July 1943

Monday 05:

World War II: An Allied invasion fleet sails for Sicily (Operation Husky, July 10, 1943).

Friday 09:

Allied forces perform an amphibious invasion of Sicily.

Sunday 11:

German troops launch a counter-attack on Allied forces in Sicily.

Monday 12:

German and Soviet forces engage in largest tank engagement of all time.

Wednesday 14:

In Joplin, Missouri, George Washington Carver National Monument becomes the first United States National Monument in honor of an African American.

Monday 19:

World War II: Rome is bombed by the Allies for the first time in the war.

Tuesday 20:

World War II: Axis leaders Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini confer in northern Italy

Thursday 22:

Allied forces capture the Italian city of Palermo.

Saturday 24:

World War II: Operation Gomorrah begins: British and Canadian aeroplanes bomb Hamburg by night, those of the Americans by day. By the end of the operation in November, 9,000 tons of explosives will have killed more than 30,000 people and destroyed 280,000 buildings.

Sunday 25:

World War II: Benito Mussolini is forced out of office by his own Italian Grand Council and is replaced by Pietro Badoglio.

Wednesday 28:

The British bomb Hamburg causing a firestorm that kills 42,000 German civilians.