Major Events
- Jan 13 Adolf Hitler declares "Total War" against the Allies
- Jan 18 Soviets announce they have broken the long siege of Leningrad by Nazi Germany by opening a narrow land corridor, though the siege would not be fully lifted until a year later
- Jan 31 German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to Soviet troops at Stalingrad
- Feb 2 German 6th Army surrenders after the Battle of Stalingrad in a major turning point in Europe during World War II
- Feb 9 Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal, ending the epic World War II battle on the Solomon Islands in the Pacific
- Mar 3 Battle of the Bismarck Sea: Australian and American air forces devastate Japanese navy convoy
- May 12 Axis forces in North Africa surrender
- May 16 Operation Chastise: No. 617 Squadron RAF begins the famous Dambusters Raid, bombing the Möhne and Eder dams in the Ruhr valley with bouncing bombs
- Jun 3 A mob of 60 from the Los Angeles Naval Reserve Armory beat up everyone perceived to be Hispanic, starting the week-long Zoot Suit Riots
- Jul 12 World War II: Battle of Prokhorovka - Russia defeats German forces in one of the largest ever tank battles
- Jul 24 Operation Gomorrah: RAF begins bombing Hamburg (till 3rd August), creating a firestorm and killing 42,600 people
- Jul 25 Benito Mussolini dismissed as Italian Premier and arrested on the authority of King Victor Emmanuel III
- Jul 28 Operation Gomorrah: RAF bombing over Hamburg causes a firestorm that kills 42,600 German civilians
- Aug 23 50th day of Battle of Kursk, USSR: Largest tank battle in history ends with Russia's defeat of Germany; over 10,000 tanks take part, nearly 250,000 combatants killed
- Oct 13 Italy declares war on former Axis partner Germany
- Oct 17 Burma railway completed, built by Allied POWs and Asian laborers for use of the Japanese army
- Oct 19 Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, is isolated by researchers at Rutgers University in Pistcaway, New Jersey
- Dec 24 US President FDR appoints General Eisenhower Supreme Commander of the Allied forces
- Dec 28 All Kalmyk inhabitants of the Republic of Kalmukkie deported by the Soviet Union to Central Asia and Siberia. Many die en route.
- More 1943 Events
1943 in Film & TV
- Jul 21 Musical film "Stormy Weather", directed by Andrew L. Stone, starring Bill Robinson, Lena Horne and Fats Waller (singing "Ain't Misbehavin'") premieres in the US
1943 in Sport
- Dec 4 MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis announces any baseball club may sign Negroes
Did You Know?
Bicycle Day - Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann deliberately takes LSD for the first time
Nolan Bushnell
John Major
Andreas Baader
Henry Hill
Jocelyn Bell Burnell
Lech Wałęsa
Sharon Tate
George Harrison
Christopher Walken
Mick Jagger
Robert De Niro
Penny Marshall
Janis Joplin
Barry Manilow
Joni Mitchell
Jim Morrison
Bobby Fischer
Gale Sayers
Joe Namath
Arthur Ashe
Bill Bradley
Billie Jean KingMore People Born in 1943
Fun Fact About 1943
World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt travels from Miami to Morocco to meet with Winston Churchill, becoming the first American president to travel overseas by airplane
George Washington Carver
Nikola Tesla
Isoroku Yamamoto
Mordecai Anielewicz
Boris III
Beatrix Potter
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Lorenz Hart
Fats WallerMore 1943 Deaths
Articles About 1943
Casablanca Conference
Henri Giraud, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles de Gaulle and Winston Churchill at the Casablanca ConferenceJanuary 14
Siege of Leningrad
Two young girls help assemble Soviet submachine guns during the Siege of LeningradJanuary 18
Nazi General Friedrich Paulus Surrenders
German field marshal Friedrich Paulus, the highest-ranking German officer to surrender during World War IIJanuary 31
We Can Do It!
American wartime propaganda poster produced by J. Howard Miller in 1943 for Westinghouse ElectricFebruary 15
Poon Lim's 133 Day South Atlantic Odyssey
Poon Lim and his raft, photo made on request of the US Navy for its Survival Training.April 5
Zoot Suit Riots
A man in a zoot suit is inspected after being arrested by the LAPD in 1943June 3
Fall of Benito Mussolini
The recorded votes of the Grand Council of Fascism voting no confidence in Benito MussoliniJuly 25
Death Railway Completed
'Bridge over the River Kwai' drawn by Leo Rawlings in 1943 depicting construction by POWs of the Burma RailwayOctober 17
Famous Weddings in 1943
- Feb 14 Walmart founder Sam Walton (24) weds Helen Robson (23)
- Feb 15 Model Bettie Page (19) weds high school sweetheart Billy Neal in Gallatin, Tennessee
- Feb 18 Chilean army officer, and future dictator, Augusto Pinochet (27) marries Lucía Hiriart (20)
Famous Divorces in 1943
- Jun 29 Actor Jackie Coogan (28) divorces actress Flower Parry after almost 2 years of marriage
- Jul 7 Heavyweight boxing champ Jack Dempsey (48) divorces broadway singer Hannah Williams (32) after 10 years of marriage
More 1943 Weddings
George C. Marshall
Jennifer Jones
Paul Lukas
Adolf Hitler
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Joseph Stalin
Winston Churchill