Events from the year 1942 in the United States .
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(August 2021 )
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Infantryman wearing a Brodie helmet , kneeling in front of M3 Half-track , holds an M1 Garand rifle. Fort Knox , June 1942.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt , 1942
Federal government
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August
August 7: Battle of Guadalcanal begins
August 7 – WWII : Battle of Guadalcanal begins – The United States Marine Corps initiates the first American offensive of the war with a landing on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands .
August 8 – WWII : In Washington, D.C. , six German would-be saboteurs are executed (two others are cooperative and receive life imprisonment instead).
August 13 – Walt Disney 's fifth feature film, Bambi , is released. Although the initial box office gross is lackluster (due to the loss of most of the European film market during World War II ), it eventually becomes a financial success through various reissues over the next several decades. Due to continued financial losses, Disney spends the majority of the rest of the 1940s producing a string of package films , with Bambi being the last singular project he will release until Cinderella eight years later.
August 15 – WWII : The American tanker SS Ohio reaches Malta as part of the convoy of Operation Pedestal .
August 16 – The U.S. Navy blimp L-8 (Flight 101) comes ashore near San Francisco, eventually coming down in Daly City (the crew is missing).
November
American Troops near Algiers during Operation Torch
January
Charlie Rose
Muhammad Ali
January 1
January 2
January 3 – Donna Axum , American beauty pageant winner and model (d. 2018 )
January 4 – Jim Downing , race car driver and inventor
January 5 – Charlie Rose , American television anchor and talk show host
January 7
January 9
January 11
January 17 – Muhammad Ali , born Cassius Clay, African-American boxer, activist, and philanthropist (d. 2016 )
January 18 – Ruby Winters , American singer (d. 2016 )
January 20 – Linda Moulton Howe , American journalist and producer
January 24
January 25 – Carl Eller , American football player
January 27
January 30 – Marty Balin , American singer, songwriter, and musician (d. 2018 )
February
Carole King
Peter Tork
February 2 – Ed Bogas , American musician and composer
February 5 – Roger Staubach , American football player
February 8
February 9 – Carole King , American singer and composer
February 10
February 11
February 12 – Larry L. Taylor , American Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2024 )[7]
February 13
February 14 – Michael Bloomberg , American businessman
February 15 – Sherry Jackson , American actress
February 19 – Paul Krause , American football player
February 20 – Mitch McConnell , American politician, United States Senator (R-KY )
February 24 – Joe Lieberman , American politician, Senator for Connecticut (1989–2013) (d. 2024 )[8]
February 25 – Karen Grassle , American actress
February 27 – Robert H. Grubbs , American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2021 )
March
Lou Reed
Aretha Franklin
Scott Wilson
March 2
March 5 – Mike Resnick , American science fiction author (d. 2020 )
March 7
March 8 – Dick Allen , American baseball player (d. 2020 )
March 10 – Bob Berry , American football player (d. 2023 )
March 12 – Jimmy Wynn , American baseball player (d. 2020 )
March 13
March 15 – The Iron Sheik , Iranian-American wrestler (d. 2023 )
March 17 – John Wayne Gacy , American serial killer (d. 1994 )
March 20
March 21
March 22 – Patricia A. Goldman , American women's rights activist (d. 2023 )
March 25 – Aretha Franklin , African-American singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist (d. 2018 )
March 26
March 28
March 29
April
Leon Russell
Sandra Dee
Barbra Streisand
April 1
April 2 – Leon Russell , singer-songwriter, keyboard player and guitarist (d. 2016 )
April 3
April 5 – Peter Magowan , American businessman (d. 2019 )
April 6 – Barry Levinson , American film producer and director
April 8 – Douglas Trumbull , American film director (d. 2022 )
April 15 – Kenneth Lay , American businessman (d. 2006 )
April 17 – Buster Williams , American jazz bassist
April 18 – Seymour Stein , American entrepreneur and music executive (d. 2023 )
April 21 – Brendan Malone , American basketball coach (d. 2023 )
April 23 – Sandra Dee , American actress (d. 2005 )
April 24
April 25 – Jon Kyl , U.S. Senator from Arizona from 1995 to 2013
April 26 – Bobby Rydell , American singer (d. 2022 )
April 27
May
Tammy Wynette
Taj Mahal
Ted Kaczynski
May 1
May 5 – Tammy Wynette , American country singer (d. 1998 )
May 6 – David Friesen , bassist
May 9
May 10
May 14 – Byron Dorgan , American politician
May 15
May 17 – Taj Mahal , African-American singer and guitarist
May 19 – Gary Kildall , American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur (d. 1994 )
May 20 – Carlos Hathcock , American Marine sniper (d. 1999 )
May 21 – Robert C. Springer , American astronaut and test pilot
May 22
May 27
Priscilla McLean , American composer, performer, video artist, writer, and music reviewer
Lee Baca , American law enforcement official and convicted felon
May 28 – Stanley B. Prusiner , American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
May 29 – Kevin Conway , American actor and director (d. 2020 )
May 31 – Happy Hairston , American basketball player (d. 2001 )
July
Richard Roundtree
Harrison Ford
July 1 – Andraé Crouch , American gospel singer (d. 2015 )
July 3
July 4
July 5 – Louise Shaffer , American actress, script writer, and author
July 7 – Thomas D. Pollard , American educator, cell biologist and biophysicist
July 8 – Phil Gramm , American politician
July 9 – Richard Roundtree , African-American actor (d. 2023 )
July 10
July 12 – Steve Young , American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2016 )
July 13
July 16 – John Purdin , American baseball player (d. 2010 )
July 18 – Bobby Susser , American songwriter and producer (d. 2020 )
July 19 – Frederick Kantor , American physicist (d. 2020 )
July 24 – Chris Sarandon , American actor
July 27 – Dennis Ralston , American tennis player (d. 2020 )
July 28
July 29 – Tony Sirico , American actor (d. 2022 )
August
Jerry Garcia
Fred Thompson
August 1 – Jerry Garcia , American musician (d. 1995 )
August 4
August 7
August 9
August 10 – Speedy Duncan , American football player (d. 2021 )[9]
August 11 – Otis Taylor , American football player (d. 2023 )[10]
August 13
August 16 – Barbara George , American singer-songwriter (d. 2006 )
August 19 – Fred Thompson , American politician and actor (d. 2015 )
August 20 – Isaac Hayes , African-American singer and actor (d. 2008 )
August 23 – Nancy Richey , American tennis player
August 24 – Max Cleland , American politician (d. 2021 )
August 27 – Daryl Dragon , American musician (d. 2019 )
August 29 – Sterling Morrison , American musician (d. 1995 )
October
Judy Sheindlin
Michael Crichton
October 1 – Jerry Martini , American musician
October 6
October 7
October 10 – Janis Hansen , American singer and author (d. 2017 )
October 13
October 18 – Eli Noyes , American animator (d. 2024 )[12]
October 19 – Andrew Vachss , American author and attorney
October 20 – Earl Hindman , American actor (d. 2003 )
October 21
October 22
October 23 – Michael Crichton , American author (d. 2008 )
October 24
October 25 – Gloria Katz , American screenwriter and film producer (d. 2018 )
October 29
James Orange , African-American pastor and civil rights activist (d. 2008 )
Bob Ross , American painter, art instructor and television host (d. 1995 )
October 31 – David Ogden Stiers , American actor and voice-over artist (d. 2018 )
January 3 – Charles Mann Hamilton , politician (b. 1874 )
January 4
January 6 – John Bernard Flannagan , sculptor, suicide (b. 1895 )
January 16 – Carole Lombard , film actress, air crash (b. 1908 )
January 18 – James P. Parker , U.S. Navy commodore (b. 1855 )
January 18 – Mason Patrick , Chief of United States Air Service, American Expeditionary Forces 1918 (b. 1863 )
February 9 – Anna Elizabeth Klumpke , portrait and genre painter (b. 1856 )
February 12 – Grant Wood , painter (b. 1892 )
February 18 – Albert Payson Terhune , journalist and author (b. 1872 )
March 16 – Rachel Field , author and poet (born 1894 )[23]
March 26 – Carolyn Wells , prolific novelist and poet (b. 1862 )[24]
April 18 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney , founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art (b. 1875 )
April 27 – Arthur L. Bristol , U.S. Navy admiral (b. 1886 )
May 29 – John Barrymore , actor (b. 1882 )
June 4 – killed in action at the Battle of Midway
William Abercrombie , U.S. Navy officer and aviator (b. 1914 )
Edgar R. Bassett , U.S. Navy officer (b. 1914)
Robert Boyd Brazier , US Navy aviation radioman, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1916 )
John Clarence Butler , US Navy officer, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1921 )
Harold John Ellison , U.S. Navy officer (b. 1917 )
Eugene A. Greene , US Navy officer, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1921 )
John William Haas , US Navy pilot, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1907 )
Patrick H. Hart , US Navy officer, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1915 )
Lofton R. Henderson , U.S. Marine Corps aviator and commanding officer of Marine Scout Bomber Squadron 241 (VMSB-241) (b. 1903 )
Ernest Lenard Hilbert , US Navy aviator, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1920 )
Curtis W. Howard , US Navy officer, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1917 )
Charles Kleinsmith , US Navy Chief Petty officer and sailor, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1904 )
Eugene E. Lindsey , US Navy officer, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1905 )
Lance Edward Massey , US Navy pilot, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1909 )
Walter Harold Mosley , US Navy officer, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1916 )
Carl A. Osberg , US Navy pilot, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1920 )
Floyd B. Parks , US Marine Corps officer, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1911 )
Oswald A. Powers , US Navy officer, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1915 )
David John Roche , US Navy officer, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1918 )
Richard Wayne Suesens , US Navy officer, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1915 )
John C. Waldron , U.S. Navy aviator and commander of Torpedo Squadron 8 (b. 1900 )
Frederick T. Weber , US Navy aviator, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1916 )
Osborne B. Wiseman , US Navy aviator, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1915 )
June 5
June 19 – Frank Irons , Olympic field athlete (b. 1886 )
June 23 – William Couper , sculptor (b. 1853 )
June 30 – William Henry Jackson , explorer and photographer (b. 1843 )
July 30 – Jimmy Blanton , African American jazz double bassist (b. 1918 )
August 3 – James Cruze , actor and director (b. 1884 )
August 7
August 30 – John Willard , playwright and actor (b. 1885 )
September 7 – Cecilia Beaux , portrait painter (b. 1855 )
October 5 – Dorothea Klumpke , astronomer (b. 1861 )
November 4 – Eleanor Stackhouse Atkinson , novelist and textbook and children's writer (b. 1863 )
November 30 – Anthony M. Rud , writer (b. 1893 )
December 5 – Richard Tucker , film actor (b. 1884 )
December 6 – Amos Rusie , baseball player (b. 1871 )
December 7 – Orland Steen Loomis , Governor of Wisconsin (b. 1893 )
December 8 – Albert Kahn , architect (b. 1869 in Germany )
December 12
December 13 – Robert Robinson Taylor , first accredited African American architect (b. 1868 )
December 21 – Franz Boas , anthropologist (b. 1858 in Germany)
December 27 – William G. Morgan , inventor of volleyball (b. 1870 )
Muggenthaler, August Karl (1977). German Raiders of WWII . Prentice-Hall. pp. 241–242. ISBN 0-13-354027-8 .
Points, Wednesday Breakfast Links |; says, Figures (2012-11-29). "Coffee Rationed" . The National WWII Museum Blog . Retrieved 2020-06-16 .
Fordyce, Rachel (1978). "Field, Rachel (Lyman)". In Kirkpatrick, D.L. (ed.). Twentieth-century Children's Writers . London: Macmillan. p. 445. ISBN 978-0-33323-414-3 .