Big Week Begins: Allies Cripple German Air Power
American bombers unleashed a relentless assault on German aircraft factories, crippling the Luftwaffe's production capacity just as Allied forces prepared for D-Day. This strategic blow ensured that German pilots faced overwhelming odds during the invasion, directly enabling the success of the Normandy landings.
February 20, 1944
82 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on February 20
The Visconti family was fighting itself. Lodrisio Visconti, exiled from Milan, hired the Company of St. George — 2,500 German mercenaries who'd never lost a bat…
King Christian I of Denmark and Norway pledged the Orkney and Shetland islands to Scotland as collateral for his daughter Margaret’s dowry. When he failed to pa…
King Christian I of Denmark pawned the Orkney and Shetland islands to Scotland to cover his daughter Margaret’s unpaid dowry. This desperate financial maneuver …
Ponce de León left Puerto Rico with 200 settlers, two ships, and a land grant from the Spanish Crown. He'd "discovered" Florida eight years earlier — meaning he…
Nine-year-old Edward VI received the crown at Westminster Abbey, becoming the first English monarch raised as a Protestant. His ascension accelerated the Englis…
Yohannan Sulaqa traveled to Rome to profess his Catholic faith, securing his ordination as the first Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church. This formal unio…
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