By: History.com Editors

1945

Nuremberg trials begin

History.com Editors

Defendants At Nuremberg Trials

Bettmann Archive

Published: November 19, 2009

Last Updated: March 13, 2025

Twenty-four high-ranking Nazis go on trial in Nuremberg, Germany, for atrocities committed during World War II beginning on November 20, 1945.

The Nuremberg trials were conducted by an international tribunal made up of representatives from the United States, the Soviet Union, France and Great Britain. It was the first trial of its kind in history, and the defendants faced charges ranging from crimes against peace, to crimes of war, to crimes against humanity. Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence, the British member, presided over the proceedings, which lasted 10 months and consisted of 216 court sessions.

The Nuremberg Trials

In 1945 and 1946, Nazi war criminals were forced to account for their depraved actions in the city of Nuremberg, Germany.

On October 1, 1946, 12 architects of Nazi policy were sentenced to death. Seven others were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 years to life, and three were acquitted. Of the original 24 defendants, one, Robert Ley, committed suicide while in prison, and another, Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, was deemed mentally and physically incompetent to stand trial. Among those condemned to death by hanging were Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi minister of foreign affairs; Alfred Jodl, head of the German armed forces staff; and Wilhelm Frick, minister of the interior.

On October 16, 1946, 10 of the architects of Nazi policy were hanged. Goering, who at sentencing was called the “leading war aggressor and creator of the oppressive program against the Jews,” committed suicide by poison on the eve of his scheduled execution. Nazi Party leader Martin Bormann was condemned to death in absentia (but is now believed to have died in May 1945). Trials of lesser German and Axis war criminals continued in Germany into the 1950s and resulted in the conviction of 5,025 other defendants and the execution of 806.

Timeline

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1820

American vessel sunk by sperm whale

The American whaler Essex, which hailed from Nantucket, Massachusetts, is attacked by an 80-ton sperm whale 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America. The 238-ton Essex was in pursuit of sperm whales, specifically the precious oil and bone that could be derived from them, when an enraged bull whale rammed the ship twice […]

1835

New York Committee of Vigilance founded

On November 20, 1835, David Ruggles, a Black abolitionist living in New York City, founds the New York Committee of Vigilance, an interracial collective working to protect free Black New Yorkers and fugitive former slaves from kidnappers and police. Its stated goal: to “protect unoffending, defenseless and endangered persons of color, by securing their rights […]

1866

Pierre Lallement patents the modern pedal bicycle

On November 20, 1866, a Frenchman named Pierre Lallement receives a U.S. patent for the nation’s first pedal bicycle. Lallement had arrived in the United States the year before, carrying the plans and components for his invention. Lallement constructed and patented the first bicycle in the United States, but received no significant reward or recognition […]

1903

Tom Horn is hanged in Wyoming for the murder of Willie Nickell

On November 20, 1903, the infamous hired killer Tom Horn is hanged for having allegedly murdered Willie Nickell, the 14-year-old son of a southern Wyoming sheep rancher. Some historians have since questioned whether Horn really killed the boy, pointing out that the jury convicted him solely on the basis of a drunken confession that Horn […]

1917

British launch surprise tank attack at Cambrai

At dawn on the morning of November 20, 1917, six infantry and two cavalry divisions of the British Expeditionary Force—with additional support from 14 squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps—join the British Tank Corps in a surprise attack on the German lines near Cambrai, France. After the British debuted the first armored tanks during the […]

1923

Garrett Morgan patents three-position traffic signal

On November 20, 1923, the U.S. Patent Office grants Patent No. 1,475,074 to 46-year-old inventor and newspaperman Garrett Morgan for his three-position traffic signal. Though Morgan’s was not the first traffic signal (that one had been installed in London in 1868), it was an important innovation nonetheless: By having a third position besides just “Stop” […]

1947

Princess Elizabeth marries Philip Mountbatten

In a lavish wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London, Princess Elizabeth marries her distant cousin, Philip Mountbatten, a dashing former prince of Greece and Denmark who renounced his titles in order to marry the English princess. Princess Elizabeth, heir to the British throne, was 21 years old. Philip Mountbatten, age 26, had fought as […]

1982

Cal beats Stanford as band blocks field

On November 20, 1982, the UC Berkeley football team, referred to as Cal, wins an improbable last-second victory over Stanford when they complete five lateral passes around members of the Cardinal marching band, who had wandered onto the field a bit early to celebrate the upset they were sure their team had won, and score […]

1992

Windsor Castle catches fire

On November 20, 1992, Windsor Castle, the historic English royal residence and home to Queen Elizabeth II, catches fire. The blaze comes during a particularly difficult year for the royal family. According to the Royal Collection Trust, at around 11:30 in the morning, a fire broke out in the Queen’s Private Chapel after a faulty […]

1999

The first Transgender Day of Remembrance is held

November 20, 1999 marks the first Transgender Day of Remembrance, honoring the victims of transphobic violence. Now an annual observance, the first TDoR is a vigil commemorating Rita Hester, a 34-year-old African American trans woman murdered in Boston the previous year. Hester had been openly trans for nearly her whole life and was well-known in […]

2003

Music producer Phil Spector charged with murder of actress

On November 20, 2003, Phil Spector, the influential, eccentric music producer who worked with a long list of performers including The Righteous Brothers, The Ronettes, Ike and Tina Turner, John Lennon and the Ramones, is charged in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson. Spector pleaded not guilty to the charges. The 40-year-old Clarkson was found […]

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Citation Information

Article title
Nuremberg trials begin
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
March 25, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
March 13, 2025
Original Published Date
November 19, 2009

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