Historical figures of World War II

The atlas holds 54 people and 330 moments here, from 1939 to 1945. The most recorded lives are Rabindranath Tagore, Pope John Paul II and Indira Gandhi. Among them Writers, Political Leaders and Performers.

Notable people

  1. Rabindranath Tagore

    from 1939 to 1941

    4 moments here

    Bengali poet, novelist, dramatist, composer, painter, philosopher, social reformer, and educationist.…

  2. Pope John Paul II

    from 1942 to 1945

    4 moments here

    Karol Józef Wojtyła (1920–2005), Pope John Paul II from 1978, was a Polish Catholic priest, bishop, cardinal, and pope.…

  3. Indira Gandhi

    from 1940 to 1942

    4 moments here

    Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi was an Indian stateswoman who served as prime minister from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 until her assassination in 1984.…

  4. Pablo Picasso

    from 1939 to 1945

    3 moments here

    Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and co-founder of Cubism. Born in Málaga, Picasso trained in A Coruña, Barcelona, and Madrid…

  5. J. R. R. Tolkien

    from 1939 to 1945

    3 moments here

    John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was an English philologist, university professor, and author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.…

  6. Le Corbusier

    from 1940 to 1942

    3 moments here

    Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, known as Le Corbusier, was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, painter, writer, and urban planner.…

  7. George H. W. Bush

    from 1943 to 1945

    3 moments here

    George Herbert Walker Bush was an American naval aviator, oil executive, congressman, diplomat, director of central intelligence, vice president, and…

  8. Mahatma Gandhi

    in 1942

    2 moments here

    Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, political ethicist, and leader of mass nonviolent resistance.…

  9. Mao Zedong

    in 1945

    2 moments here

    Chinese communist revolutionary and political leader who led the Chinese Communist Party and founded the People’s Republic of China.…

  10. Fidel Castro

    from 1942 to 1945

    2 moments here

    Cuban revolutionary and political leader who led the 26th of July Movement against Fulgencio Batista, became Cuba's prime minister in 1959, and later…

  11. Gabriel García Márquez

    from 1940 to 1943

    2 moments here

    Colombian novelist, journalist, screenwriter, and Nobel laureate whose life moved between Colombia, Europe, Cuba, the United States, Mexico, and…

  12. James Joyce

    from 1940 to 1941

    2 moments here

    Irish novelist, poet, and critic whose life moved between Dublin, continental Europe, and Switzerland.…

  13. Jimmy Carter

    from 1941 to 1942

    2 moments here

    James Earl Carter Jr. was an American naval officer, Georgia state senator and governor, the 39th president of the United States, and a…

  14. Agatha Christie

    in 1941

    2 moments here

    English novelist, playwright, and memoirist, internationally known for detective fiction featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.…

  15. Judy Garland

    from 1939 to 1941

    2 moments here

    American actress, singer, and vaudevillian, born Frances Ethel Gumm. Garland rose from childhood vaudeville and MGM musical films to become a major…

  16. Albert Einstein

    in 1939

    1 moment here

    German-born theoretical physicist who transformed modern physics through special and general relativity, foundational work on quantum theory, and…

  17. Charlie Chaplin

    in 1943

    1 moment here

    English actor, comedian, director, writer, producer and composer whose screen persona, the Tramp, became an international icon.…

  18. Sigmund Freud

    in 1939

    1 moment here

    Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis. This chronology traces documented locations from his Moravian birthplace and Viennese education…

  19. Salvador Dalí

    in 1940

    1 moment here

    Spanish painter, sculptor, writer, designer, filmmaker, and leading exponent of Surrealism. Born in Figueres, Dalí trained in Madrid, joined the…

  20. Marilyn Monroe

    in 1944

    1 moment here

    American actress and model born Norma Jeane Mortenson. This chronology maps verified places where Monroe lived, worked, traveled, performed, filmed,…

  21. Nikola Tesla

    in 1943

    1 moment here

    Serbian-American engineer and inventor best known for foundational work on alternating-current power systems, the induction motor, high-frequency…

  22. Elvis Presley

    in 1945

    1 moment here

    American singer and actor Elvis Aaron Presley, widely known as the “King of Rock and Roll.” Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, he grew up in Memphis,…

  23. Margaret Thatcher

    in 1943

    1 moment here

    British stateswoman Margaret Hilda Thatcher (née Roberts) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, the first woman to hold the…

  24. Yuri Gagarin

    in 1941

    1 moment here

    Soviet pilot and cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human to travel into outer space and to orbit Earth on Vostok 1 on 12 April…

Moments

  1. 1940 Regimental and corps staff work at Fort Lewis Dwight D. Eisenhower
  2. 1940 Sun Valley writing base Ernest Hemingway
  3. 1940 Consular transfer to Niterói Gabriela Mistral
  4. 1940 Secondary school in Barranquilla Gabriel García Márquez
  5. 1940 Wartime base at Lansdowne Terrace George Orwell
  6. 1940 In Switzerland during German advance Indira Gandhi
  7. 1940 Final flight to Zurich James Joyce
  8. 1940 Captured at Padoux Jean-Paul Sartre
  9. 1940 Prisoner at Stalag XII-D Jean-Paul Sartre
  10. 1940 Prisoner of war in Nancy Jean-Paul Sartre
  11. 1940 Studied at Stanford John F. Kennedy
  12. 1940 Algiers wartime planning efforts Le Corbusier
  13. 1940 Los Angeles portrait Marlene Dietrich
  14. 1940 Lived at Royal Lodge Elizabeth II
  15. 1940 Meets Panama's president during vacation Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  16. 1940 Birth in Ihithe Wangarĩ Maathai
  17. 1940 Attack at Abbeville Charles de Gaulle
  18. 1940 Counterattack at Montcornet Charles de Gaulle
  19. 1940 Relocated to Windsor Castle Elizabeth II
  20. 1940 Flat at Dorset Chambers George Orwell
  21. 1940 At Compiègne armistice ceremony Adolf Hitler
  22. 1940 Tours Paris Adolf Hitler
  23. 1940 Visits old regiment area near Fromelles Adolf Hitler
  24. 1940 Visits Strasbourg Cathedral Adolf Hitler
  25. 1940 War declaration against Britain and France Benito Mussolini
  26. 1940 Anglo-French conference at Tours Charles de Gaulle
  27. 1940 Anglo-French Supreme War Council at Briare Charles de Gaulle
  28. 1940 First meeting with Churchill Charles de Gaulle
  29. 1940 In Paris as brigadier-general Charles de Gaulle
  30. 1940 Landed at Heston before the Appeal Charles de Gaulle
  31. 1940 Meeting on the Breton redoubt Charles de Gaulle
  32. 1940 Mission from Bordeaux Charles de Gaulle
  33. 1940 Reached Plymouth from Brittany Charles de Gaulle
  34. 1940 Free French headquarters at Carlton Gardens Charles de Gaulle
  35. 1940 Returns to occupied Paris Pablo Picasso
  36. 1940 Oxford special convocation at Santiniketan Rabindranath Tagore
  37. 1940 Arrives in wartime America Salvador Dalí
  38. 1940 Medical treatment in San Francisco Frida Kahlo
  39. 1940 Meets Franco at Hendaye Adolf Hitler
  40. 1940 Meets Mussolini in Florence Adolf Hitler
  41. 1940 Meets Pétain at Montoire Adolf Hitler
  42. 1940 Brazzaville Manifesto Charles de Gaulle
  43. 1940 Establishment of the Việt Minh in Guilin Ho Chi Minh
  44. 1940 Arrest after Gorakhpur speeches Jawaharlal Nehru
  45. 1940 Visits Vienna Adolf Hitler
  46. 1940 Established the Order of Liberation Charles de Gaulle
  47. 1940 Marriage to Martha Gellhorn Ernest Hemingway
  48. 1940 Inspects Channel coast at Cap Gris-Nez Adolf Hitler
  49. 1940 Marriage and teaching in Oran Albert Camus
  50. 1940 Confers with officials in Martinique Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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