On This Day

Historical Events in February 1942

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Feb 1 Second Norwegian government of Vidkun Quisling forms

Prime Minister of Norway and Nazi Collaborator Vidkun Quisling
Prime Minister of Norway and Nazi Collaborator
Vidkun Quisling
  • Feb 2 LA Times urges security measures against Japanese-Americans
  • Feb 2 US auto factories switch from commercial to war production
  • Feb 3 1st Japanese air raid on Java
  • Feb 3 Baseball owners agree to permit each club up to 14 night games in 1942
  • Feb 4 Clinton Pierce becomes 1st US general wounded in action in WW II

Film release premierFilm Release

Feb 5 "Woman of the Year" film directed by George Stevens, starring Katherine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy opens at Radio City

Actor Spencer Tracy
Actor
Spencer Tracy
  • Feb 5 Braves get Tommy Holmes from Yanks for Buddy Hassett and Gene Moore
  • Feb 7 1st indoor 15' pole vault (Cornelius Warmerdam 15' 3/8")
  • Feb 8 Japanese armored barges cross Strait of Johore to attack Singapore (WWII)
  • Feb 8 Stravinsky's "Danses Concertantes" premieres in Los Angeles

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Feb 8 Congress advises FDR that, Americans of Japanese descent should be locked up en masse so they wouldn't oppose the US war effort

32nd US President Franklin D. Roosevelt
32nd US President
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Feb 8 Nazi architect Albert Speer appointed Minister of Armaments by Adolf Hitler after death of Fritz Todt in a plane crash

Nazi Minister of Armaments and War Production Albert Speer
Nazi Minister of Armaments and War Production
Albert Speer
Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler
Dictator of Nazi Germany
Adolf Hitler
  • Feb 9 Daylight Savings War Time goes into effect in US
  • Feb 9 Japanese troops land near Makassar, South Celebes
  • Feb 9 Philadelphia "Phillies" change nickname (temporarily) to "Phils"

Album Release 1st Ever Gold Record

Feb 10 Glenn Miller awarded 1st ever gold record for selling 1 million copies of "Chattanooga Choo Choo"

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The 1st ever gold record was awarded to
The 1st ever gold record was awarded to "Chattanooga Choo Choo" by the Glenn Miller Orchestra - this one was presented to the group's drummer, Tex Beneke
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InventionHistoric Invention

Feb 10 American chemist James Franklin Hyde is granted a patent for fused silica

Inventor James Franklin Hyde
Inventor
James Franklin Hyde
  • Feb 11 "Archie" comic book debuts
  • Feb 12 German battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen escape from Brest to Germany in a dash up the English Channel

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Feb 13 Hitler's Operation Sealion, the invasion of England, is cancelled

Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler
Dictator of Nazi Germany
Adolf Hitler
  • Feb 14 Japanese parachutists land near oil center Palembang, Sumatra
  • Feb 14 Rotterdam's Maas tunnel opens
  • Feb 14 The Polish resistance movement, the Home Army, is formed and will eventually become the largest resistance movement in occupied Europe
  • Feb 14 World War II: Battle of Pasir Panjang contributes to the fall of Singapore.
  • Feb 15 German U-boat shells Antillian oil refinery
  • Feb 15 Japanese troops march into Palembang, South Sumatra
  • Feb 15 World War II: British ruled Singapore surrenders to the Japanese
  • Feb 16 German submarines attack Aruba oil refinery
  • Feb 16 Bangka Island massacre: Japanese soldiers machine-gun 22 Australian Army nurses and 60 Australian and British soldiers and crew members from two sunken ships. Only one nurse and two soldiers survive.
  • Feb 18 Japanese troop land on Bali
  • Feb 19 About 150 Japanese warplanes attack the Australian city of Darwin
  • Feb 19 Bill Longson beats Managoff & Sandor Szabo, to become wrestling champ
  • Feb 19 Dutch actors protest obligatory membership of Culture Chamber
  • Feb 19 FDR orders detention & internment of all west-coast Japanese-Americans
  • Feb 19 Japanese troops land on Timor

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Feb 19 Tommy Dorsey & his orchestra recorded "I'll Take Tallulah"

Jazz Trombonist and Big Band Leader Tommy Dorsey
Jazz Trombonist and Big Band Leader
Tommy Dorsey
  • Feb 19 NY Yankees announce 5,000 uniformed soldiers admitted free at each of their upcoming home games
  • Feb 20 Lt E H O'Hare single-handedly shoots down 5 Japanese heavy bombers, becomes America's first World War II flying ace
  • Feb 21 US male Figure Skating championship won by Bobby Specht

Philippine Revolution'I Shall Return'

Feb 22 World War II: President Franklin Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defenses collapse

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A statue in the Philippines commemorating the promised return of American commander Douglas MacArthur in World War II
A statue in the Philippines commemorating the promised return of American commander Douglas MacArthur in World War II
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  • Feb 23 Japanese submarine fires on oil refinery in Ellwood, California
  • Feb 24 Voice of America begins broadcasting (in German)

Battle of InterestBattle of Los Angeles

Feb 24 The "Battle of Los Angeles" takes place, a series of anti-aircraft engagements over the city in response to a rumored but false Japanese attack. It would last until the morning of the following day.

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Anti-aircraft guns and spotlights comb the sky above Los Angeles during the rumored Japanese attack
Anti-aircraft guns and spotlights comb the sky above Los Angeles during the rumored Japanese attack
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  • Feb 26 German battle cruiser Gneisenau deactivated by bomb
  • Feb 26 Radio Orange calls for March 1 day of prayer in Dutch Indies
  • Feb 26 Werner Heisenberg, a principal scientist in the German nuclear weapons program, delivers a lecture to Nazi officials about extracting energy from nuclear fission
  • Feb 27 1st transport of French Jews to nazi-Germany
  • Feb 27 Battle of Java Sea began: 13 US warships sunk and 2 Japanese
  • Feb 27 J S Hey discovers radio emissions from Sun
  • Feb 28 1st weapon drop on Netherlands
  • Feb 28 Japanese land in Java, last Allied bastion in Dutch East Indies
  • Feb 28 Race riot at Sojourner Truth Homes, Detroit

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