1941 in the United States

Summary

Events from the year 1941 in the United States. At the end of this year, the United States enters World War II by declaring war on the Empire of Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

1941
in
the United States

Decades:
  • 1920s
  • 1930s
  • 1940s
  • 1950s
  • 1960s
See also:

Incumbents edit

Federal government edit

Events edit

January edit

 
January 20: Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, begins his third term
 
Henry A. Wallace becomes the 33rd U.S. vice president

February edit

March edit

 
March 11: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease law

April edit

  • April 9 – The U.S. acquires full military defense rights in Greenland.
  • April 10 – World War II: The U.S. destroyer Niblack, while picking up survivors from a sunken Dutch freighter, drops depth charges on a German U-boat (the first "shot in anger" fired by America against Germany).
  • April 15 – World War II: The U.S. begins shipping Lend-Lease military equipment to China.
  • April 23 – The America First Committee holds its first mass rally in New York City, with Charles Lindbergh as keynote speaker.
  • April 25 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, at his regular press conference, criticizes Charles Lindbergh by comparing him to the Copperheads of the Civil War period. In response, Lindbergh resigns his commission in the U.S. Army Air Corps Reserve on April 28.

May edit

 
May 1: President Roosevelt buys the first War Bond

June edit

  • June 14 – All German and Italian assets in the United States are frozen.
  • June 16
    • All German and Italian consulates in the United States are ordered closed and their staffs to leave the country by July 10.
    • Official start of production at Ford's Willow Run facility (Air Force Plant 31) in Michigan. At its wartime peak, it will produce one B-24 bomber every hour.[1]
  • June 20

July edit

August edit

 
August 14: The Atlantic Charter issued

September edit

 
American Design exhibit 1941, Chicago, poster by WPA Art Project

October edit

November edit

  • November 10 – In a speech at the Mansion House, London, Winston Churchill promises, "should the United States become involved in war with Japan, the British declaration will follow within the hour."
  • November 14
  • November 17 – World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: Joseph Grew, the United States ambassador to Japan, cables to Washington, D.C., a warning that Japan may strike suddenly and unexpectedly at any time.
  • November 24 – World War II: The United States grants Lend-Lease to the Free French.
  • November 26
    • U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the 4th Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States (this partly reverses a 1939 action by Roosevelt that changed the celebration of Thanksgiving to the third Thursday of November).
    • The Hull note ultimatum is delivered to Japan by the United States.
  • November 27
    • A group of young men stop traffic on U.S. Highway 99 south of Yreka, California, handing out fliers proclaiming the establishment of the State of Jefferson.
    • World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: All U.S. military forces in Asia and the Pacific are placed on war alert.

December edit

 
December 7: Attack on Pearl Harbor
 
December 8: Infamy Speech and declaration war on Japan

Ongoing edit

Undated edit

  • The Centenary College Choir (America's Singing Ambassadors) is formed by Dr. A. C. Voran at Centenary College of Louisiana.
  • This calendar year is the wettest on record in Utah with 20.33 inches (516.4 mm),[10] Colorado with 25.52 inches (648.2 mm)[11] and New Mexico with 26.57 inches (674.9 mm) against a mean of only 13.74 inches or 349.0 millimetres.[12]
  • In contrast to the wetness in the West, it is the driest calendar year in Tennessee with only 36.44 inches (925.6 mm) versus a mean of 50.97 inches or 1,294.6 millimetres[13] and New Hampshire with 32.65 inches (829.3 mm) against a mean of 42.74 inches or 1,085.6 millimetres.[14]

Sport edit

Baseball fans across the nation witnessed not one, but two of the most amazing individual efforts and achievements the game has ever known. The two measures recorded during the 1941 campaign both stand to this day and are regarded by practically all, even the most casual of fans, to be unattainable in the game today. 1941 saw the great Joltin' Joe DiMaggio step up to the plate in 56 consecutive baseball games and hit safely to break a record that had withstood the test of time since 1897 when Wee Willie Keeler totaled 45 consecutive games hitting safely over the course of the 1896 and 97 seasons. The Splendid Splinter, Ted Williams, also treated baseball fans to a feat that has also barely been threatened since by having a season for the ages. During the 1941 Teddy Ballgame managed to record a batting average over .400 by finishing the season with an unparalleled .406 batting average. Although his average for the season is not the single season record for baseball, no player has hit .400 or better since.

Births edit

January edit

 
Joan Baez
 
Faye Dunaway
 
Neil Diamond
 
Aaron Neville
 
Dick Cheney

February edit

 
Nick Nolte

March edit

 
Mike Love

April edit

 
Pete Rose
 
Ryan O'Neal

May edit

 
Bob Dylan
 
William Nordhaus

June edit

 
Stacy Keach
 
Mickey Jones
 
Ed Bradley
 
Charles Whitman

July edit

 
Robert Forster
 
George Clinton

August edit

 
Martha Stewart

September edit

 
Bernie Sanders
 
Otis Redding

October edit

 
Chubby Checker
 
Jesse Jackson
 
Paul Simon

November edit

 
Art Garfunkel
 
Dr. John

December edit

 
Richard Speck
 
Maurice White

Full date unknown edit

Deaths edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Nolan, Jenny (1997-01-28). "Willow Run and the Arsenal of Democracy". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
  2. ^ "About Bulova". Bulova. Archived from the original on 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
  3. ^ "A U. S. Television Chronology, 1875–1970". jeff560.tripod.com.
  4. ^ Hero thrill show
  5. ^ Record, Jeffrey (February 1, 2009). "Japanese Aggression and U.S. Policy Responses, 1937-41.". JAPAN'S DECISION FOR WAR IN 1941: SOME ENDURING LESSONS. Strategic Studies Institute and United States Army War College. pp. 14 & 15 – via JSTOR. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  6. ^ The Diplomatic Stalemate of Japan and the United States: 1941 (Thesis). Portland State University. May 24, 1973. p. 140.
  7. ^ Anderson, Jr., Irvine H. (May 1975). "The 1941 De Facto Embargo on Oil to Japan: A Bureaucratic Reflex". Pacific Historical Review. 44 (2): 224. doi:10.2307/3638003. JSTOR 3638003. Retrieved January 1, 2024 – via JSTOR.
  8. ^ DeShetler, John (2006-11-20). "'Lightning' strikes 1st Pursuit Group". United States Air Force.
  9. ^ "The United States Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation". Retrieved 2014-12-04.
  10. ^ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Utah Precipitation: January to December
  11. ^ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Colorado Precipitation: January to December
  12. ^ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; New Mexico Precipitation: January to December
  13. ^ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Tennessee Precipitation: January to December
  14. ^ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; New Hampshire Precipitation: January to December
  15. ^ "The Gosnell case: Here's what you need to know". The Washington Post.
  16. ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. pp. 438/9. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  17. ^ Baldwin County lawmaker Steve McMillan, Alabama House member for over 40 years, has died
  18. ^ "Berning, Susie Maxwell | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture". www.okhistory.org. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  19. ^ Barbara Ehrenreich, author who resisted injustice, dies aged 81
  20. ^ "Jets Super Bowl champion Dave Herman dead at 81". New York Post. 2022-10-21. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26.
  21. ^ "Bernie Sanders | Biography & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  22. ^ "Signe Anderson, Jefferson Airplane Singer, Dies at 74". The New York Times. February 2, 2016. Archived from the original on February 9, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  23. ^ Charley Taylor (1941–2022), Hall of Fame wide receiver
  24. ^ "Anne Rice | Biography, Books, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  25. ^ Ribowsky, Mark (2010). Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Troubled Lives and Endearing Soul of the Temptations. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 7–9
  26. ^ Hainley, Bruce (May 1995). "O Jackie". Artforum. 33.

External links edit

  •   Media related to 1941 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons