1941

history

Year 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

:: (Below, many events of World War II have the "World War II" prefix.)

January

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  • January 1 – Thailand Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram decrees January 1 as the official start of the Thai solar calendar new year (thus the previous year that began April 1 had only 9 months).
  • January 4 – The short subject Elmer's Pet Rabbit is released, marking the second appearance of Bugs Bunny, and also the first to have his name on a title card.
  • January 6 – The keel of the USS Missouri (BB-63) is laid at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn.
  • January 10 – Lend-Lease is introduced into the U.S. Congress.
  • January 13 – All persons born in Puerto Rico since this day are declared U.S. citizens by birth, through U.S. federal law .
  • January 15 – John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford E. Berry describe the workings of the Atanasoff–Berry Computer in print.
  • January 19 – World War II: British troops attack Italian-held Eritrea.
  • January 20 – Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes swears in U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt for his third term.
  • January 21 – World War II – Battle of Tobruk: Australian and British forces attack Tobruk, Libya.
  • January 22 – World War II: British troops capture Tobruk from the Italians.
  • January 23 – Aviator Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.
  • January 27 – World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: Joseph C. Grew, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, reports to Washington a rumor overheard at a diplomatic reception concerning a planned surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
  • January 30 – World War II – Australians capture Derna, Libya from the Italians.
Tobruk]]

February

  • February 3 – World War II: The Nazis forcibly restore Pierre Laval to office in occupied Vichy France.
  • February 4 – World War II: The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops.
  • February 5 – Air Training Corps: The Air Training Corps was formed.
  • February 6 – World War II – Fall of Benghazi to the Western Desert Force. Lieutenant-General Erwin Rommel is appointed commander of Afrika Korps.
  • February 8 – World War II – The U.S. House of Representatives passes the Lend-Lease Act (260–165).
  • February 9 – Winston Churchill, in a worldwide broadcast, tells the United States to show its support by sending arms to the British: "Give us the tools, and we will finish the job."
  • February 12 – World War II: Erwin Rommel arrives in Tripoli.
  • February 14 – World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: Admiral Kichisaburo Nomura begins his duties as Japanese Ambassador to the United States.
  • February 19–February 22 – World War II: Three Nights' Blitz over Swansea, South Wales: Over these 3 nights of intensive bombing, which last a total of 13 hours and 48 minutes, Swansea's town centre is almost completely obliterated by the 896 high explosive bombs employed by the Luftwaffe. A total of 397 casualties and 230 deaths are reported.
  • February 23: Glenn T. Seaborg isolates and discovers plutonium.

March

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  • March – Captain America Comics #1 issues the first Captain America & Bucky comic.
  • March 1 – World War II: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact, thus joining the Axis powers.
  • March 1 – W47NV begins operations in Nashville, Tennessee, becoming the first FM radio station.
  • March 1 – Arthur L. Bristol becomes Rear Admiral for the U.S. Navy's Support Force, Atlantic Fleet.
  • March 4 – World War II: British Commandos carry out a successful raid on the Lofoten Islands off the north coast of Norway.
  • March 8 – World War II: The U.S. Senate passes the Lend-Lease Act (60–31).
  • March 11 – World War II: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan.
  • March 11 – The Kinsmen Club of Brantford is chartered.
  • March 15 – Richard C. Hottelet, Berlin correspondent of the United Press, is arrested by the Gestapo on "suspicion of espionage" charges. He is eventually released in July as part of a prisoner exchange.
  • March 16 – A fleet of U.S. warships arrive in Auckland, New Zealand on a goodwill visit. On March 20, they visit Sydney, Australia.
  • March 17 – In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
  • March 17 – British Minister of Labour Ernest Bevin calls for women to fill vital jobs.
  • March 22 – Washington's Grand Coulee Dam begins to generate electricity.
  • March 24 – World War II:Rommel launches his first offensive in Cyrenaica.
  • March 25 – World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia joins the Axis powers in Vienna.
  • March 27 – World War II: An anti-Axis coup d'état in Yugoslavia forces Prince Paul into exile; 17-year-old King Peter II assumes power.
  • March 27 – World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: Japanese spy Takeo Yoshikawa arrives in Honolulu, Hawaii and begins to study the United States fleet at Pearl Harbor.
  • March 27 – World War II – Battle of Cape Matapan: Off the Peloponnesus coast in the Mediterranean, British naval forces defeat those of Italy, sinking 5 warships. Battle ends on March 29.
  • March 30 – All German, Italian, and Danish ships anchored in United States waters are taken into "protective custody".
  • March 30 – German Lorenz code machine operator sent a 4,000 character message twice, allowing British mathematician Bill Tutte to decipher the machine's coding mechanism.»BBC

April

  • April 4 – World War II: Axis forces capture Benghazi.
  • April 6 – World War II: Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece.
  • April 9 – The U.S. acquires full military defense rights in Greenland.
  • April 10 – World War II: The U.S. destroyer Niblack, while picking up survivors from a sunken Dutch freighter, drops depth charges on a German U-Boat (the first "shot in anger" fired by America against Germany).
  • April 12 – World War II: German troops enter Belgrade.
  • April 13 – The Soviet Union and Japan sign a neutrality pact.
  • April 15 – World War II: Axis forces reach Halfaya Pass on the Libyan-Egyptian frontier.
  • April 17 – World War II: The Yugoslav Royal Army capitulates.
  • April 18 – World War II: Prime Minister of Greece Alexandros Koryzis commits suicide as German troops approach Athens.
  • April 21 – World War II: Greece capitulates. Commonwealth troops and some elements of the Greek Army withdraw to Crete.
  • April 23 – The America First Committee holds its first mass rally in New York City, with Charles Lindbergh as keynote speaker.
  • April 25 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, at his regular press conference, criticizes Charles Lindbergh by comparing him to the Copperheads of the Civil War period. In response, Lindbergh resigns his commission in the U.S. Army Air Corps Reserve on April 28.
  • April 27 – World War II: German troops enter Athens.

May

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  • May 1 – The breakfast cereal Cheerios is introduced as CheeriOats by General Mills.
  • May 1 – Orson Welles' film Citizen Kane premieres in New York City.
  • May 1 – The first Defense Bonds and Defense Savings Stamps go on sale in the United States, to help fund the greatly increased production of military equipment.
  • May 5 – World War II: Emperor Haile Selassie enters Addis Ababa, which had been liberated from Italian forces; this date has been since commemorated as Liberation Day in Ethiopia.
  • May 6 – At California's March Field, entertainer Bob Hope performs his first USO Show.
  • May 9 – World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the British Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma cryptography machine, which Allied cryptographers later use to break coded German messages.
  • May 10 – World War II: The British House of Commons is damaged by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.
  • May 10 – Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland, claiming to be on a peace mission.
  • May 12 – Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin.
  • May 15 – The first British jet aircraft, the Gloster E.28/39, is flown.
  • May 15 – Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak begins as the New York Yankee center fielder goes one for 4 against Chicago White Sox Pitcher Eddie Smith.
  • May 20 – World War II: The Battle of Crete begins as Germany launches an airborne invasion of Crete.
  • May 24 – World War II: In the North Atlantic, the German battleship Bismarck sinks the HMS Hood, killing all but 3 crewman on what was the pride of the Royal Navy.
  • May 26 – World War II: In the North Atlantic, Fairey Swordfish aircraft from the carrier HMS Ark Royal fatally cripple the Bismarck in an aerial torpedo attack.
  • May 27 – World War II: President Roosevelt proclaims an "unlimited national emergency."
  • May 27 – World War II: The Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic, killing 2,300.
  • May 30 – World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas tear down the Nazi swastika on the Acropolis in Athens, and replace it with the Greek flag

June

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  • June 5 – Four thousand Chongqing residents are asphyxiated in a bomb shelter during the Bombing of Chongqing.
  • June 8 – World War II: British and Free French forces invade Syria.
  • June 8 – A Serbian ammunition plant explodes at Smederevo on the outskirts of Belgrade, Serbia, killing 1,500.
  • June 13 – TASS, the official Soviet news agency, denies reports of tension between Germany and the Soviet Union.
  • June 14 – Mass deportations by Soviet Union authorities take place in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
  • June 14 – All German and Italian assets in the United States are frozen.
  • June 16 – All German and Italian consulates in the United States are ordered closed and their staffs to leave the country by July 10.
  • June 20 – Walt Disney's live-action animated feature, The Reluctant Dragon, is released.
  • June 22 – World War II: Italy and Romania declare war on the Soviet Union.
  • June 22 – World War II: Germany invades the Soviet Union under Operation Barbarossa.
  • June 22 – World War II: Winston Churchill promises all possible British assistance to the Soviet Union in a worldwide broadcast: "Any man or state who fights against Nazidom will have our aid. Any man or state who marches with Hitler is our foe."
  • June 22 – World War II: The First Sisak Partisan Brigade, the first anti-fascist armed unit in occupied Europe, is founded by partisans near Sisak, Croatia.
  • June 23 – World War II: Hungary and Slovakia declare war on the Soviet Union.
  • June 24 – Founding of RIA Novosti.
  • June 25 – World War II: Finland attacks the Soviet Union to seek the opportunity of revenge in the Continuation War.
  • June 28 – World War II: Albania declares war on the Soviet Union.

July

  • July – The British army's Special Air Service is formed.
  • July 2 – World War II: Japan calls up 1 million men for military service.
  • July 3 – World War II: Joseph Stalin, in his first address since the German invasion, calls upon the Soviet people to carry out a "scorched earth" policy of resistance to the bitter end.
  • July 4 – The Mass murder of Polish scientists and writers is committed by German troops in the captured Polish city of Lwów.
  • July 5 – World War II: German troops reach the Dnieper River.
  • July 5 – July 19 – War is fought between Peru and Ecuador.
  • July 7 – World War II: American forces take over the defense of Iceland from the British.
  • July 7 – World War II: German troops take over Estonia from the Soviets.
  • July 13 – World War II: Montenegro starts the first popular uprising in Europe against the Axis Powers.
  • July 14 – World War II: Vichy France signs armistice terms, ending all fighting in Syria and Lebanon.
  • July 17 – Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak ends.
  • July 19 – World War II: A BBC broadcast by "Colonel Britton" calls on the people of occupied Europe to resist the Nazis under the slogan "V for Victory".
  • July 20 – Army Air Forces.
  • July 25 – The Postal Code system was introduced for the first time in Germany.
  • July 26 – World War II: In response to the Japanese occupation of French Indo-China, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the seizure of all Japanese assets in the United States.
  • July 26 – World War II: General Douglas MacArthur is named commander of all U.S. forces in the Philippines; the Philippines Army is ordered nationalized by President Roosevelt.
  • July 31 – World War II – Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring orders S.S. General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question."

August

  • August – Political Warfare Executive is formed in the United Kingdom.
  • August 1 – The first Jeep is produced.
  • August 6 – Six-year-old Elaine Esposito goes to an appendix operation in Florida and lapses into a coma. She dies in 1978, still in a coma.
  • August 9 – Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet at Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador. The Atlantic Charter is created as a result.
  • August 16 – The HMS Mercury, Royal Navy Signals School and Combined Signals School open at Leydene, near Petersfield, Hampshire, England.
  • August 18 – Adolf Hitler orders a temporary halt to Nazi Germany's systematic euthanasia of the mentally ill and handicapped due to protests. However, graduates of the T-4 Euthanasia Program are then transferred to concentration camps, where they continue in their trade.
  • August 22 – World War II – France: The German Occupation Authority announces that anyone found either working for or aiding the Free French will be sentenced to death.
  • August 24 – World War II: A Luftwaffe bomb hits an Estonian steamer with 3,500 Soviet-mobilized Estonian men on board, killing 598 of them.
  • August 25 – World War II: Operation Countenance begins with United Kingdom and Soviet forces invading Iran.
  • August 27 – World War II – Pierre Laval is shot in an assassination attempt at Versailles, France.
  • August 28 – World War II: The Soviets announce the destruction of the massive Dnieper River dam at Zaporozhye, to prevent its capture by the Germans.
  • August 31 – The Great Gildersleeve debuts on NBC Radio.

September

  • September 6 – Holocaust: The requirement to wear the Star of David with the word "Jew" inscribed, is extended to all Jews over the age of 6 in German-occupied areas.
  • September 8 – World War II – The Siege of Leningrad begins: German forces begin a siege against the Soviet Union's second-largest city, Leningrad. Stalin orders the Volga Germans deported to Siberia.
  • September 11 – World War II: Charles Lindbergh, at an America First Committee rally in Des Moines, Iowa, accuses "the British, the Jewish, and the Roosevelt administration" of leading the United States toward war. Widespread condemnation of Lindbergh follows.
  • September 12 – World War II: The first snowfall is reported on the Russian front.
  • September 14 – The State of Vermont declares war on Germany.
  • September 15 – The Estonian Self-Administration, headed by Hjalmar Mäe, is appointed by the German military administration.
  • September 16 – Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran is forced to resign in favor of his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran, under pressure from the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.
  • September 22 The town of Reshetylivka in the Soviet Union is occupied by German forces.
  • September 27 – The first Liberty Ship, the SS Patrick Henry, is launched at Baltimore, Maryland.
  • September 29 – World War II: The Moscow Conference begins; U.S. representative Averill Harriman and British representative Lord Beaverbrook meet with Soviet foreign minister Molotov to arrange urgent assistance for Russia.
  • September 29 and September 30 – Holocaust: Babi Yar massacre – German troops, assisted by Ukrainian police and local collaborators, killed 33,771 Jews of Kiev, Ukraine.

October

  • mid-month – First production P38E Lightning fighter produced by Lockheed.
  • October 2 – World War II: Operation Typhoon begins as Germany launches an all-out offensive against Moscow.
  • October 7 – John Curtin becomes the 14th Prime Minister of Australia.
  • October 8 – World War II: In their invasion of the Soviet Union, Germany reaches the Sea of Azov with the capture of Mariupol.
  • October 16 – World War II: The Soviet Union government moves to Kuibyshev (modern Samara), but Stalin remains in Moscow.
  • October 17 – World War II: The destroyer USS Kearny is torpedoed and damaged near Iceland, killing 11 sailors (the first American military casualties of the war).
  • October 18 – General Hideki Tojo becomes the 40th Prime Minister of Japan.
  • October 21 – World War II: The Germans rampage in Yugoslavia, killing thousands of civilians.
  • October 23 – Walt Disney's animated film Dumbo is released.
  • October 24 – Franz von Werra disappears during a flight over the North Sea.
  • October 30 – World War II: Franklin Delano Roosevelt approves US$1 billion in Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union.
  • October 31 – After 14 years of work, drilling is completed on Mount Rushmore.
  • October 31 – World War II: The destroyer USS Reuben James is torpedoed by a German U-boat near Iceland, killing more than 100 United States Navy sailors.

November

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  • November 6 – World War II: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin addresses the Soviet Union for only the second time during his three-decade rule (the first time was earlier that year on July 2). He states that even though 350,000 troops have been killed in German attacks so far, that the Germans have lost 4.5 million soldiers (a gross exaggeration) and that Soviet victory is near.
  • November 7 – World War II: The Soviet hospital Ship Armenia is sunk by German planes while evacuating refugees, wounded military and the staff of several Crimean hospitals. It is estimated that over 5,000 people die in the sinking.
  • November 10 – In a speech at the Mansion House in London, Winston Churchill promises, "should the United States become involved in war with Japan, the British declaration will follow within the hour."
  • November 12 – World War II: As Battle of Moscow begins, temperatures around Moscow drop to -12 °C, and the Soviet Union launches ski troops for the first time against the freezing German forces near the city.
  • November 13 – World War II: The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is hit by German U-boat U-81.
  • November 14 – World War II: The HMS Ark Royal capsizes and sinks, having been torpedoed by U-81.
  • November 17 – World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: Joseph Grew, the United States ambassador to Japan, cables to Washington a warning that Japan may strike suddenly and unexpectedly at any time.
  • November 18 – World War II: Operation Crusader in North Africa begins
  • November 19 – World War II: The Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney sinks off the coast of Western Australia, killing 645 sailors.
  • November 21 – The radio program King Biscuit Time is broadcast for the first time (it later becomes the longest running daily radio broadcast in history and the most famous live blues radio program).
  • November 26 – World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: A fleet of 6 aircraft carriers commanded by Japanese Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo leaves Hitokapu Bay for Pearl Harbor under strict radio silence.
  • November 27 – A group of young men stop traffic on U.S. Highway 99 south of Yreka, California, handing out fliers proclaiming the establishment of the State of Jefferson.
  • November 27 – World War II: Germans reach their closest approach to Moscow. They are subsequently frozen by cold weather and attacks by the Soviets.

December

, ablaze after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor]]
  • December 1 – World War II: Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor of New York City and Director of the Office of Civilian Defense, signs , creating the Civil Air Patrol under the authority of the United States Army Air Force.
  • December 1 – World War II: A state of emergency is declared in Malaya and the Straits Settlements.
  • December 2 – World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: The code message "Climb Mount Niitaka" is transmitted to the Japanese task force, indicating that negotiations have broken down and that the attack is to be carried out according to plan.
  • December 4 – The State of Jefferson is declared in Yreka, California, with judge John Childs as a governor.
  • December 6 – World War II – Soviet counterattacks begin against German troops encircling Moscow. Wehrmacht is subsequently pushed back over 200 miles.
  • December 6 – World War II – The United Kingdom declares war on Finland.
  • December 7, (December 8, Japan standard time) – The Japanese Navy launches a surprise attack on the United States fleet at Pearl Harbor, thus drawing the United States into World War II. Tobruk's garrison is relieved.
  • December 8 – World War II: The United States officially declares war on Japan.
  • December 8 – World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Japan.
  • December 8 – World War II: China declares war on Japan.
  • December 8 – World War II: The Netherlands declares war on Japan.
  • December 8 – World War II: Japan launches invasions in Hong Kong, Malaya, Manila, and Singapore.
  • December 8 – World War II: Japan launches invasions in the Philippines.
  • December 10 – World War II: The British battleships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Japanese aircraft in the South China Sea north of Singapore.
  • December 11 – World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States. The U.S. responds in kind.
  • December 12 – World War II: Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States.
  • December 12 – World War II: India declares war on Japan.
  • December 12 – World War II: The United States seizes the French ship SS Normandie.
  • December 12 – World War II: The Kimura Detachment of the Japanese Imperial forces was occupied in Legaspi, Albay in Eastern Philippines.
  • December 13 – Sweden's low temperature record of -53°C is set in a village within the Vilhelmina Municipality.
  • December 19 – World War II: Hitler becomes Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the German Army.
  • December 23 – World War II: A second Japanese landing attempt on Wake Island is successful, and the American garrison surrenders after a full night and morning of fighting.
  • December 24 – World War II: British forces capture Benghazi.
  • December 25 – World War II: The British and Canadians are defeated by the Japanese at Hong Kong.
  • December 26 – World War II: Winston Churchill becomes the first British Prime Minister to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress.
  • December 27 – World War II: British Commandos raid the Norwegian port of Vaagso, causing Hitler to reinforce the garrison and defenses, drawing vital troops away from other areas.

Undated

  • The Valley of Geysers is discovered in Russia.
  • Results of the Ives–Stilwell experiment are published, showing that ions radiate at frequencies affected by their motion.
  • In Sweden, Victor Hasselblad forms the Hasselblad Camera Company.
  • The Indochina Communist party, led by Ho Chi Minh, combines with the Nationalist party to form the Viet Minh.

Ongoing

Births

January

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February

March

April

May

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June

July

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August

September

October

  • October 2 – Zareh Baronian, Archimandrite doctor, theologian of the Armenian Church, Bucarest
  • October 4 – Elizabeth Eckford, American activist
  • October 4 – Anne Rice, American writer
  • October 5 – Eduardo Duhalde, President of Argentina
  • October 8 – Jesse Jackson, American clergyman and civil rights activist
  • October 9 – Trent Lott, former United States Senate Minority Leader and United States Senate Majority Leader
  • October 10 – Peter Coyote, American actor
  • October 13 – Paul Simon, American singer and composer
  • October 16 – Tim McCarver, American baseball commentator
  • October 20 – Anneke Wills, British actress
  • October 23 – Mel Winkler, American actor
  • October 25 – Helen Reddy, Australian singer and actress
  • October 25 – Anne Tyler, American novelist
  • October 28 – John Hallam, Irish actor
  • October 28 – Hank Marvin, British guitarist, singer and songwriter
  • October 27 – Gerd Brantenberg, Norwegian feminist author and gay rights activist
  • October 30 – Theodor W. Hänsch, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics

November

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  • November 1 – Nigel Dempster, British journalist, author, broadcaster and diarist (d.2007)
  • November 1 – Robert Foxworth, actor
  • November 5 – Art Garfunkel, American singer
  • November 6 – Doug Sahm, American musician (d. 1999)
  • November 17 – Tova Traesnaes, American cosmetician and fifth wife of Ernest Borgnine
  • November 18 – David Hemmings, English actor (d. 2003)
  • November 23 – Derek Mahon, Irish poet
  • November 25 – Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi, Sufi, author, poet and a growing following consider him to be the Mehdi, Messiah & Kalki Avatar
  • November 26 – G. Alan Marlatt, American psychologist
  • November 27 – Eddie Rabbitt, American country musician (d. 1998)
  • November 29 – Bill Freehan, American baseball player

December

Deaths

January–February

 ,

March–July

August–December

Nobel Prizes

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

Ship events

References

External links

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