Year by year · 20th century

1944

1944 in world history: 37 events, 17 births, 25 deaths, 6 states founded and 11 that came to an end. 721 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 22 January

    Allied troops land at Anzio

    In Operation Shingle, Allied forces landed behind German lines south of Rome, hoping to outflank the Gustav Line. Quickly contained, they endured four months of hard fighting before breaking out.

  2. 27 January

    Siege of Leningrad is lifted after 872 days

    Soviet offensives drove German forces back from Leningrad, ending a blockade that began in September 1941. Some 800,000 or more civilians died, most from starvation.

  3. 24 March

    Allied prisoners break out in the 'Great Escape'

    That night 76 airmen crawled through a tunnel out of Stalag Luft III in Sagan. Only three reached safety; on Hitler's orders, 50 of those recaptured were shot.

  4. 6 June

    Allied armies land in Normandy on D-Day

    About 156,000 Allied troops landed by sea and air on the Normandy coast. The invasion opened the long-awaited second front against Germany in Western Europe.

    Western Europe

  5. 10 June

    SS troops massacre the village of Oradour-sur-Glane

    A Waffen-SS unit killed 643 people in the French village, shooting the men and burning women and children in the church. The ruins are preserved as a memorial.

  6. 17 June

    Iceland becomes a republic

    At Þingvellir, the site of its ancient assembly, Iceland ended its union with the Danish crown and proclaimed a republic. Denmark was then under German occupation.

    Denmark

  7. 22 June

    Roosevelt signs the G.I. Bill

    The Servicemen's Readjustment Act gave veterans college tuition, low-cost home loans and unemployment pay. Millions took up its benefits, expanding higher education and home ownership.

  8. 6 July

    Fire sweeps a circus big top in Hartford, killing 167

    The Ringling Bros. tent, waterproofed with paraffin and petrol, caught fire during a matinee in Hartford, Connecticut. At least 167 people died, many of them children, prompting tighter fire-safety rules.

  9. 20 July

    Stauffenberg's bomb fails to kill Hitler

    Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg left a briefcase bomb at Hitler's Wolf's Lair headquarters, but Hitler survived. The plotters were executed and thousands more were arrested in the reprisals that followed.

  10. 1 August

    The Warsaw Uprising begins

    The Polish Home Army rose against the German occupiers of Warsaw. After 63 days, with the Red Army halted across the Vistula, the uprising was crushed and the city systematically destroyed.

    Warsaw

  11. 4 August

    Anne Frank and her family are arrested in Amsterdam

    German police raided the secret annexe at Prinsengracht 263, arresting the Frank family and four others. Anne died in Bergen-Belsen in early 1945; her diary became a classic of Holocaust testimony.

    Amsterdam

  12. 12 August

    SS troops massacre villagers at Sant'Anna di Stazzema

    Waffen-SS soldiers killed some 560 civilians, many of them women and children, in the Tuscan village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema. It was one of the worst atrocities of the German occupation of Italy.

    German occupation of Italy

  13. 25 August

    Paris is liberated from German occupation

    French and American troops entered Paris and the German commander, General von Choltitz, surrendered, having ignored Hitler's order to destroy the city. De Gaulle led a victory march the next day.

    Paris

  14. 17 September

    Operation Market Garden begins in the Netherlands

    Some 35,000 Allied airborne troops landed to seize bridges leading to the Rhine. The operation failed at Arnhem, ending hopes of finishing the war by Christmas 1944.

    Rhine

  15. 20 October

    US forces land on Leyte as MacArthur returns

    American troops landed on Leyte, and General Douglas MacArthur waded ashore to fulfil his 1942 promise to return to the Philippines. Days later, the Battle of Leyte Gulf crippled the Japanese navy.

    Philippines

  16. 25 October

    Japan launches its first organised kamikaze attacks

    During the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Japanese pilots deliberately crashed their aircraft into American ships, sinking the escort carrier St. Lo. Suicide attacks became a central Japanese tactic for the rest of the war.

  17. 16 December

    Germany launches the Battle of the Bulge

    German forces attacked through the Ardennes in Belgium and Luxembourg, catching the Americans by surprise. The offensive was contained within weeks and used up Germany's last reserves in the west.

    Belgium

  18. Campaign

    Operation Bagration

    Operation Bagration was the Soviet summer offensive of 1944 in Belarus, launched on 22–23 June.

  19. Event

    Brazzaville Conference

    The Brazzaville Conference was a meeting of Free French colonial officials opened by Charles de Gaulle at Brazzaville in January 1944.

  20. Battle

    Battle of Imphal

    The Battle of Imphal was fought from March to July 1944 around the town of Imphal in north-eastern India, when the Japanese Fifteenth Army attempted to invade India from Burma.

  21. Battle

    Battle of Kohima

    The Battle of Kohima was fought from April to June 1944 at Kohima in the Naga Hills of north-eastern India, as part of the Japanese offensive against India.

  22. Battle

    Battle of Tali-Ihantala

    The Battle of Tali-Ihantala, fought from 25 June to 9 July 1944 north-east of Viipuri, was the largest battle ever fought in the Nordic countries.

  23. Battle

    Battle of Tannenberg Line

    The Battle of Tannenberg Line was fought in July and August 1944 at the Sinimäed hills near Narva in north-eastern Estonia.

  24. Event

    Thiaroye massacre

    The Thiaroye massacre took place on 1 December 1944 at the Thiaroye military camp near Dakar, when French troops fired on West African tirailleurs, recently released prisoners of war returned from France, who were protesting over unpaid wages and allowances.

  25. Battle

    Liberation of Paris

    The Liberation of Paris was the freeing of the French capital from German occupation in August 1944.

ProfileState666 states with a known seat in 1944Open the atlas at 1944 →

In the profiles

Wars and longer events

Born in 1944 17

Died in 1944 25

Show all 25

States founded 6

States that came to an end 11

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1944. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1944
MLA
“1944.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1944. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1944.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1944.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1944’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1944 (Accessed: ).