19 Feb 1888
19 Feb 1915
  • British Vice-Admiral Sackville Carden commenced the naval attack on the Dardanelles, which all hoped would be sufficient to quell the Turks without recourse to an extensive landing by the army. Twelve capital ships in three divisions shelled the forts at the mouth of the channel, Sedd-al-Bahr on the European side and Kum Kale on the Asiatic side. Bad weather rendered the attack ineffective, and it was not resumed until 25 Feb 1915, when the fortifications were battered into submission and occupied.
19 Feb 1917
  • The US Ambassador in London, England, United Kingdom was briefed by Reginald "Blinker" Hall, head of the top secret Room 40, about the contents of the intercepted Zimmermann telegram.
19 Feb 1924
19 Feb 1929
19 Feb 1932
  • The League of Nations reviewed the facts regarding the Japanese violation of Chinese soverignty, but it would fail to result in any action against Japanese aggression.
    » In-depth article
19 Feb 1937
  • During a public ceremony in Addis Ababa, Abyssinia, two Eritrean nationalists attempted to kill Italian Viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with grenades. Italian guards fired into the crowd indiscriminately.
  • John Winant's second term as the Chairman of the United States Social Security Board ended.
    » In-depth article
19 Feb 1938
  • The British cabinet rejected Foreign Secretary Eden's proposal to request Italy to withdraw its troops from Spain. The cabinet had hoped that the presence of Italian troops in Spain would discourage further German aggression.
  • Lieutenant General Hisaichi Tanaka was named the chief of staff of the Taiwan Army.
19 Feb 1939
  • A trade agreement was signed between the Soviet Union and Poland in an attempt to strengthen Poland as a buffer against Germany.
  • Photos dated 19 Feb 1939
    Japanese troops on Hainan, China, 19 Feb 1939
19 Feb 1940
  • The Soviet 18th Division attacked across the frozen Lake Suvanto in the Taipale Sector near Lake Lagoda in eastern Karelian Isthmus. Finnish defenders, with concentrated artillery fire, halted the attack after inflicting nearly 1,000 fatalities.
    » In-depth article
  • German submarine U-23, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer, torpedoed and sank Britisher steamer Tiberton east of the Orkney Islands, Scotland at 0405 hours. Tiberton sank in 30 seconds, taking the lives of the entire crew of 30.
  • Adolf Hitler, alarmed by the Altmark Incident of 16 Feb 1940, ordered to hasten the planning of the invasion of Norway.
    » In-depth article
  • US Secretary of State Hull extended the American moral embargo to include the Soviet Union.
19 Feb 1941
  • The Australian 8th Division arrived in Singapore.
    » In-depth article
  • German bombers began a three-day campaign against the port city of Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom.
    » In-depth article
  • British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, Chief of the General Staff John Dill, Commander-in-Chief Middle East General Archibald Wavell, and Mediterranean Fleet chief Admiral Andrew Cunningham met in Cairo, Egypt to discuss diverting forces from North Africa to aid Greece.
    » In-depth article
  • The name German Africa Korps (Deutsches Afrikakorps) was established for German forces in North Africa. It began to patrol out of Tripoli, Libya.
    » In-depth article
  • German Motor Torpedo Boats S.28, S.101, and S.102 raided the coast of Norfolk, England, United Kingdom, sinking British ship Algarve off Sheringham, killing the entire crew.
  • British submarine HMS Tigris sank French ships Jacobsen and Guilvinec 60 miles west of Bayonne, France.
  • German submarine U-69 sank British ship Empire Blanda west of Scotland, United Kingdom at 0818 hours, killing 39.
  • German submarine U-103 sank Norwegian ship Benjamin Franklin 360 miles northwest of Ireland at 2222 hours; the entire crew of 36 survived.
19 Feb 1942
  • Japanese carrier aircraft launched 152 bombers and 36 fighters at 0845 hours. The attack force reached Darwin, Australia at 0958 hours and attacked the port city for the subsequent 42 minutes, sinking US destroyer USS Peary (93 killed, 49 survived), US transport USAT Meigs, merchant ship Zealandia, US merchant ship Mauna Loa, British freighter Neptuna, British tanker British Motorist, and coal storage hulk Kelat. 7 Japanese aircraft were lost in this first raid, while 7 American P-40 fighters were destroyed (4 in combat, 3 on the ground). Later in the day, 54 land-based bombers based in Kendari, Celebes, Dutch East Indies arrived for a second raid, destroying 6 Australian Hudson light bombers, 1 US B-24 Liberator bomber, and 2 US P-40 fighters.
    » In-depth article
  • Vichy government in France tried General Gamelin, Leon Blum, and Paul Reynaud for being responsible for 1940 defeat, but the trial would not be carried through.
  • Japanese troops landed at Denpasar, Bali in the Dutch East Indies unopposed before dawn. At 0700 hours, as the Japanese troops transports departed Bali and began to sail for their home ports, 20 American aircraft attacked the convoy, damaging transport Sagami Maru. At 2200 hours, as the Japanese convoy sailed through the Badung Strait, it was engaged by Dutch cruiser De Ruyter, Dutch cruiser Java, and 3 US and Dutch destroyers; Dutch destroyer Piet Hein was sunk by Japanese torpedoes in the battle, killing 64.
    » In-depth article
  • US President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, allowing the US military to relocate Japanese-Americans to internment camps.
    » In-depth article
  • The Canadian Parliament voted for military conscription.
  • Mandalay, Burma came under aerial attack for the first time. Meanwhile, the Japanese 143rd Regiment, having crossed the Bilin Estuary arrived at Taungzon, effectively bypassing the British and Indian positions along the Bilin River; Lieutenant General Hutton had no option but to permit a withdrawal to the Sittang.
    » In-depth article
  • Georg von Bismarck was promoted to the rank of Generalmajor.
    » In-depth article
  • Mitsuo Fuchida led the first of two waves of attacks during a raid on Darwin, Australia.
    » In-depth article
  • The US Marine Corps 9th Defense Battalion arrived at Guantanamo Bay on the island of Cuba from Norfolk, Virginia, United States via USS Biddle.
  • Major changes were made to the British War Cabinet. Sir Stafford Cripps became Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons. Mr. Clement Atlee became Secretary for the Dominions and Mr. Oliver Lyttleton was appointed Minister of State with special responsibilities for all branches of production. Outgoing Ministers of the Cabinet were Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Kingsley Wood and Mr. Arthur Greenwood.
    » In-depth article
  • Akagi's aircraft participated in the raid on Port Darwin and saw 9 ships damaged and 18 aircraft destroyed.
    » In-depth article
    » Tabular Record of Movement
  • Yamato departed Hashirajima with Battleship Division 1 for training in the Iyo Nada. She returned later on the same day.
    » In-depth article
    » Tabular Record of Movement
  • USS Skipjack attacked a Japanese ship east of Borneo; both torpedoes missed.
    » In-depth article
19 Feb 1943
  • Rommel launched a surprise counter-attack at Kasserine Pass, Tunisia, overwhelming the fresh but inexperienced Americans.
    » In-depth article
  • German Army Group South began a counteroffensive toward Kharkov, Ukraine and Belgorod, Russia.
    » In-depth article
  • Repair ship Akashi began repairing destroyer Hamakaze at Truk, Caroline Islands.
    » In-depth article
    » Tabular Record of Movement
  • Photos dated 19 Feb 1943
    Jorge Vargas, President of the Japanese-sponsored Philippine Executive Commission, speaking in public with his daughter, 19 Feb 1943
19 Feb 1944
  • Saboteurs in Denmark damaged rail lines around Aarhus.
  • RAF bombers attacked Leipzig, Germany.
    » In-depth article
  • 141 Libyan Jews held at the Fossoli transit camp near Modena, Italy were deported to Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp.
    » In-depth article
  • The British Royal Navy's Second Escort Group (Captain F. J. Walker CB, DSO and three bars) sank the German submarine U-264.
  • Photos dated 19 Feb 1944
    A US Marine dirty after two days of fighting on Eniwetok, Feb 1944Men of the US Marine Corps 22nd Regiment taking position on Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, 17-21 Feb 1944Field Marshal Erwin Rommel inspecting the Atlantic Wall at Lorient, France, 19 Feb 1944USS Pintado underway in the Atlantic Ocean, 19 Feb 1944
19 Feb 1945
  • John Basilone passed away.
    » In-depth article
  • German 1st Infantry Division, 3rd Panzer Army, and 4th Army launched a counter attack in East Prussia, Germany, which was spearheaded by a captured Soviet T-34 tank. It opened a corridor between Königsberg and Pillau. The troops would hold this corridor open until early Apr, allowing thousands of civilians to be evacuated by German Navy ships.
    » In-depth article
  • At 0905 hours, the first of 30,000 US Marines landed on Iwo Jima, Japan after heavy naval bombardment.
    » In-depth article
  • German V-2 rocket hit Bawn's factory at Blackhorse Lane in Walthamstow, London, England, United Kingdom at 1420 hours. It wrecked 12 houses, damaged 500 houses, killed 18, seriously injured 53, and lightly injured 150.
  • Heinrich Himmler made his first contact with Swedish Count Folke Bernadotte regarding a separate peace.
    » In-depth article
  • US troops landed on Samar and Capul in the Philippine Islands.
    » In-depth article
  • Units of the US 8th Division began encircling German troops trapped within the Siegfried Line.
    » In-depth article
  • 119 American B-29 bombers attacked the port and urban areas of Tokyo, Japan.
    » In-depth article
  • Air Group 80 flew 2 strikes against Iwo Jima and fighter squadron 80 flew 1 strike against Chichi Jima and Haha Jima (both groups from USS Hancock); 1 aircraft was lost.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Sea Cat damaged a small Japanese ship with her deck gun.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Mingo departed Fremantle, Australia, resuming her seventh war patrol.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Missouri bombarded Iwo Jima, Japan.
    » In-depth article
  • Photos dated 19 Feb 1945
    Fifth Division Marines moving inland off the beach, after coming ashore on Iwo Jima, 19 Feb 1945; note Mount Suribachi in backgroundDowned invaders on the beaches of Iwo Jima, Feb 1945US Marine M4A3 Sherman flame tank, also known as Men of USMC 5th Division advancing through the volcanic ash hills of Red Beach No. 1 at Iwo Jima, Japan, 19 Feb 1945, photo 1 of 2
    See all photos dated 19 Feb 1945
19 Feb 1946
19 Feb 1953
19 Feb 1957

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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Truman holding a copy of Chicago Tribune that mistakenly anticipated his defeat in the 1948 election by Thomas Dewey, Union Station, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, 3 Nov 1948, photo 1 of 2
Truman holding a copy of Chicago Tribune that mistakenly anticipated his defeat in the 1948 election by Thomas Dewey, Union Station, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, 3 Nov 1948, photo 1 of 2



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"With Germany arming at breakneck speed, England lost in a pacifist dream, France corrupt and torn by dissension, America remote and indifferent... do you not tremble for your children?"

Winston Churchill, 1935