What happened in 1944
92 entries recorded for 1944, listed by date. That was 82 years ago.
1944 at a glance
- Years ago
- 82 (as of 2026)
- Century
- 20th century
- Decade
- 1940s
- Generation born
- Silent Generation
- Entries here
- 92
- Breakdown
- 92 historical events
January
- January 2
World War II
World War II: United States and Australian forces successfully landed in Papua New Guinea in an attempt to cut off a Japanese retreat.
- January 25
Chetniks
Representatives of the Chetnik movement began a four-day congress to organise political opposition to the Allied support of the communist-led Yugoslav Partisans in Yugoslavia.
- January 29
World War II
World War II: At least 38 civilians were killed and about a dozen others injured when the Polish village of Koniuchy was attacked by a Soviet partisan unit with a contingent of Jewish partisans.
- January 29
Bologna
World War II: In Bologna, Italy, the Anatomical theatre of the Archiginnasio is completely destroyed in an air-raid.
- January 29
Kaniūkai
World War II: Approximately 38 people are killed and about a dozen injured when the Polish village of Koniuchy (present-day Kaniūkai, Lithuania) is attacked by Soviet partisan units.
February
- February 17
World War II
World War II: The U.S. Navy began Operation Hailstone, a massive naval air and surface attack against the Japanese naval and air base at Chuuk Lagoon in the Caroline Islands.
- February 23
1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya
In response to an insurgency in Chechnya, the Soviet Union began the forced deportation of the native Chechen and Ingush of North Caucasus.
- February 29
World War II
World War II: The Admiralty Islands campaign began when American forces assaulted Los Negros Island, the third largest of the Admiralty Islands.
March
- March 1
World War II
World War II: American and Australian troops won the Battle of Sio against Japanese forces as part of the New Guinea campaign.
- March 3
Freighthopping
A freight train carrying stowaway passengers stalls in a tunnel shortly after departing from Balvano, Basilicata, Italy just after midnight, with 517 dying from carbon monoxide poisoning.
- March 3
Order of Nakhimov
The Order of Nakhimov and Order of Ushakov are instituted in USSR as the highest naval awards.
- March 4
Murder, Inc.
Murder, Inc. leader Lepke Buchalter was executed, becoming the only American mob boss to receive the death penalty after being convicted of murder.
- March 9
World War II
World War II: As part of the Battle of Narva, the Soviet Air Forces heavily bombed Tallinn, Estonia, killing up to 800 people, mostly civilians.
- March 19
Oratorio
The secular oratorio A Child of Our Time by Michael Tippett premiered at the Adelphi Theatre in London.
- March 20
World War II
World War II: U.S. Marines made a landing on Emirau Island in the Bismarck Archipelago to develop an airbase as part of Operation Cartwheel.
April
- April 3
Philippine resistance against Japan
Philippine resistance against Japan: Cebuano fishermen discovered the Koga papers after a plane crash killed Admiral Mineichi Koga, commander-in-chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet.
- April 5
History of the Jews in the Czech lands
Siegfried Lederer, a Czech Jew, escaped from Auschwitz with the aid of an SS officer who opposed the Holocaust.
- April 10
Rudolf Vrba
Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from Birkenau death camp.
- April 10
The Holocaust
The Holocaust: Slovak Jewish prisoners Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escaped from Auschwitz, later publishing a report that became one of the earliest and most detailed descriptions of the camp's mass killings.
- April 14
SS Fort Stikine
The freighter Fort Stikine, carrying cotton bales, gold and ammunition, exploded in the harbour of Bombay, India, sinking surrounding ships and causing about 800 deaths.
- April 22
World War II
World War II: The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater.
- April 22
Greenland in World War II
World War II: In Greenland, the Allied Sledge Patrol attack the German Bassgeiger weather station.
- April 24
World War II
World War II: The British Special Boat Service executed a successful raid to destroy an Axis radio station on the Greek island of Santorini.
- April 26
World War II
World War II: U.S. Navy submarines began attacks on Japan's Take Ichi convoy as it sailed in waters between Taiwan and the Philippines, eventually sinking four vessels and killing more than 4,000 troops.
- April 29
World War II
Second World War: British agent Nancy Wake parachuted into Auvergne, France, becoming a liaison between the Special Operations Executive and the local Maquis group.
May
- May 9
World War II
World War II: The Japanese Take Ichi convoy arrived at Halmahera in the Dutch East Indies after losing many ships and thousands of troops to Allied attacks while attempting to carry two divisions of troops from China to New Guinea.
- May 18
Deportation of the Crimean Tatars
The Soviet Union forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of Crimean Tatars to the Uzbek SSR and elsewhere in the country.
- May 25
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht and their collaborationist allies launched Operation Rösselsprung, a failed attempt to assassinate the Yugoslav Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito.
June
- June 4
World War II
World War II: A United States Navy task group captured German submarine U-505 (pictured).
- June 6
Capture of the Caen Canal and Orne River bridges
World War II: Capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges by British paratroopers, also known as Operation Coup de Main (incorrectly referred to as Operation Deadstick.)
- June 6
Operation Overlord
World War II: Commencement of Operation Overlord: The Allied invasion of Normandy begins with the execution of Operation Neptune—commonly referred to as D-Day—the largest seaborne invasion in history. Nearly 160,000 Allied troops cross the English Channel with about 5,000 landing
- June 6
World War II
World War II: Operation Overlord, the largest amphibious military operation in history, began with Allied troops landing on the beaches of Normandy in France.
- June 7
Operation Overlord
World War II: Battle of Normandy: At Ardenne Abbey, members of the SS Division Hitlerjugend massacre 23 Canadian prisoners of war.
- June 9
World War II
World War II: Ninety-nine civilians are hanged from lampposts and balconies by German troops in Tulle, France, in reprisal for maquisards attacks.
- June 13
World War II
Second World War: At the Battle of Villers-Bocage, German tank commander Michael Wittmann destroyed around 30 Allied vehicles in less than 15 minutes.
- June 14
World War II
Second World War: The British Army abandoned its attempt to capture the German-occupied city of Caen.
- June 15
World War II
World War II: The United States Army Air Forces began the first air raid of its strategic bombing campaign against the Japanese archipelago, although little damage was caused.
- June 15
Battle of Saipan
World War II: The United States invades Saipan, capital of Japan's South Seas Mandate.
- June 15
1944 Saskatchewan general election
In the Saskatchewan general election, the CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, is elected and forms the first socialist government in North America.
- June 17
Iceland
Iceland declares independence from Denmark and becomes a republic.
- June 23
The Holocaust
The Holocaust: After a closely supervised visit to Theresienstadt Ghetto in German-occupied Czechoslovakia, Red Cross official Maurice Rossel reported that conditions there were "almost normal".
- June 25
World War II
World War II: U.S. Navy and Royal Navy ships bombarded Cherbourg, France, to support U.S. Army units engaged in the Battle of Cherbourg.
July
- July 3
Minsk offensive
World War II: The Minsk Offensive clears German troops from the city.
- July 5
World War II
Second World War: Canadian troops defeated the last German counterattacks against Carpiquet, Normandy, France.
- July 17
Port Chicago disaster
Laden with munitions for World War II, two ships exploded at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California, killing 320 people and injuring more than 400 others.
- July 22
Polish Committee of National Liberation
The Polish Committee of National Liberation publishes its manifesto, starting the period of Communist rule in Poland.
- July 22
World War II
World War II: In opposition to the government-in-exile based in London, the Soviet-backed Polish Committee of National Liberation was proclaimed to govern territory recaptured from Germany.
August
- August 2
Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia
ASNOM: Birth of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, celebrated as Day of the Republic in North Macedonia.
- August 2
Convoy HX 300
World War II: The largest trade convoy of the world wars arrives safely in the Western Approaches.
- August 6
World War II
World War II: Allied forces attacked German fortifications at Saint-Malo, France, beginning the Battle of Saint-Malo (pictured).
- August 7
IBM
IBM presented the first program-controlled calculator to Harvard University, after which it became known as the Mark I (pictured).
- August 9
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service authorized the use of Smokey Bear (pictured) as its mascot to replace Bambi.
- August 12
World War II
World War II: In Sant'Anna di Stazzema, Italy, the Waffen-SS and the Brigate Nere murdered about 560 local villagers and refugees and burned their bodies.
- August 13
Razing of Anogeia
World War II: German troops begin the pillage and razing of Anogeia in Crete that would continue until September 5.
- August 15
World War II
World War II: Allied forces began Operation Dragoon, their invasion of southern France.
- August 21
World War II
World War II: A combined Canadian–Polish force captured the town of Falaise, France, in the final offensive of the Battle of Normandy.
September
- September 1
World War II
World War II: Launch of Operation Ratweek, complicating German retreat.
- September 3
Diary
Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from the Westerbork transit camp to the Auschwitz concentration camp, arriving three days later.
- September 6
World War II
World War II: Soviet forces captured the city of Tartu on their way to re-establishing their rule in Estonia.
- September 15
World War II
World War II: American and Australian forces landed on the Japanese-occupied island of Morotai.
- September 19
World War II
World War II: Finland, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom signed the Moscow Armistice to end the Continuation War.
- September 20
World War II
Second World War: Allied forces captured San Marino from the German Army.
- September 25
World War II
Second World War: British troops began their withdrawal from the Battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands, ending the Allies' Operation Market Garden in defeat.
- September 26
World War II
World War II: The Soviet Red Army completed the Tallinn offensive, driving German forces out of Estonia.
October
- October 2
Warsaw Uprising
World War II: German troops end the Warsaw Uprising.
- October 6
1st Czechoslovak Army Corps in the Soviet Union
World War II: Units of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps enter Czechoslovakia during the Battle of the Dukla Pass.
- October 7
The Holocaust
The Holocaust: Sonderkommando work-unit members in Auschwitz concentration camp revolted upon learning that they were due to be killed; although a few managed to escape, most were massacred on the same day.
- October 11
Tuvan People's Republic
The Tuvan People's Republic is annexed by the Soviet Union.
- October 13
Riga offensive (1944)
World War II: The Soviet Riga Offensive captures the city.
- October 16
Formosa Air Battle
A four-day air battle over Taiwan ended with a decisive American victory, destroying hundreds of Japanese aircraft and military facilities.
- October 18
World War II
World War II: Soviet Union begins the liberation of Czechoslovakia from Nazi Germany.
- October 18
Erwin Rommel
World War II: The state funeral of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel takes place in Ulm, Germany.
- October 19
Guatemalan Revolution
The Guatemalan Revolution began with a small group of army officers led by Francisco Javier Arana and Jacobo Árbenz launching a coup against dictator Jorge Ubico.
- October 20
World War II
World War II: Fulfilling a promise he made two years previously, General Douglas MacArthur landed on Leyte to begin the recapture of the Philippines.
- October 21
World War II
World War II: The three-week-long Battle of Aachen concluded, making the city the first on German soil to be captured by the Allies.
- October 24
World War II
World War II: The Japanese battleship Musashi, one of the heaviest and most powerfully armed ever constructed, was sunk by American aircraft during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
- October 25
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler ordered a crackdown on the Edelweiss Pirates, a nonconformist youth group that assisted army deserters and others hiding from the Nazis.
- October 25
World War II
World War II: Heinrich Himmler orders a crackdown on the Edelweiss Pirates, a loosely organized youth culture in Nazi Germany that had assisted army deserters and others to hide from the Third Reich.
- October 25
USS Tang (SS-306)
USS Tang, the U.S. Navy submarine credited with sinking more ships than any other American submarine, sank when it was struck by its own torpedo.
November
- November 1
World War II
World War II: An American F-13 Superfortress made the first flight by an Allied aircraft over Tokyo since the Doolittle Raid in April 1942.
- November 4
World War II
Second World War: Allied forces completed Operation Pheasant, a major operation to clear German troops from the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands.
- November 5
World War II
World War II: Allied forces began a military campaign on Japanese-occupied Singapore.
- November 6
B Reactor
The B Reactor at the Hanford Site in the U.S. state of Washington began producing plutonium, with the facility later going on to create more for nearly the entire American nuclear arsenal.
- November 12
World War II
Second World War: In Operation Catechism, the Royal Air Force sank the German battleship Tirpitz (video featured) near Tromsø, Norway, killing about 1,000 sailors on board.
- November 16
World War II
World War II: Operation Queen commenced with one of the heaviest Allied tactical bombings of the war, attacking German targets in the Rur valley.
- November 27
RAF Fauld explosion
Between 3,500 and 4,000 tonnes of ordnance exploded at the RAF Fauld underground munitions storage depot in the largest non-nuclear explosion in the United Kingdom.
- November 29
Albania
Albania is liberated by the Partisans.
December
- December 16
World War II
World War II: The Battle of the Bulge begins with the surprise offensive of three German armies through the Ardennes forest.
- December 17
Joachim Peiper
Nazi troops under Joachim Peiper killed unarmed prisoners of war, captured during the Battle of the Bulge, with machine guns near Malmedy, Belgium.
- December 18
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Korematsu v. United States supporting Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 which cleared the way for the incarceration of nearly all 120,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens, born and r
- December 18
XX Bomber Command
World War II: XX Bomber Command responds to the Japanese Operation Ichi-Go offensive by dropping five hundred tons of incendiary bombs on a supply base in Hankow, China.
- December 28
Maurice Richard
Maurice Richard becomes the first player to score eight points in one game of NHL ice hockey.
Questions about 1944
What happened in 1944?
This site records 92 entries for 1944, including World War II on January 2. They are listed below by date.
How long ago was 1944?
82 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1944 turns 82 this year.
Which century is 1944 in?
1944 falls in the 20th century, in the 1940s.
Which generation was born in 1944?
Silent Generation (1928–1945). Children of the Depression and war years.
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