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
Events
- 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
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
Nobel Prizes
Books
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