istoryworld
All Events
British conductor John Barbirolli is appointed to direct the Hallé orchestra
Pablo Picasso transforms a bicycle's handlebars and saddle into Head of a Bull
The Ba'th party is founded by Michel Aflaq and others in Syria, with a pan-Arab political agenda
Future Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin becomes leader of the underground terrorist group Irgun
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 is repealed in the US, but there are to be only 105 Chinese immigrants each year
Jean-Paul Sartre begins a new career as a dramatist with his first play, The Flies ('Les Mouches')
Hitler appoints Karl Dönitz as commander of the German navy
Roosevelt and Churchill meet in Casablanca for a strategic conference
The Casablanca Conference includes the decision to insist on unconditional surrender by the Axis powers
With much of the German Sixth Army destroyed, the survivors led by Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrender at Stalingrad
Orde Wingate and his Chindits launch a guerrilla campaign behind the Japanese lines in Burma
After a six-month battle, US troops win the Pacific base of Guadalcanal from the Japanese
Mao Zedong becomes official leader of the Chinese Communist Party, as the elected Chairman of the Central Committee and the Politburo
Martin Bormann, previously head of the party secretariat, becomes Hitler's personal secretary
New Allied successes against the German U-boats provide a turning point in the battle of the Atlantic
Jews in Warsaw resist a fierce German onslaught for a month before their ghetto is finally destroyed
The Allied destruction of U-boats climbs to its highest level in the Battle of the Atlantic, with 56 sunk in two months
The victory of the Allies in north Africa brings to an end the three-year siege of Malta
May 7 - the Allies capture Tunis, taking 250,000 German and Italian prisoners and winning control of North Africa
Two hydroelectric schemes in the Ruhr valley are destroyed by the RAF's Dam Busters and their bouncing bombs in Operation Chastise
British and American troops land in Sicily to begin the Italian campaign
Hitler's attempt to take Kursk (in response to Stalingrad) results in the German loss of 70,000 men and 1500 tanks
Belsen, used as a prisoner-of-war camp since 1940, is turned into a concentration camp
The king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, has Mussolini arrested and appoints in his place a field marshal, Pietro Badoglio
The Hamburg Fire Department coins the word Feuersturm ('firestorm') to describe the unprecedented effects of an RAF raid on the city
