December 11, 1941

1941Max Baucus, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 11th United States Ambassador to China^[†]

Maxwell Sieben Baucus is an American politician who served as a United States senator from Montana from 1978 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a U.S. senator for over 35 years, making him the longest-serving U.S. senator in Montana history. President Barack Obama later appointed Baucus to replace Gary Locke as the 11th U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, a position he held from 2014 until 2017.

1941J. P. Parisé, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (died 2015)^[†]

Jean-Paul Joseph-Louis Parisé was a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and player. Parisé played in the National Hockey League (NHL), most notably for the Minnesota North Stars and the New York Islanders.

1941Rogier van Otterloo, Dutch conductor and composer (died 1988)^[†]

Willem Rogier van Otterloo was a Dutch composer and conductor.

1941J. Frank Wilson, American singer-songwriter (died 1991)^[†]

John Frank Wilson was an American singer, the lead vocalist of J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers. Born in Lufkin, Texas, Wilson was inducted into the West Texas Music Hall Of Fame.

1941John Gillespie Magee, Jr., American pilot and poet (born 1922)^[†]

John Gillespie Magee Jr. was a World War II Anglo-American Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot and war poet, who wrote the sonnet "High Flight". He was killed in an accidental mid-air collision over England in 1941.

1941Émile Picard, French mathematician and academic (born 1856)^[†]

Charles Émile Picard was a French mathematician. He was elected the fifteenth member to occupy seat 1 of the Académie française in 1924.

1941World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on the Empire of Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on them.^[†]

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.

1941World War II: Poland declares war on the Empire of Japan.^[†]

The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile, was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent occupation of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Slovak Republic, which brought to an end the Second Polish Republic.