Timeline

20th century

1. November 7, 1917★★★★★

   October Revolution

   The Bolsheviks led by Lenin overthrow the Provisional Government in Petrograd (25 October in the Julian calendar then used in Russia).

   Revolution· Russia
2. July 17, 1918★★★★★

   Execution of the Romanov family

   Former Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, their children and their retainers are shot by the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg.

   DeathRevolution· Russia
3. June 28, 1919★★★★★

   Treaty of Versailles

   The peace treaty ending the war between Germany and the Allies is signed in the Hall of Mirrors, imposing war guilt, territorial losses and heavy reparations on Germany.

   Treaty· France, Germany, United Kingdom, United States, Italy
4. October 28, 1922★★★★★

   March on Rome

   Benito Mussolini's Fascists march on Rome; King Victor Emmanuel III appoints Mussolini prime minister, beginning Fascist rule in Italy.

   Politics· Italy
5. December 6, 1922★★★★★

   Irish Free State established

   Under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State is established as a self-governing dominion of the British Commonwealth.

   Politics· Ireland, United Kingdom
6. December 30, 1922★★★★★

   Founding of the Soviet Union

   The Treaty on the Creation of the USSR unites Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasian Federation into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

   Politics· Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan
7. January 21, 1924★★★★★

   Death of Lenin

   Vladimir Lenin, founder of the Soviet state, dies after a series of strokes, opening a power struggle won by Stalin.

   DeathPolitics· Russia
8. January 26, 1926★★★★★

   Baird demonstrates television

   John Logie Baird demonstrates a mechanical television system transmitting live moving images in London.

   Technology· United Kingdom
9. May 20, 1927 – May 21, 1927★★★★★

   Lindbergh's solo transatlantic flight

   Charles Lindbergh flies solo and nonstop from New York to Paris in the Spirit of St. Louis.

   TechnologyExploration· United States, France
10. September 28, 1928★★★★★

    Fleming discovers penicillin

    Alexander Fleming notices Penicillium mould killing bacteria, paving the way for the antibiotic era.

    Science· United Kingdom
11. January 30, 1933★★★★★

    Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany

    President Paul von Hindenburg appoints Adolf Hitler Chancellor; the Nazis rapidly dismantle Weimar democracy and establish a dictatorship.

    Politics· Germany
12. July 17, 1936 – April 1, 1939★★★★★

    Spanish Civil War

    Nationalists led by Francisco Franco fight the Republicans; Franco's victory leads to a dictatorship lasting until 1975.

    War· Spain
13. 1937★★★★★

    Picasso paints Guernica

    Pablo Picasso completes Guernica in response to the bombing of the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War; it becomes an enduring anti-war icon.

    Art· France, Spain
14. April 26, 1937★★★★★

    Bombing of Guernica

    German and Italian aircraft supporting the Nationalists bomb the Basque town of Guernica, an event depicted in Picasso's famous painting.

    WarDisaster· Spain, Germany, Italy
15. September 30, 1938★★★★★

    Munich Agreement

    Britain, France, Italy and Germany agree to Germany's annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland, the high point of the appeasement of Hitler.

    TreatyPolitics· Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Czechia
16. November 9, 1938 – November 10, 1938★★★★★

    Kristallnacht

    An organised pogrom against Jews across Germany and Austria destroys thousands of shops and synagogues, with about 30,000 people arrested.

    PoliticsReligion· Germany, Austria
17. December 1938★★★★★

    Discovery of nuclear fission

    Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann discover the fission of uranium nuclei; Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch explain the process shortly after.

    Science· Germany
18. August 23, 1939★★★★★

    Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact

    Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact with a secret protocol dividing Eastern Europe into spheres of influence.

    Treaty· Germany, Russia, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland
19. July 10, 1940 – October 31, 1940★★★★★

    Battle of Britain

    The Royal Air Force repels a large-scale air campaign by the Luftwaffe, forcing Hitler to postpone his planned invasion of Britain.

    War· United Kingdom, Germany
20. 1941 – 1945★★★★★

    The Holocaust

    Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murder some six million European Jews, along with millions of other victims.

    WarDeath· Germany, Poland, Austria, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Czechia, Netherlands, France
21. June 22, 1941★★★★★

    Operation Barbarossa: Germany invades the Soviet Union

    Nazi Germany and its allies launch a massive invasion of the Soviet Union, opening the Eastern Front, the largest theatre of the Second World War.

    War· Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia
22. September 8, 1941 – January 27, 1944★★★★★

    Siege of Leningrad

    German and Finnish forces besiege Leningrad for nearly 900 days; around a million civilians die, mostly from starvation.

    WarDisaster· Russia, Germany, Finland
23. January 20, 1942★★★★★

    Wannsee Conference

    Senior Nazi officials meet at Wannsee near Berlin to coordinate the "Final Solution" to murder Europe's Jews.

    Politics· Germany
24. August 23, 1942 – February 2, 1943★★★★★

    Battle of Stalingrad

    The Red Army encircles and forces the surrender of the German Sixth Army, a decisive turning point on the Eastern Front.

    War· Russia, Germany
25. July 5, 1943 – August 23, 1943★★★★★

    Battle of Kursk

    Germany's last major offensive on the Eastern Front fails against Soviet defences in one of the largest tank battles in history.

    War· Russia, Germany
26. June 6, 1944★★★★★

    D-Day: the Normandy landings

    Allied forces carry out the largest seaborne invasion in history on the Normandy coast, opening a Western Front to liberate Western Europe.

    War· France, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany
27. January 27, 1945★★★★★

    Liberation of Auschwitz

    The Red Army liberates the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp, where about 1.1 million people were murdered; the date is now International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

    War· Poland, Germany, Russia
28. February 4, 1945 – February 11, 1945★★★★★

    Yalta Conference

    Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin meet at Yalta to discuss the post-war reorganisation of Europe and the world.

    PoliticsTreaty· Ukraine, United States, United Kingdom, Russia
29. April 30, 1945★★★★★

    Death of Adolf Hitler

    As the Red Army closes in on Berlin, Adolf Hitler kills himself in his underground bunker.

    Death· Germany
30. May 8, 1945★★★★★

    Victory in Europe Day

    The Allies formally accept Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender, ending the Second World War in Europe.

    War· Germany, United Kingdom, United States, France, Russia
31. November 20, 1945 – October 1, 1946★★★★★

    Nuremberg trials

    An international military tribunal tries leading Nazi figures for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    Politics· Germany, United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia
32. March 5, 1946★★★★★

    Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech

    At Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill declares that an "iron curtain" has descended across Europe, a symbolic marker of the early Cold War.

    Politics· United Kingdom, United States
33. December 19, 1946 – 1954★★★★★

    First Indochina War

    War between the Việt Minh and France breaks out in Hanoi and lasts until the Geneva Accords of 1954.

    War· Vietnam, France, Laos, Cambodia
34. April 3, 1948★★★★★

    Marshall Plan

    The United States enacts a large-scale economic aid programme to rebuild Western European economies after the Second World War.

    EconomyPolitics· United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands
35. June 24, 1948 – May 12, 1949★★★★★

    Berlin Blockade and Airlift

    The Soviet Union blocks road and rail access to West Berlin; the Western Allies respond by supplying the city through an airlift for almost a year.

    Politics· Germany, Russia, United States, United Kingdom, France
36. 1949★★★★★

    State of Vietnam established

    France establishes the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with former emperor Bảo Đại as head of state.

    Politics· Vietnam, France
37. April 4, 1949★★★★★

    NATO founded

    Twelve North American and Western European countries sign the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, creating the NATO collective defence alliance.

    TreatyPolitics· United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Iceland
38. May 23, 1949 – October 7, 1949★★★★★

    Germany divided: West and East Germany founded

    The Federal Republic of Germany is founded in the Western occupation zones, followed by the German Democratic Republic in the Soviet zone.

    Politics· Germany
39. March 5, 1953★★★★★

    Death of Joseph Stalin

    Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union since the mid-1920s, dies near Moscow, opening the way to de-Stalinisation under Khrushchev.

    DeathPolitics· Russia
40. April 25, 1953★★★★★

    Structure of DNA published

    James Watson and Francis Crick publish the double-helix model of DNA in Nature, drawing in part on Rosalind Franklin's X-ray diffraction data.

    Science· United Kingdom
41. July 21, 1954★★★★★

    Geneva Accords on Indochina

    The Geneva Conference ends the First Indochina War, temporarily partitioning Vietnam at the 17th parallel pending elections planned for 1956.

    Treaty· Vietnam, France, Laos, Cambodia, Switzerland
42. October 23, 1956 – November 10, 1956★★★★★

    Hungarian Revolution of 1956

    A nationwide uprising against Hungary's Soviet-backed government is crushed by Soviet forces.

    Revolution· Hungary, Russia
43. March 25, 1957★★★★★

    Treaty of Rome establishes the European Economic Community

    Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands sign the treaty creating the European Economic Community, forerunner of the European Union.

    TreatyEconomy· Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands
44. April 12, 1961★★★★★

    Gagarin becomes the first human in space

    Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth aboard Vostok 1, becoming the first human in space.

    ExplorationTechnology· Russia, Kazakhstan
45. August 13, 1961★★★★★

    Construction of the Berlin Wall

    East German authorities begin erecting barriers, later a wall, sealing off West Berlin from East Berlin, a defining symbol of the Cold War.

    Politics· Germany
46. October 11, 1962★★★★★

    Second Vatican Council opens

    Pope John XXIII opens the Second Vatican Council, which brings sweeping reforms to the Catholic Church.

    Religion· Vatican City
47. June 16, 1963★★★★★

    Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space

    Valentina Tereshkova flies into orbit aboard Vostok 6, becoming the first woman in space.

    Exploration· Russia, Kazakhstan
48. January 24, 1965★★★★★

    Death of Winston Churchill

    Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill dies in London and is given a state funeral.

    Death· United Kingdom
49. January 5, 1968 – August 21, 1968★★★★★

    Prague Spring

    A period of political liberalisation in Czechoslovakia under Alexander Dubček ends when Warsaw Pact armies invade the country.

    PoliticsRevolution· Czechia, Slovakia, Russia
50. May 1968 – June 1968★★★★★

    May 1968 events in France

    Student protests and a nationwide general strike shake France, leaving a lasting mark on its culture and society.

    PoliticsCulture· France