At sea
SprueStack Zero Hour: WW2 day by day
20 January 1940
What happened on this day in the Second World War, from 1939 to 1945, with a source for every entry.
About this page
Each day we list events from the Second World War that happened on that date, from 1939 to 1945. Every entry names its source and links to it, so you can read further. Entries are sourced and machine-screened before they go up, a subset is human-reviewed, and we add more over time.
5 of 6 sourced entries for this date, chosen by the editor.
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Entries
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At sea
U.S. freighter Examelia is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities (see 31 January); passenger liner Washington, bound for Genoa, is detained only a few hours before being allowed to proceed.
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Diplomatic record
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Switzerland (Harrison)
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Diplomatic record
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State (Berle)
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Diplomatic record
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Italy (Phillips)
The full list for this date is being cleaned and will return soon.
Sources listed with each entry. Spotted an error? Tell us.
20 January in other years 19411942194319441945
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