1944 Events

1944 Frida Kahlo Starts Keeping a Diary
She became very depressed and in 1944 she began keeping a diary to document her emotional feelings in text and drawings. She continued to make entries in the diary until her death ten yea...
1944 Frida Kahlo Starts Keeping Diary
1944 International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the Second Time
"Six years have passed since we last awarded the Peace Prize, six years during which war has dominated the world. These war years, in which men have fought for life and freedom on a scale ..." —Gunnar Jahn, Chairman of the Nobel Comm
1944 "National Velvet" Is Released
National Velvet is a 1944 film based on the novel by Enid Bagnold, published in 1935. It stars Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp and a young Elizabeth Taylor. In 2003 National Velvet was sel...
1944 Sajmište Nazi Concentration Camp is Destroyed by U.S. Bombers
In November 1943 SS-Standartenführer Paul Blobel, the officer in charge of Aktion 1005 (later executed for his numerous crimes against humanity) came to Belgrade to organize the destructi...
1944 The African National Congress Youth League is Founded
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress. Its foundation in 1944 by Anton Muziwakhe Lembede (1914-1947), Ashley Peter Mda, Nel...
1944 The Cleveland Browns Are Founded
The Cleveland Browns were founded in 1944 by owner Arthur 'Mickey' McBride and head coach (and Ohio coaching legend) Paul Brown and started play in 1946. At the time, Cleveland was home t...
1944 Jan 5 "The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek" Is Released
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944) is a satirical screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, and featuring Diana Lynn, Willi...
1944 Jan 14
to 1944 Jan 30
 Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive
The Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive, also known as Operation January Thunder and Neva-2 was a campaign between the Soviet Leningrad Front and the German 18th Army fought for the western ap...
1944 Jan 17 First Assault in the Battle of Monte Cassino
The first assault was made on January 17. Near the coast, British X Corps (56th and 5th Divisions) forced a crossing of the Garigliano (followed some two days later by British 46th Divisi...
1944 Jan 20 Main Attack of the Battle of Monte Cassino
The central thrust by U.S. 36th Division commenced three hours after sunset on January 20. The lack of time to prepare meant that the approach to the river was still hazardous due to uncl...
1944 Jan 21
to 1944 Jan 22
 First Attack of Operation Steinbock, or 'Baby Blitz'
Operation Steinbock was a late war German operation carried out by the Luftwaffe between January and May 1944 against targets in southern England, mainly in and around the London area dur...
1944 Jan 22 Initial Allied Landings at Anzio and Cassino in Operation Shingle
The landings began on January 22, 1944. Although resistance had been expected, as seen at Salerno during 1943, the initial landings were essentially unopposed, with the exception of desu...
1944 Jan 24
to 1944 Feb 16
 Korsun–Shevchenkovsky Offensive
The German forces in the salient, part of 8th Army, consisted of two Corps, the 11th and 42nd. These two Corps included the 57th, 88th, 72nd, parts of the 389th Infantry Divisions and the...
1944 Jan 31
to 1944 Feb 3
 Battle of Kwajalein
The Battle of Kwajalein was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought from January 31, 1944, to February 3, 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Employing the ...
1944 Feb 1
to 1944 Mar 1
 Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive
The Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive was a campaign between the Soviet Leningrad Front and the German 18th Army fought for the eastern coast of Lake Peipus and the western banks of the Narva Rive...
1944 Feb 1 Mondrian Dies
Piet Mondrian died of pneumonia on February 1, 1944 and was interred in the Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. On 3 February 1944, a memorial, attended by nearly 200, was he...
1944 Feb 2
to 1944 Aug 10
 Battle of Narva (1944)
The Battle of Narva was a military campaign between the German army detachment "Narwa" and the Soviet Leningrad Front fought for the strategically important Narva Isthmus in 2 February – ...
1944 Feb 10 American Airlines Flight 2 Crashes, Killing 24
The DC-3 struck the Mississippi River in an angle of descent of about 20 degrees with the right wing slightly low. PROBABLE CAUSE: "The Board is unable to determine the probable cause ...
1944 Feb 11 American Forces Withdraw from Cassino
On February 11, after a final unsuccessful 3 day assault on Monastery Hill and Cassino town, the Americans were withdrawn. U.S. II Corps, after two and a half weeks of torrid battle, was ...
1944 Feb 15 Abbey of Monte Cassino is Pulverized by Allied Bombs
Increasingly, the opinions of certain Allied officers were fixed on the great abbey of Monte Cassino: in their view it was the abbey—and its presumed use as a German artillery observation...
1944 Feb 17
to 1944 Feb 23
 Battle of Eniwetok
The Battle of Eniwetok was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought between 17 February 1944 and 23 February 1944, on Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The invasi...
1944 Feb 17 Main Assault Following the Destruction of the Monte Cassino Abbey
On the night of February 17 the main assault took place. The 4/6th Rajputana Rifles would take on the assault of point 593 with the depleted Sussex Regiment held in reserve to pass throug...
1944 Feb 22 Kasturba Gandhi Dies at Age 74
Kasturba suffered from chronic bronchitis. Stress from the Quit India Movement's arrests and hard life at Sabarmati Ashram caused her to fall ill. Kasturba fell ill with bronchitis which ...
1944 Feb 29 British Agents in Greece and Occupying Germans Agree to Ceasefire with the Signing of the Plaka Agreement
When the German offensive abated somewhat, General Zervas sent his EDES fighters to counterattack ELAS in the hopes of regaining ground lost in the earlier fighting. In early January 1944...
1944 Mar Anne Frank Hears of a Plan to Create Public Record of German Occupation on Radio Broadcast and Begins Reworking Diary in Hopes of Publication
Anne's diary began as a private expression of her thoughts and she wrote several times that she would never allow anyone to read it. She candidly described her life, her family and compan...
1944 Mar 2 16th Academy Awards
The 16th Academy Awards, in 1944, was the first Oscar ceremony held at a large public venue, Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Free passes were given out to men and women in uniform. The more th...
1944 Mar 2 Balvano Train Disaster
Rescuers rushed to the tunnel in a locomotive. From inside came the sound of the stalled engines still puffing slowly; bodies were sprawled beside the track; 530 passengers had died of as...
1944 Mar 15 Third Battle of the Battle of Monte Cassino
Few people today realize that British and American soldiers fought in a battle that compares to Stalingrad for human suffering. The Battle of Monte Cassino was a mini-war within World War...
1944 Mar 25
to 1944 Apr 15
 Battle of the Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket (Hube's Pocket)
The Battle of the Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket, also known as Hube's Pocket, was a Wehrmacht attempt on the Eastern Front of World War II to evade encirclement by the Red Army. During the Pro...
1944 Mar 25 Deportation of the Jews of Ioannina
While detained, [Dr. Moses Koffinas] learned of German plans to deport Jews, and smuggled a note out to Sabetai Kabelis, a prominent member of the Jewish Community Board, advising the Jew...
1944 Mar 28 Utah Beats Dartmouth in NCAA Men's Basketball Championships
The 1944 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. ...
1944 Apr 8
to 1944 May 12
 Crimean Offensive (1944)
The Crimean Offensive (8 April 1944 - 12 May 1944) – known in German sources as the Battle of the Crimea[citation needed] – was a series of offensives by the Red Army in the effort to lib...
1944 Apr 8
to 1944 Jun 6
 First Jassy-Kishinev Offensive
The First Jassy-Kishinev Offensive, was fought between 8 April and 6 June 1944 by the Soviets and Axis powers of World War II. The offensive was actually a coordinated invasion of Romania...
1944 Apr 13 Montreal Canadiens win Stanley Cup
The 1944 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven series between the Chicago Black Hawks and the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens would win the series 4–0 to win their first Stanley Cup sin...
1944 Apr 14 Bombay Docks Explosion
The Bombay Explosion (or Bombay Docks Explosion) occurred on 14 April 1944, in the Victoria Dock of Bombay (now Mumbai) when the SS Fort Stikine carrying a mixed cargo of cotton bales, go...
1944 Apr 17
to 1944 May 25
 Battle of Central Henan
The Battle of Central Henan, was the first offensive in the Japanese Operation Ichi-Go during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In the Battle of Central Henan, 390,000 Chinese soldiers, le...
1944 Apr 17 Empire of Japan Initiates Operation Ichi-Go
Operation Ichi-Go (一号作戦 Ichi-gō Sakusen, lit. "Operation Number One") was a campaign of a series of major battles between the Imperial Japanese Army forces and the National Revolutionary ...
1944 Apr 20 Voorbode Explosion
The Dutch steam trawler Voorbode was a fishing vessel, until it was confiscated by the Germans during World War II and used for military transport. In April 1944, it was on its way from O...
1944 Apr 22 Allied Forces Begins Exercise Tiger as Rehearsal for the D-Day Invasion of Normandy
In late 1943, as part of the war effort, the British Government evacuated approximately 3000 local residents in the area of Slapton, South Hams District of Devon. Some of them had never l...
1944 May 3 "Going My Way" Is Released
Going My Way, a 1944 film directed by Leo McCarey. It is a light-hearted musical comedy/drama about a new young priest (Bing Crosby) taking over a parish from an established old veteran (...
1944 May 4 "Gaslight" Is Released
Gaslight is a 1944 mystery-thriller film adapted from Patrick Hamilton's play Angel Street. It was the second version to be filmed; the first, released in Great Britain, had been made a m...
1944 May 12 Allied Forces Launch Operation Diadem to Break German Defenses on the Winter Line
Operation Diadem, also referred to as the Fourth Battle of Monte Cassino was an offensive operation undertaken by the Allies (U.S. Fifth and British Eighth Armies) in May 1944, as part of...
1944 May 18 Polish Reconnaissance Mission Discovers Monte Cassino Abbey to have been Abandoned by Axis Forces, Officially Marking the End of the Battle
On May 15 British 78 Division came into the XIII Corps line from reserve passing through the bridgehead divisions to execute the turning move to isolate Cassino from the Liri valley. On M...
1944 May 21 West Loch Disaster
A second major tragedy at Pearl Harbor became the Navy's best-kept wartime secret when powerful explosions wracked the amphibious staging area at West Loch, sinking six LSTs. The day b...
1944 May 26 Hitler Delivers Address at Platterhof
This is an important speech, perhaps the most meaningful of Adolf Hitler's entire political career. He not only recapped his entire life's work in a relatively honest way, but he did so i...
1944 May 27 Japan Launches Fourth Offensive on Changsha
The Battle of Changsha (1944), (also known as the Battle of Hengyang or Campaign of Changsha-Hengyang) was an invasion of the Chinese province of Hunan by Japanese troops near the end of ...
1944 Jun Agatha Christie publishes Towards Zero
Before a murder is committed, events collude and juxtapose in such a fashion as to set up the scene of the crime; indeed, it is only a matter of time until the clock points towards zero a...
1944 Jun
to 1944 Dec
Ernest Hemingway Reports on World War II
In late August of 1944 Hemingway and his band of irregular soldiers entered Paris. Hemingway was always fond of saying he was the first to enter Paris en route to its liberation, but the ...
1944 Jun 3 SS Harriet Tubman Launched
The SS Harriet Tubman (Hull Number 3032) was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Harriet Tubman, an African-American freedom fighter during ...