1942

Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

Decades: 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s

Years: 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 - 1942 - 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947

• January 1 - World War II: The word "United Nations" is first officially used to describe the Allied pact.
• January 2 - World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces.
• January 6 - Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to have a flight go around the world.
• January 7 - World War II: Siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins
• January 11 - Japan declares war on the Netherlands and invades the Netherlands East Indies.
• January 11 - The Japanese capture Kuala Lumpur.
• January 12 - President Franklin Roosevelt creates the National War Labor Board[?].
• January 13 - Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile, which is 30% lighter than a regular car
• January 19 - World War II: Japanese forces invade Burma.
• January 20 - World War II: Nazis at the Wannsee conference in Berlin decide that the "final solution to the Jewish problem" is relocation.
• January 25 - Thailand declares war on the United States and United Kingdom
• January 26 - World War II: The first American forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
• February 9 - World War II: Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discus American military strategy in the war.
• February 9 - Daylight-saving time goes into effect in the United States.
• February 15 - World War II: Singapore surrenders to Japanese forces.
• February 19 - World War II: About 150 Japanese warplanes attack Darwin, Australia
• February 19 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an executive order allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese-Americans to Japanese internment camps.
• February 20 - Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace[?]
• February 22 - World War II: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defense of the nation collapses.
• February 24 - Propaganda: The Voice of America begins broadcasting.
• February 27 - World War II: the USS Langley, the first United States aircraft carrier, is sunk by Japanese warplanes.
• March 8 - World War II: The Dutch surrender to Japanese forces on Java.
• March 8 - World War II: Japan captures Rangoon, Burma.
• March 11 - World War II: General Douglas MacArthur abandons Corregidor
• March 19 - The Thoroughbred Racing Association[?] is establish in Chicago, Illinois.
• March 23 - World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces capture the Anadaman Islands.
• March 26 - World War II: In Poland, Auschwitz receives its first female prisoners.
• March 28 - World War II: In occupied France, United Kingdom naval forces raid the German-occupied port of St. Nazaire[?].
• April 3 - World War II: Japanese forces begin an all-out assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula. Bataan fell on April 9 and the Bataan Death March[?] began.
• May 6 - World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.
• May 8 - World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end. This is the first time in the naval history where two enemy fleets fought without seeing each other's fleets.
• May 12 - World War II: Battle of Kharkov[?] - In the eastern Ukraine, the Soviet Army initiates its first major offensive of the war. During the battle the Soviets will take the city of Kharko[?] back from the German Army.
• May 15 - World War II: In the United States, a bill creating the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps[?] (WAAC) is signed into law.
• June 4-7 - The Battle of Midway
• June 9 - The US Philippine Department surrenders to Japan
• July 1 - July 27 the First Battle of El Alamein
• October 3 - the first V-2 rocket (A4 Rocket) is launched into space in Peenemünde, Germany.
• October 23 - November 4 the Second Battle of El Alamein
• DDT first used as a pesticide

Art, Culture & Fashion

• 1942 in film
  • Mrs. Miniver
  • Bambi[?]
  • Casablanca starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman
• 1942 in literature
• 1942 in music
  • "White Christmas" - Bing Crosby
• 1942 in sports[?]
• 1942 in television
  • April 13 - The FCC minimum programming time required of TV stations is cut from 15 hours to four hours a week during the war.

Births

• January 3 - John Thaw, actor (+ 2002)
• January 5 - Charlie Rose[?], talk show host
• January 7 - Paul Revere, singer and musician
• January 8 - Stephen Hawking, British theoretical physicist.
• January 8 - Yvette Mimieux[?], actress
• January 8 - George Passmore, artist, half of Gilbert and George
• January 11 - Clarence Clemens[?], musician (E Street Band)
• January 13 - Richard Moll[?], actor
• January 14 - Stig Engström[?], actor
• January 15 - Charo, singer, actress
• January 17 - Muhammad Ali, boxer
• January 17 - Ulf Hoelscher[?], violinist
• January 19 - Michael Crawford, singer, actor
• January 31 - Derek Jarman, director, writer (+ 1994)
• February 1 - Terry Jones, actor, writer ("Monty Python's Flying Circus")
• February 2 - Graham Nash, musician
• February 5 - Roger Staubach[?], Football Hall of Famer
• February 9 - Carole King, singer, composer
• February 11 - Archie Andrews, (comic book character).
• February 11 - Leon Haywood[?], vocalist/keyboardist.
• February 11 - Tony Colton[?], rock producer.
• February 11 - Otis Clay[?], gospel/R&B-singer.
• February 12 - Ehud Barak, Prime Minister of Israel
• February 13 - Peter Tork, musician/actor.
• February 15 - Kim Jong-il, leader of North Korea
• February 20 - Phil Esposito[?], ice hockey player
• February 21 - Margarethe von Trotta[?], actor, film director, writer
• February 24 - John Neumeier[?], choreographer
• February 24 - Joseph Lieberman, politician, candidate for Vice President of the United States
• February 28 - Brian Jones, musician ("The Rolling Stones") (+ 1969)
• February 28 - Joe South[?], musician
• March 2 - John Irving, author
• March 2 - Lou Reed, singer and guitarist
• March 5 - Felipe González Márquez[?], politician (+ 1942)
• March 7 - Tammy Faye Bakker[?], evangelist
• March 7 - Michael Eisner, President of The Walt Disney Company
• March 13 - Dave Cutler, software engineer
• March 17 - John Wayne Gacy, serial killer
• March 25 - Aretha Franklin, singer
• March 26 - Erica Jong, author
• March 27 - Michael York[?], actor
• March 29 - Stingray Davis[?], musician (P-Funk)
• April 3 - Marsha Mason, actress
• April 3 - Wayne Newton[?], singer
• April 5 - Peter Greenaway, painter
• April 6 - Barry Levinson[?], producer, director
• April 26 - Bobby Rydell[?], singer
• May 7 - Gerhard Polt[?], cabaretist
• May 9 - John Ashcroft, United States Attorney General
• May 12 - Ian Dury, rock star (+ 2000)
• May 17 - Taj Mahal[?], singer, guitarist
• May 18 - Albert Hammond[?], musician, composer
• May 19 - Gary Kildall, computer programmer (+ 1997)
• May 22 - Theodore Kaczynski, neo-luddite terrorist
• May 22 - Calvin Simon, musician (P Funk)
• May 22 - Volker Canaris[?], theatre director
• May 26 - Levon Helm[?] of The Band
• July 13 - Harrison Ford, Actor/producer
• July 17 - Tim Brooke-Taylor, radio and TV comedian
• July 23 - Myra Hindley, Moors murderess
• August 7 - Garrison Keillor, radio host[?]
• September 10 - Stephen Jay Gould, American biologist
• September 30 - Frankie Lymon, American singer
• October 23 - Michael Crichton, author
• November 27 - Jimi Hendrix, rock musician
• December 6 - Peter Handke, Austrian novelist
• December 9 - Dick Butkus[?], Chicago Bears linebacker
• Unknown date - Moammar Al Qadhafi

Deaths

• January 16 - Carole Lombard, actress
• March 8 - José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess player.
• April 15 - Robert Musil, Austrian novelist (The Man Without Qualities[?])
• November 5 - George M. Cohan US songwriter & entertainer
• Ernest Brastins[?], organizer of Dievturiba

Nobel Prizes

• Physics - not awarded
• Chemistry - not awarded
• Medicine - not awarded
• Literature - not awarded
• Peace - not awarded

Books