Events from the year1941 in the United States. At the end of this year, the United States enters World War II by declaring war on theEmpire of Japan following theattack on Pearl Harbor.
January 20:Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, begins his third termHenry A. Wallace becomes the 33rd U.S. vice president
January 4 – The short subjectElmer's Pet Rabbit is released, marking the second appearance ofBugs Bunny, and also the first to have his name on a title card.
February 9 –Winston Churchill, in a worldwide broadcast, asks the United States to show its support by sending arms to the British: "Give us the tools, and we will finish the job."
February 14 –World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: AdmiralKichisaburō Nomura begins his duties as Japanese ambassador to the United States.
April 9 – The U.S. acquires full military defense rights inGreenland.
April 10 –World War II: The U.S. destroyerNiblack, while picking up survivors from a sunken Dutch freighter, drops depth charges on a GermanU-boat (the first "shot in anger" fired by America against Germany).
April 25 –Franklin D. Roosevelt, at his regular press conference, criticizes Charles Lindbergh by comparing him to theCopperheads of the Civil War period. In response, Lindbergh resigns his commission in the U.S. Army Air Corps Reserve on April 28.
April 28 –World War II: All US assets of Greek nationals are frozen.[1]
The firstSeries E "War Bonds" and Defense Savings Stamps go on sale in the United States, to help fund the greatly increased production of military equipment.
May 21 –World War II: 950 miles off the coast of Brazil, the freighterSS Robin Moor becomes the first United States (neutral) ship sunk by a GermanU-boat, after its crew have been allowed to disembark.
May 27 –World War II: President Roosevelt proclaims an "unlimited national emergency."
June 14 – Executive Order 8785 is signed freezing all German and Italian assets in the United States are frozen. A census of all foreign assets are ordered under Executive Order 8389. Assets are also frozen from occupied countries/territories along with some neutral countries in Europe includingFinland,Sweden,Spain,Andorra,Portugal,Switzerland,San Marino, andLiechtenstein.[2]
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 atFord'sWillow Run facility (Air Force Plant 31) in Michigan. At its wartime peak, it will produce oneB-24 bomber every hour.[3]
NBC Television begins commercial operation on WNBT, on Channel 1. The world's first legal TV commercial, forBulova watches, occurs at 2:29 PM over WNBT, before a baseball game between theBrooklyn Dodgers andPhiladelphia Phillies. The 10-second spot displays a picture of a clock superimposed on a map of the United States, accompanied by the voice-over "America runs on Bulova time."[4] As a one-off special, the first quiz show called "Uncle Bee" is telecast on WNBT's inaugural broadcast day, followed later the same day byRalph Edwards hosting the second game show broadcast on U.S. television,Truth or Consequences, as simulcast on radio and TV and sponsored byIvory Soap. Weekly broadcasts of the show commence in1956, withBob Barker.
CBS Television begins commercial operation on New York station WCBW (modern-dayWCBS-TV), on Channel 2.
July 7 –World War II: American forces take over the defense ofIceland from the British.
World War II: GeneralDouglas MacArthur is named commander of all U.S. forces in thePhilippines; the Philippines Army is ordered nationalized by President Roosevelt.
July 28 –World War II: Japan freezes all American assets.[7] After the United States froze Japanese assets the Japanese responded by freezing the assets of the United States, United Kingdom and the Netherlands.[8]
July 30 –World War II: The U.S. gunboatTutuila is attacked by Japanese aircraft while anchored in theYangtze River atChungking. Japan apologizes for the incident the following day.
August 1 – U.S. PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt bans the export of U.S. aviation fuel from the western hemisphere except to Britain and allies.
August 6 – Six-year-oldElaine Esposito undergoes anappendectomy and lapses into acoma that lasts for a record-breaking 37 years until her death in 1978.
August 12 – By one vote (203–202), theU.S. House of Representatives passes legislation extending the draft period for selectees and theNational Guard from 1 year to 30 months.
American Design exhibit 1941, Chicago, poster by WPA Art Project
September 4 –World War II: TheUSS Greer becomes the first United States Navy ship fired upon by a German submarine in the war, even though the United States is a neutral power. Tension heightens between the nations as a result.
November 10 – In a speech at theMansion House, London,Winston Churchill promises, "should the United States become involved in war with Japan, the British declaration will follow within the hour."
November 17 –World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor:Joseph Grew, the United States ambassador to Japan, cables toWashington, D.C., a warning that Japan may strike suddenly and unexpectedly at any time.
U.S. PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the 4th Thursday in November asThanksgiving 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).
TheHull 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 ofYreka, California, handing out fliers proclaiming the establishment of theState of Jefferson.
World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: All U.S. military forces in Asia and the Pacific are placed on war alert.
Romania declares war on the United States with diplomatic relations also being severed by the two countries. The United States later declares war on Romania on June 5, 1942.[12]
The U.S. seizes the French transatlantic linerSS Normandie.
Bulgaria declares war on the United States with diplomatic relations being severed by both countries. The United States does not declare war on Bulgaria until June 5, 1942.[13]
Hungary declares war on the United States but war is not declared on Hungary by the United States until June 5, 1942.[11]
December 19 – TheUnited States Naval Academy inAnnapolis, Maryland graduates its "Class of 1942" a semester early so as to induct the graduating students without delay into the U.S. Navy and/or Marine Corps as officers, for immediate stationing in the war.[14]
December 20 – AdmiralErnest King is appointed Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. fleet.
December 23 –World War II: A second Japanese landing attempt onWake Island is successful and the American garrison surrenders after a full night and morning of fighting.
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),[15] Colorado with 25.52 inches (648.2 mm)[16] and New Mexico with 26.57 inches (674.9 mm) against a mean of only 13.74 inches or 349.0 millimetres.[17]
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[18] and New Hampshire with 32.65 inches (829.3 mm) against a mean of 42.74 inches or 1,085.6 millimetres.[19]
Baseball fans across the nation witnessed two of the most amazing individual 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 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 stood since 1897 whenWee 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 a .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.
^Riemenschneider, Chris 2 (November 25, 1999)."Doug Sahm: a life in music".Austin American-Statesman. RetrievedFebruary 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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