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| Kaj Munk |
Kaj MunkKaj Harald Leininger Munk (mostly referred to as Kaj Munk) (January 13, 1898 - January 4, 1944) was a Danish playwright and Lutheran pastor, known for his cultural engagement and his martyrdom during Word War II.
He was born Kaj Harald Leininger Petersen at Lolland, Denmark. He was raised by a family called Munk after the death of his parents. From 1924 he was the vicar of Vedersø in Western Jutland.
The dramas of Munk were mostly performed and made public during the 1930s but in fact many of them are written in the 1920s and much of his work is a contribution to the "philosophy-on-life-debate" (religion - marxism - darwinism) which marked much of Danish cultural life during this period. Very often he used a historical background of his plays - among his ideals were Shakespeare and Goethe.
In his dramas Munk often shows his fascination of "strong characters" and integrated people who fight whole-hearted for an ideal (whether this is good or bad). In his play En Idealist the "hero" is for instance King Herod whose fight for keeping power is the motive behind all of his acts until he is at last defeated by showing kindness to the Jesus child in a weak moment.
I Brændingen is a camouflated portrait of Munk's antagonist, the anti-religious Georg Brandes whose atheist attitude also impressed him.
After a period of Nazi admiration, Munk turned into a strong opponent during the German occupation of Denmark 1940-1945 (although he continually opposed the idea of democracy as such, preferring the idea of a "Nordic dictator" who should unite the Nordic countries and keep them neutral during periods of international crisis). His plays Han sidder ved Smeltediglen ("He sits by the melting pot") and Niels Ebbesen were direct attacks on Nazism. He was arrested and subsequently assassinated by the Gestapo on January 4, 1944 at Hørbylunde near Silkeborg.
The reputation of Munk is one of the most paradoxial of modern Danish literature. During most of his life he was known as a right-wing anti-democrat, however he passed into history as the anti-nazi martyr par excellence. He was extremely engaged in is own time but usually wrote historical plays. He is often called a renewer of Danish drama but in fact he tried to revive both romantic and traditional naturalist theatre. He is called a classic but today his plays are not performed very often. He was a deeply religious person but just as much a man of this world. First of all his engaged personality has been the centre of interest.
His plays, many of which have been performed at the Royal Theatre, Copenhagen, and elsewhere, include:
- Pilatus (1917. Published 1937),
- Ordet (1925),
- Kaerlighed (1926),
- En Idealist (1928),
- I Brændingen (1929),
- Kardinalen og Kongen (1929),
- Cant (1931),
- De Udvalgte (1933),
- Sejren (1936),
- Han sidder ved Smeltediglen (1938),
- Egelykke (1940),
- Niels Ebbesen (1942),
- Før Cannae (1943).
The play Ordet (tr. The Word) was filmed in black and white by Carl Theodor Dreyer.
External links
Visit http://www.kajmunk.dk for further information
Munk, Kaj
Munk, Kaj
Munk, Kaj
Munk, Kaj
January 13
January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. It is still celebrated as New Year's Eve by those on the Julian calendar. There are 352 days remaining (353 in a leap year).
Events
- 888 - Odo, Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks.
- 1099 - Crusaders set fire to Mara, Syria.
- 1328 - Edward III of England marries Philippa, daughter of the Count of Hainault.
- 1547 - Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey sentenced to death
- 1559 - Elizabeth I crowned queen of England in Westminster Abbey.
- 1602 - William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is published.
- 1605 - The controversial play Eastward Hoe by Ben Jonson, George Chapman, and John Marston is performed, landing two of the authors in prison.
- 1607 - Bank of Genoa fails after announcement of national bankruptcy in Spain.
- 1610 - Galileo Galilei discovers Callisto, 4th satellite of Jupiter.
- 1622 - Work on the printing of the First Folio of William Shakespeare is suspended.
- 1625 - John Milton, 16, admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge.
- 1733 - James Oglethorpe and 130 colonists arrive in Charleston,South Carolina.
- 1785 - John Walter publishes first issue of the Daily Universal Register (later renamed The Times).
- 1830 - Great fire in New Orleans thought to be set by rebel slaves.
- 1832 - President Andrew Jackson wrote Vice President Martin Van Buren expressing his opposition to South Carolina's defiance of federal authority in the Nullification Crisis.
- 1834 - John Mason Cook, whom JMC Air is named after was born.
- 1840 - The steamship Lexington burns and sinks four miles off the coast of Long Island with the loss of 139 lives.
- 1847 - The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican-American War in California.
- 1854 - The accordion is patented by Anthony Faas.
- 1869 - National convention of black leaders meets in Washington D.C.
- 1893 - The Independent Labour Party of the UK has its first meeting.
- US Marines land in Honolulu from the U.S.S. Boston to protect the king and stop the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.
- 1898 - Emile Zola's J'accuse exposes the Dreyfus affair.
- 1913 - Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority, Inc. founded. Currently the largest African-American women's organization
- 1915 - Earthquake in Avezzano, Italy kills 29,800
- 1930 - Mickey Mouse comic strip makes first appearance.
- 1935 - A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany.
- 1942 - Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile, which is 30% lighter than a regular car.
- The United States begins the iternment of Japanese-Americans living on the American west coast.
- 1953 - Marshal Josip Broz Tito chosen President of Yugoslavia.
- 1957 - Wham-O Company produces the first Frisbee.
- 1958 - Moroccan Liberation Army ambushes Spanish patrol in the Battle of Edchera
- 1966 - Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member by being appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
- 1972 - Prime Minister Kofi Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana were ousted in a bloodless military coup by Col. Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.
- 1982 - Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90 737 jet crashes into Washington, DC's 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 including four motorists. Plane was not properly de-iced. There were five survivors.
- 1986 - A month-long violent struggle began in Aden, South Yemen between supporters of Ali Nasir Muhammad and Abdul Fattah Ismail, resulting in thousands of casualties.
- 1989 - The final episode of the American soap opera Ryan's Hope is aired, ending a 14-year run on the network.
- 1990 - L. Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office in Richmond, Virginia.
- 1991 - Soviet military troops attacked Lithuanian independence supporters in Vilnius.
- 1992 - Japan apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.
- 1998 - ABC and ESPN negotiate a $1.15 billion a season contract to keep Monday Night Football.
- 1999 - Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls basketball team announces his retirement (for the second time -- he has since rescinded his retirement).
- 2001 - An earthquake hits El Salvador. More than 800 deaths.
- 2002 - US President George W. Bush faints after choking on a pretzel.
Births
1334 to 1899
- 1334 - King Henry II of Castile (d. 1379)
- 1562 - Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish poet (d. 1601)
- 1596 - Jan van Goyen, Dutch painter (d. 1656)
- 1610 - Maria Anna of Austria (d. 1665)
- 1616 - Antoinette Bourignon, Flemish mystic (d. 1680)
- 1635 - Philipp Jakob Spener, German theologian (d. 1705)
- 1651 - Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington, English politician (d. 1694)
- 1720 - Richard Hurd, English bishop and writer (d. 1808)
- 1749 - Friedrich Müller, painter, narrator, lyricist and dramatist (d. 1825)
- 1805 - Thomas Dyer, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1862)
- 1808 - Salmon Chase, Secretary of the Treasury and Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1873)
- 1812 - Victor de Laprade, French poet and critic (d. 1883)
- 1832 - Horatio Alger, Jr., American minister and author (d. 1899)
- 1861 - Max Nonne, German neurologist (d. 1959)
- 1864 - Wilhelm Wien, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
- 1866 - Vasily Kalinnikov, Russian composer (d. 1901)
- 1879 - Melvin Jones, American founder of Lions Clubs International (d. 1961)
- 1884 - Sophie Tucker, Russian-born singer, comedienne, and vaudeville performer (d. 1966)
- 1893 - Clark Ashton Smith, American writer (d. 1961)
- 1899 - Kay Francis, American actress (d. 1968)
1900 to 1999
- 1909 - Marinus van der Lubbe, Dutch communist accused of setting fire to the Reichstag (d. 1934)
- 1911 - Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Premier of Queensland (d. 2005)
- 1919 - Robert Stack, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1924 - Paul Feyerabend, Austrian-born philosopher (d. 1994)
- 1925 - Gwen Verdon, American actress and dancer (d. 2000)
- 1926 - Michael Bond, British writer
- 1926 - Carolyn Gold Heilbrun, American feminist author (d. 2003)
- 1927 - Brock Adams, American politician (d. 2004)
- 1927 - Sydney Brenner, British biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1930 - Liz Anderson, American singer
- 1930 - Frances Sternhagen, American actress
- 1931 - Charles Nelson Reilly, American actor
- 1934 - Rip Taylor, American actor
- 1938 - William B. Davis, Canadian actor
- 1938 - Tord Grip, Swedish football manager
- 1942 - Richard Moll, American actor
- 1943 - Carol Cleveland, English actress
- 1948 - Gaj Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur
- 1949 - Brandon Tartikoff, American television executive (d. 1997)
- 1954 - Trevor Rabin, South African musician (Yes)
- 1955 - Jay McInerney, American writer
- 1958 - Andrew Stanton, American actor and director
- 1961 - Julia Louis-Dreyfus, American actress
- 1961 - Graham McPherson, English singer
- 1962 - Trace Adkins, American musician
- 1964 - Penelope Ann Miller, American actress
- 1966 - Patrick Dempsey, American actor
- 1969 - Stephen Hendry, Scottish snooker player
- 1970 - A. Onomen Asikele West African Born Writer, Poet & Filmmaker
- 1970 - Keith Coogan, American actor
- 1970 - Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (d. 2004)
- 1972 - Nicole Eggert, American actress
- 1973 - Nikolai Khabibulin, Russian hockey player
- 1977 - Orlando Bloom, English actor
- 1980 - Krzysztof Czerwinski, Polish conductor and organist
- 1982 - Guillermo Coria, Argentine tennis player
- 1983 - William Hung, Hong Kong-born singer
Deaths
85 BC to 1899
- 85 BC - Gaius Marius, Roman general and politician
- 703 - Empress Jitō of Japan (b. 645)
- 858 - King Ethelwulf of Wessex
- 888 - Charles the Fat, Holy Roman Emperor
- 1138 - Simon I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1076)
- 1151 - Abbot Suger, French statesman and historian
- 1177 - Henry II of Austria (b. 1107)
- 1330 - Duke Frederick I of Austria (b. 1286)
- 1363 - Meinhard III, Count of Tyrol
- 1547 - Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, English poet (b. 1517)
- 1599 - Edmund Spenser, English poet (b. 1552)
- 1658 - Edward Sexby, English Puritan soldier (b. 1616)
- 1691 - George Fox, English founder of the Quakers (b. 1624)
- 1762 - Leonhard Trautsch, German composer (b. 1694)
- 1766 - King Frederick V of Denmark (b. 1723)
- 1775 - Johann Georg Walch, German theologian (b. 1693)
- 1790 - Luc Urbain de Bouexic, comte de Guichen, French admiral (b. 1712)
- 1796 - John H. D. Anderson, Scottish scientist and inventor (b. 1726)
- 1797 - Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Bevern, queen of Frederick II of Prussia (b. 1715)
- 1852 - Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian explorer (b. 1778)
- 1864 - Stephen Foster, American composer (b. 1826)
1900 to 1999
- 1923 - Alexandre Ribot, French statesman (b. 1842)
- 1929 - Wyatt Earp, Western lawman (b. 1848)
- 1941 - James Joyce, Irish writer (b. 1882)
- 1962 - Ernie Kovacs, American actor and comedian (b. 1919)
- 1974 - Salvador Novo, Mexican writer and poet (b. 1904)
- 1978 - Hubert H. Humphrey, Vice President of the United States and Senator from Minnesota (b. 1911)
- 1978 - Joe McCarthy, baseball manager (b. 1908)
- 1979 - Donny Hathaway, American musician (b. 1945)
- 1988 - Chiang Ching-kuo, President of the Republic of China (b. 1910)
2000 onwards
- 2001 - Michael Cuccione, Canadian actor and singer (b. 1985)
- 2002 - Ted Demme, American film and television director (b. 1963)
- 2002 - Frank Shuster, Canadian comedian (b. 1916)
- 2003 - Norman Panama, American screenwriter and director (b. 1914)
- 2004 - Arne Næss Jr., Norwegian mountain climber and businessman (b. 1937)
- 2004 - Harold Shipman, British serial killer (b. 1946)
- 2005 - Earl Cameron, Canadian broadcaster (b. 1915)
- 2005 - Nell Rankin, American mezzo-soprano (b. 1924)
Holidays and observances
- National Vocation Awareness Week
- Liberation Day in Togo
- In Sweden, Christmas ends on the 20th day, St. Knut's Day. Children celebrate a party throwing out the Christmas tree (julgransplundring)
External links
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/13 BBC: On This Day]
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January 12 - January 14 - December 13 - February 13 — listing of all days
ko:1월 13일
ms:13 Januari
ja:1月13日
simple:January 13
th:13 มกราคม
January 4
January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. 361 days (362 in leap years) remain in the year after this day.
Events
- 871 - Battle of Reading - Ethelred of Wessex fights a Danish invasion army.
- 1493 - Christopher Columbus leaves the New World, ending his first journey.
- 1642 - English Civil War: King Charles I of England attacks Parliament.
- 1698 - Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London, the main residence of the English monarchs, is destroyed by fire.
- 1717 - The Netherlands, England and France sign the Triple Alliance.
- 1762 - England declares war on Spain and Naples.
- 1847 - Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government.
- 1850 - The first American ice-skating club is formed (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
- 1854 - The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.
- 1884 - The Fabian Society is founded in London
- 1885 - The first successful appendectomy is performed by Dr. William W. Grant on Mary Gartside.
- 1896 - Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.
- 1912 - The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Commonwealth by Royal Charter.
- 1936 - Mickey's Polo Team, a short animated film featuring Charlie Chaplin, Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel and Harpo Marx in a polo match against various Disney characters, is first released.
- 1936 - Billboard magazine publishes its first pop music charts.
- 1944 - World War II: The Battle of Monte Cassino begins.
- 1948 - Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1951 - Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul.
- 1957 - After 69 years the last issue of Collier's Weekly magazine is published.
- 1958 - Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit (launched on October 4, 1957).
- 1959 - Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
- 1962 - New York City introduces a train that operates without a crew on-board.
- 1965 - United States President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaims his "Great Society" during his State of the Union address.
- 1967 - Donald Campbell dies as his jet-powered Bluebird K7 crashes during an attempt to break the water speed record.
- 1972 - Rose Heilbron becomes the first woman judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London.
- 1974 - United States President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over materials subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
- 1987 - An Amtrak train en route to Boston from Washington, DC collides with Conrail engines, killing 16 (Chase, Maryland rail wreck).
- 1989 - A pair of Lybian MiG-23 "Floggers" are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation.
- 1990 - A crowded passenger train collides with a standing freight train in Pakistan's Sindh province, killing 300 people.
- 1998 - Wilaya of Relizane massacres in Algeria; over 170 are killed in three remote villages.
- 1999 - Gunmen open fire on Shiite Muslims worshipping in an Islamabad mosque killing 16 people injuring 25.
- 2004 - Dr. Mikhail Saakashvili is elected the President of Georgia.
- 2004 - Spirit, a NASA Mars Rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC.
Births
- 1077 - Emperor Zhezong of Song Dynasty in China (d. 1100)
- 1334 - Amadeus VI of Savoy (d. 1383)
- 1581 - James Ussher, Irish Catholic archbishop (d. 1656)
- 1643 - Isaac Newton, English scientist and philosopher (d. 1727)
- 1664 - Lars Roberg, Swedish physician (d. 1742)
- 1672 - Hugh Boulter, Irish Archbishop of Armagh (d. 1742)
- 1710 - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer (d. 1736)
- 1720 - Johann Friedrich Agricola, German composer (d. 1774)
- 1785 - Jakob Grimm, German philologist and folklorist (d. 1863)
- 1809 - Louis Braille, French teacher of the blind (d. 1852)
- 1832 - George Tryon, British admiral (d. 1893)
- 1838 - Charles Stratton, American circus performer (d. 1883)
- 1848 - Katsura Taro, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1913)
- 1869 - Tommy Corcoran, baseball player (d. 1960)
- 1874 - Josef Suk, Czech composer and violinist (d. 1935)
- 1881 - Wilhelm Lehmbruck, German sculptor (d. 1919)
- 1883 - Max Eastman, American writer (d. 1969)
- 1894 - Manuel de Abreu, Brazilian physician (d. 1962)
- 1896 - Everett Dirksen, American politician (d. 1969)
- 1896 - André Masson, French artist (d. 1987)
- 1900 - James Bond, American ornithologist (d. 1989)
- 1901 - C. L. R. James, writer and journalist (d. 1989)
- 1905 - Sterling Holloway, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1914 - Jane Wyman, American actress
- 1920 - William Colby, American Central Intelligence Agency director (d. 1996)
- 1930 - Sorrell Booke, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1930 - Don Shula, American football coach
- 1931 - Adi Lady Lala Mara, First Lady of Fiji
- 1935 - Floyd Patterson, American boxer
- 1937 - Grace Bumbry, American singer
- 1937 - Dyan Cannon, American actress
- 1940 - Helmut Jahn, German architect
- 1940 - Brian David Josephson, Welsh physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1940 - Gao Xingjian, Chinese-born writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1941 - Maureen Reagan, American political activist (d. 2001)
- 1943 - Doris Kearns Goodwin, American writer
- 1945 - Richard R. Schrock, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1953 - Norberto Alonso, Argentine footballer
- 1953 - George Tenet, American Central Intelligence Agency director
- 1956 - Bernard Sumner, English musician (New Order)
- 1957 - Patty Loveless, American singer
- 1958 - Matt Frewer, American actor
- 1958 - Gary Jones, Welsh-born actor
- 1960 - Michael Stipe, American singer (R.E.M.)
- 1962 - Peter Steele, American singer and bassist (Type O Negative)
- 1962 - Robin Guthrie, Scottish guitarist
- 1963 - Dave Foley, Canadian comedian and actor
- 1963 - Till Lindemann, German singer (Rammstein)
- 1965 - Julia Ormond, English actress
- 1966 - Deana Carter, American singer
- 1978 - Dwight Freeney, American football player
- 1978 - Dominik Hrbatý, Slovakian tennis player
- 1979 - Jeph Howard, American musician (The Used)
- 1986 - James Milner, English footballer
Deaths
- 1248 - King Sancho II of Portugal (b. 1207)
- 1564 - Hosokawa Ujitsuna, Japanese military commander (b. 1514)
- 1695 - François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg, French general (b. 1628)
- 1752 - Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (b. 1704)
- 1761 - Stephen Hales, English physiologist, chemist, and inventor (b. 1677)
- 1782 - Ange-Jacques Gabriel, French architect (b. 1698)
- 1804 - Charlotte Lennox, English author and poet
- 1821 - Elizabeth Ann Seton, American saint (b. 1774)
- 1825 - King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (b. 1751)
- 1831 - James Monroe, President of the United States (b. 1758)
- 1877 - Cornelius Vanderbilt, American entrepreneur (b. 1794)
- 1896 - Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German Old Catholic bishop (b. 1821)
- 1903 - Gulstan Ropert, Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1839)
- 1940 - Flora Finch, English-born comedienne and actress (b. 1869)
- 1941 - Henri Bergson, French philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (b. 1859)
- 1960 - Albert Camus, Algerian-born French philosopher and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (automobile accident) (b. 1913)
- 1961 - Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)
- 1965 - T. S. Eliot, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
- 1967 - Donald Campbell, English water speed record setter (b. 1921)
- 1969 - Violet and Daisy Hilton, English conjoined twin actresses (b. 1908)
- 1970 - Jean-Etienne Valluy, French general (b. 1899)
- 1985 - Brian Horrocks, British general (b. 1895)
- 1986 - Christopher Isherwood, English writer (b. 1904)
- 1986 - Phil Lynott, Irish musician (b. 1949)
- 1990 - Doc Edgerton, American electrical engineer (b. 1903)
- 1998 - Mae Questel, American actress (b. 1908)
- 1999 - Iron Eyes Cody, American actor (b. 1904)
- 2003 - Conrad Hall, American cinematographer (b. 1927)
- 2003 - Yfrah Neaman, Lebanese-born violinist (b. 1923)
- 2004 - Joan Aiken, English author (b. 1924)
- 2004 - Brian Gibson, English film director (b. 1944)
- 2004 - Jake Hess, American singer (b. 1927)
- 2004 - Jeff Nuttall, English writer, publisher, actor, artist, and jazz trumpeter (b. 1933)
- 2004 - John Toland, American author and historian (b. 1912)
- 2005 - Humphrey Carpenter, English author and biographer (b. 1946)
- 2005 - Ali al-Haidri, Iraqi governor of Baghdad (assassinated)
- 2005 - Frank Harary, American mathematician (b. 1921)
- 2005 - Robert Heilbroner, American economist (b. 1919)
- 2005 - Bud Poile, Canadian hockey player (b. 1924)
Holidays and observances
- Feast day of St Elizabeth Ann Seton
- The tenth day and eleventh night of Christmas in Western Christianity
External links
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/4 BBC: On This Day]
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January 3 - January 5 - December 4 - February 4 — listing of all days
ko:1월 4일
ja:1月4日
simple:January 4
1944
1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar).
Events
January
- January 4 - The Battle of Monte Cassino begins.
- January 5 - Murder of Danish playwright Kaj Munk.
- January 14 - The Soviet troops start the offensive at Leningrad and Novgorod.
- January 17 - British forces, in Italy, cross the Garigliano River.
- January 17 - Meat Rationing ends in Australia.
- January 20 - The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin. The U.S. Army 36th Infantry Division, in Italy, attempts to cross the Rapido River.
- January 22 - Allies begin Operation Shingle, the assault on Anzio, Italy. The U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division stand their ground at Anzio against violent assaults for 4 months.
- January 27 - The two year Siege of Leningrad is lifted.
- January 29 - The Battle of Cisterna takes place.
- January 30 - United States troops invade Majuro, Marshall Islands.
- January 31 - American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
February
- February 1 - United States troops land in the Marshall Islands.
- February 3 - United States troops capture the Marshall Islands.
- February 7 - In Anzio, Italian forces launch a counteroffensive.
- February 14 - Anti-Japanese revolt on Java.
- February 15 - Battle of Monte Cassino - the monastery atop Monte Cassino is destroyed by Allied bombing.
- February 17 - Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ended in an American victory on February 22.
- February 20 - "Big Week" begins with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.
- February 20 - The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
- February 29 - The Admiralty Islands are invaded in the American General Douglas MacArthur-led Operation Brewer.
March
- March - The Japanese launch an offensive in central and south China.
- March 1 - USS Tarawa and USS Kearsarge laid down.
- March 1 - Anti-fascist strike in northern Italy.
- March 2 - Train stalls inside a railway tunnel outside Salerno, Italy - 426 choke to death
- March 3 - The Order of Nakhimov and the Order of Ushakov were instituted in USSR
- March 10 - In Britain the Education Act lifts the ban on women teachers marrying.
- March 12 - The Creation of the politic Committee of national liberation in Greece.
- March 15 - Battle of Monte Cassino - Allied aircraft bomb German-held monastery and stage an assault.
- March 15 - The National Counsil of the French Resistance approves the Resistance programme.
- March 17 - The hitlerists assassinate at Rîbniţa almost 400 prisoners, Soviet citizens and anti-fascist Romanians.
- March 18 - German forces occupy Hungary.
- March 20 - RAF Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade's bomber is hit over Germany and he has to bail out without a parachute from the height of over 4000 meters. Tree branches interrupt his fall and he lands safely on deep snow
May
- May 5 - Mohandas Gandhi released in India.
- May 9 - Soviet troops liberate Sevastopol.
- May 12 - Soviet troops finalize the liberation of Crimea.
- May 18 - Battle of Monte Cassino - Germans evacuate Monte Cassino and Allied forces take the stronghold after a struggle that claimed 20,000 lives.
- May 18 - Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union government.
June
Soviet Union].
- June 2 - The provisional French government is established.
- June 4 - A hunter-killer group of the United States Navy captures the German submarine U-505, marking the first time a U.S. Navy vessel had captured an enemy vessel at sea since the 19th century.
- June 4 - American, English and French troops enter Rome.
- June 5 - Rome falls to the Allies. It is the first capital of an Axis nation to fall.
- June 5 - More than 1000 British bombers drop 5000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast in preparation for D-Day.
- June 6 - Battle of Normandy begins - Operation Overlord, code named D-Day, commences with the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France. The allied soldiers quickly break through the Atlantic Wall and push inland in the largest amphibious military operation in history.
- June 9 - Stalin launches an offensive against Finland with the intent of defeating Finland before pushing for Berlin.
- June 10 - 642 men, women and children are killed in the Oradour-sur-Glane Massacre in France.
- June 13 - Germany launches a V1 Flying Bomb attack on England.
- June 15 - Battle of Saipan: The United States invades Saipan.
- June 17 - The proclamation of the Republic of Iceland.
- June 22 - Operation Bagration: General attack by Soviet forces to clear the German forces from Belarus which resulted in the destruction of the German Army Group Centre, possibly the greatest defeat of the Wehrmacht during WWII.
- June 25 - The Battle of Tali-Ihantala between Finnish and Soviet troops begins. Largest battle ever to be fought in the Nordic countries.
- June 26 - American troops enter Cherbourg.
July
- July 3 - Soviet troops liberate Minsk.
- July 9 - British and Canadian forces capture Caen.
- July 10 - Soviet troops start the operations for freeing the Baltic countries.
- July 13 - Liberation of Vilnius.
- July 17 - The largest convoy of the war embarks from Halifax, Nova Scotia under Royal Canadian Navy protection.
- July 17 - SS E.A.Bryan, loaded with ammunition, explodes in the Port Chicago naval base - 320 dead
- July 18 - Hideki Tojo resigns as Prime Minister of Japan due to numerous setbacks in the war effort.
- July 20 - Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt. See Claus von Stauffenberg
- July 21 - Battle of Guam - American troops land on Guam starting the battle (ends on August 10).
- July 21 - The creation of the Polish Committee for national liberation.
- July 25 - Operation Spring - One of the bloodiest days for Canadians during the war: 18,444 casualties, including 5,021 killed.
August
- August 1 - Warsaw Uprising begins.
- August 2 - Turkey ends diplomatic and economic relations with Germany.
- August 7 - IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I).
- August 12 - Allies capture Florence, Italy.
- August 12 - World's first undersea oil pipeline laid, between England and France in Operation Pluto
- August 15 - Operation Dragoon lands Allies in southern France. U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division participates in its fourth assault landing at St. Maxime, spearheading the drive for the Belfort Gap.
- August 19 - (August 25) Victorious insurrection in Paris.
- August 23 - Ion Antonescu, prime minister of Romania, is arrested and a new government is established. Romania exits the war against Russia joining the Allies.
- August 24 - Allies enter Paris.
- August 25 - Hungary decides to continue the war together with Germany.
- August 29 - Slovak National Uprising begins
September
- September 1 - In Bulgaria, the Bagrianov government resigns.
- September 2 - Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from Westerbork to Auschwitz. They arrive three days later.
- September 3 - Allies liberate Brussels.
- September 4 - The British 11th Armored Division liberates the city of Antwerp in Belgium.
- September 4 - Finland breaks off relations with Germany.
- September 5 - The Soviets declare war on Bulgaria.
- September 7 - The Belgian government returns from exile in Britain.
- September 8 - London is hit by a V2 rocket for the first time.
- September 8 - The French town of Menton is liberated from Germany.
- September 9 - Insurrection in Sofia.
- September 11 - Northern and southern France invasion forces link up near Dijon.
- September 17 - Operation Market Garden begins.
- September 19 - Armistice between Finland and Soviet Union signed. (End of the Continuation War)
- September 24 - The U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division takes the strongly defended city of Epinal before crossing the Moselle River and entering the western foothills of the Vosges.
- September 26 - Operation Market Garden ends in an Allied withdrawal.
October
- October 2 - Warsaw Uprising ends.
- October 5 - Canadian Air Force pilots shoot down the first German jet fighter over France.
- October 9 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Union Premier Joseph Stalin begin a nine-day conference in Moscow to discuss the future of Europe.
- October 12 - The Allies land at Athens.
- October 13 - Riga, the capital of Latvia is liberated by the Red Army.
- October 14 - German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel committed suicide rather than face execution for allegedly conspiring against Adolf Hitler.
- October 18 - Volkssturm founded on Hitler's orders.
- October 20 - Belgrade is liberated by Yugoslav Partisans and the Red Army.
- October 20 - LNG explosion destroys a square mile (2.6 km²) of Cleveland, Ohio
- October 21 - Aachen is the first German city to fall.
- October 23 - Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines begins (lasts until October 26).
- October 25 - Florence Foster Jenkins recital in the Carnegie Hall
- October 25 - Red Army liberates Kirkenes, the first town in Norway to be liberated from German occupation.
- October 31 - Mass murderer Marcel Petiot is apprehended in Paris metro station
November-December
- November 6 - Two Lehi assassins kill Lord Moyne in Cairo
- November 12 - East Turkestan Republic declared
- November 12 - The Royal Air Force carries out one of the most successful precision bombing attacks of the war, sinking the German battleship Tirpitz off the coast of Norway.
- November 19 - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the 6th War Loan Drive, aimed at selling US$14 billion in war bonds to help pay for the war effort.
- November 24 - Bombing of Tokyo - The first bombing raid against the Japanese capital of Tokyo from the east and by land was made by 88 American aircraft.
- November 25 - A German V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth's store in Deptford, killing 160 shoppers.
- November 26 - Gas chambers at Auschwitz and Stutthof are destroyed.
- November 29 - Albania is liberated from German occupation.
- December 16 - Germany begins the Ardennes offensive, later to become known as Battle of the Bulge.
- December 16 - General George C. Marshall becomes the first Five-Star General
- December 17 - German troops carry out the Malmédy massacre.
- December 24 - The Bulge reaches its deepest point at Celles.
- December 26 - American troops repulse German forces at Bastogne.
- December 31 - Hungary declares war on Germany
Other events
January-July
- January 5 - The Daily Mail becomes the first transoceanic newspaper.
- February 26 - - Shooting begins of the Nazi propaganda film, "The Fuehrer Gives a Village to the Jews" in Theresienstadt.
- March 1 - USS Tarawa laid down
- March 4 - In Ossining, New York, Louis Buchalter, the leader of 1930s crime syndicate Murder, Inc., is executed at Sing Sing.
- March 24 - In the Polish village of Markowa, German police kill Józef and Wiktoria Ulm, their six children and eight Jewish people they were hiding.
- April 25 - The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.
- May 30 - Princess Charlotte Louise Juliette Louvet Grimaldi of Monaco, heir to the throne resigns from her rights in favor of her son Prince Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi, later reigning Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
- June 17 - Iceland declares full independence from Denmark.
- July 1 - Start of the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.
- July 6 - A fire broke out during a performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus in Hartford, Connecticut, resulting in the deaths of 168 people, most of them children. See Hartford Circus Fire
- July 17 - Port Chicago disaster: Near the San Francisco Bay, two ships laden with ammunition for the war explode in Port Chicago, California killing 232.
- July 22 - End of Bretton Woods conference and signing of Agreements.
August-November
- August 4 - Holocaust: A tip from a Dutch informer leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse where they find Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family.
- August 5 - Holocaust: Polish insurgents liberate a German labor camp in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.
- August 7 - IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I).
- August 9 - The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey the Bear for the first time.
- September 2 - Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from Westerbork to Auschwitz. They arrive three days later.
- October 2 - Holocaust: Nazi troops end the Warsaw Uprising.
- October 8 - The radio show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet debuts.
- October 10 - Holocaust: 800 Gypsy children are systematically murdered at Auschwitz death camp
- November 7 - U.S. presidential election, 1944: Franklin D. Roosevelt wins reelection over Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey to become the only U.S. president to be elected to a fourth term.
- November 22 - William Lyon Mackenzie King introduces conscription in Canada (see Conscription Crisis of 1944).
December
- December 3 - Civil war breaks out in a newly-liberated Greece, between Communists and royalists.
- December 1 - Edward Stettinius Jr. becomes becomes the last United States Secretary of State of the Roosevelt administration, by filling the seat left by the Cordell Hull.
- December 26 - The play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams was first publicly performed.
- December 30 - King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving his throne vacant.
Unknown dates
- In Sweden, the law of 1864 that criminalizes homosexuality is abolished.
- Swedish author of children's books Astrid Lindgren publishes her first book Pippi Longstocking.
- In Sweden, Erik Wallenberg and Ruben Rausing invent a way to package milk in paper and start the company Tetra Pak.
- Barbados General election - Grantley Adams, black lawyer, first majority party leader in the House of Assembly, as leader of Barbados Labour Party
- Hans Asperger publishes his paper on Asperger's Syndrome
- The Mad Gasser of Mattoon carries out a series of mysterious attacks in Mattoon, Illinois.
- National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence established.
Ongoing events
- Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
- Second World War (1939-1945)
Births
For more 1944 births see :Category:1944 births
January
- January 2 - Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Cambodian politician
- January 6 - Bonnie Franklin, American actress
- January 6 - Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- January 9 - Jimmy Page, English guitarist (Led Zeppelin)
- January 12 - Joe Frazier, American boxer
- January 17 - Françoise Hardy, French singer
- January 18 - Paul Keating, twenty-fourth Prime Minister of Australia
- January 23 - Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor
- January 24 - Neil Diamond, American singer
- January 26 - Angela Davis, American feminist and activist
- January 27 - Mairead Corrigan, Irish activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- January 27 - Nick Mason, English drummer (Pink Floyd)
February
- February 3 - Dave Davies, British musician (The Kinks)
- February 5 - Al Kooper, American musician (Blood, Sweat, and Tears)
- February 5 - Michael Mann, American film, director, writer, producer
- February 9 - Alice Walker, American writer
- February 10 - Vernor Vinge, American writer
- February 11 - Michael G. Oxley, American politician
- February 13 - Stockard Channing, American actress
- February 13 - Jerry Springer, English-born television host
- February 14 - Carl Bernstein, American journalist
- February 14 - Alan Parker, English-born film director, actor, and writer
- February 16 - Richard Ford, American writer
- February 17 - Karl Jenkins, Welsh composer
- February 20 - Willem van Hanegem, Dutch football player and coach
- February 22 - Jonathan Demme, American film director, producer, and writer
- February 22 - Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player
- February 23 - Johnny Winter, American musician
- February 24 - Nicky Hopkins, British musician (d. 1994)
- February 28 - Sepp Maier, German footballer
March
- March 1 - John Breaux, U.S. Senator from Louisiana
- March 1 - Roger Daltrey, English musician (The Who)
- March 2 - Uschi Glas, German actress
- March 6 - Kiri Te Kanawa, New Zealand soprano
- March 11 - Don MacLean, British comedian
- March 15 - Sly Stone, American singer
- March 17 - John Sebastian, American singer and songwriter (The Lovin' Spoonful)
- March 19 - Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize
- March 19 - Sirhan Sirhan, Palestinian assassin of Robert F. Kennedy
- March 24 - R. Lee Ermey, U.S. Marine and actor
- March 26 - Diana Ross, American singer
- March 28 - Rick Barry, American basketball player
- March 29 - Denny McLain, baseball player
April
- April 3 - Tony Orlando, American musician
- April 4 - Craig T. Nelson, American actor
- April 6 - Felicity Palmer, English soprano
- April 7 - Gerhard Schröder, Chancellor of Germany
- April 8 - Odd Nerdrum, Norwegian painter
- April 11 - John Milius, American film director, producer, and screenwriter
- April 19 - James Heckman, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- April 22 - Steve Fossett, American millionaire adventurer
- April 28 - Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe, Belgian politician
- April 29 - Richard Kline, American actor and television director
- April 30 - Jill Clayburgh, American actress
May
- May 1 - Suresh Kalmadi, Indian politician
- May 5 - John Rhys-Davies, Welsh actor
- May 8 - Gary Glitter, English singer
- May 9 - Richie Furay, American musician (Poco and Buffalo Springfield)
- May 10 - Jim Abrahams, American film director
- May 13 - Armistead Maupin, American author
- May 12 - Sara Kestelman, British actor
- May 14 - George Lucas, American film director and producer
- May 20 - Joe Cocker, British singer
- May 20 - Boudewijn de Groot, Dutch singer
- May 20 - Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman
- May 21 - Mary Robinson, President of Ireland
- May 25 - Frank Oz, English puppeteer and film director
- May 28 - Rudy Giuliani, Mayor of New York City
- May 28 - Gladys Knight, American singer
- May 30 - Meredith MacRae, American actress (d. 2000)
June-October
- June 3 - Edith McGuire, American sprinter
- June 5 - Tommie Smith, American athlete
- June 6 - Phillip Allen Sharp, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- June 8 - Mark Belanger, baseball player (d. 1998)
- June 24 - Jeff Beck, British musician
- June 29 - Gary Busey, American actor
- June 30 - Raymond Moody, parapsychologist
- July 13 - Ernő Rubik, Hungarian inventor
- July 17 - Mark Burgess, New Zealand cricket captains
- July 21 - Tony Scott, English film director
- July 21 - Paul Wellstone, U.S. Senator from Minnesota (d. 2002)
- July 27 - Tony Capstick, English comedian, actor, and musician (d. 2003)
- July 31 - Geraldine Chaplin, American actress
- July 31 - Robert Carhart Merton, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 2 - Jim Capaldi, British drummer, singer, and songwriter (Traffic) (d. 2005)
- August 4 - Richard Belzer, American actor and comedian
- August 8 - Brooke Bundy, American actress
- August 9 - Sam Elliott, American actor
- August 11 - Ian McDiarmid, Scottish actor
- August 21 - Peter Weir, Australian film director
- August 23 - Saira Banu, Indian actress
- August 26- Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
- September 1 - Leonard Slatkin, American conductor
- September 2 - Al Matthews, American actor (d. 2002)
- September 7 - Earl Manigault, American basketball player (d. 1998)
- September 7 - Bora Milutinovic, Serbian football coach
- September 12 - Leonard Peltier, U.S. Presidential candidate
- September 12 - Barry White, American singer (d. 2003)
- September 21 - Hamilton Jordan, Carter's 1ST Chief of Staff
- September 22 - Frazer Hines, British actor
- September 25 - Michael Douglas, American actor
- September 26 - Anne Robinson, British television host
- October 9 - John Entwistle, English bassist (The Who) (d. 2002)
- October 9 - Nona Hendryx, singer (LaBelle)
- October 9 - Peter Tosh, Jamaican singer and musician (d. 1987)
- October 15 - David Trimble, Irish politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- October 28 - Dennis Franz, American actor
- October 28 - Ian Marter, British actor (d. 1986)
November-December
- November 1 - Rafik Bahaa Edine Hariri, Lebanese Prime Minister 1992 - 1998 (d. 2005).
- November 9 - Melvin Maskin, American teacher
- November 10 - Silvestre Reyes, American politician
- November 12 - Booker T. Jones, American musician, singer, and songwriter (Booker T. and the M.G.'s)
- November 12 - Al Michaels, American sportscaster
- November 17 - Danny DeVito, American actor
- November 17 - Rem Koolhaas, Dutch architect
- November 17 - Lorne Michaels, American film producer
- November 17 - Tom Seaver, baseball player
- November 21 - Dick Durbin, American politician
- November 25 - Ben Stein, American law professor, actor, and author
- December 7 - Daniel Chorzempa, American organist
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