had been hiding for two years in an attic above the warehouse. The eight prisoners were taken to a deportation camp, from where they were sent to [[Auschwitz]]. Only one of them, Otto Frank, would survive.|access-date=2014-08-01}}</ref>
** [[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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/01/opinion/prose-anne-frank-final-diary-entry|title=Anne Frank's final entry|first=Francine|last=Prose|author-link=Francine Prose|date=2014-08-01|publisher=CNN|quote=On Friday, August 4, 1944... a car pulled up in front of a spice warehouse at [[Anne Frank House|263 Prinsengracht]] in Amsterdam. Inside the car were an Austrian Gestapo officer and his Dutch subordinates, who, acting on a tip-off (whose source has never been identified), had come to arrest the eight Jews who had been hiding for two years in an attic above the warehouse. The eight prisoners were taken to a deportation camp, from where they were sent to [[Auschwitz]]. Only one of them, Otto Frank, would survive.|access-date=2014-08-01}}</ref>
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===September===
===September===
{{Main article|September 1944}}
{{Main|September 1944}}
[[File:Waves of paratroops land in Holland.jpg|thumb|Waves of paratroopers land in the Netherlands during [[Operation Market Garden]] in September 1944.]]
[[File:Waves of paratroops land in Holland.jpg|thumb|Waves of paratroopers land in the Netherlands during [[Operation Market Garden]] in September 1944.]]
* [[September]] – The [[Dutch famine of 1944|Dutch famine]] ("Hongerwinter") begins, in the occupied northern part of the Netherlands.<ref>{{cite book|first=Henri A.|last=Van der Zee|title=The Hunger Winter: Occupied Holland 1944–5|location=London|publisher=Norman & Hobhouse|year=1982|isbn=978-0-906908-71-6}}</ref>
* [[September]] – The [[Dutch famine of 1944|Dutch famine]] ("Hongerwinter") begins, in the occupied northern part of the Netherlands.<ref>{{cite book|first=Henri A.|last=Van der Zee|title=The Hunger Winter: Occupied Holland 1944–5|location=London|publisher=Norman & Hobhouse|year=1982|isbn=978-0-906908-71-6}}</ref>
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===October===
===October===
{{Main article|October 1944}}
{{Main|October 1944}}
[[File:Henry Larsen on St Roch.jpg|thumb|[[Henry Larsen (explorer)|Henry Larsen]] becomes the first person successfully to navigate the [[Northwest Passage]] in both directions, July–October 1944.]]
[[File:Henry Larsen on St Roch.jpg|thumb|[[Henry Larsen (explorer)|Henry Larsen]] becomes the first person successfully to navigate the [[Northwest Passage]] in both directions, July–October 1944.]]
[[File:7th Cavalry Leyte Island 20 10 1944.jpeg|thumb|American troops advance towards San Jose on Leyte Island, October 20, 1944.]]
[[File:7th Cavalry Leyte Island 20 10 1944.jpeg|thumb|American troops advance towards San Jose on Leyte Island, October 20, 1944.]]
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===November===
===November===
{{Main article|November 1944}}
{{Main|November 1944}}
* [[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 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 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.
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===December===
===December===
{{Main article|December 1944}}
{{Main|December 1944}}
[[File:Bodies of U.S. officers and soldiers slain by the Nazis after capture near Malmedy, Belgium. - NARA - 196544.jpg|thumb|Victims of the [[Malmedy massacre]]]]
[[File:Bodies of U.S. officers and soldiers slain by the Nazis after capture near Malmedy, Belgium. - NARA - 196544.jpg|thumb|Victims of the [[Malmedy massacre]]]]
* [[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 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]].
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** [[Paul Blair (baseball)|Paul Blair]], American baseball player (d. [[2013]])
** [[Paul Blair (baseball)|Paul Blair]], American baseball player (d. [[2013]])
** [[Mike Enzi]], American politician (d. [[2021]])
** [[Mike Enzi]], American politician (d. [[2021]])
* [[February 2]]
* [[February 2]]
** [[Andrew Davis (conductor)|Andrew Davis]], English conductor (d. [[2024]])
** [[Andrew Davis (conductor)|Andrew Davis]], English conductor (d. [[2024]])
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* [[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]] (d. [[2024]])
* [[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]] (d. [[2024]])
* [[April 15]]
* [[April 15]]
** [[Kunishige Kamamoto]], Japanese footballer, manager and politician
** [[Kunishige Kamamoto]], Japanese footballer, manager and politician (d. [[2025]])
** [[Dave Edmunds]], Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist and [[record producer]]
** [[Dave Edmunds]], Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist and [[record producer]]
* [[April 18]]
* [[April 18]]
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* [[August 12]] – [[Larry Troutman]], American funk musician (d. [[1999]])
* [[August 12]] – [[Larry Troutman]], American funk musician (d. [[1999]])
* [[August 13]] – [[Kevin Tighe]], American actor
* [[August 13]] – [[Kevin Tighe]], American actor
* [[August 14]] – [[Ahad Hosseini]], Iranian Azerbaijani artist
* [[August 15]]
* [[August 15]]
** [[Sylvie Vartan]], French singer
** [[Sylvie Vartan]], French singer
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** [[Rocío Dúrcal]], Spanish singer and actress (d. [[2006]])
** [[Rocío Dúrcal]], Spanish singer and actress (d. [[2006]])
** [[Tony La Russa]], American baseball player and manager
** [[Tony La Russa]], American baseball player and manager
** [[Eddie Gómez]], Puerto Rican jazz [[Double bass|double bassist]]
** [[Eddie Gómez]], Puerto Rican jazz [[double bass]]ist
* [[October 5]] – [[Arnhim Eustace]], Vincentian politician and 3rd [[Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]]
* [[October 5]] – [[Arnhim Eustace]], Vincentian politician and 3rd [[Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]]
* [[October 6]]
* [[October 6]]
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* [[November 4]]
* [[November 4]]
** [[Linda Gary]], American actress (d. [[1995]])
** [[Linda Gary]], American actress (d. [[1995]])
** [[Willem Breuker]], Dutch bandleader, composer, arranger, [[Saxophone|saxophonist]], and [[Clarinet|clarinetist]] (d. [[2010]])
** [[Willem Breuker]], Dutch bandleader, composer, arranger, [[Saxophone|saxophonist]], and [[clarinet]]ist (d. [[2010]])
** [[Scherrie Payne]], American singer
** [[Scherrie Payne]], American singer
* [[November 5]] – [[Leland Wilkinson]], American statistician and computer scientist (d. [[2021]])
* [[November 5]] – [[Leland Wilkinson]], American statistician and computer scientist (d. [[2021]])
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** [[Daniel Chorzempa]], American organist
** [[Daniel Chorzempa]], American organist
** [[Georges Coste]], French rugby player and coach
** [[Georges Coste]], French rugby player and coach
* [[December 8]] – [[Sharmila Tagore]], Indian actress and model
* [[December 8]]
**[[George Baker (Dutch singer)|George Baker]], Dutch singer-songwriter<ref>{{cite web | title="That was the best start you could wish for as a songwriter" | date=December 8, 2024 | url=https://blog.suisa.ch/en/that-was-the-best-start-you-could-wish-for-as-a-songwriter/ }}</ref>
**[[Sharmila Tagore]], Indian actress and model
* [[December 9]]
* [[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]])
** [[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]])
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** [[Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg]], German diplomat and resistance member (b. 1875)
** [[Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg]], German diplomat and resistance member (b. 1875)
* [[November 12]]
* [[November 12]]
** [[George David Birkhoff]], American mathematician (b. [[1884]])<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-David-Birkhoff George David Birkhoff
** [[George David Birkhoff]], American mathematician (b. [[1884]])<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-David-Birkhoff George David Birkhoff American mathematician]</ref>
American mathematician]</ref>
** [[George Houston (actor)|George Houston]], American actor (b. [[1896]])
** [[George Houston (actor)|George Houston]], American actor (b. [[1896]])
** [[Otto Frank (physiologist)|Otto Frank]], German physiologist (b. [[1865]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://vlp.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/people/data?id=per380|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091115072637/http://vlp.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/people/data?id=per380|url-status=live|archive-date=November 15, 2009|title=Frank, Friedrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Otto|accessdate=April 15, 2023}}</ref>
** [[Otto Frank (physiologist)|Otto Frank]], German physiologist (b. [[1865]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://vlp.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/people/data?id=per380|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091115072637/http://vlp.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/people/data?id=per380|url-status=live|archive-date=November 15, 2009|title=Frank, Friedrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Otto|accessdate=April 15, 2023}}</ref>
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* [[December 20]]
* [[December 20]]
** [[Caesar von Hofacker]], German resistance member (b. 1896)
** [[Caesar von Hofacker]], German resistance member (b. 1896)
The Nazi German administration expands Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp into the larger standalone Konzentrationslager Plaszow bei Krakau in occupied Poland.
2,670 drown when British submarine Template:HMS torpedoes German-captured Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". carrying Italian prisoners of war.[5]
February 14 – WWII: An anti-Japanese revolt breaks out on Java.
February 18 – WWII: British light cruiser Template:HMS 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 24 – WWII: American submarine Template:USS torpedoes Japanese transports Template:SS and Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".; 7,998 drown.[6]
March 1 – WWII: American submarine Template:USS torpedoes Japanese merchant cruiser Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".; 2,495 drown.[7]
British Royal Air Force Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade's bomber is hit over Germany, and he has to bail out without a parachute from a height of over Template:Convert. Tree branches interrupt his fall and he lands safely on deep snow.
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".
April 1 – The Swiss city of Schaffhausen is accidentally bombed by the United States causing serious damage to the city and killing or wounding more than 100 people.[13]
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.
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.
WWII: As part of the Japanese-supported Axis forces led by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, fighting for India's liberation from British rule, Col. Shaukat Ali Malik of the Bahadur Group of the Indian National Army enters Moirang in modern-day Manipur in northeastern India and raises the flag of the Azri Hukumat e-Azad Hind for the first time on Indian soil. This is considered to be one of the first times in British Indian history where an army of liberation raises the national flag on Indian mainland.[15]
May 5 – WWII: Mohandas Gandhi is released from jail in India, on health grounds.
May 9 – WWII: In the Soviet city of Sevastopol, Soviet troops completely drive out German forces, who had been ordered by Hitler to “fight to the last man.”[19]
May 12 – WWII: Soviet troops finalize the liberation of the Crimea.
May 31 – WWII: American destroyer escort Template:USS sinks the sixth Japanese submarine in two weeks. This anti-submarine warfare performance remains unmatched through the 20th century.
June
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".
Rome falls to the Allies, the first of the Axis capitals to fall.
A hunter-killer group of the United States Navy captures the Template:GS, 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.
The German navy's Enigma messages are decoded in England almost in real time.
British Group CaptainJames 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.[24]
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 divisions drop into Normandy, in preparation for D-Day.
June 6 – WWII: D-Day: 155,000 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.
Operation Perch, a British attempt to capture Caen from the Germans, commences; it is abandoned on June 14.
The steamer Danae (Template:Langx), carrying 600 Cretans (including 350 Greek Jews) on the first leg of the journey to Auschwitz, is sunk, with no known survivors, off Santorini.
Operation Bagration: A general attack by 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.
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.
June 29 – WWII: American submarine Template:USS torpedoes Japanese troop transport Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".; 5,400 drown.[5]
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 10–11 – WWII: 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 countries from Nazi occupation.
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.
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,[30] the only Japanese American draft avoidance case to be dismissed on a due process violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Operation Spring: One of the bloodiest days for Canadian forces during the war results in 1,550 casualties, including 450 killed, during the Normandy Campaign.
Operation Cobra: American forces launch an air and ground offensive against the German defenders in western Normandy, forcing them to retreat.
August 3 – The Education Act in the United Kingdom, promoted by Rab Butler, provides for the postwar education system, including free secondary education for children of both sexes and raising of the school leaving age to 15.[33]
The Holocaust: A tip from a 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.[34]
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 18 – WWII: American submarine Template:USS sinks Teia Maru, Eishin Maru, Teiyu Maru, and aircraft carrierScript error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". from Japanese convoy HI71, in one of the most effective American "wolfpack" attacks of the war.[37]
American submarine Template:USS torpedoes Japanese landing craft depot ship Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".; more than 4,400 Japanese servicemen drown.[38]
Liberation of Paris starts with resistance forces staging an insurrection against the German occupiers.
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.[26]
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, in the final offensive of the Battle of Normandy.
Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., an unmarked Japanese passenger/cargo ship, is sunk by torpedoes launched by the submarineTemplate:USS 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.
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 Mustangs attack the German squadron in aerial dogfights.
British submarine Template:HMS torpedoes Japanese "hell ship" Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".; 5,620 drown.[42]
After German forces declare the evacuation of Estonia the day before, the Estonian national government briefly resumes control of Tallinn before the Soviet advance.
September 22 – WWII: The Red Army captures Tallinn, Estonia. Prime Minister in Duties of the President of EstoniaJüri 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.
October 7 – The Holocaust: Members of the Sonderkommando – a special detachment of Jewish prisoners who are forced to empty the gas chambers after a mass gassing and undertake the burning of the bodies – organises the only armed revolt that ever takes place in Auschwitz concentration camp. They succeed in destroying the gas chambers and Crematorium IV. The Waffen-SS murders more than 450 prisoners who take part in the revolt.
Canadian Arctic 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 Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".. His westbound voyage is the first completed in a single season, and the first passage through the Prince of Wales Strait.[19]
October 15–16 – WWII: In Hungary, with the support of German troops, a coup d'état took place, the fascist government of Ferenc Szálasi came to power, ordering the troops to continue the fight against the Soviet army.
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.
Battle of Leyte Gulf: The Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". is sunk by United States aircraft.
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".[47] 5 days later she suffers a fatal heart attack, dying at home on November 26.
November 10 – WWII: Ammunition shipTemplate:USS 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.[48]
November 12 – WWII: Operation Catechism – Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". is sunk by British Royal Air Force Lancaster bombers near Tromsø in Norway.[26] Estimated casualties range from 950 to 1,204.
WWII: American submarine Template:USS torpedoes Japanese landing craft depot ship Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".; 3,546 drown.[49]
Laurence Olivier's film Henry V, based on 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.[51]
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 12–13 – WWII: British units attempt to take the Italian hilltop town of Tossignano, but are repulsed.
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: 707 people are killed and 25,000 left homeless.
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.
WWII: 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 31 – WWII: Battle of Leyte – Tens of thousands of Imperial Japanese Army soldiers are killed in action, in a significant Filipino/Allied military victory.
↑Morison, S.E. (1960). New Guinea and the Marianas: March 1944 – August 1944, p. 84. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Volume VIII. Boston: Little, Brown. Template:OCLC.
↑Penkkala-Arikka, Päivi (2006) Erään Mauno Olavin tarina. Olavi Laiho, viimeinen teloitettu suomalainen ["A Story of one Mauno Olavi. Olavi Laiho, the last executed Finn."]. (Master's thesis) University of Helsinki