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September 10th

1939 - After seven nights of British flights dropping leaflets on Germany, the operation stops due to public criticism that Britain only dropped paper while Germany dropped bombs on Poland.

1939 - An article in the New York Times newspaper refers to the conflict in Poland as the "Second World War".

1939 - (1310 hours) In Ottawa, Canada, the Governor-General of Canada, Lord Tweedsmuir, announces that Parliament has declared war on Germany, as of the start of the day.

1939 - The US extends its embargo on arms shipments to Canada.

1939 - (evening) German destroyer Oeresund hits a German mine south of Trelleborg, Sweden, and sinks. (This is the first warship loss of the war.)

1941 - (0210 hours) Convoy SC-42 across the Atlantic is attacked by German submarines. U-432 torpedoes and sinks SS Winterswijk. Seven more merchant ships are torpedoed by the end of the day.

1941 - A proposal to send two Canadian battalions to Hong Kong reaches British prime minister Winston Churchill's desk for approval. He accepts the recommendation.

1942 - A Japanese floatplane flies two missions dropping incendiary bombs on U.S. forests in the state of Oregon - the only bombing of the continental U.S. during the war. Newspapers in the U.S. voluntarily withhold this information.

1943 - American forces expand their bridgehead at Salerno, landing most of the 45th Division.

1943 - German troops occupied Rome and took over the protection of Vatican City.

1944 - German air forces attack the Tri Duby airfield in Slovakia in several waves. At the end, only four Slovak aircraft remain operational.

1944 - Canadian engineers complete a bridge over the Gent Canal in Belgium, allowing tanks to cross.

1944 - British General Bernard Montgomery and US General Dwight Eisenhower meet in Brussels, Belgium. Eisenhower agrees to an airborne operation with Arnhem as the first objective.

1944 - Operation Comet, a one-division airborne assault toward Arnhem, becomes Operation Market Garden, involving three airborne divisions.

1944 - (2129 hours) A third German V-2 rocket hits England, landing at North Fambridge near Maldon, in Essex, about 40 miles east of London. There is no damage or casualites.