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Ad*Access

Over 7,000 U.S. and Canadian advertisements covering five product categories - Beauty and Hygiene, Radio, Television, Transportation, and World War II propaganda - dated between 1911 and 1955. Read More »

Ad*Access Timeline: World War II

The timeline below includes some of the landmark military campaigns and battles of the United States involvement in World War II as well as selected war-related U.S. government actions at home. The two lists together provide brief context for some of the government drives and programs featured in much of the wartime advertising that is part of Ad*Access.

1941

World War II - Front Line Actions
 World War II - On the Home Front
  • Dec. 7 Japanese attack Pearl Harbor
  • Dec. 8 U.S. declares war on Japan
  • Dec. 11 Germany and Italy declare war on U.S.
  • April 11 Office of Price Administration (OPA) established

1942

World War II - Front Line Actions
 World War II - On the Home Front
  • May 7 Battle of Coral Sea
  • June 3 Battle of Midway
  • Aug. 7 U.S.offensive at Guadalcanal
  • Aug. 17 First USAAF raid in Europe
  • Sept. 15 Papua-New Guinea campaign
  • Nov. 8 Operation Torch (North African campaign)
  • Jan. 24 OPA authorized to ration goods
  • Jan. 30 Emergency Price Control Act
  • Feb. 10 Last new civilian car made
  • April Japanese-Americans relocated
  • July 22 Gasoline rationing begins
  • Nov. 30 First War Loan
  • Dec. 27 Food Rationing Program announced

1943

World War II - Front Line Actions
 World War II - On the Home Front
  • Jan. 4 Tunisian campaign
  • Feb. 2 Germans surrender at Stalingrad
  • Mar. 2 Battle of the Bismarck Sea
  • May 13 North African war ends
  • June 30 South Pacific offensive begins
  • Aug. 15 Aleutians retaken
  • Aug. 17 Patton conquers Sicily
  • Sept. 9 U.S. Army lands at Salerno, Italy
  • Oct. 9 USAAF Schweinfurt Raid
  • Nov. 20 Central Pacific campaign begins
  • Feb. first point rationing books distributed
  • April 8 Roosevelt's "Hold the Line" Order freezes price increases
  • April 12 Second War Loan
  • Sept. 9 Third War Loan

1944

World War II - Front Line Actions
 World War II - On the Home Front
  • Jan. 22 Allies land at Anzio, Italy
  • Feb. 7 Allied victory in the Marshall islands
  • June 4 Rome liberated
  • June 6 D-Day (Operation Overlord begins in Europe)
  • June 19 Battle of the Philippines Sea
  • Aug. 15 Allied invasion of France (Operation Dragoon)
  • Sept. 10 France liberated
  • Sept. 11 Invasion of Germany
  • Oct. 23 Battle of Leyte Gulf
  • Nov. 24 Bombing of Japan begins
  • Dec. 16 Battle of the Bulge
  • Jan. 18 Fourth War Loan
  • June 12 Fifth War Loan
  • Nov. 20 Sixth War Loan

1945

World War II - Front Line Actions
 World War II - On the Home Front
  • Jan. 9 Philippines Luzon Campaign
  • Feb. 8 Rhineland Campaign
  • Feb. 23 Marines plant flag on Iwo Jima
  • Mar. 9 USAAF Tokyo raid
  • April 1 Okinawa Campaign
  • May 2 Fall of Berlin
  • May 8 VE Day (Germany surrenders)
  • Aug. 6 Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
  • Sep. 2 VJ Day (Japan signs surrender agreement)
  • April 12 Death of Franklin D. Roosevelt; Harry S Truman becomes President
  • May 14 Seventh War Loan
  • October 29 Eighth, or Victory, War Loan

For additional American and World events occurring during World War II, see the
1941 - 1945 Timeline

Go to a brief history of various World War Two Advertising Campaigns

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