Historical Events
- Dec 1 British cruiser HMS Dorsetshire forces crew of German submarine supply ship MV Python to scuttle vessel in the South Atlantic 1,150 miles west of South Africa
- Dec 1 US Civil Air Patrol (CAP) organizes
Buchalter's Death Sentence
Dec 2 American mobster Louis Buchalter is sentenced to death along with his lieutenants Emanuel Weiss and Louis Capone
Admiral Yamamoto
Dec 2 Japanese Marshal Admiral Yamamoto sends his fleet to Pearl Harbor
- Dec 2 Largest roller skating rink (outside of NYC) opens in Peekskill, New York
Mel Ott
Dec 2 New York Giants name Mel Ott as player-manager; replaces another future Baseball Hall of Famer Bill Terry, who heads Giants' farm system
- Dec 2 US Naval Intelligence ceases bugging Japanese consul
Hitler in Ukraine
Dec 3 Adolf Hitler views Poltava, Ukraine
- Dec 4 Nazi ordinance places Jews of Poland outside protection of courts
- Dec 5 "Sullivan's Travels", directed by Preston Sturges and starring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake, is released
- Dec 5 Football Writers Association of America organized
- Dec 5 Patrick Hamilton's "Angel Street" premieres in NYC
- Dec 5 Sister Elizabeth Kenny new treatment for infantile paralysis approved
- Dec 5 Soviet anti-offensive in Moscow drives out Nazi army
- Dec 5 US aircraft carrier Lexington and 5 heavy cruisers leave Pearl Harbor
- Dec 6 Dutch & British pilots see Japanese invasion fleet at Singapore
- Dec 6 NYC Council agrees to build Idlewild (Kennedy) Airport in Queens
- Dec 7 1st Japanese midget submarine (No. 20) attacked by a US ship (USS Ward)
- Dec 7 Adolf Hitler issues "Nacht und Nebel Erlass" (Night and Fog Directive), against anti-Nazi resistance fighters in occupied territories; targets sent to concentration camps and/or murdered
- Dec 7 Australian bombers land on Timor and Ambon islands of Indonesia
- Dec 7 Imperial Japanese Navy attacks US Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii; 18 sailors killed, 33 of 36 patrol planes destroyed or damaged, 1st Japanese aircraft shot down in action
- Dec 7 Imperial Japanese Navy with 353 planes attack the US fleet at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii, killing 2,403 people
Rommel Ends Tobruk Siege
Dec 7 WWII: German Siege of Tobruk, Libya ends after 8 months, as Erwin Rommel withdraws after losses and supply chain failures
- Dec 8 Chełmno extermination camp opens, 50 kilometres from Łódź, Poland
- Dec 8 London: Dutch government-in-exile declares war on Japan
- Dec 8 Russian 16th army recaptures Krijukovo
- Dec 8 San Francisco 1st blackout, at 6:15 PM
- Dec 8 US and Britain declare war on Japan, US enters World War II
Roosevelt Delivers "Day of Infamy" Speech
Dec 8 US President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his famous "Day of Infamy" speech to a joint session of Congress a day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor
- Dec 9 1st US WW II bombing mission in Far East, Luzon, Philippines
Bank of America HQ Opens
Dec 9 300 Montgomery, San Francisco opens as new Bank of America HQ
- Dec 9 7th Heisman Trophy Award: Bruce Smith, Minnesota (HB)
- Dec 9 Adolf Hitler orders US ships and those loyal to her to be torpedoed - 3 days before declaring war on the US [1]
- Dec 9 China declares war on Japan, Germany & Italy
- Dec 9 Citizen Register reports "Hostile planes reported nearing Westchester"
- Dec 10 British battleship Prince of Wales and battlecruiser Repulse (Force Z) sunk following Japanese aerial attacks off Malaya. 840 men die
- Dec 10 Japanese troops landed on northern Luzon in the Philippines
- Dec 10 Japanese troops overrun Guam
Australia Abandons Matches
Dec 11 Australian state cricket associations, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales decide at meetings with new Prime Minister John Curtin to abandon all interstate first class matches for the duration of WWII
- Dec 11 Axis powers Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy declare war against the United States
- Dec 11 Dutch government in London declares war on Italy
- Dec 11 Japanese attack Wake Island (only failed WW II-landing)
- Dec 11 Japanese occupy Guam
- Dec 11 NY Giants acquire future Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman Johnny Mize from Cardinals for 3 players & $50,000
- Dec 12 European reservists on Java mobilize
- Dec 12 German occupying army do a house search in Paris looking for Jews
- Dec 12 Soviet 20th army recaptures Soljetsjnogorsk
- Dec 13 German occupiers forbid National Front and Netherland Union
- Dec 13 Lawine battlers destroy Haaraz, Peru; about 3,000 die
- Dec 14 1st NFL division playoff, Bears beat Packers 33-14
- Dec 14 Japan and Thailand sign a treaty of alliance
Churchill to the US
Dec 14 Premier Winston Churchill travels to US on board HMS Duke of York
- Dec 14 U-557 torpedoes British cruiser Galatea
- Dec 15 Gas/electrical use restricted in Holland
- Dec 15 German submarine U-127 sinks
- Dec 15 North Africa: allied assault up Italians Gazala-posing
- Dec 15 The American Federation of Labor adopts a no-strike policy in war industries.
- Dec 15 USS Swordfish becomes 1st US sub to sink a Japanese ship
- Dec 16 Sarawak occupied by Japanese forces
- Dec 17 Dutch and Australian troops land on Portuguese Timor
- Dec 17 German submarine U-31 sunk
- Dec 17 German troops led by Erwin Rommel begin retreating in North Africa
- Dec 17 World War II: Beginning of the Siege of Sebastopol.
- Dec 18 44 surviving crewmen of German U-434 surrender to the HMS Blankney after scuttling their wounded submarine. Two are lost.
- Dec 18 Japanese troops land on Hong Kong
- Dec 19 Adolf Hitler takes complete command of German Army
- Dec 19 German submarine U-574 sinks
- Dec 19 US Office of Censorship created to control info pertaining to WW II
- Dec 20 Free France under adm Muselier occupies St-Pierre et Miquelon
- Dec 20 Japanese troops land on Mindanao, Philippines
- Dec 20 World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming, China.
- Dec 21 Chicago Bears Ray McLean makes last NFL drop kick for an extra point
- Dec 21 David Diamond's 1st Symphony premieres with the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Society conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos
- Dec 21 German submarine U-567 sinks
Chicago Bears Beat NY Giants
Dec 21 National Football League Championship, Wrigley Field, Chicago: Chicago Bears beat New York Giants, 37-9; first team in NFL championship game era (since 1933) to win consecutive titles; Bears 5th title overall
- Dec 22 1942 NFL Draft: Bill Dudley from University of Virginia first pick by Pittsburgh Steelers
- Dec 22 Japan's invasion leader lands on Luzon, Philippines
- Dec 22 Winston Churchill arrives in Washington, D.C. for a wartime conference
- Dec 23 American forces on Wake Island surrender to Japanese
- Dec 23 British troops overrun Benghazi, Libya
- Dec 23 Japan begins assault on Rangoon, Burma
- Dec 24 First ships of admiral Nagumo's Pearl Harbor fleet return to Japan
- Dec 25 Japan announces surrender of British-Canadian garrison at Hong Kong
- Dec 25 Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi/Kagu back in Kure, Japan
- Dec 26 Winston Churchill becomes first British Prime Minister to address a joint meeting of the US Congress, warning that Axis would "stop at nothing"
Shostakovich's 7th Symphony
Dec 27 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 7th Symphony in Siberia
- Dec 27 Japan bombs Manila even though it was declared an "open city"
- Dec 28 State of siege goes into effect in Bohemia and Moravia
The Roaring Lion
Dec 30 In an emotional speech to the Canadian Parliament Winston Churchill states Britain will never surrender to "Hitler and his Nazi gang" and that "they have asked for total war. Let us make sure they get it". Afterwards Yousef Karsh captures him in his famous photograph, "The Roaring Lion".
- Dec 30 Nazis require Dutch physicians to join Nazi organization
- Dec 31 Young Park (2) in the Bronx named in honor of Samuel Young
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 1 Federico Faggin, Italian physicist and inventor (microprocessor), born in Vicenza, Italy
- Dec 2 Mike England, Welsh soccer defender and manager (44 caps, Tottenham Hotspur; mgr Wales), born in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales
- Dec 2 Paul Ching Wu Chu, Chinese-American physicist (superconductivity), born in Changsha, Hunan, China
- Dec 2 Sugar Ramos [Ultiminio Ramos], Cuban-Mexican boxer (World Featherweight champion 1963-64), born in Matanzas, Cuba (d. 2017)
- Dec 2 Tom McGuiness, British rocker (The Blues Band), born in Wimbledon, London, England
- Dec 4 Humberto Solás, Cuban film director and writer (Lucia), born in Havana, Cuba (d. 2008)
- Dec 4 Marty Riessen, American tennis player (9 x Grand Slam doubles titles; world #3 doubles 1980; world #8 singles 1971), born in Hinsdale, Illinois
- Dec 4 Raul Blanco, Argentine-Australian soccer coach (Australia 1996-97), born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Dec 6 Helen Cornelius, American country singer (Nashville on the Road), born in Monroe City, Missouri
- Dec 6 John Nelson, American conductor (Berlioz's Les Troyens), born in San José, Costa Rica
- Dec 6 Richard Speck, American mass murderer (raped and killed 8 student nurses in 1966), born in Kirkwood, Illinois (d. 1991)
- Dec 8 Albert J Evenhuis, Dutch undersecretary of Economic (VVD)
- Dec 8 Bob Brown, American College-Pro Football HOF offensive tackle (University of Nebraska; 5 × First-team All-Pro; 6 x Pro-Bowl; Philadelphia Eagles, LA Rams, Oakland Raiders), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2023)
- Dec 8 Ed Brinkman, American baseball player
- Dec 8 Geoff Hurst, English soccer striker (49 caps; FIFA World Cup 1966; West Ham United 411 games, Stoke City), born in Ashton-under-Lyne, England
- Dec 8 Randall "Duke" Cunningham, US Navy fighter pilot and Congressman
- Dec 9 Beau Bridges, American actor (Hotel New Hampshire, 5th Musketeer), born in Los Angeles, California
- Dec 9 Dan Hicks, American singer and songwriter (Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks), born in Little Rock, Arkansas (d. 2016)
- Dec 10 Chad Stuart [David Stuart Chadwick], English pop-rock vocalist and guitarist (Chad & Jeremy), born in Windermere, Cumberland, England (d. 2020)
- Dec 10 Fionnula Flanagan, Irish actress (Rich Man Poor Man), born in Dublin, Ireland
- Dec 10 Jeff Jones, Welsh cricket fast bowler (15 Tests England, 44 wickets), born in Dafen, Carmarthenshire, Wales
- Dec 10 Kyu Sakamoto, Japanese singer (Sukiaki), and actor, born in Kawasaki (d. 1985)
- Dec 10 Peter Michael Goetz, American actor (Jumping Jack Flash, King Kong Lives), born in Buffalo, New York
- Dec 10 Peter Sarstedt, British pop-folk singer-songwriter and guitarist ("Where Do You Go To (My Lovely?"; "I Am A Cathedral"), born in New Delhi, British India (d. 2017)
- Dec 10 Ralph Tavares, Cape Verdean-American R&B and soul singer (Tavares - "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel"), born in Providence, Rhode Island (d. 2021)
- Dec 10 Tommy Kirk, American actor (Old Yeller), born in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 2021)
- Dec 10 Tommy Rettig, American actor (Jeff's Collie, Lassie), born in Queens, New York (d. 1996)
- Dec 11 Bronisław Kazimierz Przybylski, Polish composer (Requiem. In Memory of the Children – Martyrs of the War) and educator, born in Łódź, Poland (d. 2011)
- Dec 11 Max Baucus, American politician (11th United States Ambassador to China), born in Helena, Montana
- Dec 11 Rogier van Otterloo, Dutch composer and conductor, born in Bilthoven, Netherlands (d. 1988)
- Dec 12 Liesbeth List, Dutch actress and vocalist (Theodorakis), born in Bandoeng, Dutch East Indies (d. 2020)
- Dec 12 Nikolai Osyanin, Russian soccer striker (3 caps; PFC Krylia Sovetov Kuibyshev, FC Spartak Moscow), born in Sobolevskoye, Russia (d. 2022)
- Dec 12 Terry Kirkman, American rock vocalist, songwriter, and keyboardist (The Association - "Windy"; "Cherish"), and later substance abuse counselor, born in Salina, Kansas (d. 2023)
- Dec 12 Tim Hauser, American jazz singer (The Manhattan Transfer - "Boy From New York City"), born in Troy, New York, (d. 2014)
- Dec 13 Anouska Hempel, British actress (Tiffany Jones), born in Wellington, New Zealand
- Dec 13 John Davidson, American TV host (Hollywood Squares, That's Incredible), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Dec 13 Robert Covington, American drummer and singer, born in Yazoo City, Mississippi (d. 1996)
- Dec 14 Barry Hadlee, New Zealand cricket batsman (brother of Richard & Dayle; 2 ODIs NZ World Cup 1975; Canterbury), born in Christchurch, Canterbury
- Dec 14 Ellen Willis, American journalist and feminist, born in New York City (d. 2006)
- Dec 15 Geoffrey Davies, English actor (Doctor at Sea, Doctor on the Go), born in Leeds, England
- Dec 16 Kent R. Weeks, American archaeologist, began The Theban Mapping Project, rediscovered KV5 tomb, born in Everett, Washington
- Dec 16 Lesley Stahl, American television journalist (CBS, 60 Minutes), born in Boston, Massachusetts
- Dec 16 Vittorio Mezzogiorno, Italian actor (Cafe Express, Octopus), born in Cercola, Italy (d. 1994)
- Dec 17 Dave Dee [Harman], British pop singer-songwriter, and guitarist (Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich - "Bend It!"), born in Salisbury, England (d. 2009)
- Dec 17 David A. Gall, Canadian thoroughbred Hall of Fame jockey (US Champion Jockey by wins 1979, 81; first to ride 8 winners on single US race card), born in Rose Valley, Saskatchewan (d. 2021)
- Dec 18 Jan Kowalczyk, Polish equestrian rider (Olympics gold show jumping individual; silver team 1980), born in Drogomyśl, Poland (d. 2020)
- Dec 18 Sam Andrew, American musician (Big Brother and the Holding Company), born in Okinawa, Japan (d. 2015)
- Dec 18 Wadada Leo Smith, American trumpeter and composer ("Divine Love"), born in Leland, Mississippi
- Dec 18 William, English Prince of Gloucester and grandson of George V, born in Hadley Common, England (d. 1972)
- Dec 19 Maurice White, singer-songwriter (Earth, Wind & Fire), born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 2016)
- Dec 20 Michael Hurley, American folk singer-songwriter ("The Tea Song"), born in Bucks Country, Pennsylvania [1]
- Dec 23 Serge Reding, Belgian weightlifter, born in Auderghem, Belgium (d. 1975)
- Dec 23 Tim Hardin, American singer ("If I Were A Carpenter"; "Black Sheep Boy"; "Reason to Believe"), born in Eugene, Oregon (d. 1980)
- Dec 24 David Arkin, American actor (I Love You Alice B Toklas), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1990)
- Dec 24 John Levene, British actor, born in Salisbury, United Kingdom
- Dec 25 Don Pullen, American jazz pianist and composer, born in Roanoke, Virginia (d. 1995)
- Dec 25 Lex Hixon, religious teacher/author
- Dec 25 Ronald Perera, American contemporary classical composer, born in Boston, Massachusetts
- Dec 25 Ronnie Cuber, American jazz saxophonist, born in New York City
- Dec 26 Daniel Schmid, actor and director (Paloma, Violanta, Hecate, Amateurs)
- Dec 26 Klaus Bonsack, German luger (Olympic gold GDR men's doubles 1968, bronze 1972; silver singles 1964, bronze 1968; World C'ship gold 1967), born in Waltershausen, Germany (d. 2023)
- Dec 27 Charlie Dog, Warner Bros. cartoon character created by Chuck Jones and Bob Clampett (Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series), first debuts in "Porky's Pooch"
- Dec 27 Leslie Maguire, British rock pianist (Gerry & the Pacemakers - "Ferry Cross the Mersey"), born in Wallasey, England
- Dec 27 Mike Pinder, British keyboard player and Mellotron pioneer (Moody Blues, 1964-78 - "Nights in White Satin"), born in Birmingham, England (d. 2024) [1] [2]
- Dec 28 Bob Seidemann, American photographer and album cover artist (Blind Faith; Jerry Garcia), born in New York City (d. 2017)
- Dec 28 Don Francisco [Mario Kreutzberger], Chilean TV variety show host (Sábado Gigante, 1962-2015), born in Talca, Chile
- Dec 28 Intikhab Alam, Pakistan cricket leg-spinner (1959-77)
- Dec 29 Ray Thomas, English rock vocalist and flautist (Moody Blues - "Legend Of A Mind"), born in Stourport-on-Severn, United Kingdom (d. 2018)
- Dec 30 Franne Lee (née Newman), American Tony Award-winning costume designer (Sweeny Todd; SNL, 1975-80), born in The Bronx, NYC (d. 2023)
- Dec 30 Mel Renfro, American football player
- Dec 31 A. G. Milkha Singh, Indian cricket batsman (4 Tests, HS 35; Madras), born in Madras, India (d. 2017)
Alex Ferguson (82 years old)
Dec 31 Scottish football manager (Manchester United 1986-2013; Aberdeen 1978-86), regarded as one of the greatest of all time, born in Glasgow, Scotland
- Dec 31 Sarah Miles, English actress (Ryan's Daughter; Hope and Glory; The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing), born in Ingatestone, Essex, England
Famous Weddings
Milton Berle
Dec 4 Entertainer Milton Berle (33) marries actress Joyce Matthews (21) for the first time (divorced 1947, remarried 1949)
- Dec 6 King Leopold of Belgium marries Lilian Baels
Ella Fitzgerald
Dec 26 Jazz musician Ella Fitzgerald (24) weds convicted drug dealer Benny Kornegay; annulled 1943
Maureen O'Hara
Dec 29 Actress Maureen O'Hara (21) marries second husband director Will Price (28) (divorced 1953)
- Dec 30 Al Capone's son Sonny marries in Miami Beach
Famous Deaths
- Dec 1 Alva B. Adams, American politician (U.S. Senator from Colorado, 1933-41), dies at 66
- Dec 1 Horace Chapman, South African cricket all-rounder (2 Tests, 1 wicket; Natal), dies at 51
- Dec 3 Christian Sinding, Norwegian composer (Frühlingsrauschen - Rustle of Spring), dies at 85
- Dec 3 Pavel Filonov, Russian painter (b. 1883)
- Dec 5 Amrita Sher-Gil, Hungarian-Indian painter described as the "Indian Frida Kahlo" and "one of the greatest avant-garde women artists of the early 20th century", dies of complications from a failed abortion at 28
- Dec 6 Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, German author (In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message), dies at 66
- Dec 7 Cecil Forsyth, British composer and musicologist, dies at 71
- Dec 7 Franklin Van Valkenburgh, United States Navy officer (Captain of USS Arizona), Medal of Honor recipient, killed in Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at 53
- Dec 7 Fusata Iida, Japanese Navy Air Service fighter pilot (commander of the Japanese 3rd Air Group), considered the 1st "kamikaze", dies in battle at U.S. Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii at 28
- Dec 7 Herbert C. Jones, United States Navy ensign, Medal of Honor recipient, killed in Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at 23
- Dec 7 Mervyn S. Bennion, United States Navy officer (Captain of USS West Virginia), WWI veteran, and Medal of Honor recipient, killed in Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at 54
- Dec 7 Thomas J. Reeves, United States Navy radioman, Medal of Honor recipient, killed in Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at 45
- Dec 8 Frank "Pop" Morgenweck, American Basketball HOF contributor (team owner/coach in 18 cities), dies at 66
- Dec 9 Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Russian writer and philosopher (b. 1865)
- Dec 9 Leonard "Leo" Polak, Dutch philosopher, dies in Sachsenhausen concentration camp at 61
- Dec 10 Colin Kelly, American B-17 Flying Fortress pilot and 1st US air hero during WW II, killed in action at 26 after ordering his crew to bail out shortly before his bomber exploded
- Dec 11 Charles Émile Picard, French mathematician, died at 85
- Dec 11 John Gillespie Magee, Jr., American poet and aviator (b. 1922)
- Dec 12 Cesar Basa, Philippine Air Force and World War II hero (b. 1915)
- Dec 19 L M Dovator, Russian general, dies in battle
- Dec 20 Igor Severyanin, Russian poet (b. 1887)
- Dec 21 Peetie Wheatstraw [William Bunch], American blues singer, songwriter, and piano player, dies on his 39th birthday when the car in which he was a passenger met a freight train
- Dec 22 Leopoldo Mugnone, Italian opera composer and conductor, dies at 83
- Dec 24 Siegfried Alkan, German composer, dies at 83
- Dec 30 El Lissitzky, Russian artist and architect (b. 1890)
- Dec 31 Sigwart Aspestrand, Norwegian composer, dies at 85
