Today in History for May 1942

Months in 1942: January February March April June July August September October November December

Historical Events

Events 1 - 55 of 55

1st - Radio Orange calls to defy order to wear "Jewish star"
2nd - 68th Kentucky Derby: Wayne D Wright aboard Shut Out wins in 2:04.4
2nd - Japanese troops occupy Mandalay Burma
3rd - Japanese troop attack Tulagi, Gavutu & Tanambogo, Solomon Islands
3rd - Luftwaffe bombs Exeter
3rd - Nazi's execute 72 OD'ers in reprisial in Sachsenhausen, Netherlands
3rd - Nazi's require Dutch Jews to wear a Jewish star
4th - Battle of Coral Sea begun (1st sea battle fought solely in air)
4th - Food 1st rationed in US
4th - German occupiers imprison 450 prominent Dutch as hostages
4th - Pulitzer prize awarded to Ellen Glasgow (In this our Life)
5th - British assault on Diego Suarez Madagascar
5th - US begins rationing sugar during WW II
6th - Corregidor & Philippines surrender to Japanese Armies
7th - Battle of Coral Sea ends stopping Japanese expansion
7th - Nazi decree orders all Jewish pregnant women of Kovno Ghetto executed
8th - Aircraft carrier Lexington sunk by Japanese air attack at Coral Sea
8th - German summer offensive opens in Crimea
8th - 1st twilight game in 24 years, the Dodgers top Giants 7-6 raising $60,000 for Navy Relief Fund
9th - 68th Preakness: Basil James aboard Alsab wins in 1:57
10th - World War II: The Thai Phayap Army invades the Shan States during the Burma Campaign.
11th - Japanese troops conquer Kalewa
Author and Nobel Laureate William Faulkner 11th - William Faulkner's collections of short stories, Go Down, Moses, is published.
12th - 1,500 Jews gassed in Auschwitz
12th - David Ben-Gurion leaves Jewish state in Palestine
12th - Nazi U-boat sinks American cargo ship at mouth of Mississippi River
12th - Russia occupies Crackow, until Aug 23, 1943
13th - Helicopter makes its 1st cross-country flight
13th - Pitcher Jim Tobin belts 3 HRs in a game
14th - US Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) forms
15th - Gasoline 1st rationed in US (17 Eastern States)
15th - Nazi occupiers in Neth arrests 2,000 Dutch officers
16th - 1st transport of British/Dutch prisoners to South Burma
17th - Dutch SS vows loyalty to Hitler
18th - NYC ends night baseball games for rest of WW II
19th - Braves Paul Waner is 3rd NLer to get 3,000 hits (Anson & Wagner)
20th - US Navy 1st permitted black recruits to serve
21st - Great-Britain convoy PQ16 departs to Russia
22nd - Mexico declares war on nazi-Germany & Japan
22nd - The Steel Workers Organizing Committee disbands, and a new trade union, the United Steelworkers, is formed.
26th - Anglo-Soviet Treaty signed in London
26th - Belgium Jews are required by Nazis to wear a Jewish star
26th - Tank battle at Bir Hakeim: African corps vs British army
27th - Dorie Miller, awarded navy cross for deeds at Pearl Harbor
27th - Hitler orders 10,000 Czechs murdered
27th - Italian army begin siege of French western Fort Bir Hachim
27th - Top German Nazi Reinhard Heydrich is shot & mortally wounded in Prague
28th - 1,800 Czechs murdered by Nazis during attack on Heydrich
29th - Bing Crosby records "White Christmas," greatest selling record to date
30th - 1,047 bombers bomb Cologne in RAF's raid of WW II
30th - Reichsfuhrer Himmler arrives in Prague
30th - Satchel Paige pitches 5 innings to defeat Dizzy Dean All-Stars 8-1
30th - US aircraft carrier Yorktown leaves Pearl Harbor
31st - 25th PGA Championship: Sam Snead at Seaview CC Atlantic City NJ
31st - Luftwaffe bombs Canterbury

Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 82 of 82

1st - Stephen Macht, Phila Pa, actor (Joe-Knots Landing, Cagney & Lacey)
2nd - Jacques Rogge, Belgian International Olympic Committee president
3rd - Lynn Farleigh, Bristol England, actress (Lovers of Their Time)
3rd - Věra Čáslavská, Czech gymnast
3rd - Dave Marash, American journalist
3rd - C.L. Otter, American politician, governor of Idaho
4th - Ronnie Bond, drummer (Troggs-Wild Thing)
5th - Amy Hill, actress (Grandma-Seinfeld, Pauly Shore)
5th - Tammy Wynette [Virginia Pugh], Redbay Alabama, country singer (Stand by your Man), (d. 1998)
5th - Marc Alaimo, American actor
6th - Colin Earl, rocker
6th - Rin Kaiho, professional Go player
8th - Angel Cordero Jr, Santurce PR, jockey (Seattle Slew) [or Nov 8]
8th - Euclid "Motorhead" Sherwood, rocker (Mothers Of Invention)
8th - Norman Lamont, MP/Chancellor of Exchequer
8th - Robin Hobbs, cricketer (England leg-spinner 1967-71)
8th - Ruth Holland, journalist
8th - Terry Neill, Northern Irish footballer
9th - John D Ashcroft, (Gov-MO)
Country singer Tammy Wynette (5th) 9th - Mike Millward, rocker
9th - Tommy Roe, Atlanta, rocker (Hooray for Hazel)
9th - William Olner, MP
10th - Bill Coday, US singer (You're Gonna Then Me)
10th - Ingram Douglas Marshall, composer
10th - Youssouf Sambo Bâ, Burkinabé politician
11th - Rachel Billington, British writer
12th - Barry B[rookes] Longyear, US, sci-fi author (City of Baraboo)
12th - Dumitru Dediu, Romania, cosmonaut (Soyuz 40 backup)
12th - Ian Dury, Upminster Essex, rocker (Blockheads)/actor (Judge Dredd)
12th - Timothy Hugh Brown, theatre critic
12th - Billy Swan, Cape Giradeau La, rocker (I Can Help)
13th - Jim Douglas, jazz guitarist
13th - Vladimir A Dzhanibekov, USSR, cosmo (Soyuz 27, 39, T-6, T-12, T-13)
14th - Byron L Dorgan, (Rep-D-ND, 1981- )
14th - Gerald Mark Shapiro, composer
14th - Lord McAlpine, English contractor/multi-millionaire
14th - Tony Perez, baseball player
14th - Valeriy Brumel, Soviet athlete (d. 2003)
14th - Rüdiger Vogler, German actor
15th - Anthony Wayne England, Indianapolis, PhD/astronaut (STS 51-F)
15th - Doug Lowe, 35th Premier of Tasmania
17th - Caroline Charles, fashion designer
17th - Taj Mahal, NYC, singer/songwriter (Real Thing)
18th - Albert Hammond, rocker
18th - Keith Hellawell, Chief Constable (West Yorkshire)
18th - Marquess of Reading
18th - N P (Nobby) Stiles, footballer
18th - Rodney Dillard, rocker (Glittergrass)
19th - Gary Kildall, creator of CP/M
19th - James Topping, author of CP/M
19th - Robert Kilroy-Silk, British politician and television presenter
20th - Lynn Davies, long jumper
20th - Paula, [Jill Jackson], Tx, singer (Hey Paula)
20th - Simon Keswick, British financier/merchant (Hong Kong)
20th - Carlos Hathcock, American Marine sniper (d. 1999)
21st - David Hunt, Wales sec of state
21st - Robert C Springer, St Louis, Col USMC/astronaut (STS-29, STS-38)
22nd - Barbara Parkins, Vancouver BC, actress (Betty-Peyton Place, Asylum)
22nd - Calvin Simon, US rock vocalist (Funkadelic-1 Nation Under a Groove)
22nd - Malika A Sabirova, Russian dancer
22nd - Pallo Jordan, South African ANC member/heads (Radio Freedom)
22nd - Theodore Kaczynski, American terrorist
23rd - K. Raghavendra Rao, Indian film director
23rd - Gabriel Liiceanu, Romanian philosopher
23rd - Zalman King, Trenton, New Jersey, actor and director (Wild Orchid), (d. 2012)
24th - Ali Bacher, cricketer (South African batsman & capt in 60's)
24th - Derek Quinn, guitarist (Freddie & Dreamers-I'm Telling You Now)
24th - Sarah Dash, Trenton NJ, rocker (LaBelle-Lady Marmalade)
25th - Bill Young, rocker
25th - Brian "Blinky" Davison, rocker
26th - Ray Ennis, England, guitar (Swinging Blue Jeans-You're No Good)
27th - Kent Bede Bernard, Trinidad, 4X400 runner (Olympic-bronze-1964)
27th - Priscilla Anne McLean, composer
27th - Roger Freeman, British minister of transport
27th - Lee Baca, American law enforcement official
28th - Stanley B. Prusiner, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
29th - Kevin Conway, NYC, actor (Flash Point, Cage of Angels)
29th - Pierre Bourque, Former mayor of Montreal
30th - Dan Miller, (Rep-R-Florida)
30th - Lenny Davidson, London, rock guitarist (Dave Clark 5-Glad All Over)
31st - Happy Hairston, NBA star (Cin, Detroit, LA)
31st - John Daniel, British Vice-Chancellor (Open U)

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 10 of 10

3rd - Johan H Westerveld, lt-col/leader Order Service, executed
3rd - Thorvald Stauning, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1873)
5th - Qemal Stafa, Albanian politician (b. 1920)
7th - Felix Paul von Weingartner, Austria conductor/composer, dies at 79
10th - Joseph M Weber, comedian/singer (Weber & Lewis Fields), dies at 74
13th - Hyam Greenbaum, composer, dies at 41
16th - Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski, anthropologist, dies
19th - [Nicoline] Magdalene Anchor-Roll, Norwegian author (Enken), dies at 69
29th - John Barrymore, US actor (Beloved Rogue, Dinner at 8), dies at 60
31st - Reinhard Heydrich, German protector of Bohemia & Moravia, assassinated