Historical figures of World War II

The atlas holds 269 people and 950 moments here, from 1939 to 1945. The most recorded lives are Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler and John F. Kennedy. Among them Writers, Political Leaders and Performers.

Notable people

  1. Bob Marley

    in 1945

    1 moment here

    Jamaican singer, songwriter and guitarist whose work with the Wailers made reggae an international musical force.…

  2. B. R. Ambedkar

    from 1939 to 1945

    4 moments here

    Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer, politician, principal architect of India’s Constitution, and a leading…

  3. Bruce Lee

    from 1940 to 1941

    2 moments here

    Bruce Lee (Lee Jun-fan) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and founder of Jeet Kune Do.…

  4. Charles de Gaulle

    from 1939 to 1945

    21 moments here

    French army officer, leader of Free France during the Second World War, head of France's Provisional Government, and president of the French Fifth…

  5. Charlie Chaplin

    in 1943

    1 moment here

    English actor, comedian, director, writer, producer and composer whose screen persona, the Tramp, became an international icon.…

  6. Chiang Kai-shek

    from 1941 to 1945

    9 moments here

    Chinese military commander, revolutionary, and statesman. Chiang Kai-shek led the Nationalist government of China through the Northern Expedition,…

  7. Chien-Shiung Wu

    from 1940 to 1944

    4 moments here

    Chinese-American experimental physicist whose career moved from Jiangsu and eastern China to California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York,…

  8. Claude Simon

    from 1939 to 1944

    7 moments here

    French novelist, painter, photographer, viticulturist, Resistance participant, and 1985 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate.…

  9. David Hilbert

    in 1943

    1 moment here

    German mathematician and philosopher of mathematics whose career began in Königsberg and was centered at the University of Göttingen from 1895 until…

  10. Desmond Tutu

    from 1941 to 1945

    2 moments here

    South African Anglican bishop, theologian, anti-apartheid activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Archbishop of Cape Town, and chair of South Africa’s…

  11. Dwight D. Eisenhower

    from 1940 to 1945

    11 moments here

    Dwight D. Eisenhower was a United States Army officer, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during World War II, and the 34th president of the United…

  12. Dzhokhar Dudayev

    in 1944

    2 moments here

    Dzhokhar Musayevich Dudayev was a Soviet Air Force major general and the first president of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.…

  13. Édith Piaf

    from 1940 to 1945

    11 moments here

    French singer and lyricist Édith Giovanna Gassion, known as Édith Piaf, rose from street performance in Paris to international prominence in chanson…

  14. Edmund Hillary

    from 1939 to 1945

    3 moments here

    New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, diplomat, and philanthropist. Hillary became internationally known after reaching Mount Everest’s summit with…

  15. Eisaku Satō

    from 1939 to 1945

    2 moments here

    Japanese politician and prime minister of Japan from 1964 to 1972. A former railway bureaucrat, Satō led Japan during rapid economic growth, pursued…

  16. Eleanor Roosevelt

    from 1940 to 1945

    7 moments here

    American political figure, diplomat, activist, and First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945.…

  17. Elizabeth II

    from 1939 to 1945

    6 moments here

    Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death.…

  18. Elizabeth Taylor

    from 1939 to 1940

    2 moments here

    British-American actress and HIV/AIDS activist. Born in London, Taylor moved to Southern California in 1939, became a major Hollywood star, worked…

  19. Elvis Presley

    in 1945

    1 moment here

    American singer and actor Elvis Aaron Presley, widely known as the “King of Rock and Roll.” Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, he grew up in Memphis,…

  20. Emilio Aguinaldo

    from 1942 to 1945

    3 moments here

    Filipino revolutionary, military leader, and political figure who led forces in the Philippine Revolution, headed the First Philippine Republic,…

  21. Enrico Fermi

    from 1939 to 1945

    10 moments here

    Italian and naturalized-American physicist whose documented movements trace a path from Rome and Pisa through European study in Göttingen and Leiden,…

  22. Ernest Hemingway

    from 1939 to 1944

    12 moments here

    American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. Hemingway’s documented movements ranged from Illinois and Michigan to Italy in World War I,…

  23. Errol Flynn

    from 1940 to 1943

    2 moments here

    Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn was an Australian-born actor who became a major Hollywood star in swashbuckling and adventure films.…

  24. Erwin Schrödinger

    from 1939 to 1943

    3 moments here

    Austrian-Irish theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate whose work on wave mechanics and the Schrödinger equation became foundational to quantum…

Moments

  1. 1939 Wartime district officer in Kulim Tunku Abdul Rahman
  2. 1939 Travel to Los Angeles for Gone with the Wind Vivien Leigh
  3. 1939 Security guard at Kibbutz Ginosar Yitzhak Rabin
  4. 1939 Attends launch of Bismarck Adolf Hitler
  5. 1939 Snow White Academy Award Walt Disney
  6. 1939 Arrives in Klaipėda Adolf Hitler
  7. 1939 Enters Prague Castle Adolf Hitler
  8. 1939 Andrew Lang Lecture at St Andrews J. R. R. Tolkien
  9. 1939 Government Code and Cypher School course J. R. R. Tolkien
  10. 1939 The Philadelphia Story opens on Broadway Katharine Hepburn
  11. 1939 Marriage to Princess Fawzia Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
  12. 1939 Teacher at Western Mungyeong Public School Park Chung Hee
  13. 1939 Attends Tirpitz launch in Wilhelmshaven Adolf Hitler
  14. 1939 Relocation to Hollywood Alfred Hitchcock
  15. 1939 Birth in Mashhad Ali Khamenei
  16. 1939 Relocation to Pasadena Elizabeth Taylor
  17. 1939 Opens New York World's Fair by television Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  18. 1939 Final residence on Avenida Viena Leon Trotsky
  19. 1939 Visits Orissa at provincial invitation Rabindranath Tagore
  20. 1939 Professor at Kyoto Imperial University Hideki Yukawa
  21. 1939 Birth in Geula Ada Yonath
  22. 1939 Sails to Mount Vernon with British monarchs Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  23. 1939 Departure from Kobe for first overseas journey Hideki Yukawa
  24. 1939 Meets Szilárd and Wigner on Long Island Albert Einstein
  25. 1939 Met Philip at Dartmouth Elizabeth II
  26. 1939 Attendance at the first World Science Fiction Convention Isaac Asimov
  27. 1939 Medical visit to Moscow Zhou Enlai
  28. 1939 Politburo meetings in Yan'an Zhou Enlai
  29. 1939 Mobilization in the Ardennes Claude Simon
  30. 1939 Fishes at Campobello Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  31. 1939 Fishes in Bonne Bay Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  32. 1939 Fishes in Newfoundland's Bay of Islands Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  33. 1939 Fishing trip through Atlantic Canada Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  34. 1939 Stops in Halifax Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  35. 1939 Arrival at Naples Hideki Yukawa
  36. 1939 Boarding at Hamburg Hideki Yukawa
  37. 1939 Departure for Britain aboard SS Orama John Cornforth
  38. 1939 The Wizard of Oz New York premiere Judy Garland
  39. 1939 Final European concert Sergei Rachmaninoff
  40. 1939 Final family gathering in Paris before wartime departure Sergei Rachmaninoff
  41. 1939 Enters Gdańsk Adolf Hitler
  42. 1939 Inspects siege front near Warsaw Adolf Hitler
  43. 1939 Inspects Westerplatte Adolf Hitler
  44. 1939 Visits front near Ubieszyn Adolf Hitler
  45. 1939 Reports to Bletchley Park Alan Turing
  46. 1939 Attacked at Bitche in the Saar Offensive Charles de Gaulle
  47. 1939 Sapienza enrollment Federico Fellini
  48. 1939 Move to Arcan Ridge Helen Keller
  49. 1939 Congress Working Committee meeting Jawaharlal Nehru
  50. 1939 Attended Parliament's war speeches John F. Kennedy

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