1939
German Jews are forbidden to own wireless (radio) sets.
1940
The design for the jeep is submitted to the US Army by Bantam, originally called the Pilot.
New rations announced in Vichy France as 350g of bread, 300g of sugar, 50g of cheese, 360g of meat per day and 100g of fat per week.
129 RAF bombers attack industrial targets in Berlin this night, but are mostly ineffectual.
A British/Free French attempt to capture Dakar in Vichy French West Africa fails when the staunchly pro Vichy garrison fights back, inflicting damage on the invasion fleet, causing it to abort.
1942
Field Marshal Rommel takes a medical leave and hands over command to General von Thoma. British troops occupy the capital of Madagascar.
Wendell Willkie, 1940 Republican presidential candidate, confers with Stalin and calls for a second front at the earliest possible moment.
Soviet counterattacks to dislodge German advance units near the Volga landing stage are unsuccessful.
1943
The Red Army captures Poltava.
1944
An RAF precision bombing raid using 12,000lb bombs, breach the crucial Dortmund-Ems Canal.
The Canadians win a bridgehead over the Escaut Canal.
Russian and Romanian troops enter Hungary at Arad.
Soviets reach Gulf of Riga on the Baltic.
1945
General Dwight Eisenhower decrees that any German citizen caught helping the Nazis or deliberately hindering the Allies will face the death penalty if convicted. Eisenhower also bans the Nazi Party and voids most Nazi laws throughout occupied Germany.
The first American dies in Vietnam during the fall of Saigon to French forces.