19 Aug 1939
  • Sir Malcolm Campbell set a new World Water Speed Record on Coniston waters in England, United Kingdom with a recorded speed of 141 miles per hour. ww2dbase [AC]
  • The German Navy ordered 21 submarines and two capital ships to prepare for sailing at any given time. The captains of Admiral Graf Spee and Deutschland received orders to go to Brazilian and North Atlantic waters, respectively. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | CPC]
Germany
  • U-40 departed Wilhelmshaven, Germany for her first war patrol. She was to patrol waters off of Gibraltar. ww2dbase [U-40 | Wilhelmshaven, Weser-Ems | CPC]
Russia
  • At 1910 hours, Berlin, Germany received the official response from the Soviet Union, via the German embassy in Moscow, Russia, for Joachim von Ribbentrop's visit; the proposed date of the conference was set for 26 Aug, but Ribbentrop would soon attempt to move up the date of the meeting. Shortly before Berlin received the message, Joseph Stalin announced to the Politburo his intention to befriend Germany. ww2dbase [Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact | Moscow | CPC]

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




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Men of US 1st Marine Division with M26 Pershing tank near Chosin Reservoir, Korea, Dec 1950

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Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, 16 Mar 1945


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