1942

Year 1942 () was a (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the.

Events of 1942

 * (Below, many events of have the "" prefix.)

January

 * - : is captured by ese forces. The Japanese Admiral stays in  (owned by Charles Henry de Silva), Philippines.
 * - : Siege of the begins.
 * - : The last German air-raid on Liverpool. This raid destroyed the home of, 's nephew. After his house was destroyed William Hitler went to the and joined the navy to fight against his uncle.
 * - : ** declares war on the and invades the.
 * The ese capture.
 * - : ese forces invade.
 * - : at the  in  decide that the " to the ish problem" is relocation, and later extermination.
 * - : The begins.
 * - : declares war on the  and.
 * - : The first American forces arrive in landing in.
 * - : The last organised Allied forces leave, ending the 54-day.

February

 * - :  signs an executive order directing the internment of Japanese Americans and the seizure of their property.
 * - is elected president of.
 * Top military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war.
 * goes into effect in the United States.
 * - - Flotilla of  ships dash from  through the  to northern ports; British fail to sink any one of them.
 * - : surrenders to ese forces.
 * 242,.
 * signs  allowing the  to define areas as exclusionary zones. These zones affect the  on the West Coast, and  and  primarily on the East Coast.
 * - Lieutenant becomes America's first.
 * - :  orders General  out of the  as American defense of the nation collapses.
 * - The ese I-17 fires sixteen high-explosive shells toward an oil  near, causing little damage.
 * - : The begins broadcasting.
 * - registers for war service.
 * - The worst explosion to date occurs in, . It claims 1549 lives. The growth of the  industry was a major goal of 's first Five-Year Plan.
 * - : During the an allied  task force under  command, trying to stem a ese invasion of the  is defeated by a Japanese task force in the.
 * - The worst explosion to date occurs in, . It claims 1549 lives. The growth of the  industry was a major goal of 's first Five-Year Plan.
 * - : During the an allied  task force under  command, trying to stem a ese invasion of the  is defeated by a Japanese task force in the.

March

 * March - Construction began what would be the largest army ammunition plant in the United States during ; the
 * - Executive Order 9082 (February 28, 1942) reorganized the into three major commands -, , and , later redesignated.
 * - British Commandos raided on the coast of Western.

April

 * - : ese forces begin an all-out assault on the and  troops on the . Bataan fell on  and the  began.
 * - : attacks  in  .    and  are sunk southwest of the island.
 * - : Japanese Navy launches air raid on in Ceylon (Sri Lanka); Royal Navy   and    are sunk off the country's East Coast.
 * - The minimum programming time required of TV stations is cut from 15 hours to four hours a week during the war.
 * - :King awards the  to, "To honour her brave people I award the George Cross to the Island Fortress of Malta, to bear witness to a heroism and a devotion that will long be famous in history."  From January 1 to July 24, 1942, there was only one 24-hour period during which no bombs fell on this tiny island.
 * - is bombed by s commanded by then-Lieutenant Colonel.
 * - : A is held in Canada on the issue of.
 * - : Explosion at a chemical factory in, leaves 200 dead and 1,000 injured.

May

 * May - First test of an undersea oil pipeline in.
 * - : -  forces invades French colony of.
 * - : On, the last forces in the  surrender to the ese.
 * - : The comes to an end. This is the first time in the naval history where two enemy fleets fought without seeing each other's fleets.
 * / - : On the night of 8/9 May 1942, gunners of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery on Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands rebelled. Their mutiny was crushed and three of them were executed, the only British Commonwealth soldiers to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War.
 * - : - In the eastern, the  Army initiates a major offensive. During the battle the Soviets will capture the city of  from the  Army, only to be encircled and destroyed.
 * - : In the, a bill creating the (WAAC) is signed into law.
 * - First African-American seamen taken into.
 * - :  against  after the sinking of the Mexican tanker  by the German U-boat, U-160, off.
 * - : - attempted assassination  of  in.
 * - - : - Japanese midget submarines infiltrate Sydney Harbour in an attempt to attack Allied warships.

June

 * - : declares war on Germany, Italy and Japan.
 * - : succumbs to wounds sustained on  from Czechoslovakian paratroopers acting in
 * - - : The.
 * - : Japanese forces invade the . This is the first invasion of American soil in 128 years.
 * - : : Australian cities of and  are shelled by Japanese submarines. The eastern suburbs of both cities are damaged and the east coast is blacked-out.
 * - : burn the Czech village of  as reprisal for the killing of.
 * - : the Gestapo massacre 173 male residents of, in retaliation for the killing of a Nazi official.
 * - : Future essayist receives a  for her thirteenth.
 * - The opens its, a center for production of.

July

 * - - : the.
 * - falls to the Japanese.
 * - : 's family goes into hiding in an attic above her father's office in an warehouse.
 * - : s sink three more merchant ships in.
 * On order from the government headed by, French  officers round-up 13,000-20,000 s and imprison them in the.
 * and others escape from prison camp.
 * - : The s test fly the using only its s for the first time.
 * - : -  Grand Admiral  orders the last s to withdraw from their  Atlantic coast positions in response to an effective American convoy system.
 * - Japanese establish beachhead on the north coast of in the Buna-Gona area; small Australian force begins rearguard action on the.
 * - : The systematic deportation of s from the begins.
 * - The of the  institutes the, the , and reinstates the.
 * - The (OXFAM) founded.
 * - The (OXFAM) founded.

August

 * - : begins -  initiate the first American offensive of the war with a landing on  in the.
 * In, six would-be saboteurs are executed (two others were cooperative and received life imprisonment instead).
 * resolution is passed by the session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), which led to the start of a historical civil disobedience movement across.
 * n leader, is arrested in  by  forces.
 * Start, led by the goalkeeper Nikolai Trusevich, play football against the German Luftwaffe team Flakelf in Nazi-occupied Kiev. Against all odds, they win 5-3. Eight of them are later arrested and tortured, and at least four are killed.
 * - night - In London instruments detect a massive burst of.
 * - : ', an American tanker, reaches Malta as part of the convoy of '.
 * - teacher  follows a group of ish children into  death camp.
 * - : The - Allied forces raid . Fred Thompson Born.
 * - : declared war on  and.
 * - : Japanese land at.
 * - is formally annexed to the German Reich.
 * - launched in Luxembourg to protest against forced conscription.
 * - is formally annexed to the German Reich.
 * - launched in Luxembourg to protest against forced conscription.

September

 * fires foreign minister.
 * An attempt by the Germans to liquidate the Jewish in  leads to an uprising.
 * - : Japanese forces suffer their first defeat on land at the.
 * -, carrying civilians, Allied soldiers and Italian POWs is torpedoed off the coast of West Africa and sinks.
 * - and  became the first female  agents to be parachuted into occupied.
 * - and  became the first female  agents to be parachuted into occupied.

October

 * - British cruiser Curacao collides with the liner off the coast of  and sinks - 338 drowned.
 * - First successful launch of from  at, . The rocket flew 147 kilometres wide and reached a height of 84.5 kilometres and was therefore the first man-made object reaching space.
 * - Statute of formalizes n autonomy.
 * - : - On the northwest coast of,  ships intercept and defeat a ese fleet on their way to reinforce troops on the island.
 * - A German sinks the ferry, killing 137.
 * - and ing in  - 40,000 dead.
 * - Award-winning composer and songwriter  ("Thanks for the Memory") is among the 12 people killed in the mid-air collision between an   airliner and a U.S. Army bomber near.
 * - - : the.
 * - : - Two Japanese aircraft carriers are heavily damaged and one US carrier is sunk.
 * - The is completed.
 * - : In the, leading clergymen and political figures hold a public meeting to register outrage over 's persecution of s.

November

 * - forces, including 's fly toward . The squad intercepts many  patrols off the coast of . The US Force won the air battle.
 * - : ends -  forces under  are forced to retreat during the night.
 * - and  forces land in.
 * in, by which 400 French civil resistants neutralize the Vichyist XIXth Army Corps and the Vichyist generals (Juin, Darlan, etc.), so allowing the immediate success of Operation Torch in Algiers, and ultimately the whole of.
 * - : U.S serviceman hanged at Melbourne's Pentridge Prison for the "Brown-Out" Murders of three women in May.
 * - : In violation of a armistice,  invades  following French Admiral  agreement to an armistice with the  in.
 * - : begins - A naval battle near  starts between ese and  forces.
 * - : Battle of Guadalcanal - Aviators from the sink the ese battleship.
 * - : Battle of Guadalcanal ends - Although the suffered heavy losses, it was able to retain control of.
 * - : -  forces under General  launch the  counter-attacks at, turning the tide of the battle in the USSR's favor.
 * - The completion of the (also known as the Alcan Highway) is celebrated (the "" was not usable by general vehicles until, however).
 * - : - The situation for the  attackers of  seems desperate during the  counter-attack  and General  sends  a  saying that the  is surrounded.
 * - German sinks SS Ben Lomond off the coast of Brazil. One crewman, Chinese second steward, is separated from the others and spends 130 days adrift until he is rescued.
 * - The movie  premièred at the Hollywood Theater in.
 * - : At, the French navy scuttles its ships and submarines to keep them out of Nazi hands.
 * In, a fire in the night club kills 491 people.
 * The large-scale German "pacification" of Zamojszczyzna region of begins.
 * In, a fire in the night club kills 491 people.
 * The large-scale German "pacification" of Zamojszczyzna region of begins.

December

 * - : Below the bleachers of Stagg Field at the, a team led by initiate the first self-sustaining  (a coded message, "The Italian navigator has landed in the new world" was then sent to US President ).
 * - : In, two women, and  risk their lives by setting up the.
 * - British commandos conduct a raid on shipping in  harbour.
 * - French, the former leader who had switched over to the Allies following the Torch landings, assassinated in.

Undated

 * finished in.
 * first used as a.
 * publishes.
 * s became extinct in by this date.

January-February

 * , American politician
 * , cosmonaut
 * -, American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
 * -, English actor (d. )
 * , Italian pianist
 * , American talk show host
 * , Former newsreader
 * -, Soviet weightlifter
 * , British physicist
 * , American actress
 * , English artist
 * -, American musician
 * -, American singer and actress
 * , American boxer
 * , boxing manager (d. )
 * , German violinist
 * , American actress (d. )
 * -, English singer and actor
 * -, American football player
 * -, Portuguese footballer
 * , English director and writer (d. )
 * , Italian actress
 * -, Welsh actor and writer
 * -, American (English-born) rock musician
 * -, American football player
 * -, American singer and composer
 * -, American musician and actor
 * , American, , and the founder of ,  of
 * , American actor
 * -, American actress
 * -, leader of the
 * -, American football player
 * -, Canadian hockey player
 * -, German actress, film director, and writer
 * -, American politician
 * -, American chemist, laureate
 * -, English musician (d. )
 * , American actor
 * -, American actress
 * -, leader of the
 * -, American football player
 * -, Canadian hockey player
 * -, German actress, film director, and writer
 * -, American politician
 * -, American chemist, laureate
 * -, English musician (d. )

March-April

 * , American author
 * , American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * , U.S. Marine Corps commander
 * , American gospel songwriter
 * -, Spanish politician
 * , American evangelist, singer and television personality (d. )
 * , American film studio executive
 * -, Welsh composer and musician
 * -, American player, 1963-1977
 * -, American software engineer
 * March 13 -, American musician (d. )
 * -, Taiwan politician
 * -, American serial killer (d. )
 * -, Guyanese historian and political figure
 * , American singer
 * , English-born actor and writer
 * -, American author
 * , British chemist, recipient of the
 * , English actor
 * , English writer (d. )
 * , British statesman
 * , British film director
 * , East German border guard (d. )
 * , American basketball coach
 * -, American actor
 * -, British DJ (Radio 1)
 * , Japanese chef
 * , American singer, songwriter, pianist, and guitarist
 * , American actress
 * , American singer
 * -, American author
 * , Welsh film-maker
 * , Swiss Federal Councilor
 * -, American film producer and director
 * -, British rock singer
 * , Russian athlete (d. )
 * , cosmonaut
 * , American businessman (d. )
 * , American actress
 * , British actor
 * , American jazz bassist
 * -, American actress (d. )
 * -, American singer, theatre and film actress, composer
 * , American singer
 * , Canadian diplomat
 * , French actress
 * -, American drummer
 * , American businessman (d. )
 * , American actress
 * , British actor
 * , American jazz bassist
 * -, American actress (d. )
 * -, American singer, theatre and film actress, composer
 * , American singer
 * , Canadian diplomat
 * , French actress
 * -, American drummer
 * , Canadian diplomat
 * , French actress
 * -, American drummer

May-June

 * -, Belgian International Olympic Committee president
 * -, American musician (d. )
 * -, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
 * -, Burkinabé politician
 * -, British musician (d. )
 * -, American singer and guitarist
 * , English-born musician and composer
 * , English footballer
 * -, American computer scientist (d. )
 * -, American actor
 * , American bomber
 * , American musician
 * -, Romanian philosopher
 * -, American musician
 * -, American scientist, recipient of the
 * -, Russian football coach and former international player
 * , American musician (d. )
 * , American actor
 * , British journalist and TV presenter
 * , Canadian politician
 * -, German physiologist, laureate
 * , Egyptian International Atomic Energy Agency director, recipient of the
 * , archivist, actor, author,  biographer
 * , American film critic and television personality
 * , English musician and composer
 * , Dutch conductor
 * , Disney historian and author
 * , American singer
 * -, American singer
 * , English drummer
 * , American actress, singer and dancer
 * -, American musician
 * -, musician and record producer
 * , Disney historian and author
 * , American singer
 * -, American singer
 * , English drummer
 * , American actress, singer and dancer
 * -, American musician
 * -, musician and record producer
 * -, American musician
 * -, musician and record producer

July-August

 * , American football player
 * -, Welsh-born actress
 * -, American model and playboy playmate
 * -, African-American actor
 * , cosmonaut
 * , American singer
 * , American actor and producer
 * , American musician
 * -, Mexican professional wrestler
 * -, member of the Swiss Federal Council
 * -, English murderer
 * -, American actor
 * -, American tennis player
 * -, Finnish writer
 * -, American actor
 * -, American musician (d. ),
 * -, Chilean writer
 * -, (d. )
 * -, American writer and radio host
 * -, British Indian actor
 * -, First person to win £1,000,000 on
 * -, U.S. Senator and actor
 * -, American singer and actor
 * - (Lord Bilston), British politician
 * -, American musician (d. )
 * -, U.S. Senator and actor
 * -, American singer and actor
 * - (Lord Bilston), British politician
 * -, American musician (d. )

September-October

 * -, American scientist
 * -, English actor
 * -, Irish writer
 * -, British TV presenter
 * -, American singer and actress
 * -, American commissioner of the National Basketball Association
 * -, American actor
 * , American actress (d. )
 * , English actor
 * , French jazz violinist
 * -, American singer (d. )
 * , Swedish actress
 * , American comedian and impressionist
 * -, Indian actor
 * -, American musician (d. )
 * -, American football team owner
 * , American actress, producer and director
 * , American Hindu guru and pontiff of Kauai's Hindu monastery on Kauai, Hawaii, USA.
 * -, American author and attorney
 * , American actor (d. )
 * , German biologist, recipient of the
 * -, American musician
 * -, American actress
 * -, American author
 * , British actor
 * , American actor
 * -, American voice-over artist
 * -, American author
 * , British actor
 * , American actor
 * -, American voice-over artist
 * -, American voice-over artist

November-December

 * , American publisher
 * , Premier of Alberta
 * -, American actress
 * , Puerto Rican jockey
 * , Argentine writer
 * , American economist, laureate
 * , Swiss Federal Councilor
 * -, American singer
 * -, Argentine-born pianist and conductor
 * -, American film director
 * , American actress
 * , American actress
 * -, U.S. Senator from Delaware
 * -, Ugandan ambassador
 * -, Scottish comedian
 * -, Egyptian intellectual and writer
 * , American athlete
 * , American musician (d. )
 * , Spanish shoe designer
 * -, American football player
 * -, British actor (d. )
 * -, Swiss baritone
 * -, British actress
 * -, Austrian novelist
 * -, American game show host (d. )
 * -, American football player
 * -, American actress
 * -, American musician (d. )
 * -, American athlete
 * -, American singer
 * -, American musician ( and )
 * -, American actress
 * -, Indian actor
 * , American actress
 * , American philosopher
 * -, English guitarist
 * date unknown
 * , American murderer (d. )
 * , Australian author, journalist, and television presenter.
 * probable -, leader of Libya
 * , American philosopher
 * -, English guitarist
 * date unknown
 * , American murderer (d. )
 * , Australian author, journalist, and television presenter.
 * probable -, leader of Libya

January-June

 * -, Belgian International Olympic Committee president (b. )
 * -, Colombian poet and writer (b. )
 * , American actress (air crash) (b. )
 * , second youngest son of (b. )
 * -, German mathematician (suicide) (b. )
 * -, Polish pilot of the No. 303 Squadron in Northolt (b. )
 * -, American gangster (executed) (b. )
 * -, Austrian writer (suicide with wife) (b. )
 * -, Dutch admiral (sinking ship) (b. )
 * -, American military officer, inventor, and engineer (b. )
 * -, Cuban chess player (b. )
 * -, English physicist, laureate (b. )
 * -, Canadian politician (b. )
 * -, Austrian-born novelist (b. )
 * -, granddaughter of
 * -, French physicist, laureate (b. )
 * -, American sculptor and socialite (b. )
 * -, Indian singer and composer (b. )
 * -, (b. )
 * -, Yugoslavian conductor (b. )
 * -, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (b. )
 * -, American actor (b. )
 * -, chief of the Nazi Reich Main Security Office and Reich governor of Bohemia and Moravia (assassinated) (b. )
 * -, English electronics engineer (b. )
 * -, American photographer (b. )
 * -, American photographer (b. )

July-December

 * -, Polish engineer and senator (suicide) (b. )
 * -, Argentine writer (b. )
 * -, English Egyptologist (b. )
 * -, German chemist, laureate (b. )
 * -, fourth eldest son of
 * -, American philanthropist and eugenicist (b. )
 * -, first player from a major league roster to be drafted during WWII and also the first to die in service (b. )
 * -, American composer and Hollywood songwriter (b. )
 * -, German composer (b. )
 * -, American songwriter and entertainer (b. )
 * -, stage & film actress (aunt PittyPat), (b. )
 * -, Polish writer and painter (shot) (b. )
 * -, Austro-Hungarian foreign minister (b. )
 * -, Governor-elect of Wisconsin (b. )
 * -, German anthropologist (b. )

Nobel prizes

 * - not awarded
 * - not awarded
 * - not awarded
 * - not awarded
 * - not awarded