Timeline October 1944

Events in October 1944 21

• 1873 – 1944 Al Smith (1873-1944) Died 4 October 1944, aged 70 Four-term Governor of New York and a progressive reformer. In 1928 he became the first Catholic nominated for president by a major party, losing to Herbert Hoover. He later led the construction of the Empire State Building.
• 1877 – 1944 Charles Glover Barkla (1877-1944) Died 23 October 1944, aged 67 English physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917 for his discovery of the characteristic X-rays emitted by elements. His work on X-ray scattering contributed to understanding atomic structure. He was professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh.
• 1881 – 1944 William Temple (1881-1944) Died 26 October 1944, aged 63 Archbishop of Canterbury from 1942 and earlier Archbishop of York. He was an influential advocate of Christian social reform and an early promoter of the idea of the welfare state. He was a leading figure in the ecumenical movement.
• 1891 – 1944 Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) Died 14 October 1944, aged 52 German field marshal known as the Desert Fox for his command of the Afrika Korps in North Africa. He later commanded forces defending the Atlantic Wall in Normandy. Implicated in the 20 July plot, he was forced to take poison in exchange for protection for his family.
• 1892 – 1944 Wendell Willkie (1892-1944) Died 8 October 1944, aged 52 American lawyer and businessman who was the Republican nominee for president in 1940, losing to Franklin D. Roosevelt. He went on to support aid to Britain and international cooperation. His book One World was a bestseller.
• 1898 – 1944 Viktor Ullmann (1898-1944) Died 18 October 1944, aged 46 Austrian-Czech composer who continued to compose while imprisoned in Theresienstadt. He wrote the opera The Emperor of Atlantis there. He was murdered at Auschwitz.
• 1944 Warsaw Uprising Polish Home Army fights for 63 days The Polish Home Army rose up against German occupation in Warsaw on August 1, 1944, fighting for 63 days. Stalin halted the Soviet advance to allow the Germans to crush the uprising. 200,000 Polish civilians were killed.
• 1944 Warsaw Uprising Polish Home Army rises against German occupation The Polish Home Army launched an uprising to liberate Warsaw before the Red Army arrived. After 63 days of fighting with little outside help, the insurgents surrendered on 2 October. Around 150,000 to 200,000 civilians were killed and the Germans then systematically razed the city.
• 1944 Dumbarton Oaks Conference Allies draft the blueprint for the United Nations Delegations from the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and China met in Washington, D.C. to draft proposals for a postwar international organisation. They agreed a structure that included a Security Council with permanent members. Their proposals became the basis for the UN Charter adopted in 1945.
• 1944 Slovak National Uprising Armed revolt against the Tiso regime Slovak army units and partisans rose against Germany and the collaborationist Slovak state, with their centre at Banská Bystrica. German forces put down the uprising after two months. Resistance continued as guerrilla warfare in the mountains.
• 1944 Battle of Aachen First major German city to fall to the Allies US forces surrounded and then fought street by street through the ancient city of Aachen. The German garrison surrendered on 21 October. Aachen was the first city on German soil to be captured by the Western Allies.
• 1944 – 2020 Roy Horn (1944-2020) Died 8 May 2020, aged 75 Roy Horn was the German-American illusionist and animal trainer of the Las Vegas duo Siegfried & Roy, famous for their shows with white tigers and lions. He died of complications from COVID-19 on 8 May 2020.
• 1944 Sonderkommando revolt at Auschwitz Prisoners rise up and destroy a crematorium Jewish Sonderkommando prisoners at Auschwitz-Birkenau revolted and blew up Crematorium IV with gunpowder smuggled from a munitions factory by women prisoners. Around 250 prisoners were killed during the revolt and many more were executed afterwards. Four of the women who smuggled the explosives were hanged in January 1945.
• 1944 – 2002 John Entwistle (1944-2002) Died 27 June 2002, aged 57 John Entwistle was the bassist of The Who, whose fast, melodic, trebly playing on songs such as 'My Generation' made him one of rock's most admired bass players. Nicknamed the Ox for his stillness on stage amid the band's chaos, he also wrote several of their songs, including 'Boris the Spider'. He died in a Las Vegas hotel on the eve of a US tour.
• 1944 Liberation of Athens German forces withdraw from the Greek capital German troops left Athens after three and a half years of occupation, and crowds celebrated in the streets. British forces and the Greek government-in-exile under Georgios Papandreou arrived days later. Tensions between the government and the communist-led resistance grew quickly.
• 1944 Arrow Cross seizes power in Hungary Horthy overthrown after armistice attempt Regent Horthy announced an armistice with the Soviet Union. German forces then kidnapped his son and forced Horthy to resign. Ferenc Szálasi's fascist Arrow Cross Party took power and began a reign of terror against Budapest's Jews.
• 1944 – 2022 David Trimble (1944-2022) Died 25 July 2022, aged 77 Northern Irish politician who shared the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize for his part in the Good Friday Agreement.
• 1944 – 1987 Peter Tosh (1944-1987) Died 11 September 1987, aged 42 Tosh was a Jamaican reggae musician and founding member of the Wailers alongside Bob Marley, who went on to a successful solo career and outspoken activism. He was shot and killed during a robbery at his home in Kingston, Jamaica. His death was widely mourned across the reggae world.
• 1944 Guatemalan October Revolution Uprising begins a decade of democratic reform A popular uprising of students, workers and young officers overthrew the government of Federico Ponce Vaides, successor to the dictator Jorge Ubico. The revolution led to the election of Juan José Arévalo. The ten years of reform that followed ended with the US-backed coup of 1954.
• 1944 Liberation of Belgrade Yugoslav Partisans and Red Army take the capital Yugoslav Partisans and Soviet troops drove German forces out of Belgrade after a week of fighting. Tito's movement then established its authority over Serbia. The liberation paved the way for the communist state that followed.
• 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf Largest naval battle of the Second World War The US Navy destroyed much of the remaining Japanese fleet in a series of engagements around the Philippines. The battle saw the first organised kamikaze attacks by Japanese aircraft. Afterwards the Imperial Japanese Navy was no longer able to mount major fleet operations.