1944 facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1910s 1920s 1930s – 1940s – 1950s 1960s 1970s
Years:	1941 1942 1943 – 1944 – 1945 1946 1947

1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1944th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 944th year of the 2nd millennium, the 44th year of the 20th century, and the 5th year of the 1940s decade.

The year 1944 was a very important year during World War II. Many big events happened, especially in Europe and the Pacific Ocean, as the war continued. People around the world saw major battles and changes.

Key Events of 1944
People Born in 1944
People Who Passed Away in 1944
New Books Released in 1944
Nobel Prizes in 1944
Images for kids
See also

Key Events of 1944

January 4 – A long and tough battle called the Battle of Monte Cassino started in Italy.
January 5 – Kaj Munk, a Danish writer, was sadly killed.
January 17 – British soldiers in Italy crossed the Garigliano River as part of their war efforts.
January 17 – In Australia, people no longer had limits on how much meat they could buy.
January 20 – The Royal Air Force dropped a lot of bombs on Berlin, Germany. On the same day, American soldiers tried to cross the Rapido River in Italy.
January 22 – The Allied forces started a big attack called Operation Shingle in Anzio, Italy. American soldiers bravely held their ground there for four months.
January 27 – The Siege of Leningrad, which had lasted for two years, finally ended. This was a huge relief for the people in the city.
January 29 – The Battle of Cisterna took place in Italy.
January 30 – United States troops landed on Majuro in the Marshall Islands.
January 31 – American forces also landed on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Marshall Islands, which were controlled by Japan.

People Born in 1944

Many famous people were born in 1944, including:

February 23 – Johnny Winter, a famous musician.
March 28 – Ken Howard, an actor.
April 7 – Gerhard Schröder, who later became a leader in Germany.
April 9 – Leila Khaled, a political activist.
May 8 – Gary Glitter, a musician.
May 14 – George Lucas, a very famous movie director who created Star Wars.
May 19 – Peter Mayhew, an actor known for playing Chewbacca in Star Wars.
June 29 – Gary Busey, an actor.
July 13 – Ernő Rubik, who invented the Rubik's Cube.
September 10 – Judit Pogány, a Hungarian actress.
October 24 – Ray Downs, a writer.
November 25 – Ben Stein, an actor and writer.

People Who Passed Away in 1944

Some notable people died in 1944:

January 7 – Lou Henry Hoover, who was the First Lady of the United States.
July 21 – Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, a German army officer.
October 14 – Erwin Rommel, another German army officer.

New Books Released in 1944

Many interesting books were published in 1944:

An American Dilemma by Gunnar Myrdal
Au rendez-vous allemand (To the German Rendezvous) by Paul Éluard
A Bell for Adano by John Hersey
Beyond the Palisade (poetry) by James K. Baxter
The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges
Book of Naturalists by Charles William Beebe
The Case of Mrs. Wingate by Oscar Micheaux
Dangling Man by Saul Bellow
The Dawn Appears by Annie Greene Nelson
Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer
The Golden Fleece by Robert von Ranke Graves
The Horse's Mouth by Joyce Cary
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
The Lost Weekend by Charles R. Jackson
Our Lady of the Flowers by Jean Genet
The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
The Tall Book of Nursery Tales by Feodor Rojankovsky
Terras do Sem Fim (The Violent Land) by Jorge Amado
Thou That Dwellest in the Gardens by Hayyim Hazaz
Two Frontiers (poetry) by Edwin James Bradley

Nobel Prizes in 1944

The Nobel Prize is a very important award given to people who have made great discoveries or contributions.

In 1944, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was given to two American doctors: Joseph Erlanger and Herbert Gasser. They won for their work on how nerves send signals in the body.