1885 General George S. Patton is born. 1918 At 11 a.m. World War I, the war to end all wars, ends. 1939 Queen Elizabeth broadcasts a message to the women of the Empire, calling them to join the war effort. 1940 On the anniversary of the end of World War I, several hundred Paris students […]

1940A torpedo bomber raid cripples the Italian fleet at Taranto, Italy. 1941Churchill’s Mansion House Speech: Tells Japan that war on US means war on Britain. The Japanese Foreign Minister says their aim is to make the US and UK retreat from East Asia. US Army updates uniform regulations: the Parsons field jacket and M1 steel

1937 Japanese troops invade Shanghai, China. 1938 Nazis kill 35 Jews, arrest thousands and destroy Jewish synagogues, homes and stores throughout Germany. The event becomes known as Kristallnacht, the night of the shattered glass. 1940 Start of a counter-offensive by the British Army against the Italian forces that have advanced into Egypt. Germany expels 180,000

1939 A bomb intended to kill Hitler explodes at the annual meeting of the veterans of the 1923 Nazi Putsch in Munich, but the Fuhrer had already left the beer cellar. The German media accused Britain of orchestrating the assassination attempt on Hitler. Two British SIS agents, Major Richard Stevens and Captain S. Payne Best,

1939 The Belgium and Dutch Monarch’s emphasize their country’s neutrality, but offer to act as peace negotiators. Hitler rejects the proposal, as do both Britain and France. Paul Thummel, a double agent, passes details of the German plans for the western offensive to the Czech government-in-exile. 1940 The Royal Air Force attacks the Krupp munition

On December 1, World War II saw brutal repression in occupied Poland, escalating pressure on Germany’s Eastern Front, and growing Allied coordination across the globe. The Gestapo arrested 183 professors in Kraków, the Warsaw Ghetto was sealed, and Stalin warned the Allies of grave consequences without a second front. German forces struggled in the Caucasus, while the Soviets captured Kiev and split the Fourth Panzer Army. Tito’s partisans advanced in Yugoslavia, and the Chinese crossed the Irrawaddy in Burma. The day ended with Molotov announcing Russia’s pursuit of the atomic bomb and the first jet aircraft landing on a carrier—moments that foreshadowed the world emerging from war into a new era.

A day defined by political turning points, naval clashes, strategic decisions in Tokyo, and major movements across the global battlefield. 1940 – Roosevelt Wins a Third Term & A Convoy Pays a Heavy Price In the United States, history was made at the ballot box. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to an unprecedented third term

November 4 spans shifting alliances, collapsing fronts, and the widening reach of a global war. The United States adopted a “cash and carry” policy that edged it closer to the Allies, while British intelligence leadership changed hands as MI6 prepared for the long struggle ahead. Finnish troops captured Hanko, German forces advanced deeper into Crimea, and North Africa saw the destruction of Italy’s 20th Motorized Corps with thousands of prisoners taken. In the Pacific, U.S. Marines landed at Aola Point, and across Europe both Allied momentum and Nazi brutality escalated. A day of turning points across multiple continents.

November 3 reflects a world already tightening into global conflict. A Dutch steamer sank on a German minefield as London endured another Luftwaffe raid. In 1940, the Italian campaign in Greece faltered badly while Britain rushed support to the eastern Mediterranean. By 1941, German momentum near Moscow was slowing as winter arrived and Japan edged closer to war with the United States. In 1942, the British advance west of El Alamein forced Axis troops into retreat, and in 1943 the Battle of the Atlantic claimed more Allied shipping while resistance movements across Europe continued their dangerous work. A day marked by shifting fronts and mounting pressure in every theater.