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. Macfarlane Burnet

    from 1941 to 1944

    3 moments here

    Australian virologist and immunologist Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, known as Macfarlane Burnet, shared the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine…

  2. Mahatma Gandhi

    in 1942

    2 moments here

    Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, political ethicist, and leader of mass nonviolent resistance.…

  3. Mao Zedong

    in 1945

    2 moments here

    Chinese communist revolutionary and political leader who led the Chinese Communist Party and founded the People’s Republic of China.…

  4. Margaret Thatcher

    in 1943

    1 moment here

    British stateswoman Margaret Hilda Thatcher (née Roberts) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, the first woman to hold the…

  5. Marguerite Duras

    from 1942 to 1944

    2 moments here

    French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker, born Marguerite Germaine Marie Donnadieu.…

  6. Marilyn Monroe

    in 1944

    1 moment here

    American actress and model born Norma Jeane Mortenson. This chronology maps verified places where Monroe lived, worked, traveled, performed, filmed,…

  7. Marlene Dietrich

    from 1940 to 1945

    10 moments here

    German-American actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (Marie Magdalene Dietrich) was born in Berlin and achieved international fame through stage,…

  8. Marlon Brando

    from 1941 to 1944

    4 moments here

    American actor and activist whose stage and screen career ranged from Broadway in the 1940s to major films through the early 2000s.…

  9. Martin Luther King Jr.

    from 1941 to 1944

    5 moments here

    American Baptist minister and civil-rights leader who advanced racial equality through nonviolent protest.…

  10. Maurice Wilkins

    from 1940 to 1945

    3 moments here

    New Zealand-born British physicist and biophysicist whose career ran from solid-state physics and wartime atomic research to X-ray diffraction…

  11. Max Planck

    from 1943 to 1945

    2 moments here

    German theoretical physicist and originator of quantum theory. Planck’s documented life moved from Kiel to Munich, Berlin, Kiel again, and Berlin,…

  12. Maya Angelou

    from 1942 to 1944

    2 moments here

    American memoirist, poet, performer, educator, and civil-rights activist. Her documented life moved from Missouri and Arkansas to California and New…

  13. Mikhail Kalashnikov

    from 1941 to 1942

    2 moments here

    Soviet and Russian small-arms designer, military engineer, and lieutenant general, best known for the AK-47 and later Kalashnikov weapon systems.…

  14. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

    from 1939 to 1943

    3 moments here

    Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919–1980) was the last shah of Iran, reigning from 1941 until the Iranian Revolution of 1979.…

  15. Muammar Gaddafi

    in 1942

    1 moment here

    Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician, and political theorist who ruled Libya from the 1969 coup until his overthrow and killing during…

  16. Muhammad Ali

    in 1942

    1 moment here

    Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.) was an American boxer, activist, humanitarian, and global cultural figure.…

  17. Muhammad Ali Jinnah

    from 1940 to 1945

    4 moments here

    Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a barrister and political leader who led the All-India Muslim League and became Pakistan’s first governor-general after…

  18. Mwai Kibaki

    from 1939 to 1944

    2 moments here

    Kenyan economist and politician who served as Kenya’s third president from 2002 to 2013. This chronology records documented physical presence from…

  19. Naguib Mahfouz

    in 1945

    1 moment here

    Egyptian novelist, screenwriter, and playwright whose fiction made Cairo a central setting of modern Arabic literature.…

  20. Nelson Mandela

    from 1939 to 1944

    5 moments here

    South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, lawyer and statesman. Mandela helped lead the African National Congress, co-founded its armed wing,…

  21. Niels Bohr

    from 1939 to 1945

    9 moments here

    Danish theoretical physicist whose work on atomic structure and quantum theory earned the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics.…

  22. Nikita Khrushchev

    from 1939 to 1943

    4 moments here

    Soviet Communist Party leader and chairman of the Council of Ministers. Khrushchev rose from industrial work in the Donbas through party posts in…

  23. Nikola Tesla

    in 1943

    1 moment here

    Serbian-American engineer and inventor best known for foundational work on alternating-current power systems, the induction motor, high-frequency…

  24. Octavio Paz

    from 1943 to 1945

    3 moments here

    Mexican poet, essayist, editor, and diplomat whose international postings and teaching appointments connected Mexico City, the United States, Europe,…

Moments

  1. 1940 MoMA retrospective installation Frank Lloyd Wright
  2. 1940 Inspects Channel coast at Cap Gris-Nez Adolf Hitler
  3. 1940 Marriage and teaching in Oran Albert Camus
  4. 1940 Arrival in New York Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  5. 1940 Confers with officials in Martinique Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  6. 1940 Inspects Antigua base sites Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  7. 1940 Inspects Jamaican base sites Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  8. 1940 Inspects St. Lucia base sites Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  9. 1940 Meets Duke of Windsor on Eleuthera Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  10. 1940 Lecture at Bommersvik College Willy Brandt
  11. 1941 Moved into Isokon Flats Agatha Christie
  12. 1941 Worked in University College Hospital pharmacy Agatha Christie
  13. 1941 Postal-clerk work Ahmed Sékou Touré
  14. 1941 Final examinations interrupted by war Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
  15. 1941 Matriculation from Rondebosch Boys' High School Allan MacLeod Cormack
  16. 1941 Central Park South residence Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  17. 1941 National Book Award luncheon Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  18. 1941 Lecturing at the Barnes Foundation Bertrand Russell
  19. 1941 Meeting with Ma Mingren Chiang Kai-shek
  20. 1941 Schooling in Johannesburg Desmond Tutu
  21. 1941 U-boat patrols from Cuba Ernest Hemingway
  22. 1941 Transfer to Petrópolis as consul Gabriela Mistral
  23. 1941 Army posting in Khartoum Gamal Abdel Nasser
  24. 1941 Return across the Sudan-Ethiopia border Haile Selassie
  25. 1941 Medical practice in North Shields Hastings Banda
  26. 1941 Scottish medical qualification Hastings Banda
  27. 1941 Return to Vietnam to lead the Việt Minh Ho Chi Minh
  28. 1941 Meeting at New Haven Howard Florey
  29. 1941 Residence in West Hollywood Igor Stravinsky
  30. 1941 Return to England Indira Gandhi
  31. 1941 Return to India from Britain Indira Gandhi
  32. 1941 Master's degree at Columbia Isaac Asimov
  33. 1941 Agriculture student at the University of Turin Italo Calvino
  34. 1941 Death after ulcer surgery James Joyce
  35. 1941 Returned to teaching and settled at Hotel Mistral Jean-Paul Sartre
  36. 1941 Wartime residence in Ojai Jiddu Krishnamurti
  37. 1941 Georgia Southwestern engineering coursework Jimmy Carter
  38. 1941 Police surveillance in Salvador Jorge Amado
  39. 1941 Research journey in Argentina Jorge Amado
  40. 1941 Research journey in Uruguay Jorge Amado
  41. 1941 Getúlio Vargas Grand Prix Juan Manuel Fangio
  42. 1941 Army skiing instructor Juan Perón
  43. 1941 Residence in Bel Air Judy Garland
  44. 1941 First meeting with Spencer Tracy at MGM Katharine Hepburn
  45. 1941 Training at Munali Kenneth Kaunda
  46. 1941 Move to Vichy Le Corbusier
  47. 1941 Reprisal commando in the Landes Léopold Sédar Senghor
  48. 1941 Imprisonment in Son La Lê Đức Thọ
  49. 1941 Charles Mackay Lecture Macfarlane Burnet
  50. 1941 Sent to Shattuck Military Academy Marlon Brando

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