March 8, 1942

1942Dick Allen, American baseball player and tenor (died 2020)^[†]

Richard Anthony Allen, nicknamed "Crash" and "the Wampum Walloper", was an American professional baseball player. During his 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played as a first baseman and third baseman, most notably for the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox, and was one of baseball's top sluggers of the 1960s and early 1970s.

1942Ann Packer, English sprinter, hurdler, and long jumper^[†]

Ann Elizabeth Packer MBE is an English former sprinter, hurdler and long jumper. She won a gold medal in the 800 metres and a silver in the 400 metres at the 1964 Summer Olympics.

1942José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess player (born 1888)^[†]

José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was the third world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he was widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play.

1942World War II: The Dutch East Indies surrender Java to the Imperial Japanese Army.^[†]

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.

1942World War II: Imperial Japanese Army forces captured Rangoon, Burma from British.^[†]

Yangon, romanised in English as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the military government relocated the administrative functions to the purpose-built capital city of Naypyidaw in north central Myanmar. With over five million people, Yangon is Myanmar's most populous city and its most important commercial centre.