WW2: Important Dates Trivia Quiz

Answer: April 20, 1889

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889. He died on April 30, 1945, ten days after his 56th birthday from a self inflicted gunshot wound. At least that's what the history books say, and his body was never found.

Answer: September 1,1939

Although Hitler "annexed" Austria and Czechoslovakia before the invasion of Poland, he did so without a fight. On August 23, 1939 the Soviets and Germans signed the non-aggression pact giving Hitler opportunity to invade Poland. On September 1, 1939 German troops invaded Poland from the ground while Hitler's Air Force bombs polish cities from the sky.

Answer: June 22, 1940

Many countries were unprepared for the lightning war machine Hitler unleashed on Europe. Nazi troops stormed Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg. By June of 1940 Italian forces attacked France from the south and the hope for saving Paris was lost. France surrendered on June 22, 1940.

The British (and some French forces) had been evacuated from Dunkirk between May 26 and 4 June 1940.

Answer: December 7, 1941

On December 7, 1941 Japan attacked the U.S Naval Base stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The surprise attack destroyed US aircraft and naval vessels, killing 2,355 US servicemen and 68 civilians. The next day president Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a speech in which he called the attack "a date which will live in infamy" and declared war on the Empire of Japan. Four days later on December 11, Japan's allies, Italy and Germany declared war on the USA.

The sleeping giant had entered the war.

Answer: September 8,1943

With the collapse of the Fascist government earlier in July, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini found himself deposed, leaving general Pietro Badoglio to assume control. Badoglio immediately began negotiations with Eisenhower and eventually signed an unconditional surrender on September 8, 1943.

Italian insurgents finally captured Mussolini on April 28,1945. They murdered him and put his corpse on display in Milan.

Answer: June 6, 1944

On June 6, 1944 160,000 allied troops crossed the English Channel and stormed the beaches of Normandy. This was the start of a massive Allied invasion that would see over two million Allies troops in France by the end of August.

Answer: May 7, 1945

With Germany defeated the High Command general, Alfred Jodl, hoped to limit the terms of surrender to only those forces still fighting the western allies. However, General Dwight D Eisenhower demanded a complete surrender of all German troops in the east and west. If this demand was not met Eisenhower was prepared to seal off the western front, preventing any Germans from fleeing to the west to surrender, thereby leaving them in the hands of the Soviets. Jodl radioed Hitler's successor admiral Karl Donitz with the terms who then ordered Jodl to sign.

The surrender to the Soviet forces followed late the next day.

Answer: August 6, 1945

With the war in Europe over, the allies looked for a quick and decisive way to end the war in the Pacific. Battles such as Okinawa and Iwo Jima saw thousands of casualties prompting the USA to unleash its new super weapons and on August 6, 1945. Hiroshima was destroyed by the world's first atomic fire, but still Japan did not surrender, with Japanese high command in utter disbelief stating that "one bomb could not have done so much damage".

The bomb killed over 75,000 people instantly and it is believed hundreds of thousands died due to radiation sicknesses in the years after.

Answer: August 9, 1945

After the destruction of Hiroshima, Japan still refused to surrender. This prompted the Soviet Union to declare war on August 8, 1945. The next day on August 9, 1945 the United States dropped a second atomic bomb - on Nagasaki, Japan.

Answer: September 2, 1945

On August 10 1945, the day after Nagasaki, Tokyo petitioned for peace on the condition that emperor Hirohito kept his throne. The Allies accept and on September 2 1945 a formal surrender ceremony was conducted aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. World War Two was over!