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December 7, 1941

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Headlines from December 7, 1941

TROJANS GAIN TIE WITH U.C.L.A., 7-7; Southern California Rallies After Bruins Tally in 3d Period -- 65,000 Attend

By the Associated Press

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 6 -- The University of California at Los Angeles Bruins and the favored Trojans of the University of Southern California staged another of their crosstown football dogfights today before a roaring throng of 65,000 and wound up in a 7-7 deadlock as the curtain came down on the 1941 Pacific Coast Conference campaign.

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Notable Births

Melba Pattillo Beals

1941Melba Pattillo Beals, American journalist and activist[†]

Melba Joy Patillo Beals is an American journalist and educator who was a member of the Little Rock Nine, a group of black students who were the first to racially integrate Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Notable Deaths

Mervyn S. Bennion

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

Mervyn Sharp Bennion was a United States Navy captain who served during World War I and was killed while he was in command of battleship USS West Virginia during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II. He posthumously received the Medal of Honor for "conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage, and complete disregard of his own life."

USS Frederick C. Davis

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

USS Frederick C. Davis (DE-136) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II. It was the last US Naval vessel lost in the Battle of the Atlantic.

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

Julius Ellsberry was an American killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was the first Alabamian killed in World War II, and one of the first Americans to die in the Pacific during World War II. He was killed while aboard.

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

Ensign John Charles England was an officer in the United States Navy. He died on USS Oklahoma after it was torpedoed and sank in the Japanese Empire's attack on Pearl Harbor. The circumstances of his death have been described as heroic, and he is the namesake of two U.S. Navy vessels. He was also awarded a Purple Heart. His remains were identified and returned home after seven decades and an intense inquiry.

Edwin J. Hill

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

Edwin Joseph Hill, was a United States Navy sailor who was stationed on the USS Nevada (BB-36) during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. He posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the battle.

USS Hollis

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

USS Hollis (DE-794/APD-86) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1947 and from 1951 to 1956. She was scrapped in 1975.

Herbert C. Jones

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

Herbert Charpiot Jones was an officer in the United States Navy who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Isaac C. Kidd

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

Isaac Campbell Kidd was a rear admiral in the United States Navy. He was the father of Admiral Isaac C. Kidd Jr. Kidd Sr. was killed on the bridge of USS Arizona during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The highest-ranking casualty at Pearl Harbor, he became the first U.S. Navy flag officer killed in action in World War II as well as the first killed in action against any foreign enemy.

USS Leopold

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

USS Leopold (DE-319) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Ensign Robert Lawrence Leopold, to date it is the only United States Navy vessel to bear the name.

USS Menges

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

USS Menges (DE-320) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II.

Thomas James Reeves

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

Thomas James Reeves, born in Thomaston, Connecticut, December 9, 1895, was a US Navy radioman who became the namesake of the destroyer escort USS Reeves. Reeves was killed during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and posthumously received the Medal of Honor.

Aloysius Schmitt

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

Father Aloysius H. Schmitt was a Roman Catholic priest at the Archdiocese of Dubuque, who served as a chaplain in the United States Navy at the beginning of World War II.

Robert R. Scott

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

Robert Raymond Scott was a United States Navy sailor who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Peter Tomich

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

Petar Herceg 'Tonić' was a United States Navy sailor of Herzegovinian Croat descent who received the United States military's highest award, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in World War II.

USS Uhlmann

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

USS Uhlmann (DD-687) was a Fletcher-class destroyer in the service of the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946 and from 1950 to 1972. She was scrapped in 1974.

Franklin Van Valkenburgh

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

Franklin Van Valkenburgh was an American naval officer who served as the last captain of the USS Arizona (BB-39). He was killed when the Arizona exploded and sank during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

USS Wyman

1941Attack on Pearl Harbor:[†]

USS Wyman (DE-38) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy during World War II. She was promptly sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. She performed dangerous work, including participating in the sinking of two Japanese submarines, and was awarded six battle stars.

Historical Events

World War II

1941World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy carries out a surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending Army and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (For Japan's near-simultaneous attacks on Eastern Hemisphere targets, see December 8.)[†]

World War II or the Second World War was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.