1939–1945Reputable sourceWell documented
Air Power in the Second World War
On the timeline · around 1939–1945 ·
What happened
In the Second World War, air power came fully into its own. Fighters battled for control of the skies, fleets of bombers laid waste to cities, aircraft carriers made the airplane master of the ocean, and in 1945 a single bomber, the B-29 Enola Gay, dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Why it matters
The war made air power decisive in modern warfare and drove huge advances in aircraft, engines, and radar. It also ended with aviation delivering the most destructive weapon ever made, opening the nuclear age.
Sources
- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. World War II · Reputable source
Related timelines
- World War II → — Air power becomes decisive in modern war