April 1941 in History

Events in History

Event of Interest

Apr 1 Lillian Hellman's "Watch on the Rhine" premieres in NYC

Apr 1 Nazis forbid Jews access to cafés
Apr 1 Pro-German Rashid Ali al-Ghailani grabs power in Iraq
Apr 1 The Blockade Runner Badge for German Kriegsmarine is instituted.
Apr 1 US Navy takes over Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay
Apr 2 German occupier disallows Dutch scouting association

Churchill Warns Stalin

Apr 3 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill warns Soviet leader Joseph Stalin that a German invasion is imminent

Apr 3 Rasjid al-Gailani forms pro-German regime in Iraq
Apr 3 Walton's overture "Scapino" premieres in Chicago
Apr 4 German troops conquer Benghazi, Libya
Apr 5 San Francisco Castro & Fillmore streetcars replaced by buses
Apr 6 Beginning of operation Bestrafung - German bombers attack Belgrade (17,000 die)
Apr 6 British major general Michael Gambier-Parry captured in North Africa
Apr 6 German bombardment of Piraeus (munitions ship explodes)
Apr 6 Italian forces holding Addis Ababa surrender to British & Ethiopian forces
Apr 7 British generals O'Connor & Neame captured in North Africa
Apr 10 German troops conquer Libyan county Cyrenaica

Event of Interest

Apr 10 Independent State of Croatia led by Ante Pavelić established as fascist German puppet state

'Hitler Will Have to Break Us or Lose the War'

Apr 11 Germany blitzes Coventry, England

Buckingham Palace is bombed. Churchill, King George VI and the future Queen Elizabeth inspect the damage. Photo: NPA Rota

Apr 11 Jewish Weekly newspaper taken control by Nazis
Apr 11 Nazi occupiers in Netherlands confiscate Jewish assets

Event of Interest

Apr 12 Vichy-France's head of government Admiral François Darlan consults with Adolf Hitler

Admiral and Prime Minister of Vichy France François Darlan

Apr 13 Heavy German assault on Tobruk
Apr 13 Pact of neutrality between the USSR and Japan is signed.
Apr 14 1st massive German raid in Paris, 3,600 Jews rounded up
Apr 14 King Peter leaves Yugoslavia
Apr 15 1st helicopter flight of 1 hr duration, Stratford, Ct
Apr 16 Little Theater at Adelphi Strand, London closes
Apr 17 British troop land in Iraq
Apr 17 Egyptian steamer SS Zamzam attacked and later scuttled by German cruiser Atlantis (all on board rescued)
Apr 17 US Office of Price Administration forms (handled rationing)
Apr 17 World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.

Theater Premiere

Apr 19 Bertolt Brecht's play "Mother Courage and her Children" premieres in Zurich

Apr 19 Bulgarian troops invade Macedonia
Apr 19 Milk rationed in Holland
Apr 20 100 German bombers attack Athens
Apr 21 WWII: Greece surrenders to Nazi Germany
Apr 23 Greek Army surrenders to Germany; British RAF evacuates the Greek King George II to Egypt
Apr 24 British army begins evacuation of Greece
Apr 24 Dutch Prince Bernhard becomes an RAF pilot

Operation Mercury

Apr 25 Operation Mercury: Adolf Hitler orders the conquest of the island of Crete, the first mainly airborne invasion in military history

Apr 26 Potatoes rationed in Holland
Apr 27 German troops occupy Athens, Greece
Apr 28 Last British troops in Greece surrender

Birthdays in History

Apr 6 Hans W Geissendorfer, Augsburg Germany, director (Sternsteinhof)

Vivienne Westwood (1941-2022)

Apr 8 English fashion designer (Vivienne Westwood), born in Tintwistle, England [1]

Apr 10 Paul Theroux, American travel book writer and novelist (Mosquito Coast), born in Medford, Massachusetts
Apr 11 Ellen Goodman, American political columnist (Pulitzer 1980), born in Newton, Massachusetts
Apr 11 Frederick "Rick" Hauck, American astronaut (STS-7, STS 51-A, STS-26), born in Long Beach, California
Apr 13 Michael Stuart Brown, American geneticist (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1985), born in Brooklyn, New York
Apr 15 Howard Berman, American attorney and politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California), born in Los Angeles, California
Apr 15 Roman Balayan, Ukrainian-Armenian director (Filer, Biryuk), born in Nerkin Horatagh, Nagorno-Karabakh AO, Azerbaijan
Apr 16 Cliff Stearns, American businessman and politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida), born in Washington, D.C.
Apr 17 Max Stafford-Clark, English artistic director (Royal Court Theatre), born in Cambridge, England
Apr 18 Michael D. Higgins, Irish politician (9th President of Ireland 2011-), born in Limerick, Ireland
Apr 19 Michel Roux, French chef and restaurateur (Le Gavroche, 1st Michelin three-starred restaurant in Britain), born in Charolles, Saône-et-Loire, Vichy France (d. 2020)
Apr 20 Joni Evans, American publisher (Simon & Schuster, Random House), born in NYC, New York
Apr 21 David Lyle Boren, American politician, Governor and Senator from Oklahoma, born in Washington, D.C.
Apr 23 Hal Daub, American lawyer and politician, (US Representative from Nebraska, 1981-89; Mayor of Omaha. 1995-2001), born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Apr 23 Paavo Lipponen, Prime Minister of Finland (1995-2003), born in Turtola, Finland
Apr 23 Ray Tomlinson, American computer programmer (invented email and the @ sign), born in Amsterdam, New York (d. 2016)
Apr 24 Richard Holbrooke, American diplomat (Assistant Secretary of State, UN Ambassador) and author, born in NYC (d. 2010)
Apr 25 Lawrence J. Smith, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Florida (1983-93), born in Brooklyn, New York
Apr 25 Princess Muna al-Hussein, mother of King Abdullah II of Jordan, born in Chelmondiston, Suffolk, England
Apr 27 Jennings Michael Burch, American writer (They Cage the Animals at Night), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2013)
Apr 28 Iryna Zhylenko, Ukrainian poet (An Evening Party in an Old Winery), born in Kyiv, Ukraine
Apr 28 K. Barry Sharpless, American chemist (Nobel 2001 - developing the first chiral catalysts, Nobel 2022 - click chemistry), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Apr 29 Jonah Barrington, British World champion squash player (1966-73)

Weddings in History

Apr 19 Youngest Mitford sister Deborah Mitford marries Andrew Cavendish, son of the Duke of Devonshire in London

Deaths in History

Apr 1 Hippolyte Delehaye, Flemish historian and hagiographer, dies at 81
Apr 2 Pál Teleki, prime minister of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920-1 and 1939-41), dies at 61
Apr 3 Pal Teleki-von Szek, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920-21, 39-41), committed suicide at 61
Apr 5 Sir Nigel Gresley, Steam locomotive engineer (b. 1876)

Annie Jump Cannon (1863-1941)

Apr 13 American astronomer (Henry Draper catalogues), dies at 77

Apr 14 Guillermo Kahlo, German-Mexican photographer and father of Frida Kahlo, dies at 69
Apr 14 Jack Edmonson, Australian corporal in Tobruk (Victoria Cross), dies
Apr 16 Josiah Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp, British civil servant, industrialist, economist, statistician and banker, dies at 60
Apr 18 Alexandros Koryzis, Prime Minister of Greece in 1941, commits suicide at about 65 as German troops closed in on Athens
Apr 20 Barend ter Haar, Dutch lawyer, dies in Buchenwald at 49
Apr 24 Karin Boye, Swedish writer (Kallocain) commits suicide at 40
Apr 26 Jean Demoor, Belgian physician & physiologist, dies at 74
Apr 27 Penelope Delta, Greek author, dies at 67
Apr 30 Edwin S. Porter, American film pioneer and producer (Jack and the Beanstalk), dies at 71