After a two-week siege, Hulagu Khan's Mongol army breached Baghdad's walls and unleashed days of slaughter and destruction. The Abbasid Caliph al-Mustasim was captured and executed, the House of Wisdom's libraries were destroyed, and the Tigris River reportedly ran black with ink from discarded books and red with blood.

Beginning at 10:03 PM, RAF Bomber Command launched the first of four waves against Dresden, a city packed with refugees fleeing the advancing Soviet army. The resulting firestorm incinerated the historic city center, and American bombers continued the assault the following day. The raid remains one of the most controversial Allied actions of World War II.