October 9, 1942

1942Michael Palmer, American physician and author (died 2013)^[†]

Michael Stephen Palmer, M.D., was an American physician and author. His novels are often referred to as medical thrillers. Some of his novels have made The New York Times Best Seller list and have been translated into 35 languages. One, Extreme Measures (1991), was adapted into a 1996 film of the same name starring Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Gene Hackman.

1942Australia's Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 receives royal assent.^[†]

The Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 is an act of the Australian Parliament that formally adopted sections 2–6 of the Statute of Westminster 1931, an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom enabling the total legislative independence of the various self-governing Dominions of the British Empire. With its enactment, Westminster relinquished nearly all of its authority to legislate for the Dominions, effectively making them de jure sovereign nations.