The Holocaust, during which some 6 million Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and other people were systematically exterminated by Nazi Germany during World War II, was one of the most horrific war crimes ever committed.

Art, Literature and Film History

Best-selling Millennium trilogy author Stieg Larsson dies at 50

2004

European History

Jean-Paul Sartre denounces communism

1956

Willie Nelson’s assets are seized by the IRS

1990

Natural Disasters &amp; Environment

The Great Northeast Blackout

1965

Holocaust

Nazis launch Kristallnacht

1938

Vietnam War

Supreme Court refuses to rule on legality of Vietnam War

1970

Antiwar protestor sets himself afire

Crime

A Sunday school teacher murders his family and goes undercover for 18 years

1971

Cold War

East Germany opens the Berlin Wall

1989

Civil War

Ambrose Burnside assumes command of the Army of the Potomac

1862

Dayton, Ohio shooting becomes second mass shooting in 24-hour period

2019

Immigration

U.S. and Mexico sign the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement

1942

Sports

Oscar Pistorius becomes the first amputee runner to compete at the Olympics

2012

Colonial America

George Washington becomes a Master Mason

1753

Black History

Slain civil rights workers found

1964

Exploration

Russians begin to settle Alaska

1784

Lizzie Borden's parents found dead

1892

Anne Frank captured

1944

Jesse Owens wins long jump—and respect—in Germany

1936

19th Century

Colonel Custer and 7th Cavalry clash with Indians

1873

“Talladega Nights” released in theaters

2006

World War I

U.S. proclaims neutrality in World War I

1914

The Holocaust was one of the worst war crimes ever committed. Learn more about Anne Frank, Kristallnacht, Nazi concentration camps and other Holocaust facts.

Holocaust: Definition and Facts | HISTORY

Home

HISTORY

Videos

<a href="http://history.com/">HISTORY.com</a> works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Articles with the “HISTORY.com Editors” byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including <a href="https://www.history.com/author/amanda-onion">Amanda Onion</a>, <a href="https://www.history.com/author/missy-sullivan">Missy Sullivan</a>, <a href="https://www.history.com/author/matt-mullen">Matt Mullen</a> and Christian Zapata.

History.com Editors

Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day in 1944, the largest amphibious invasion in history. Weeks later, the Allies liberated Paris from its Nazi occupiers. Meanwhile, Soviet forces battered the Nazis on WWII’s eastern front. In the U.S., Franklin Roosevelt won an unprecedented fourth presidential term and Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall starred in their first film together, “To Have and Have Not,” introducing the immortal line, “You know how to whistle, don’t you?” 

Discover what happened on May 31 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

May 31

Discover what happened on September 29 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

September 29

Discover what happened on July 6 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

July 6

World War II ended in 1945, after Germany surrendered in May and Japan capitulated in August, days after powerful new atomic bombs exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Two months later, 29 nations ratified a charter to form the United Nations. Writer George Orwell coined the term “cold war,” predicting icy relations between the U.S. and U.S.S.R., while popular songs like “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" and “Sentimental Journey” reflected the stateside mood as some 4 million G.I.s returned home.

1945

In 1942, the U.S. Navy defeated the Japanese Navy in the Battle of Midway, a turning point of the war in the Pacific, while in Germany, Nazi officials met to plan the “Final Solution” and Anne Frank’s family went into hiding. As FDR ordered Japanese Americans into wartime incarceration camps, false reports of a Japanese attack set California skies ablaze with anti-aircraft fire in the “Battle of Los Angeles.” Americans supported the war effort with scrap drives and victory gardens.

Discover what happened on December 15 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

December 15

1962

Cold War tensions spiked after the Soviets shot down an American spy plane and captured its pilot. John F. Kennedy beat Richard Nixon in a tight presidential race, and in Greensboro, N.C., four Black college students refused to leave a “whites-only” lunch counter. The median U.S. home price hovered at $11,900, while median income was $5,600. And on the pop culture front, Chubby Checker’s “Twist” became a worldwide dance craze, and Alfred Hitchcock’s "Psycho" made showers a whole lot scarier.

1960

1987

1961

Discover what happened on January 11 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

January 11

Discover what happened on November 9 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

November 9

As the Depression era ended, World War II began. Nazi troops goosestepped into Poland, and in response, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. Hitler ally Francisco Franco seized power in Spain, having defeated the democratically elected government in the Spanish Civil War. In the still-neutral U.S., a terrorist bomb exploded at the New York World’s Fair, while in fictional Gotham City, Batman made his comic book debut. College students, meanwhile, battled to see who could gulp the most live goldfish.

1939

Discover what happened on April 29 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

April 29

Discover what happened on August 4 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

August 4

2010

After the surprise December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the U.S. entered World War II. Earlier in the year, Germany invaded the Soviet Union and, in one of many Nazi atrocities, executed 30,000 Jews in the Babi Yar massacre. In the U.S., Mount Rushmore was completed, Wonder Woman made her debut, “Citizen Kane” launched at the box office and General Mills introduced a new breakfast cereal called Cheerioats.

1941

Discover what happened on May 27 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

May 27

Discover what happened on August 1 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

August 1

Discover what happened on August 17 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

August 17

During the 1980s, conservative politics and Reaganomics held sway as the Berlin Wall crumbled, new computer technologies emerged, AIDS ravaged the United States, especially the gay male community, and blockbuster movies and MTV reshaped pop culture.

1980s

Discover what happened on May 11 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

Holocaust ‑ This Day In History

Anne Frank writes her last diary entry

Ship carrying hundreds of Jewish refugees, fleeing Nazi Germany, is turned away in Cuba

This Day in History Video: What Happened on November 9

This Day in History Video: What Happened on August 4

Miep Gies, who hid Anne Frank, dies at 100

High‑ranking Nazi official Adolf Eichmann captured

Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s last living henchman, dies

Anne Frank’s family takes refuge

U.S. Army liberates Dachau concentration camp

Babi Yar massacre begins

Architect of the Holocaust sentenced to die

Architect of the Holocaust hanged in Israel