The Massacre of Nanjing (Eng. Nanking) also known as the Rape of Nanjing takes place. A six week carnage as the Japanese Imperial Army marches into China's then capital city of Nanjing and murders 300,000 out of 600,000 civilians and soldiers in the city.
It is believed to be the single worst atrocity during the World War II era. Beijing became the national capital when China became the People's Republic of China on Oct. 1, 1949. More