On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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All men, whether citizens or aliens, 20 to 44 years old, inclusive, must register for Selective Service on Sunday or Monday, between 7 A.M. and 9 P.M., unless they have previously registered or are in the Federal armed forces.
Jap-German junction in Indian Ocean seen as Axis aim
Brit ignore Jap surrender demand, Singapore
1942Ehud Barak, Israeli general and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Israel[†]
Ehud Barak is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the prime minister and Minister of Defense from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party between 1997 and 2001 and between 2007 and 2011. He was also Minister of Defense from 2007 to 2013.
1942Terry Bisson, American science fiction and fantasy author (died 2024)[†]
Terry Ballantine Bisson was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was best known for his short stories, including "Bears Discover Fire", which won the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, and "They're Made Out of Meat".
1942Pat Dobson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 2006)[†]
Patrick Edward Dobson, Jr. was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Detroit Tigers (1967–69), San Diego Padres (1970), Baltimore Orioles (1971–72), Atlanta Braves (1973), New York Yankees (1973–75) and Cleveland Indians (1976–77). He was best known for being one of four Orioles pitchers to win 20 games in their 1971 season.
1942Eugene Esmonde, Irish-English lieutenant and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1909)[†]
Lieutenant-Commander Eugene Esmonde, was a distinguished Irish pilot in the Fleet Air Arm who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy awarded to members of Commonwealth forces. Esmonde earned this award while in command of a torpedo bomber squadron in the Second World War - in an action known as Operation Fuller, the 'Channel Dash’.
1942Avraham Stern, Polish-Israeli militant leader (born 1907)[†]
Avraham Stern, alias Yair, was one of the leaders of the Jewish paramilitary organization Irgun. In September 1940, he founded a breakaway militant Zionist group named Lehi, called the "Stern Gang" by the British authorities and by the mainstream in the Yishuv Jewish establishment. The group referred to its members as terrorists and admitted to having carried out terrorist attacks.
1942Grant Wood, American painter and academic (born 1891)[†]
Grant DeVolson Wood was an American artist and representative of Regionalism, best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest. He is particularly well known for American Gothic (1930), which has become an iconic example of early 20th-century American art.