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- September 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland, marking the beginning of World War II.
- September 3, 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany.
- September 17, 1939: Soviet Union invades Poland from the east.
- April 9, 1940: Germany invades Denmark and Norway.
- May 10, 1940: Germany launches a massive invasion of France and the Low Countries.
- May 26 – June 4, 1940: Operation Dynamo – Evacuation of British and Allied troops from Dunkirk, France.
- June 22, 1940: France signs an armistice with Germany.
- July 10 – October 31, 1940: Battle of Britain – Luftwaffe conducts air raids on Britain, but fails to gain air superiority.
- June 22, 1941: Operation Barbarossa – Germany launches a massive invasion of the Soviet Union.
- December 7, 1941: Attack on Pearl Harbor – Japan launches a surprise attack on the United States, leading to its entry into the war.
- December 8, 1941: United States declares war on Japan.
- December 11, 1941: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.
- June 4 – 7, 1942: Battle of Midway – United States defeats the Japanese navy, shifting the balance of power in the Pacific.
- February 2, 1943: Battle of Stalingrad ends with a Soviet victory, marking a turning point on the Eastern Front.
- July 10, 1943: Allied forces invade Sicily in Operation Husky.
- June 6, 1944: D-Day – Allied forces launch a massive invasion of Normandy, France, opening a Western Front against Germany.
- August 25, 1944: Liberation of Paris by the Allied forces.
- October 20, 1944 – February 13, 1945: Battle of Leyte Gulf – Largest naval battle in history takes place in the Philippines.
- April 30, 1945: Adolf Hitler commits suicide in his bunker in Berlin.
- May 7, 1945: Germany surrenders unconditionally, marking the end of the war in Europe (V-E Day).
- July 16 – August 2, 1945: Potsdam Conference – Allied leaders meet to discuss the post-war reorganization of Europe.
- August 6 and 9, 1945: Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States.
- August 15, 1945: Japan announces its surrender (V-J Day), officially ending World War II.
- September 2, 1945: Formal surrender ceremony aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
- October 24, 1945: United Nations is established, replacing the League of Nations.
- Nuremberg Trials – Trials of prominent Nazi officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
- February 4-11, 1945: Yalta Conference – Allied leaders meet to discuss the post-war division of Europe.
- April 12, 1945: Death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; Harry S. Truman becomes President of the United States.
- August 1945: Postdam Conference – Allied leaders meet to finalize plans for the occupation and division of Germany.
- February 1945: Yalta Conference – Allied leaders meet to discuss the post-war reorganization of Europe.
- December 1945: The United Nations is officially established.
- March 1946: Churchill delivers his “Iron Curtain” speech, warning of Soviet expansionism in Europe.
- June 1947: The Marshall Plan is announced, providing economic aid to war-torn European countries.
- 1948: Berlin Blockade and Airlift – Soviet Union blocks access to West Berlin, leading to a massive airlift by the United States and its allies.
- April 4, 1949: Formation of NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization is established as a mutual defense alliance.
- 1950-1953: Korean War – United States and its allies fight against North Korean and Chinese forces in the Korean Peninsula.
- October 1956: Suez Crisis – Military conflict between Egypt and a coalition of France, the United Kingdom, and Israel.
- 1955: Warsaw Pact – Soviet Union establishes a military alliance with several Eastern European countries.
- 1957: Treaty of Rome – Establishes the European Economic Community (EEC), precursor to the European Union.
- 1961: Construction of the Berlin Wall begins, separating East and West Berlin.
- October 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis – Tensions escalate between the United States and Soviet Union over the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.
- 1968: Prague Spring – Czechoslovakia experiences political liberalization, which is crushed by a Soviet-led invasion.
- 1980-1988: Iran-Iraq War – Conflict between Iran and Iraq, resulting in high casualties and economic devastation.
- November 9, 1989: Fall of the Berlin Wall – Symbolic event marking the end of the Cold War and reunification of Germany.
- 1991: Dissolution of the Soviet Union – The Soviet Union collapses, leading to the emergence of independent states.
- 1994: Genocide in Rwanda – Ethnic conflict in Rwanda leads to the killing of hundreds of thousands of people.
- 1999: NATO intervention in Kosovo – Military campaign against Yugoslavia to stop ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
- September 11, 2001: Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon in the United States.
- 2011: Arab Spring – Pro-democracy protests and uprisings spread across several countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
