WWII

September 1, 2009

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Profile America — Tuesday, September 1st. The greatest conflict in human history started on this date 70 years ago — as Nazi Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II. The wave of fighting eventually swept around the globe, as the allied powers struggled to defeat the axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan. Estimates vary on the number killed between September 1939 and August 1945, and range from 50 million to 70 million. The Soviet Union lost the largest number of its population — an estimated 23 million. A total of 16 million American men and women served in the armed forces during the war. Today, just under 3 million veterans of World War II survive. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureauonline at <www>.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 431
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 503
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html