Events from the year 1942 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal government
President: Franklin D. Roosevelt (D-New York) Vice President: Henry A. Wallace (D-Iowa) Chief Justice: Harlan F. Stone (New York) Speaker of the House of Representatives: Sam Rayburn (D-Texas) Senate Majority Leader: Alben W. Barkley (D-Kentucky) Congress: 77th
Events
January
January 1
Sales of new cars are banned to save steel. WWII: The United States and Philippines troops fight the Battle of Bataan. January 10 – WWII: The last German air-raid on the English port of Liverpool destroys the home of William Patrick Hitler, Adolf Hitler's nephew. William Hitler is in the United States and later joins the navy to fight against his uncle. January 14–15 – WWII: Operation Drumbeat – German submarine U-123 under the command of Reinhard Hardegen sinks a Norwegian tanker within sight of Long Island before entering New York Harbor and sinking a British tanker off Sandy Hook as she leaves heading south along the East Coast. January 16 – Film actress Carole Lombard and her mother are among all 22 aboard TWA Flight 3 & are killed when the Douglas DC-3 plane crashes into Potosi Mountain near Las Vegas in Nevada while she is returning from a tour to promote the sale of war bonds. January 19 WWII: Japanese forces invade Burma. The United States VIII Bomber Command, later to become the Eighth Air Force, is established in Savannah, Georgia. January 25 – WWII: Thailand declares war on the United States and United Kingdom. January 26 – WWII: The first American forces arrive in Europe, landing in Northern Ireland.
February
February 2 – WWII: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an executive order directing the internment of Japanese Americans and the seizure of their property. February 7 – President Roosevelt signs an Executive Order creating the War Shipping Administration (WSA). February 8 WWII: Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war. Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States. February 9 – WWII: The ocean liner catches fire while being converted into the troopship USS Lafayette at pier 88 in New York City. In the early hours of February 10 she capsizes. February 18 – WWII: More than 200 American sailors die in Newfoundland when the runs aground near Chambers Cove and the runs aground at Lawn Point. February 19 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs executive order 9066 allowing the United States military to define areas as exclusionary zones. These zones affect the Japanese on the West Coast, and Germans and Italians primarily on the East Coast. February 20 – Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace. February 22 – WWII: President Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defense of the nation collapses. February 23 – WWII: The Japanese submarine I-17 fires 17 high-explosive shells toward an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California, causing little damage. February 24 – The Voice of America begins broadcasting. February 25 – Battle of Los Angeles: Over 1,400 AA shells are fired at an unidentified, slow-moving object in the skies over Los Angeles. The appearance of the object triggers an immediate wartime blackout over most of Southern California, with thousands of air raid wardens being deployed throughout the city. In total there are 6 deaths. Despite the several hour barrage no planes are downed. February 26 – The 14th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Bob Hope is held at Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, with John Ford's How Green Was My Valley winning Outstanding Motion Picture along with four other awards, including a third Best Director win for Ford. The two aforementioned awards are currently considered controversial due to the retroactive high regard placed on Orson Welles' also-nominated Citizen Kane.
March
March – Construction begins on the Badger Army Ammunition Plant (the largest in the United States during WWII). March 9 – WWII: Executive order 9082 (February 28, 1942) reorganizes the United States Army into three major commands: Army Ground Forces, Army Air Forces, and Services of Supply, later redesignated Army Service Forces.
April
April 3 – WWII: Japanese forces begin an all-out assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula.