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1939
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1940
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8.15.1940
An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser ''Elli'' at Tinos harbour during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October. |
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1942
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8.22.1942
World War II: Brazil declares war on Germany and Italy. |
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9.12.1942
World War II: RMS ''Laconia'', carrying civilians, Allied soldiers and Italian POWs is torpedoed off the coast of West Africa and sinks with a heavy loss of life.
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1943
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6.23.1943
World War II: The British destroyers HMS Eclipse and HMS Laforey sink the Italian submarine ''Ascianghi'' in the Mediterranean after she torpedoes the cruiser HMS Newfoundland. |
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9.9.1943
World War II: The Allies land at Salerno and Taranto, Italy. |
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9.12.1943
World War II: Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy, is rescued from house arrest on the Gran Sasso in Abruzzi, by German commando forces led by Otto Skorzeny. |
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12.2.1943
A Luftwaffe bombing raid on the harbour of Bari, Italy, sinks numerous cargo and transport ships, including an American Liberty ship, the John Harvey, with a stockpile of World War I-era mustard gas. |
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1944
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1.22.1944
World War II: The Allies commence Operation Shingle, an assault on Anzio, Italy. |
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1.29.1944
World War II: The Battle of Cisterna takes place in central Italy.
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1.29.1944
In Bologna, Italy, the Anatomical Theatre of the Archiginnasio is destroyed in an air-raid.
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2.7.1944
World War II: In Anzio, Italy, German forces launch a counteroffensive during the Allied Operation Shingle.
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2.15.1944
World War II: The assault on Monte Cassino, Italy, begins.
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3.18.1944
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy kills 26 and causes thousands to flee their homes. |
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3.24.1944
Ardeatine Massacre: German troops kill 335 Italian civilians in Rome. |
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1945
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4.17.1945
Brazilian forces liberate the town of Montese, Italy, from German Nazi forces.
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4.29.1945
The Italian commune of Fornovo di Taro is liberated from German forces by Brazilian forces. |
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1946
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5.1.1946
The Paris Peace Conference concludes that the islands of the Dodecanese should be returned to Greece by Italy. |
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6.2.1946
Birth of the Italian Republic: In a referendum, Italians vote to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After the referendum the king of Italy Umberto II di Savoia is exiled. |
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1947
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2.10.1947
Italy cedes most of Venezia Giulia to Yugoslavia. |
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12.22.1947
The Constituent Assembly of Italy approves the Constitution of Italy.
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1949
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5.4.1949
The entire Torino football (soccer) team (except for one player who did not take the trip due to an injury) is killed in a plane crash at the Superga hill at the edge of Turin, Italy. |
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1951
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12.24.1951
Libya becomes independent from Italy. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya.
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1954
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7.31.1954
First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio. |
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1955
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12.14.1955
Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sri Lanka join the United Nations.
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1957
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1963
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10.9.1963
In northeast Italy, over 2,000 people are killed when a large landslide behind the Vajont Dam causes a giant wave of water to overtop it. |
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1964
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3.21.1964
In Copenhagen, Denmark, Gigliola Cinquetti wins the ninth Eurovision Song Contest for Italy singing "Non ho l'età" ("I'm not old enough"). |
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1965
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7.16.1965
The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens. |
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1966
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1.24.1966
An Air India Boeing 707 jet crashes on Mont Blanc, on the border between France and Italy, killing 117. |
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11.4.1966
Two-thirds of Florence, Italy is submerged as the River Arno floods; together with the contemporaneous flood of the Po River in northern Italy, this leads to 113 deaths, 30,000 made homeless, and the destruction of numerous Renaissance artworks and books. |
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