Explore the major historical events, famous births, and notable deaths that occurred in the year 1942. This year saw 287 significant events. 41 notable figures were born. 1 notable figure passed away.
World War II: Representatives of 26 nations at war with the Axis powers sign the Declaration of the United Nations, pledging to make no separate peace deals
The Declaration by United Nations was the main treaty that formalized the Allies of World War II and was signed by 47 national governments between 1942 and 1945.
Nazi officials hold the notorious Wannsee Conference in Berlin to coordinate the "Final Solution", the extermination of Europe's Jews
Novelist Anthony Burgess (25) weds Llewela Jones
Glenn Miller and his Orchestra are awarded the first-ever gold record for selling 1 million copies of "Chattanooga Choo Choo"
Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (German: Unternehmen Seelöwe), was Nazi Germany's code name for their planned invasion of the United Kingdom.
An estimated 150 Japanese warplanes attack the Australian city of Darwin
The "Battle of Los Angeles" takes place, a series of anti-aircraft engagements over the city in response to a rumored but false Japanese attack. It would last until the morning of the following day.
Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns.
Treblinka was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II, second only to Auschwitz.
Two Black players, Jackie Robinson and Nate Moreland, request a tryout with the Chicago White Sox and are allowed to work out
First "Eichmann transport" to Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps
Physicist Robert Hofstadter (27) weds Nancy Givan
Comic book artist Jack Kirby (24) weds Roz Goldstein
First commercial fluid catalytic cracking facility begins production at Exxon, developed by the "Four Horsemen” research team at Exxon. The process now produces half the world's gasoline. [1]
"Yankee Doodle Dandy," based on the life of George M. Cohan, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney and Joan Leslie, premieres in NYC (Academy Award for Best Actor 1943)
Bing Crosby records Irving Berlin's song "White Christmas" with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers in just 18 minutes; it becomes the world's best-selling single, with an estimated 100 million copies sold
"Mrs Miniver" based on the novel by Jan Struther, directed by William Wyler and starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon is released in the US (Best Picture 1943)
American "The Thin Man" actress Myrna Loy (36) weds second husband, John Hertz Jr. in New York City; divorce in 1944
Anne Frank receives her diary as a birthday present in Amsterdam
American movie actress Lana Turner (21) weds 2nd husband, American actor and restaurateur Steve Crane (annulled due to uncompleted divorce from prior marriage)
Actress Mae West (48) divorces vaudeville performer Frank Wallace after 31 years of marriage
Polish Jews were the primary victims of the Nazi Germany-organized Holocaust in Poland.
The first train carrying Jews departs from Mechelen, Belgium, for Auschwitz
Mahatma Gandhi and 50 others are arrested in Bombay after the passing of a "Quit India" motion and campaign by the All India Congress Committee
The Manhattan Project commences under the direction of US General Leslie Groves with the aim of developing an atomic bomb
World War II: Over 4,000 Canadian and British soldiers are killed, wounded, or captured during a raid on Dieppe, France
The Battle of Stalingrad (17 July 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, beginning when Nazi Germany and its Axis allies attacked and became locked in a...
"King Kong" actress Fay Wray (34) weds screenwriter and playwright Robert Riskin (45)
Ice hockey player Maurice Richard (20) weds Lucille Norchet (17)
American jazz pianist Dave Brubeck (21) weds American college sweetheart and music promoter Iola Whitlock (19) at the Carson City Methodist Church rectory in Carson City, Nevada, until his death in 2012
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American jazz and blues trumpeter and vocalist.
"Now, Voyager," a film directed by Irving Rapper and starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains, premieres in New York; wins 3 Academy Awards
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers.
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal begins between Allied and Japanese naval forces in the Solomon Islands; US forces prevail after days of intense fighting
Operation Uranus: Soviet offensive begins during the Battle of Stalingrad, 1 million Soviet soldiers encircle the German Sixth Army
"Casablanca," directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, premieres at Hollywood Theater, NYC (Academy Award for Best Picture 1943)
Mary Astor (born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke; May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an American actress.
American actress Janet Leigh (15) granted annulment of 4 month marriage to childhood sweetheart John Kenneth Carlisle (18)
German troops surrender in Bardia, Libya
American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command forms
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall fly to Florida
55 German tanks reach North-Africa
Robert William Andrew Feller (November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010), nicknamed "the Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob", and "Rapid Robert", was an American baseball player who was a pitcher for 18...
WWII siege of Bataan in the Philippines starts (Americans and Filippino forces surrender in April)
RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968.
The Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–1942 was the conquest of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) by forces of the Empire of Japan in the early days of the Pacific campaign of World War...
-23°F (-31°C), Kingston, Rhode Island (state record)
British troops reconquer Sollum, Egypt
The Allies, or Allied powers, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during World War II (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers.
The First Battle of Balikpapan took place on 23–25 January 1942, off the major oil-producing town and port of Balikpapan, on Borneo, in the Netherlands East Indies.
Chicago Cubs drop plans to install lights at Wrigley Field because of military's need for materials; takes 35 years before lights finally installed at the venerable ballpark
William Knudsen becomes 1st civilian appointed a general in US army
Nazis arrests Dutch journalist Frans Goedhart who later escapes, and Wiardi Beckman, who dies at Dachau concentration camp
Dutch Catholic priest and outspoken anti-Nazi Titus Brandsma arrested by German occupiers - later dies at Dachau concentration camp; posthumously canonized by Pope Francis, in 2022
The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II.
Bronx magistrate rules all pinball machines illegal
Sietze de Groot wins 8th Dutch 11 city skate (8:44:06)
The Battle of Rabaul, also known by the Japanese as Operation R, an instigating action of the New Guinea campaign, was fought on the island of New Britain in the Australian Territory of New Guinea,...
The military history of the United States during World War II covers the nation's role as one of the major Allies in their victory over the Axis powers.
-19°F (-27.4°C) is the coldest day in the Netherlands since 1850
Revival of George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, and Ira Gershwin's folk-opera "Porgy and Bess" featuring Anne Brown and Todd Duncan, opens on The Majestic Theatre, NYC,
Desert Island Discs is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme,...
Japanese troops land on the island Ambon, part of the Dutch East Indies (Allied forces surrender 3rd Feb)
LA Times urges security measures against Japanese-Americans
The Battle of Java (Invasion of Java, Operation J) was a battle of the Pacific theatre of World War II. It occurred on the island of Java from 28 February – 12 March 1942.
Clinton Pierce becomes 1st US general wounded in action in WW II
First indoor 15' pole vault by Cornelius Warmerdam at 15' 3/8"
Daylight Savings War Time goes into effect in US
Archie (also known as Archie Comics) is a comic book series (published from 1942 through 2020 in two volumes) featuring the Archie Comics character Archie Andrews.
German battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen escape from Brest to Germany in a dash up the English Channel
Japanese parachutists land near oil center Palembang, Sumatra
German U-boat shells Antillian oil refinery
Bangka Island massacre: Japanese soldiers machine-gun 22 Australian Army nurses and 60 Australian and British soldiers and crew members from two sunken ships. Only one nurse and two soldiers survive.
Japanese troop land on Bali
Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry O'Hare (March 13, 1914 – November 26, 1943) was an American naval aviator of the United States Navy, who on February 20, 1942, became the Navy's first fighter ace of...
The Bombardment of Ellwood during World War II was a naval attack by a Japanese submarine against United States coastal targets near Santa Barbara, California in February 1942.
German battle cruiser Gneisenau deactivated by bomb
1st transport of French Jews to nazi-Germany
As a strikingly controversial project in 1941, Sojourner Truth Project set precedents for Detroit housing project policy through the next decade.
The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle...
1st combat flight for Canadian British-built Avro Lancaster bomber
Tone (利根) was the lead ship in the two-vessel Tone class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy.
15 Mk-VB Spitfires reach Malta
The Japanese invasion of Burma, referred to by the BIA in 1941 as the fourth Anglo-Burmese war or the war of Burmese Independence, was a series of battles fought in the British colony of Burma...
The Alaska Highway (French: Route de l'Alaska; also known as the Alaskan Highway, Alaska-Canadian Highway, or ALCAN Highway) is a highway in North America which was constructed during World War II to...
1st deportation train leaves Paris for Auschwitz Concentration Camp
WWII: British troops vacate the Andaman Islands in Gulf of Bengal
Julia Flikke of the Nurse Corps, becomes 1st woman colonel in US army
Illegal Free Netherlands announces boycott of theaters
Convoy PQ13 departs Reykjavik Iceland to Russia
Convoy QP9 departs Great Britain to Murmansk
2,500 Jews of Lublin massacred or deported
US government begins moving native-born citizens with Japanese ancestry into detention centres under Executive Order 9066, with intention of preventing home-grown espionage
1st 700 Jews from Polish Lvov district reach the Bełżec Concentration camp
Explosion of 20 tons of gelignite in a stone quarry at Easton, Pennsylvania, kills 21
-28] Allies raid German submarine base in St Nazaire
RAF bombers degin a two-day attack of the city Lübeck, Germany
Bombing of Lübeck in World War II was the first major success for the RAF Bomber Command against Germany and a German city
Auschwitz, also known as Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World...
Allied air raid on Japanese occupied harbor city Kupang, Timor, Indonesia
LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Dorothy Kirby retains title by 5 strokes ahead of Eileen Stulb
Cigarettes & candy rationed in Holland
The Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal is a decoration of the United States Merchant Marine (USMM). The decoration is the highest award which can be bestowed upon members of that service.
The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of around 72,000 to 78,000 Filipino (about 66,000) and American (about 12,000) prisoners of war (POWs) from the...
The sinking of U-85 was a naval action of the Second Happy Time which took place just after midnight on 14 April 1942.
The Empire of Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of the war in September 1945. In May 1940, Germany occupied the Netherlands,...
The Augsburg Raid, also referred to as Operation Margin, was an attack by the Royal Air Force (RAF) on the Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg (MAN) U-boat engine plant in Augsburg during the daylight...
"Stars & Stripes" paper for US armed forces starts
Nazi German occupiers forbid Dutch access to their beach
1st night Exeter bombed by German Luftwaffe
The term Exeter Blitz refers to the air raids by the German Luftwaffe on the British city of Exeter, Devon, during the Second World War.
Beginning of a 3 night bombing blitz on Bath by German Luftwaffe - 417 killed
Coal mine explosion kills 1,549 at Honkeiko, Manchuria
Belgian Jews are forced to wear stars
"WWII" continues to be titled so as a result of a Gallup Poll after US President Franklin Roosevelt suggests other names [1]
Japanese troop march into Lashio, cutting off Burma Road
1st submarine built on Great Lakes launched, (Peto), Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Radio Orange (Oranje) urges listeners to defy the Nazi-imposed order requiring Jewish people to wear the Star of David
The Japanese occupation of Burma was the period between 1942 and 1945 during World War II, when Burma was occupied by the Empire of Japan.
German Luftwaffe again bombs Exeter, destroying its town centre
Battle of Coral Sea begins (1st naval battle fought solely in air) between Japanese, US and Australian navies and air forces
The Battle of Madagascar (5 May – 6 November 1942) was an Allied campaign to capture the Vichy French−controlled island Madagascar during World War II.
The Battle of Corregidor (Filipino: Labanan sa Corregidor; Japanese: コレヒドールの戦い), fought on 5–6 May 1942, was the culmination of the Japanese campaign for the conquest of the Commonwealth of the...
The Battle of Stalingrad (17 July 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, beginning when Nazi Germany and its Axis allies attacked and became locked in a...
1st twilight game in 24 years, the Dodgers top Giants 7-6 raising $60,000 for Navy Relief Fund
The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II.
Japanese troops conquer Kalewa
1,500 Jews gassed in Auschwitz
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors.
US Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) forms
The military history of the United States during World War II covers the nation's role as one of the major Allies in their victory over the Axis powers.
The Burma campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II was fought primarily by British Commonwealth, China and United States forces against the forces of Imperial Japan, who were assisted...
NYC ends night baseball games for rest of WW II
Braves Paul Waner is 3rd NLer to get 3,000 hits (Anson & Wagner)
US Navy 1st permitted black recruits to serve
Convoy PQ 16 (21–30 May 1942) was an Arctic convoy of British, United States and Allied ships from Iceland to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk in the Soviet Union during the Second World War.
Mexico's participation in World War II had its first antecedent in the diplomatic efforts made by the government before the League of Nations as a result of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.
Anglo-Soviet Treaty signed in London
1,047 bombers bomb Cologne in RAF's raid of WW II
An explosion at the Joliet Army Ammunition Plant kills 48 people
1st nylon parachute jump is made by Ameican parachute tester Adeline Gray (27-ish), at Brainard Field, an airport near Hartford, Connecticut; Dupont teamed with the Pioneer Parachute Company to develop use of an alternative to silk
Adipatie Ario Soejono becomes minister without portfolio, in Gerbrandy's Dutch government in exile
Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (Pub. L. 77–11, H.R. 1776, 55 Stat.
The Rocket U-boat was a series of military projects undertaken by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
1st bazooka rocket gun produced (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
Bernard W. Robinson, becomes 1st African American ensign in US Navy
Paul Waner is 7th to get 3,000 baseball hits
°F (54°C), Tirat Zevi, Israel (Asian record)
World War II: Germany's latest fighter, a Focke-Wulf FW190 is captured intact when it mistakenly lands at RAF Pembrey in Wales
German Africa Korps invades Egypt
German assault on British railroad terminal at Mersa Matruh, Egypt
FBI captures 8 Nazi saboteurs from a sub off NY's Long Island
Col-gen Von Hoth' 6th Pantser enters Voronezj
Col-general Von Paul's 6th Army enters Ukraine
WWII: German troops conquer Black Sea port city of Sevastopol, Crimea, after a 250 day battle; Russia takes it back in 1944
Moritz Albrecht Franz Friedrich Fedor von Bock (3 December 1880 – 4 May 1945) was a German Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) who served in the German Army during the Second World War.
World War II (1939–1945) involved sustained strategic bombing of railways, harbours, cities, workers' and civilian housing, and industrial districts in enemy territory.
Ian Fleming graduates from a training school for spies in Canada
1st legal New Jersey horse race in 50 years; Garden State Park track opens in Delaware Township (now Cherry Hill) [1]
5,000 Jews of Rovno Polish Ukraine, executed by Nazis
First transport of Amsterdam Jews to Westerbork
Dutch Jews invoked for "labor camps"
Police take Jewish citizens (2,573 men; 5,165 women; and 3,625 children) from their homes in Paris and incarcerate them at the Vélodrome d'Hiver stadium to process them for deportation
3' of rain falls on Pennsylvania, flooding kills 15
1st performances of "Chôros No. 6" and "Chôros No. 11" by Heitor Villa-Lobos, with the composer conducting Orquestra Sinfônica do Theatro Municipal, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
German occupiers confiscate bicycles in Rotterdam and The Hague
The Women's Army Corps (WAC; ) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), on 15 May 1942, and converted to an...
8 die as coal waste heap slides in river valley near Oakwood, Virginia
German troops occupy Rostov-on-Don in Southern Russia for the second time
German troops strike at Tsymlyanskaya
The Catholic Church, led by Popes Pius XI (1922 to 1939) and Pius XII (1939 to 1958), confronted National Socialism from the rise of the Nazi Party through the Second World War.
Transport #11 departs Drancy, France, with 1000 French Jews sent to Auschwitz concentration camp; 13 survive until the war's end
Minsk is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha rivers.
Eastern Blvd in the Bronx, NYC, is renamed Bruckner Boulevard in honor of former Bronx Borough President and US Congressman Henry Bruckner
German SS gas 1,000 Jews in Minsk, Belorussia
American Federation of Musicians labor union begins a strike over royalty payment disagreements, refusing to perform on commercial recordings; the ban lasts over 2 years
Dutch Catholic Jews are arrested and transported to Amersfoort camp
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, during...
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg.
The C and D class was a group of 14 destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s.
The Dutch resistance (Dutch: Nederlands verzet) to the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent.
British Flower class corvette HMS Dianthus sinks U-379
Our Secret Weapon (1942–1943) is a CBS radio series created to counter Axis shortwave radio propaganda broadcasts during World War II.
Łachwa (or Lakhva) Ghetto was a Nazi ghetto in Łachwa, Nazi German-occupied Poland (now Lakhva in Belarus) during World War II.
The German occupation of Belgium (French: Occupation allemande, Dutch: Duitse bezetting) during World War II began on 28 May 1940, when the Belgian army surrendered to German forces, and lasted until...
Five hostages are executed by Nazis in Sint-Michielsgestel
Task Force 17 leaves Pearl Harbor under Admiral George Murray on USS Hornet
The Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign was a series of engagements fought from August 1942 to February 1944, in the Pacific theatre of World War II between the United States and Japan.
Dim-out regulations implemented in San Francisco
Transport #22 departs with French Jews to Nazi-Germany
Brazil officially entered World War II on August 22, 1942, when it declared war against the Axis powers, including Germany and Italy.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill flies back to London from Cairo, Egypt
At the beginning of the Pacific War in December 1941, which was during World War II, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was the third most powerful navy in the world, and Japan's naval air service was...
SS begins transporting Jews from Maastricht
Vichy France (French: Régime de Vichy, lit. 'Vichy regime'; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), also known as the Pétainist regime (French: Régime pétainiste) and Pétainist France, officially the French...
The Allies, or Allied powers, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during World War II (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers.
9th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Chicago Bears 21, All-Stars 0 (101,100 attendees)
The involvement of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in World War II began with its invasion by German forces on 10 May 1940 and lasted beyond its liberation by Allied forces in late 1944 and early...
The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein.
The Battle of the Kerch Peninsula, which commenced with the Soviet Kerch-Feodosia Landing Operation and ended with the German Operation Bustard Hunt (German: Unternehmen Trappenjagd), was a World War...
The Battle of Stalingrad (17 July 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, beginning when Nazi Germany and its Axis allies attacked and became locked in a...
Transport #28 departs with French Jews to Nazi Germany
American sailor Charles J. French (22) swims for over six hours in waters near Guadalcanal while towing a life raft with fifteen survivors from his US Navy ship, which is sunk by Japanese gunfire [1]
Czech marathon runner Oskar Hêks is transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau
The Consolidated B-32 Dominator (Consolidated Model 34) was an American heavy strategic bomber built for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.
Compulsory work for women, children, and elderly men in Batavia
British RAF drops 100,000 bombs on Düsseldorf, Germany
The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by the United States, was an Allied offensive against forces of the Empire of Japan in the Solomon...
The Battle of Edson's Ridge, also known as the Battle of the Bloody Ridge, Battle of Raiders Ridge, and Battle of the Ridge, was a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between the...
The Battle of Edson's Ridge, also known as the Battle of the Bloody Ridge, Battle of Raiders Ridge, and Battle of the Ridge, was a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between the...
Jun'yō (隼鷹, "Peregrine Falcon") was a Hiyō-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN).
The New Guinea Volunteer Rifles (NGVR) was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation authorized for radio service
Gunder Hägg sets a world record in the 3000 m, adding to the world records he holds in all distances from 1500 m to 5000 m
The city of Paris started mobilizing for war in September 1939, when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union attacked Poland, but the war seemed far away until 10 May 1940, when the Germans attacked France...
The Battle of Stalingrad (17 July 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, beginning when Nazi Germany and its Axis allies attacked and became locked in a...
The bombing of Stalingrad occurred during the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II, when the Soviet city and industrial centre on the river Volga was bombed heavily by the German Luftwaffe.
32°F is the lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland, Ohio, in September
Bell P-59 Airacomet fighter, first US jet, makes maiden flight
RMS Queen Mary, carrying thousands of US troops, slices cruiser HMS Curacoa in half, killing 239
The Battle of Stalingrad (17 July 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, beginning when Nazi Germany and its Axis allies attacked and became locked in a...
5,000 Jews of Dubno, Russia, are massacred
Allied assault on oil installations of Bula Ceram
Last camouflaged German raider Komet leaves Vlissingen (Netherlands)
Statute of Westminster 1931, passed by the Australian Parliament, formalizes Australian autonomy
1,300 Austrian Jews are transported to Theresienstadt concentration camp
The Battle of Cape Esperance, also known as the Second Battle of Savo Island and in Japanese sources as the Sea Battle of Savo Island (サボ島沖海戦), took place on 11–12 October 1942, in the Pacific...
Successful Soviet counterattack through 37th Guard division
Dobbe resistances group overthrows Bonkarten distribution
German 6th Army occupies Tractorenfabriek; 3,000 Germans die
"Durham Manifesto," issued by the Southern Conference on Race Relations, is held in Durham, North Carolina, and calls for fundamental changes in race relations
All 12 passengers and crewmen aboard an American Airlines DC-3 airliner killed when it is struck by a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber near Palm Springs, California. Amongst the victims is composer Ralph Rainger ("Thanks for the Memory")
The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein.
The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of World War II, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which...
The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, fought during 25–27 October 1942, was the fourth aircraft carrier battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II.
The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of World War II, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which...
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War,...
Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an American baseball player, manager, sports executive, and team owner.
The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of World War II, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which...
The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of World War II, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which...
The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of World War II, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which...
11th day of battle at El Alamein: British assault on Tel el Aqqaqir
The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein.
The Battle of Bir Hakeim took place at Bir Hakeim, an oasis in the Libyan desert south and west of Tobruk, during the Battle of Gazala (26 May – 21 June 1942).
Nazi raid on Greek Jews in Paris
Indonesian independence movement Empat Serangkai founded by Sukarno, Mohammed Hatta, Ki Hajar Dewantara and Mas Mansur
Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi establishes world hour record 45.798km in Vigorelli, Milan, Italy
1st WW II American expeditionary force lands in Africa on the Gold Coast
German occupiers install Erik Scavenius as Danish premier
Philip Barry's play "Without Love" premieres in NYC
-12] last German offensive in Stalingrad
Chaotic "sea battle of Friday the 13th" at Guadalcanal
The Battle of the Coral Sea, a major engagement of the Pacific Theatre of World War II, was fought 4–8 May 1942 in the waters east of New Guinea and south of the Bismarck Islands between elements of...
The Heinkel He 219 Uhu ("Eagle-Owl") is a night fighter designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel.
Assault of US B-17 Flying Fortresses on airport at Sidi Ahmed
Joseph Goebbels visits "German Theatre in the Netherlands"
26th Soviet Armoured Corps recaptures Perelazovski
Two Romanian armies, the Third and the Fourth, were involved in the Battle of Stalingrad, helping to protect the northern and southern flanks respectively, of the German 6th Army as it tried to...
French collaborator Marquis de Brinon establishes "African Falanx"
National Organization for Aid to Underground, LO, forms
French navy at Toulon scuttles ships & subs so Nazis cannot seize them
The Cocoanut Grove fire was a nightclub fire in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 28, 1942, which resulted in the deaths of 492 people.
The US Office of Price Administration rations coffee for everyone at 1 pound (454 g) every five weeks
Battle of Tassafaronga: A nighttime naval battle between the US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy results in a Japanese victory
Bill Terry resigns as supervisor of the New York Giants' minor league system
Gasoline is rationed in the US to stop Americans from non-essential driving during wartime
The foreign policy of the United States was controlled personally by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his first and second and then third and fourth terms as president of the United States from 1933 to...
Seyss-Inquart orders students in nazi-Germany to work
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (lit. 'Royal Philips'), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology and former consumer electronics company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891.
8th Heisman Trophy Award: Frank Sinkwich, Georgia (HB)
Adolf Hitler names Anton Mussert "leader of the Dutch people"
The 8th Division was an infantry division of the Australian Army, formed during World War II as part of the all-volunteer Second Australian Imperial Force.
A fire in a hostel in St. John's, Newfoundland, kills 100 people
Seyss-Inquart allows Dutch Nazi Anton Mussert to call himself Leader
Massachusetts issues 1st US vehicular license plate tabs
Hitler orders combat against partisans in Russia and the Balkans
The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War, or the German–Soviet War, was a theatre of World War II fought between the European Axis powers and Allies, including the Soviet Union (USSR)...
Robert Stroud, convicted murdered, transferred to Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, where he becomes known as "Birdman of Alcatraz"
1st Japanese bombing of Calcutta
US Supreme court declares Nevada separation legal
World War II in the Netherlands can be broken down into four periods: September 1939 to May 1940: After the war broke out, the Netherlands declared neutrality.
The V-1 flying bomb (German: Vergeltungswaffe 1, lit. 'Vengeance Weapon 1') was an early cruise missile.
Admiral Dalans murderer of Bosinier de la Chapelle, sentenced to death
1st Japanese women camp (Ambarawa) goes into use
Oberkommando Wehrmacht orders strategist flight out of Kaukasus
The Battle of the Barents Sea was a World War II naval engagement on 31 December 1942 between warships of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) and British ships escorting Convoy JW 51B to Kola Inlet in the...
Muhammad Ali, American athlete, known for american boxer and activist, was born on 1942-01-17. Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer and activist.
Carole King, American musician, known for american singer-songwriter and musician, was born on 1942-02-09.
Kim Jong-il is born
Huey P. Newton, American founder of the black panther party, known for founder of the black panther party, was born on 1942-02-17.
Joe Lieberman, American politician and lawyer, known for american politician and lawyer, was born on 1942-02-24.
Brian Jones, English musician, known for british musician, was born on 1942-02-28.
John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer, known for american serial killer, was born on 1942-03-17.
Aretha Franklin, American musician, known for american singer, was born on 1942-03-25.
Jerry Sloan, American athlete, known for american basketball player and coach, was born on 1942-03-28.
Tammy Wynette, American musician, known for american country singer, was born on 1942-05-05.
Ian Dury, English new wave singer, known for british new wave singer, was born on 1942-05-12.
Ted Kaczynski, American domestic terrorist, known for american domestic terrorist, was born on 1942-05-22.
Bob Dylan, American musician, known for american singer-songwriter, was born on 1942-05-24.
Curtis Mayfield, American musician, known for american singer-songwriter, was born on 1942-06-03.
Robert Kraft, American athlete, known for american businessman and sports team owner, was born on 1942-06-05. Robert Kenneth Kraft is an American billionaire businessman.
Muammar Gaddafi is born
Willis Reed athlete, known for american basketball player, was born on 1942-06-25. Willis Reed Jr.
Paul Anka, American musician, known for canadian-american singer and actor, was born on 1942-07-30. Paul Albert Anka is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, and actor.
Jerry Garcia, American musician, known for american guitarist and singer, was born on 1942-08-01.
Martha Stewart, American businesswoman, writer, tv personality, known for american businesswoman, writer, tv personality, was born on 1942-08-03.
David Lange is born
Hissène Habré is born
Ibrahim Babangida is born
Isaac Hayes musician and actor, known for american musician and actor, was born on 1942-08-20. Isaac Lee Hayes Jr.
Bill Parcells, American athlete, known for american football coach, was born on 1942-08-22.
Roy DeMeo is born
Bernie Sanders, American politician and activist, known for american politician and activist, was born on 1942-09-08.
Steve Sabol, American filmmaker and founder of nfl films, known for american filmmaker and founder of nfl films, was born on 1942-10-02.
Chubby Checker, American musician, known for american singer, was born on 1942-10-03. Chubby Checker is an American rock and roll singer and dancer.
Jesse Jackson, American minister, activist and politician, known for american minister, activist and politician, was born on 1942-10-08.
Paul Simon, South African singer-songwriter, known for american singer-songwriter, was born on 1942-10-13.
Michael Crichton, American author and filmmaker, known for american author and filmmaker, was born on 1942-10-23.
Dave Stockton, American athlete, known for american professional golfer, was born on 1942-11-02.
Pete Best, British musician, known for british musician, former member of the beatles, was born on 1942-11-24.
Alex Johnson, American athlete, known for american baseball player, was born on 1942-12-07.
Muhammadu Buhari is born
Alex Ferguson, Scottish athlete, known for scottish football manager, was born on 1942-12-31.
Michael Bloomberg, American businessman and politician, known for american businessman and politician, was born on 1942-02-14. Michael Rubens Bloomberg is an American businessman and politician.
Gary Kildall, American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur, known for american computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur, was born on 1942-05-19.
David Rumelhart, American psychologist, known for american psychologist, was born on 1942-06-12.
Larry Flynt publisher, known for american publisher, was born on 1942-11-01. Larry Claxton Flynt Jr.
Hugh S. Johnson administrator, known for american administrator, died on 1942-04-15.
World War II: Representatives of 26 nations at war with the Axis powers sign the Declaration of the United Nations, pledging to make no separate peace deals
The Declaration by United Nations was the main treaty that formalized the Allies of World War II and was signed by 47 national governments between 1942 and 1945.
Nazi officials hold the notorious Wannsee Conference in Berlin to coordinate the "Final Solution", the extermination of Europe's Jews
Novelist Anthony Burgess (25) weds Llewela Jones
Glenn Miller and his Orchestra are awarded the first-ever gold record for selling 1 million copies of "Chattanooga Choo Choo"
Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (German: Unternehmen Seelöwe), was Nazi Germany's code name for their planned invasion of the United Kingdom.
An estimated 150 Japanese warplanes attack the Australian city of Darwin
The "Battle of Los Angeles" takes place, a series of anti-aircraft engagements over the city in response to a rumored but false Japanese attack. It would last until the morning of the following day.
Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns.
Treblinka was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II, second only to Auschwitz.
Two Black players, Jackie Robinson and Nate Moreland, request a tryout with the Chicago White Sox and are allowed to work out
First "Eichmann transport" to Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps
Physicist Robert Hofstadter (27) weds Nancy Givan
Comic book artist Jack Kirby (24) weds Roz Goldstein
First commercial fluid catalytic cracking facility begins production at Exxon, developed by the "Four Horsemen” research team at Exxon. The process now produces half the world's gasoline. [1]
"Yankee Doodle Dandy," based on the life of George M. Cohan, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney and Joan Leslie, premieres in NYC (Academy Award for Best Actor 1943)
Bing Crosby records Irving Berlin's song "White Christmas" with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers in just 18 minutes; it becomes the world's best-selling single, with an estimated 100 million copies sold
"Mrs Miniver" based on the novel by Jan Struther, directed by William Wyler and starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon is released in the US (Best Picture 1943)
American "The Thin Man" actress Myrna Loy (36) weds second husband, John Hertz Jr. in New York City; divorce in 1944
Anne Frank receives her diary as a birthday present in Amsterdam
American movie actress Lana Turner (21) weds 2nd husband, American actor and restaurateur Steve Crane (annulled due to uncompleted divorce from prior marriage)
Actress Mae West (48) divorces vaudeville performer Frank Wallace after 31 years of marriage
Polish Jews were the primary victims of the Nazi Germany-organized Holocaust in Poland.
The first train carrying Jews departs from Mechelen, Belgium, for Auschwitz
Mahatma Gandhi and 50 others are arrested in Bombay after the passing of a "Quit India" motion and campaign by the All India Congress Committee
The Manhattan Project commences under the direction of US General Leslie Groves with the aim of developing an atomic bomb
World War II: Over 4,000 Canadian and British soldiers are killed, wounded, or captured during a raid on Dieppe, France
The Battle of Stalingrad (17 July 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, beginning when Nazi Germany and its Axis allies attacked and became locked in a...
"King Kong" actress Fay Wray (34) weds screenwriter and playwright Robert Riskin (45)
Ice hockey player Maurice Richard (20) weds Lucille Norchet (17)
American jazz pianist Dave Brubeck (21) weds American college sweetheart and music promoter Iola Whitlock (19) at the Carson City Methodist Church rectory in Carson City, Nevada, until his death in 2012
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American jazz and blues trumpeter and vocalist.
"Now, Voyager," a film directed by Irving Rapper and starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains, premieres in New York; wins 3 Academy Awards
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers.
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal begins between Allied and Japanese naval forces in the Solomon Islands; US forces prevail after days of intense fighting
Operation Uranus: Soviet offensive begins during the Battle of Stalingrad, 1 million Soviet soldiers encircle the German Sixth Army
"Casablanca," directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, premieres at Hollywood Theater, NYC (Academy Award for Best Picture 1943)
Mary Astor (born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke; May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an American actress.
American actress Janet Leigh (15) granted annulment of 4 month marriage to childhood sweetheart John Kenneth Carlisle (18)
German troops surrender in Bardia, Libya
American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command forms
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall fly to Florida
55 German tanks reach North-Africa
Robert William Andrew Feller (November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010), nicknamed "the Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob", and "Rapid Robert", was an American baseball player who was a pitcher for 18...
WWII siege of Bataan in the Philippines starts (Americans and Filippino forces surrender in April)
RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968.
The Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–1942 was the conquest of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) by forces of the Empire of Japan in the early days of the Pacific campaign of World War...
-23°F (-31°C), Kingston, Rhode Island (state record)
British troops reconquer Sollum, Egypt
The Allies, or Allied powers, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during World War II (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers.
The First Battle of Balikpapan took place on 23–25 January 1942, off the major oil-producing town and port of Balikpapan, on Borneo, in the Netherlands East Indies.
Chicago Cubs drop plans to install lights at Wrigley Field because of military's need for materials; takes 35 years before lights finally installed at the venerable ballpark
William Knudsen becomes 1st civilian appointed a general in US army
Nazis arrests Dutch journalist Frans Goedhart who later escapes, and Wiardi Beckman, who dies at Dachau concentration camp
Dutch Catholic priest and outspoken anti-Nazi Titus Brandsma arrested by German occupiers - later dies at Dachau concentration camp; posthumously canonized by Pope Francis, in 2022
The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II.
Bronx magistrate rules all pinball machines illegal
Sietze de Groot wins 8th Dutch 11 city skate (8:44:06)
The Battle of Rabaul, also known by the Japanese as Operation R, an instigating action of the New Guinea campaign, was fought on the island of New Britain in the Australian Territory of New Guinea,...
The military history of the United States during World War II covers the nation's role as one of the major Allies in their victory over the Axis powers.
-19°F (-27.4°C) is the coldest day in the Netherlands since 1850
Revival of George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, and Ira Gershwin's folk-opera "Porgy and Bess" featuring Anne Brown and Todd Duncan, opens on The Majestic Theatre, NYC,
Desert Island Discs is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme,...
Japanese troops land on the island Ambon, part of the Dutch East Indies (Allied forces surrender 3rd Feb)
LA Times urges security measures against Japanese-Americans
The Battle of Java (Invasion of Java, Operation J) was a battle of the Pacific theatre of World War II. It occurred on the island of Java from 28 February – 12 March 1942.
Clinton Pierce becomes 1st US general wounded in action in WW II
First indoor 15' pole vault by Cornelius Warmerdam at 15' 3/8"
Daylight Savings War Time goes into effect in US
Archie (also known as Archie Comics) is a comic book series (published from 1942 through 2020 in two volumes) featuring the Archie Comics character Archie Andrews.
German battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen escape from Brest to Germany in a dash up the English Channel
Japanese parachutists land near oil center Palembang, Sumatra
German U-boat shells Antillian oil refinery
Bangka Island massacre: Japanese soldiers machine-gun 22 Australian Army nurses and 60 Australian and British soldiers and crew members from two sunken ships. Only one nurse and two soldiers survive.
Japanese troop land on Bali
Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry O'Hare (March 13, 1914 – November 26, 1943) was an American naval aviator of the United States Navy, who on February 20, 1942, became the Navy's first fighter ace of...
The Bombardment of Ellwood during World War II was a naval attack by a Japanese submarine against United States coastal targets near Santa Barbara, California in February 1942.
German battle cruiser Gneisenau deactivated by bomb
1st transport of French Jews to nazi-Germany
As a strikingly controversial project in 1941, Sojourner Truth Project set precedents for Detroit housing project policy through the next decade.
The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle...
1st combat flight for Canadian British-built Avro Lancaster bomber
Tone (利根) was the lead ship in the two-vessel Tone class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy.
15 Mk-VB Spitfires reach Malta
The Japanese invasion of Burma, referred to by the BIA in 1941 as the fourth Anglo-Burmese war or the war of Burmese Independence, was a series of battles fought in the British colony of Burma...
The Alaska Highway (French: Route de l'Alaska; also known as the Alaskan Highway, Alaska-Canadian Highway, or ALCAN Highway) is a highway in North America which was constructed during World War II to...
1st deportation train leaves Paris for Auschwitz Concentration Camp
WWII: British troops vacate the Andaman Islands in Gulf of Bengal
Julia Flikke of the Nurse Corps, becomes 1st woman colonel in US army
Illegal Free Netherlands announces boycott of theaters
Convoy PQ13 departs Reykjavik Iceland to Russia
Convoy QP9 departs Great Britain to Murmansk
2,500 Jews of Lublin massacred or deported
US government begins moving native-born citizens with Japanese ancestry into detention centres under Executive Order 9066, with intention of preventing home-grown espionage
1st 700 Jews from Polish Lvov district reach the Bełżec Concentration camp
Explosion of 20 tons of gelignite in a stone quarry at Easton, Pennsylvania, kills 21
-28] Allies raid German submarine base in St Nazaire
RAF bombers degin a two-day attack of the city Lübeck, Germany
Bombing of Lübeck in World War II was the first major success for the RAF Bomber Command against Germany and a German city
Auschwitz, also known as Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World...
Allied air raid on Japanese occupied harbor city Kupang, Timor, Indonesia
LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Dorothy Kirby retains title by 5 strokes ahead of Eileen Stulb
Cigarettes & candy rationed in Holland
The Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal is a decoration of the United States Merchant Marine (USMM). The decoration is the highest award which can be bestowed upon members of that service.
The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of around 72,000 to 78,000 Filipino (about 66,000) and American (about 12,000) prisoners of war (POWs) from the...
The sinking of U-85 was a naval action of the Second Happy Time which took place just after midnight on 14 April 1942.
The Empire of Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of the war in September 1945. In May 1940, Germany occupied the Netherlands,...
The Augsburg Raid, also referred to as Operation Margin, was an attack by the Royal Air Force (RAF) on the Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg (MAN) U-boat engine plant in Augsburg during the daylight...
"Stars & Stripes" paper for US armed forces starts
Nazi German occupiers forbid Dutch access to their beach
1st night Exeter bombed by German Luftwaffe
The term Exeter Blitz refers to the air raids by the German Luftwaffe on the British city of Exeter, Devon, during the Second World War.
Beginning of a 3 night bombing blitz on Bath by German Luftwaffe - 417 killed
Coal mine explosion kills 1,549 at Honkeiko, Manchuria
Belgian Jews are forced to wear stars
"WWII" continues to be titled so as a result of a Gallup Poll after US President Franklin Roosevelt suggests other names [1]
Japanese troop march into Lashio, cutting off Burma Road
1st submarine built on Great Lakes launched, (Peto), Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Radio Orange (Oranje) urges listeners to defy the Nazi-imposed order requiring Jewish people to wear the Star of David
The Japanese occupation of Burma was the period between 1942 and 1945 during World War II, when Burma was occupied by the Empire of Japan.
German Luftwaffe again bombs Exeter, destroying its town centre
Battle of Coral Sea begins (1st naval battle fought solely in air) between Japanese, US and Australian navies and air forces
The Battle of Madagascar (5 May – 6 November 1942) was an Allied campaign to capture the Vichy French−controlled island Madagascar during World War II.
The Battle of Corregidor (Filipino: Labanan sa Corregidor; Japanese: コレヒドールの戦い), fought on 5–6 May 1942, was the culmination of the Japanese campaign for the conquest of the Commonwealth of the...
The Battle of Stalingrad (17 July 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, beginning when Nazi Germany and its Axis allies attacked and became locked in a...
1st twilight game in 24 years, the Dodgers top Giants 7-6 raising $60,000 for Navy Relief Fund
The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II.
Japanese troops conquer Kalewa
1,500 Jews gassed in Auschwitz
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors.
US Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) forms
The military history of the United States during World War II covers the nation's role as one of the major Allies in their victory over the Axis powers.
The Burma campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II was fought primarily by British Commonwealth, China and United States forces against the forces of Imperial Japan, who were assisted...
NYC ends night baseball games for rest of WW II
Braves Paul Waner is 3rd NLer to get 3,000 hits (Anson & Wagner)
US Navy 1st permitted black recruits to serve
Convoy PQ 16 (21–30 May 1942) was an Arctic convoy of British, United States and Allied ships from Iceland to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk in the Soviet Union during the Second World War.
Mexico's participation in World War II had its first antecedent in the diplomatic efforts made by the government before the League of Nations as a result of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.
Anglo-Soviet Treaty signed in London
1,047 bombers bomb Cologne in RAF's raid of WW II
An explosion at the Joliet Army Ammunition Plant kills 48 people
1st nylon parachute jump is made by Ameican parachute tester Adeline Gray (27-ish), at Brainard Field, an airport near Hartford, Connecticut; Dupont teamed with the Pioneer Parachute Company to develop use of an alternative to silk
Adipatie Ario Soejono becomes minister without portfolio, in Gerbrandy's Dutch government in exile
Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (Pub. L. 77–11, H.R. 1776, 55 Stat.
The Rocket U-boat was a series of military projects undertaken by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
1st bazooka rocket gun produced (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
Bernard W. Robinson, becomes 1st African American ensign in US Navy
Paul Waner is 7th to get 3,000 baseball hits
°F (54°C), Tirat Zevi, Israel (Asian record)
World War II: Germany's latest fighter, a Focke-Wulf FW190 is captured intact when it mistakenly lands at RAF Pembrey in Wales
German Africa Korps invades Egypt
German assault on British railroad terminal at Mersa Matruh, Egypt
FBI captures 8 Nazi saboteurs from a sub off NY's Long Island
Col-gen Von Hoth' 6th Pantser enters Voronezj
Col-general Von Paul's 6th Army enters Ukraine
WWII: German troops conquer Black Sea port city of Sevastopol, Crimea, after a 250 day battle; Russia takes it back in 1944
Moritz Albrecht Franz Friedrich Fedor von Bock (3 December 1880 – 4 May 1945) was a German Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) who served in the German Army during the Second World War.
World War II (1939–1945) involved sustained strategic bombing of railways, harbours, cities, workers' and civilian housing, and industrial districts in enemy territory.
Ian Fleming graduates from a training school for spies in Canada
1st legal New Jersey horse race in 50 years; Garden State Park track opens in Delaware Township (now Cherry Hill) [1]
5,000 Jews of Rovno Polish Ukraine, executed by Nazis
First transport of Amsterdam Jews to Westerbork
Dutch Jews invoked for "labor camps"
Police take Jewish citizens (2,573 men; 5,165 women; and 3,625 children) from their homes in Paris and incarcerate them at the Vélodrome d'Hiver stadium to process them for deportation
3' of rain falls on Pennsylvania, flooding kills 15
1st performances of "Chôros No. 6" and "Chôros No. 11" by Heitor Villa-Lobos, with the composer conducting Orquestra Sinfônica do Theatro Municipal, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
German occupiers confiscate bicycles in Rotterdam and The Hague
The Women's Army Corps (WAC; ) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), on 15 May 1942, and converted to an...
8 die as coal waste heap slides in river valley near Oakwood, Virginia
German troops occupy Rostov-on-Don in Southern Russia for the second time
German troops strike at Tsymlyanskaya
The Catholic Church, led by Popes Pius XI (1922 to 1939) and Pius XII (1939 to 1958), confronted National Socialism from the rise of the Nazi Party through the Second World War.
Transport #11 departs Drancy, France, with 1000 French Jews sent to Auschwitz concentration camp; 13 survive until the war's end
Minsk is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha rivers.
Eastern Blvd in the Bronx, NYC, is renamed Bruckner Boulevard in honor of former Bronx Borough President and US Congressman Henry Bruckner
German SS gas 1,000 Jews in Minsk, Belorussia
American Federation of Musicians labor union begins a strike over royalty payment disagreements, refusing to perform on commercial recordings; the ban lasts over 2 years
Dutch Catholic Jews are arrested and transported to Amersfoort camp
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, during...
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg.
The C and D class was a group of 14 destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s.
The Dutch resistance (Dutch: Nederlands verzet) to the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent.
British Flower class corvette HMS Dianthus sinks U-379
Our Secret Weapon (1942–1943) is a CBS radio series created to counter Axis shortwave radio propaganda broadcasts during World War II.
Łachwa (or Lakhva) Ghetto was a Nazi ghetto in Łachwa, Nazi German-occupied Poland (now Lakhva in Belarus) during World War II.
The German occupation of Belgium (French: Occupation allemande, Dutch: Duitse bezetting) during World War II began on 28 May 1940, when the Belgian army surrendered to German forces, and lasted until...
Five hostages are executed by Nazis in Sint-Michielsgestel
Task Force 17 leaves Pearl Harbor under Admiral George Murray on USS Hornet
The Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign was a series of engagements fought from August 1942 to February 1944, in the Pacific theatre of World War II between the United States and Japan.
Dim-out regulations implemented in San Francisco
Transport #22 departs with French Jews to Nazi-Germany
Brazil officially entered World War II on August 22, 1942, when it declared war against the Axis powers, including Germany and Italy.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill flies back to London from Cairo, Egypt
At the beginning of the Pacific War in December 1941, which was during World War II, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was the third most powerful navy in the world, and Japan's naval air service was...
SS begins transporting Jews from Maastricht
Vichy France (French: Régime de Vichy, lit. 'Vichy regime'; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), also known as the Pétainist regime (French: Régime pétainiste) and Pétainist France, officially the French...
The Allies, or Allied powers, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during World War II (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers.
9th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Chicago Bears 21, All-Stars 0 (101,100 attendees)
The involvement of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in World War II began with its invasion by German forces on 10 May 1940 and lasted beyond its liberation by Allied forces in late 1944 and early...
The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein.
The Battle of the Kerch Peninsula, which commenced with the Soviet Kerch-Feodosia Landing Operation and ended with the German Operation Bustard Hunt (German: Unternehmen Trappenjagd), was a World War...
The Battle of Stalingrad (17 July 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, beginning when Nazi Germany and its Axis allies attacked and became locked in a...
Transport #28 departs with French Jews to Nazi Germany
American sailor Charles J. French (22) swims for over six hours in waters near Guadalcanal while towing a life raft with fifteen survivors from his US Navy ship, which is sunk by Japanese gunfire [1]
Czech marathon runner Oskar Hêks is transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau
The Consolidated B-32 Dominator (Consolidated Model 34) was an American heavy strategic bomber built for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.
Compulsory work for women, children, and elderly men in Batavia
British RAF drops 100,000 bombs on Düsseldorf, Germany
The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by the United States, was an Allied offensive against forces of the Empire of Japan in the Solomon...
The Battle of Edson's Ridge, also known as the Battle of the Bloody Ridge, Battle of Raiders Ridge, and Battle of the Ridge, was a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between the...
The Battle of Edson's Ridge, also known as the Battle of the Bloody Ridge, Battle of Raiders Ridge, and Battle of the Ridge, was a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between the...
Jun'yō (隼鷹, "Peregrine Falcon") was a Hiyō-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN).
The New Guinea Volunteer Rifles (NGVR) was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation authorized for radio service
Gunder Hägg sets a world record in the 3000 m, adding to the world records he holds in all distances from 1500 m to 5000 m
The city of Paris started mobilizing for war in September 1939, when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union attacked Poland, but the war seemed far away until 10 May 1940, when the Germans attacked France...
The Battle of Stalingrad (17 July 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, beginning when Nazi Germany and its Axis allies attacked and became locked in a...
The bombing of Stalingrad occurred during the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II, when the Soviet city and industrial centre on the river Volga was bombed heavily by the German Luftwaffe.
32°F is the lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland, Ohio, in September
Bell P-59 Airacomet fighter, first US jet, makes maiden flight
RMS Queen Mary, carrying thousands of US troops, slices cruiser HMS Curacoa in half, killing 239
The Battle of Stalingrad (17 July 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, beginning when Nazi Germany and its Axis allies attacked and became locked in a...
5,000 Jews of Dubno, Russia, are massacred
Allied assault on oil installations of Bula Ceram
Last camouflaged German raider Komet leaves Vlissingen (Netherlands)
Statute of Westminster 1931, passed by the Australian Parliament, formalizes Australian autonomy
1,300 Austrian Jews are transported to Theresienstadt concentration camp
The Battle of Cape Esperance, also known as the Second Battle of Savo Island and in Japanese sources as the Sea Battle of Savo Island (サボ島沖海戦), took place on 11–12 October 1942, in the Pacific...
Successful Soviet counterattack through 37th Guard division
Dobbe resistances group overthrows Bonkarten distribution
German 6th Army occupies Tractorenfabriek; 3,000 Germans die
"Durham Manifesto," issued by the Southern Conference on Race Relations, is held in Durham, North Carolina, and calls for fundamental changes in race relations
All 12 passengers and crewmen aboard an American Airlines DC-3 airliner killed when it is struck by a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber near Palm Springs, California. Amongst the victims is composer Ralph Rainger ("Thanks for the Memory")
The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein.
The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of World War II, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which...
The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, fought during 25–27 October 1942, was the fourth aircraft carrier battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II.
The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of World War II, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which...
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War,...
Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an American baseball player, manager, sports executive, and team owner.
The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of World War II, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which...
The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of World War II, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which...
The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of World War II, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which...
11th day of battle at El Alamein: British assault on Tel el Aqqaqir
The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein.
The Battle of Bir Hakeim took place at Bir Hakeim, an oasis in the Libyan desert south and west of Tobruk, during the Battle of Gazala (26 May – 21 June 1942).
Nazi raid on Greek Jews in Paris
Indonesian independence movement Empat Serangkai founded by Sukarno, Mohammed Hatta, Ki Hajar Dewantara and Mas Mansur
Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi establishes world hour record 45.798km in Vigorelli, Milan, Italy
1st WW II American expeditionary force lands in Africa on the Gold Coast
German occupiers install Erik Scavenius as Danish premier
Philip Barry's play "Without Love" premieres in NYC
-12] last German offensive in Stalingrad
Chaotic "sea battle of Friday the 13th" at Guadalcanal
The Battle of the Coral Sea, a major engagement of the Pacific Theatre of World War II, was fought 4–8 May 1942 in the waters east of New Guinea and south of the Bismarck Islands between elements of...
The Heinkel He 219 Uhu ("Eagle-Owl") is a night fighter designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel.
Assault of US B-17 Flying Fortresses on airport at Sidi Ahmed
Joseph Goebbels visits "German Theatre in the Netherlands"
26th Soviet Armoured Corps recaptures Perelazovski
Two Romanian armies, the Third and the Fourth, were involved in the Battle of Stalingrad, helping to protect the northern and southern flanks respectively, of the German 6th Army as it tried to...
French collaborator Marquis de Brinon establishes "African Falanx"
National Organization for Aid to Underground, LO, forms
French navy at Toulon scuttles ships & subs so Nazis cannot seize them
The Cocoanut Grove fire was a nightclub fire in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 28, 1942, which resulted in the deaths of 492 people.
The US Office of Price Administration rations coffee for everyone at 1 pound (454 g) every five weeks
Battle of Tassafaronga: A nighttime naval battle between the US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy results in a Japanese victory
Bill Terry resigns as supervisor of the New York Giants' minor league system
Gasoline is rationed in the US to stop Americans from non-essential driving during wartime
The foreign policy of the United States was controlled personally by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his first and second and then third and fourth terms as president of the United States from 1933 to...
Seyss-Inquart orders students in nazi-Germany to work
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (lit. 'Royal Philips'), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology and former consumer electronics company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891.
8th Heisman Trophy Award: Frank Sinkwich, Georgia (HB)
Adolf Hitler names Anton Mussert "leader of the Dutch people"
The 8th Division was an infantry division of the Australian Army, formed during World War II as part of the all-volunteer Second Australian Imperial Force.
A fire in a hostel in St. John's, Newfoundland, kills 100 people
Seyss-Inquart allows Dutch Nazi Anton Mussert to call himself Leader
Massachusetts issues 1st US vehicular license plate tabs
Hitler orders combat against partisans in Russia and the Balkans
The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War, or the German–Soviet War, was a theatre of World War II fought between the European Axis powers and Allies, including the Soviet Union (USSR)...
Robert Stroud, convicted murdered, transferred to Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, where he becomes known as "Birdman of Alcatraz"
1st Japanese bombing of Calcutta
US Supreme court declares Nevada separation legal
World War II in the Netherlands can be broken down into four periods: September 1939 to May 1940: After the war broke out, the Netherlands declared neutrality.
The V-1 flying bomb (German: Vergeltungswaffe 1, lit. 'Vengeance Weapon 1') was an early cruise missile.
Admiral Dalans murderer of Bosinier de la Chapelle, sentenced to death
1st Japanese women camp (Ambarawa) goes into use
Oberkommando Wehrmacht orders strategist flight out of Kaukasus
The Battle of the Barents Sea was a World War II naval engagement on 31 December 1942 between warships of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) and British ships escorting Convoy JW 51B to Kola Inlet in the...
Muhammad Ali, American athlete, known for american boxer and activist, was born on 1942-01-17. Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer and activist.
Carole King, American musician, known for american singer-songwriter and musician, was born on 1942-02-09.
Kim Jong-il is born
Huey P. Newton, American founder of the black panther party, known for founder of the black panther party, was born on 1942-02-17.
Joe Lieberman, American politician and lawyer, known for american politician and lawyer, was born on 1942-02-24.
Brian Jones, English musician, known for british musician, was born on 1942-02-28.
John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer, known for american serial killer, was born on 1942-03-17.
Aretha Franklin, American musician, known for american singer, was born on 1942-03-25.
Jerry Sloan, American athlete, known for american basketball player and coach, was born on 1942-03-28.
Tammy Wynette, American musician, known for american country singer, was born on 1942-05-05.
Ian Dury, English new wave singer, known for british new wave singer, was born on 1942-05-12.
Ted Kaczynski, American domestic terrorist, known for american domestic terrorist, was born on 1942-05-22.
Bob Dylan, American musician, known for american singer-songwriter, was born on 1942-05-24.
Curtis Mayfield, American musician, known for american singer-songwriter, was born on 1942-06-03.
Robert Kraft, American athlete, known for american businessman and sports team owner, was born on 1942-06-05. Robert Kenneth Kraft is an American billionaire businessman.
Muammar Gaddafi is born
Willis Reed athlete, known for american basketball player, was born on 1942-06-25. Willis Reed Jr.
Paul Anka, American musician, known for canadian-american singer and actor, was born on 1942-07-30. Paul Albert Anka is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, and actor.
Jerry Garcia, American musician, known for american guitarist and singer, was born on 1942-08-01.
Martha Stewart, American businesswoman, writer, tv personality, known for american businesswoman, writer, tv personality, was born on 1942-08-03.
David Lange is born
Hissène Habré is born
Ibrahim Babangida is born
Isaac Hayes musician and actor, known for american musician and actor, was born on 1942-08-20. Isaac Lee Hayes Jr.
Bill Parcells, American athlete, known for american football coach, was born on 1942-08-22.
Roy DeMeo is born
Bernie Sanders, American politician and activist, known for american politician and activist, was born on 1942-09-08.
Steve Sabol, American filmmaker and founder of nfl films, known for american filmmaker and founder of nfl films, was born on 1942-10-02.
Chubby Checker, American musician, known for american singer, was born on 1942-10-03. Chubby Checker is an American rock and roll singer and dancer.
Jesse Jackson, American minister, activist and politician, known for american minister, activist and politician, was born on 1942-10-08.
Paul Simon, South African singer-songwriter, known for american singer-songwriter, was born on 1942-10-13.
Michael Crichton, American author and filmmaker, known for american author and filmmaker, was born on 1942-10-23.
Dave Stockton, American athlete, known for american professional golfer, was born on 1942-11-02.
Pete Best, British musician, known for british musician, former member of the beatles, was born on 1942-11-24.
Alex Johnson, American athlete, known for american baseball player, was born on 1942-12-07.
Muhammadu Buhari is born
Alex Ferguson, Scottish athlete, known for scottish football manager, was born on 1942-12-31.
Michael Bloomberg, American businessman and politician, known for american businessman and politician, was born on 1942-02-14. Michael Rubens Bloomberg is an American businessman and politician.
Gary Kildall, American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur, known for american computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur, was born on 1942-05-19.
David Rumelhart, American psychologist, known for american psychologist, was born on 1942-06-12.
Larry Flynt publisher, known for american publisher, was born on 1942-11-01. Larry Claxton Flynt Jr.