The following events occurred in January 1942:
January 1, 1942 (Thursday) The Declaration by United Nations was agreed upon during the Arcadia Conference in Washington, D.C. Representatives of 26 Allied nations pledged to employ their "full resources" until victory was won and not to make any separate peace agreements with Axis powers. An explosion at Sneyd Colliery in Burslem, Staffordshire, killed 57. The Oregon State Beavers defeated the Duke Blue Devils 20–16 in the 28th Rose Bowl game. The venue was moved from Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California, to the Blue Devils' home stadium in Durham, North Carolina, due to fears about a Japanese attack on the U.S. West Coast. During a driving rainstorm, the Fordham Rams edged the Missouri Tigers 2–0 in the Sugar Bowl. The Alabama Crimson Tide beat the Texas A&M Aggies 29–21 in the Cotton Bowl Classic. The Georgia Bulldogs beat the TCU Horned Frogs 40–26 in the Orange Bowl. The Tulsa Golden Hurricane beat the Texas Tech Red Raiders 6–0 in the Sun Bowl. The comedy film The Man Who Came to Dinner starring Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolley and Jimmy Durante premiered at the Strand Theatre in New York City. Born: Country Joe McDonald, musician, in Washington, D.C.; Gennadi Sarafanov, cosmonaut, in Sinenkiye, Saratov Oblast, USSR (d. 2005)
January 2, 1942 (Friday) Japanese forces entered Manila. Axis forces surrendered at Bardia, Libya. Some 2,200 German troops and 4,400 Italians were captured. The Battle of Kampar ended in tactical Allied victory. The Foreign Claims Act went into effect in the United States. The marriage of Dorothy Thompson and Sinclair Lewis was legally dissolved. was commissioned. Born: Dennis Hastert, politician and former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, in Aurora, Illinois; Hugh Shelton, military officer, in Tarboro, North Carolina Died: Henriette Gottlieb, 57, German soprano (died in the Łódź Ghetto)
January 3, 1942 (Saturday) The Japanese made amphibious landings on the island of Labuan off the coast of Borneo. The Soviet cruiser Krasnyi Kavkaz was bombed and damaged by Stukas of StG 77 off the Kerch Peninsula. Repairs took until October to complete. Sir Archibald Wavell was named head of the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM). Born: László Sólyom, 3rd President of Hungary, in Pécs, Hungary (d. 2023) John Thaw, actor, in Longsight, Manchester, England (d. 2002)
January 4, 1942 (Sunday) The Japanese 14th Army captured Guagua in the Philippines. The Japanese seaplane tender Chitose was bombed by B-17 Flying Fortresses off Davao City but damage sustained was negligible. The fourth National Football League All-Star Game was held at the Polo Grounds in New York City. The Chicago Bears defeated an all-star team 35–24. The game was originally scheduled to be held in Los Angeles where the first three all-star games were held, but it was moved to New York due to wartime travel restrictions. Born: Bolaji Akinyemi, External Affairs Minister of Nigeria, in Ilesa, Nigeria Died: Volodia Dubinin, 13, Russian partisan and Pioneer Hero of the Soviet Union (killed by a land mine); Mel Sheppard, 58, American athlete and four-time Olympic gold medalist; Otis Skinner, 83, American stage actor
January 5, 1942 (Monday) American and Philippine forces on Luzon retreated to a defensive line at the base of the Bataan Peninsula. The Soviet 10th Army retook Belyov. Egypt broke off diplomatic relations with Bulgaria and Finland. Born: Maurizio Pollini, classical pianist, in Milan, Italy (d. 2024) Charlie Rose, television talk show host and journalist, in Henderson, North Carolina
January 6, 1942 (Tuesday) U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the State of the Union Address to Congress. "In fulfilling my duty to report upon the State of the Union, I am proud to say to you that the spirit of the American people was never higher than it is today—the Union was never more closely knit together—this country was never more deeply determined to face the solemn tasks before it", the president began. "The response of the American people has been instantaneous, and it will be sustained until our security is assured ... We have not been stunned. We have not been terrified or confused. This very reassembling of the Seventy-seventh Congress today is proof of that; for the mood of quiet, grim resolution which here prevails bodes ill for those who conspired and collaborated to murder world peace. That mood is stronger than any mere desire for revenge. It expresses the will of the American people to make very certain that the world will never so suffer again." Japanese troops landed at Brunei Bay in British Borneo. Australia declared war on Bulgaria. Died: Henri de Baillet-Latour, 65, Belgian aristocrat and the third president of the International Olympic Committee
January 7, 1942 (Wednesday) The Battle of Moscow ended in strategic Soviet victory. Joseph Stalin ordered a general offensive along the entire front, over his generals' recommendations that he concentrate his forces. The Battle of Bataan began. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented Congress with the biggest budget ever seen up to that time. It called for the expenditure of $77 billion over the next 18 months, $56 billion of which was for the war effort. The plan called for the production of 125,000 aircraft, 75,000 tanks, 35,000 guns and 8 million tons of shipping by the end of 1943. Born: Vasily Alekseyev, weightlifter, in Pokrovo-Shishkino, Ryazan Oblast, USSR (d. 2011)
January 8, 1942 (Thursday) The Battles of Rzhev began on the Eastern Front. Adolf Hitler had Generaloberst Erich Hoepner sacked for ordering his forces to pull back on the Eastern Front without approval. Hitler not only had Hoepner removed from command but deprived him of his pension and the right to wear his uniform as well. German submarines and were commissioned. Born: Stephen Hawking, theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author, in Oxford, England (d. 2018); Junichirō Koizumi, 87th Prime Minister of Japan, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Vyacheslav Zudov, cosmonaut, in Bor, Gorky Oblast, USSR (d. 2024)
January 9, 1942 (Friday) The Battle of Dražgoše began between the Slovene Partisans and Nazi occupying forces. The British destroyer struck a naval mine and sank in the Thames Estuary. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto made a statement to Taketora Ogata that may have been the basis for the apocryphal sleeping giant quote attributed to him when he said, "A military man can scarcely pride himself on having 'smitten a sleeping enemy'; it is more a matter of shame, simply, for the one smitten. I would rather you made your appraisal after seeing what the enemy does, since it is certain that, angered and outraged, he will soon launch a determined counterattack." Joe Louis knocked out Buddy Baer in the first round at Madison Square Garden to retain the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship. Died: Heber Doust Curtis, 69, American astronomer
January 10, 1942 (Saturday) Port Swettenham 24 miles southwest of Kuala Lumpur was abandoned by British forces to the Japanese. Joe Louis enlisted in the U.S. Army. Movie stars Mickey Rooney and Ava Gardner were married at a Protestant church in Ballard, California. was commissioned. The gangster-themed thriller film All Through the Night starring Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt and Kaaren Verne was released.
January 11, 1942 (Sunday) Japan declared war on the Netherlands. The Battle of Tarakan began when the Japanese landed at Tarakan Island in northeastern Borneo. The Battle of Kuala Lumpur was fought, with the city falling to the Japanese. The Battle of Manado began on the Minahasa peninsula on the northern part of the island of Celebes. The Battle of Dražgoše ended with brutal reprisals of German forces against the villagers and the destruction of the village. Soviet forces retook Lyudinovo on the rail line between Vyazma and Bryansk. The American cargo ship USAT Liberty was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-166 and beached on the island of Bali. The British cargo steamship Cyclops was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of Nova Scotia by German submarine U-123. It was the first attack of the Kriegsmarines Operation Drumbeat aiming to destroy Allied shipping in the Western Atlantic.Born: Clarence Clemons, saxophonist, in Norfolk County, Virginia (d. 2011)
January 12, 1942 (Monday) In combat in the Battle of Bataan, 2nd Lt. Alexander R. Nininger was killed as he led his Philippine Scouts unit and attacked Japanese positions. A 1941 graduate of West Point, "Sandy" Nininger would posthumously receive the first Medal of Honor of World War II. The Battle of Tarakan ended in Japanese victory. In North Africa, the British took Sallum after a 56-day siege when the Germans ran out of ammunition. was sunk in the Mediterranean by torpedoes from the British submarine . The Roosevelt Administration created a National War Labor Board to prevent strikes and reconcile wages with control over inflation and the war economy. Joe Louis reported for duty at Camp Upton. A large contingent of reporters turned up to make photographs and newsreel film of the boxing champion in uniform.
January 13, 1942 (Tuesday) The Battle of Manado ended in Japanese victory. Representatives of Allied governments in exile signed the declaration on Punishment for War Crimes in London declaring that one of their principal war aims would be to ensure that those responsible for war crimes would be brought to justice. In the United States, the Sikorsky R-4 helicopter had its first flight. Heinkel test pilot Helmut Schenck became the first person to escape from an aircraft using an ejection seat when his control surfaces iced up and became inoperative.
January 14, 1942 (Wednesday) The Battle of Gemas was fought in Malaya, resulting in tactical Australian victory. The Battle of Muar began in the Malayan Campaign. British forces conducted Operation Postmaster on the Spanish island of Fernando Po. Two tugs and the Italian merchant vessel Duchessa d'Aosta were captured and sailed away. The Arcadia Conference concluded. Voćin massacre, 350 Serbs were slaughtered by Ustashe in Croatia. was commissioned.Born: Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal, 36th Chief Justice of India, in New Delhi, British India (d. 2015)Died: Porfirio Barba-Jacob, 58, Colombian poet and writer
January 15, 1942 (Thursday) The third Battle of Changsha ended in a Chinese victory. The Germans launched Operation Southeast Croatia, a counter-insurgency operation in the southeast portion of the Independent State of Croatia. The British cargo ship Empire Bay was bombed and sunk off Middlesbrough by a Dornier Do 217. was depth charged and sunk by the British destroyer between Portugal and the Azores. was depth charged and sunk by Fairey Swordfish aircraft in the Mediterranean northwest of Mersa Matruh. surfaced so close to New York Harbor that the rides at Coney Island could be seen silhouetted against the evening sky. Captain Reinhard Hardegen expected the U.S. east coast to be blacked out after more than a month at war and was surprised to see the glow in the sky from Manhattan's millions of lights. Field Marshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb insisted he either be relieved of command or given freedom to direct his forces as he wanted. Hitler chose the former. The ninth Pan-American Conference opened in Rio de Janeiro. Mahatma Gandhi named Jawaharlal Nehru as his successor. President Roosevelt sent a letter to baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis saying that baseball should continue in wartime. "I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going", Roosevelt wrote. "There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours and harder than ever before. And that means that they ought to have a chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before." was commissioned.
January 16, 1942 (Friday)