World Events and Discoveries: World War II Timeline
Explore 85 dated records related to world events and discoveries between 1938 and 1946.
Dated historical records
Entries below follow the dates recorded in the WWII CHRONOS archive. Each linked title opens the original historical entry, including its source reference.
- — Creation of SNCF — Unification of France's Main Railways — The state received 51% of the new company's capital.
- — Dammam No. 7 Strikes Oil in Commercial Quantities — The commercial discovery that launched Saudi Arabia's oil era.
- — Mexico Nationalises the Oil Industry — One of the most significant nationalisations of natural resources in the twentieth century.
- — Nestlé Launches Nescafé — Industrial instant-coffee technology reaches the mass market.
- — Discovery of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) — A new polymer with exceptional chemical resistance and very low friction.
- — Technical Design of the Uglich and Rybinsk Hydroelectric Complexes Approved — Uglich HPP design capacity: 110 MW with two generating units.
- — Foundation Stone Laid for Volkswagen's Main Plant — A project for one of the largest mass-production automobile factories of its time.
- — Mallard Sets the World Steam Locomotive Speed Record — Maximum speed: approximately 203 km/h.
- — Chester Carlson Produces the First Xerographic Image — The technological basis for future mass dry-copying of documents.
- — Orson Welles's 'The War of the Worlds' Radio Broadcast — The radio drama demonstrated both the power and the risks of realistic audio journalism.
- — Hewlett-Packard Founded — The beginning of one of the key manufacturers of electronic measurement and computing equipment.
- — RCA Demonstrates Electronic Television to the Public at the New York World's Fair — An important step from experimental television toward a mass medium.
- — First Funding for the Harvard Mark I — The automatic electromechanical calculator project received its initial funding.
- — First Regular Transatlantic Passenger Flight by Pan American — 22 passengers and 11 crew aboard the Boeing 314 Dixie Clipper.
- — First Flight of the Jet-Powered Heinkel He 178 — The German experimental Heinkel He 178 made its first flight using turbojet propulsion, an important early demonstration of a powerplant principle that would transform aviation.
- — First Full-Scale Polyethylene Plant Begins Operation — Polyethylene moves from laboratory material to industrial production.
- — First Flight of the Sikorsky VS-300 Helicopter — A key prototype for the modern single-main-rotor helicopter configuration.
- — World's First Industrial Nylon Plant Begins Operation — In its first year, it produced enough nylon for about 64 million pairs of stockings.
- — High-Power Cavity Magnetron Successfully Tested in Birmingham — The technological foundation for compact microwave radar.
- — Russell Ohl Observes the p–n Junction in Silicon — A fundamental milestone for the future semiconductor industry.
- — Nylon Stockings Go on Mass Sale — Synthetic fibres enter the mass consumer market.
- — First Flight of the Caproni Campini N.1 Experimental Jet Aircraft — One of the earliest full-scale demonstrations of jet propulsion.
- — Marl Plant Produces Its First Bales of Buna Synthetic Rubber — Initial annual capacity: approximately 18,000 t.
- — Bell Labs Publicly Demonstrates Remote Computing over Telephone Lines — An early demonstration of remote access to a computing machine.
- — American Bantam Delivers the First Prototype of the Future Jeep — 49 days elapsed from order to prototype delivery.
- — Construction Begins on Kaiser's First Richmond Shipyard — The start of one of the major US centres of assembly-line shipbuilding.
- — Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) Established — The foundation for large-scale integrated steel production in Brazil.
- — Detroit Tank Arsenal Produces Its First Production Tank — Automotive mass-production methods are transferred to heavy armoured vehicles.
- — Programmable Z3 Computer Operates — Konrad Zuse demonstrated the Z3, a programmable electromechanical computing machine. It used relays and read its program from punched film.
- — First Flight of Britain's Gloster E.28/39 Jet Aircraft — The first flight lasted 17 minutes; a key milestone for Frank Whittle's jet engine.
- — State Defense Committee Launches Large-Scale Evacuation of Soviet Industry Eastward — According to consolidated historical data, 1,523 large enterprises were evacuated between July and November.
- — Willys-Overland Receives Contract for Mass Production of the Military Jeep — The Jeep design is standardised for mass production.
- — First Liberty Ship — SS Patrick Henry — Launched — Typical series length: about 134.6 m; deadweight about 10,800 t; more than 2,700 ships built during the war.
- — First Grand Coulee Generator Begins Operation — Rated output of the first generator: 108 MW.
- — First Flight of the Sikorsky XR-4 — Prototype of the First Production Helicopter — In April, the XR-4 reached about 1,520 m; during a delivery flight it covered about 1,225 km.
- — First Commercial Fluid Catalytic Cracking Reactor Starts Up — Feed throughput: about 2.23 million litres per day.
- — Messerschmitt Me 262 Makes Its First Flight on Jet Power Alone — A key milestone for the first production jet fighter.
- — Manhattan Engineer District Formally Established — Organisational start of the Oak Ridge and Hanford industrial sites.
- — First Successful Full-Scale Test of the V-2 Rocket — Length about 14 m; mass about 13.2 t; speed over 5,600 km/h.
- — Liberty Ship SS Robert E. Peary Sets a Construction-Speed Record — From keel laying to launch: 4 days, 15 hours, 29 minutes.
- — Alaska Highway Officially Opened — Original route: more than 2,400 km.
- — First Controlled Self-Sustaining Nuclear Chain Reaction — Under Enrico Fermi's leadership, Chicago Pile-1 achieved the first controlled self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, a major milestone in experimental nuclear physics.
- — First Flight of the Lockheed Constellation — A future symbol of post-war long-range piston-powered aviation.
- — Construction Begins on the First Y-12 Production Building at Oak Ridge — Start of a major electromagnetic uranium-isotope separation complex.
- — First Flight of the Gloster Meteor — The aircraft that would become Britain's first production jet aeroplane.
- — Major Construction Begins at the Hanford Industrial Complex — Start of the first complex for large-scale plutonium production.
- — Contract Signed to Build ENIAC — The Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania and the US Army sign a contract to develop the ENIAC electronic computer. One of its intended tasks is artil
- — First Flight of the First Production B-29 Built at Wichita — A milestone for one of the most complex mass-produced aircraft of the war.
- — Big Inch Oil Pipeline Completed — The trunk line stretched for more than 2,000 km.
- — Polymer Corporation Begins Industrial Production of Synthetic Rubber — Later production capacity exceeded about 36,000 t per year.
- — Discovery of the Antibiotic Streptomycin — Researchers at Rutgers identified a substance that became important in the treatment of tuberculosis.
- — Willow Run Completes Its 1,000th B-24 Bomber — The 1,000th completed B-24; a precursor to the peak assembly-line rate reached in 1944.
- — X-10 Graphite Reactor Begins Operation at Oak Ridge — The first reactor to produce plutonium continuously on a pilot-industrial scale.
- — Colossus Mk I Begins Operation at Bletchley Park — One of the first programmable electronic digital computers.
- — Little Big Inch Products Pipeline Completed — Together with Big Inch it formed a strategic fuel-delivery system to the eastern United States.
- — Hydro-Québec Created — A key step in centralisation and the later expansion of Quebec's hydroelectric system.
- — First Confirmed Air Combat by the Jet-Powered Me 262 — Jet aviation moves from testing into combat use.
- — Harvard Mark I Presented to Harvard University — IBM formally presents one of the early automatic digital calculators to the university.
- — Volvo Unveils the PV444 — The model laid the foundation for Volvo's post-war mass car production.
- — Willow Run Produces Its 6,000th B-24 — At peak output: approximately one B-24 every 63 minutes.
- — First PLUTO Pipeline to Cherbourg Begins Delivering Fuel — Initial throughput: approximately 255,000 litres per day.
- — Hanford B Reactor Reaches Criticality — The first large-scale reactor for industrial plutonium production.
- — Renault Nationalised — The state restructures one of France's major automobile manufacturers after the occupation.
- — First K-25 Production Cell Becomes Operational — The full arrangement had 54 main production units; all were operating by 15 August 1945.
- — Hanford Sends Its First Shipment of Plutonium to Los Alamos — The new industrial cycle from reactor production to chemical separation is now functioning in practice.
- — First Flight of the Vickers Viking Passenger Aircraft — One of Britain's first new passenger aircraft of the post-war era.
- — Willow Run Produces Its Final B-24 — The plant built 8,685 B-24 bombers.
- — ZEEP Reactor Reaches Criticality for the First Time — The first nuclear reactor outside the United States to achieve a self-sustaining chain reaction.
- — Rolls-Royce Trent Makes Its First Flight as an Early Turboprop Engine — A key early milestone in turboprop transport aviation.
- — First Flight of the de Havilland Dove — A symbol of aircraft factories shifting toward post-war civil production.
- — UN Charter Enters into Force — The Charter of the United Nations, signed in San Francisco on 26 June 1945, enters into force on 24 October, marking the formal beginning of the United Nations.
- — UNESCO Constitution Adopted — States agree on the founding principles of an international organisation for cooperation in education, science and culture.
- — Series Production of Volkswagen Resumes at Wolfsburg — 55 cars were produced by the end of 1945.
- — ENIAC Publicly Unveiled — The United States unveils ENIAC, a large-scale electronic digital computer whose calculation speed greatly exceeded that of most contemporary electromechanical systems.
- — Bell 47 Receives the First Civil Helicopter Certification — It opened the civilian production market for helicopters.
- — Électricité de France (EDF) Created — More than 1,650 electricity and gas companies were consolidated.
- — Piaggio Registers the Vespa Industrial Model — 2,484 scooters were produced by the end of 1946.
- — Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo — the Future Sony — Founded — The beginning of one of the emblematic companies of Japan's high-technology industry.
- — First Commercial Mobile Telephone Service Launched — Practical mobile telephony decades before cellular networks.
- — Atomic Energy Act of 1946 Signed — The US atomic complex shifts from wartime to civilian federal administration.
- — First Official Shipment of Reactor-Produced Radioisotopes Sent for Civilian Use — Reactor technology begins moving into medicine, biology and industrial research.
- — Vickers Viking Enters Regular Service with British European Airways — A new production passenger aircraft for rebuilding Europe's air network.
- — First Cannes Film Festival Opens — After the wartime interruption, Cannes hosts an international programme of screenings and cultural events.
- — Renault 4CV Publicly Unveiled at the Reopened Paris Motor Show — One of the symbols of post-war mass motorisation in Europe.
- — UNESCO Constitution Enters into Force — After the required acceptances, UNESCO's founding document acquires legal force.
For wider context, explore the interactive historical timeline and compare events across theaters.