Historical eventOctober 201944
World War II
World War II: Fulfilling a promise he made two years previously, General Douglas MacArthur landed on Leyte to begin the recapture of the Philippines.
In context
- When
- Friday, October 20 194482 years ago
- Category
- Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
- Era
- 20th century · 1940s
- Recorded from
- Wikipedia “On this day” feed
At a glance
Dates: From 1944.
What happened
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many engaging in total war on an unprecedented scale. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the deaths of 60 to 75 million people, a majority of whom were civilians. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan,
October 20 through the years
Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.
- 1944World War II
- 1995Space Shuttle Columbia
- 2002Top Gear (2002 TV series)
- 2003Sloan Great Wall
- 2005UNESCO
- 2011Libyan crisis
- 2011Libyan civil war (2011)
- 2017Syrian civil war
- 2022Liz Truss
- 20222022 Chadian protests
- 2024Prabowo Subianto
Also in 1944
- September 15World War IIWorld War II: American and Australian forces landed on the Japanese-occupied island of Morotai.
- May 25WehrmachtThe Wehrmacht and their collaborationist allies launched Operation Rösselsprung, a failed attempt to assassinate the Yugoslav Partisan le…
- June 14World War IISecond World War: The British Army abandoned its attempt to capture the German-occupied city of Caen.
- November 27RAF Fauld explosionBetween 3,500 and 4,000 tonnes of ordnance exploded at the RAF Fauld underground munitions storage depot in the largest non-nuclear explo…
- September 3DiaryHolocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from the Westerbork transit camp to the Auschwitz con…
- July 5World War IISecond World War: Canadian troops defeated the last German counterattacks against Carpiquet, Normandy, France.
- November 5World War IIWorld War II: Allied forces began a military campaign on Japanese-occupied Singapore.
- June 17IcelandIceland declares independence from Denmark and becomes a republic.
Sources
- Wikipedia article (text, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 for adapted text · how we source this
Cite this page
“World War II”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/world-war-ii-1944-october-20, accessed October 28, 2026.
Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.
Questions about this entry
When did World War II happen?
October 20 1944 — 82 years ago, on a Friday.
Where does this text come from?
Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.
How do I cite this page?
Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.
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