1941 in the United States

Decades:	1920s ; 1930s ; 1940s ; 1950s ; 1960s ;
See also:	History of the United States (1918–1945) ; Timeline of United States history (1930–1949) ; List of years in the United States ;

Last updated April 09, 2024

Events from the year 1941 in the United States. At the end of this year, the United States enters World War II by declaring war on the Empire of Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Incumbents

Federal government

President: Franklin D. Roosevelt (D-New York)
Vice President: John Nance Garner (D-Texas) (until January 20), Henry A. Wallace (D-Iowa) (starting January 20)
Chief Justice: Charles Evans Hughes (New York) (until June 30), Harlan F. Stone (New York) (starting July 3)
Speaker of the House of Representatives: Sam Rayburn (D-Texas)
Senate Majority Leader: Alben W. Barkley (D-Kentucky)
Congress: 76th (until January 3), 77th (starting January 3)

Governors and lieutenant governors
Governors Governor of Alabama: Frank M. Dixon (Democratic) Governor of Arizona: Robert Taylor Jones (Democratic) (until January 2), Sidney Preston Osborn (Democratic) (starting January 2) Governor of Arkansas: Carl Edward Bailey (Democratic) (until January 14), Homer Martin Adkins (Democratic) (starting January 14) Governor of California: Culbert Olson (Democratic) Governor of Colorado: Ralph Lawrence Carr (Republican) Governor of Connecticut: Raymond E. Baldwin (Republican) (until January 8), Robert A. Hurley (Democratic) (starting January 8) Governor of Delaware: Richard C. McMullen (Democratic) (until January 8), Walter W. Bacon (Republican) (starting January 8) Governor of Florida: Fred P. Cone (Democratic) (until January 7), Spessard Holland (Democratic) (starting January 7) Governor of Georgia: Eurith D. Rivers (Democratic) (until January 14), Eugene Talmadge (Democratic) (starting January 14) Governor of Idaho: C. A. Bottolfsen (Republican) (until January 6), Chase A. Clark (Democratic) (starting January 6) Governor of Illinois: John H. Stelle (Democratic) (until January 13), Dwight H. Green (Republican) (starting January 13) Governor of Indiana: M. Clifford Townsend (Democratic) (until January 13), Henry F. Schricker (Democratic) (starting January 13) Governor of Iowa: George A. Wilson (Republican) Governor of Kansas: Payne Ratner (Republican) Governor of Kentucky: Keen Johnson (Democratic) Governor of Louisiana: Sam H. Jones (Democratic) Governor of Maine: Lewis O. Barrows (Republican) (until January 1), Sumner Sewall (Republican) (starting January 1) Governor of Maryland: Herbert R. O'Conor (Democratic) Governor of Massachusetts: Leverett Saltonstall (Republican) Governor of Michigan: Luren Dickinson (Republican) (until January 1), Murray Van Wagoner (Democratic) (starting January 1) Governor of Minnesota: Harold Stassen (Republican) Governor of Mississippi: Paul B. Johnson, Sr. (Democratic) Governor of Missouri: Lloyd C. Stark (Democratic) (until February 26), Forrest C. Donnell (Republican) (starting February 26) Governor of Montana: Roy E. Ayers (Democratic) (until January 6), Sam C. Ford (Republican) (starting January 6) Governor of Nebraska: Robert Leroy Cochran (Democratic) (until January 9), Dwight Griswold (Republican) (starting January 9) Governor of Nevada: Edward P. Carville (Democratic) Governor of New Hampshire: Francis P. Murphy (Republican) (until January 2), Robert O. Blood (Republican) (starting January 2) Governor of New Jersey: A. Harry Moore (Democratic) (until January 21), Charles Edison (Democratic) (starting January 21) Governor of New Mexico: John E. Miles (Democratic) Governor of New York: Herbert H. Lehman (Democratic) Governor of North Carolina: Clyde R. Hoey (Democratic) (until January 9), J. Melville Broughton (Democratic) (starting January 9) Governor of North Dakota: John Moses (Democratic) Governor of Ohio: John W. Bricker (Republican) Governor of Oklahoma: Leon C. Phillips (Democratic) Governor of Oregon: Charles A. Sprague (Republican) Governor of Pennsylvania: Arthur James (Republican) Governor of Rhode Island: William Henry Vanderbilt III (Republican) (until January 7), J. Howard McGrath (Democratic) (starting January 7) Governor of South Carolina: Burnet R. Maybank (Democratic) (until November 7), Joseph Emile Harley (Democratic) (starting November 7) Governor of South Dakota: Harlan J. Bushfield (Republican) Governor of Tennessee: Prentice Cooper (Democratic) Governor of Texas: W. Lee O'Daniel (Democratic) (until August 4), Coke R. Stevenson (Democratic) (starting August 4) Governor of Utah: Henry H. Blood (Democratic) (until January 6), Herbert B. Maw (Democratic) (starting January 6) Governor of Vermont: George David Aiken (Republican) (until January 9), William H. Wills (Republican) (starting January 9) Governor of Virginia: James H. Price (Democratic) Governor of Washington: Clarence D. Martin (Democratic) (until January 13), Arthur B. Langlie (Republican) (starting January 13) Governor of West Virginia: Homer A. Holt (Democratic) (until January 13), Matthew M. Neely (Democratic) (starting January 13) Governor of Wisconsin: Julius P. Heil (Republican) Governor of Wyoming: Nels H. Smith (Republican) Lieutenant governors Lieutenant Governor of Alabama: Albert A. Carmichael (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas: Robert L. Bailey (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of California: Ellis E. Patterson (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: John Charles Vivian (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: James L. McConaughy (Republican) (until January 8), Odell Shepard (Democratic) (starting January 8) Lieutenant Governor of Delaware: Edward W. Cooch (Democratic) (until January 21), Isaac J. MacCollum (Democratic) (starting January 21) Lieutenant Governor of Idaho: Donald S. Whitehead (Republican) (until January 6), Charles C. Gossett (Democratic) (starting January 6) Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: vacant (until January 13), Hugh W. Cross (Republican) (starting January 13) Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: Henry F. Schricker (Democratic) (until January 13), Charles M. Dawson (Democratic) (starting January 13) Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: Bourke B. Hickenlooper (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: Carl E. Friend (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: Rodes K. Myers (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: Marc M. Mouton (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Horace T. Cahill (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Matilda Dodge Wilson (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Frank Murphy (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: C. Elmer Anderson (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: Dennis Murphree (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: Frank Gaines Harris (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Montana: Hugh R. Adair (Democratic) (until January 6), Ernest T. Eaton (Republican) (starting January 6) Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska: William E. Johnson (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: Maurice J. Sullivan (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico: James Murray, Sr. (Democratic) (until January 1), Ceferino Quintana (Democratic) (starting January 1) Lieutenant Governor of New York: Charles Poletti (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: Wilkins P. Horton (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), Reginald L. Harris (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota: Jack A. Patterson (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Oscar W. Hagen (Republican) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: Paul M. Herbert (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma: James E. Berry (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: Samuel S. Lewis (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: James O. McManus (Republican) (until January 7), Louis W. Cappelli (Democratic) (starting January 7) Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: Joseph Emile Harley (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), vacant (starting November 4) Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota: Donald McMurchie (Republican) (starting month and day unknown), A. C. Miller (Republican) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: Blan R. Maxwell (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Texas: Coke Robert Stevenson (Democratic) (until August 4), vacant (starting August 4) Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: William H. Wills (Republican) (until January 9), Mortimer R. Proctor (Republican) (starting January 9) Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: vacant Lieutenant Governor of Washington: Victor A. Meyers (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: Walter S. Goodland (Republican)

Events

January

Henry A. Wallace becomes the 33rd U.S. vice president Henry-A.-Wallace-Townsend.jpeg — Henry A. Wallace becomes the 33rd U.S. vice president

January 4 – The short subject Elmer's Pet Rabbit is released, marking the second appearance of Bugs Bunny, and also the first to have his name on a title card.
January 6
- Four Freedoms speech: During his State of the Union address, President Roosevelt presents his Four Freedoms as fundamental global human rights.
- The keel of the USS Missouri is laid at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn.
January 10 – The Lend-Lease law is introduced into the U.S. Congress.
January 13 – All persons born in Puerto Rico since this day are declared U.S. citizens by birth, through U.S. federal law 8 U.S.C. § 1402.
January 20 – Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes swears in President Franklin D. Roosevelt for his third term. Henry A. Wallace is sworn in as the 33rd vice president.
January 23 – Aviator Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.
January 27 – World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: U.S. Ambassador to Japan Joseph Grew passes on to Washington, D.C. a rumor overheard at a diplomatic reception about a planned surprise attack upon Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
January – The Parker 51 fountain pen is first sold.

February

February 4 – World War II: The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops.
February 8 – World War II: The U.S. House of Representatives passes the Lend-Lease law.
February 9 – Winston Churchill, in a worldwide broadcast, asks the United States to show its support by sending arms to the British: "Give us the tools, and we will finish the job."
February 14 – World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: Admiral Kichisaburō Nomura begins his duties as Japanese ambassador to the United States.
February 27 – The 13th Academy Awards, hosted by Bob Hope, are presented at Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, with Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca winning Outstanding Production. The film also received the most nominations with 11, while The Thief of Baghdad wins the most awards with three. John Ford wins his second Best Director award for The Grapes of Wrath .

March

March – Captain America Comics #1 issues the first Captain America & Bucky comic. (cover date of Mar 1941, it was actually released the previous December)
March 1
- W47NV begins operations in Nashville, Tennessee, becoming the first fully licensed commercial FM radio station.
- Arthur L. Bristol becomes Rear Admiral for the United States Navy's Support Force, Atlantic Fleet.
March 8 – World War II: The U.S. Senate passes the Lend-Lease law.
March 11 – World War II: President Roosevelt signs Lend-Lease into law, providing for the U.S. to give military equipment to the Allies.
March 17 – National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
March 22 – Washington state's Grand Coulee Dam begins to generate electricity.
March 27 – World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: Japanese spy Takeo Yoshikawa arrives in Honolulu, Hawaii and begins to study the United States fleet at Pearl Harbor.
March 30 – All German, Italian and Danish ships anchored in United States waters are taken into "protective custody".

April

April 9 – The U.S. acquires full military defense rights in Greenland.
April 10 – World War II: The U.S. destroyer Niblack , while picking up survivors from a sunken Dutch freighter, drops depth charges on a German U-boat (the first "shot in anger" fired by America against Germany).
April 15 – World War II: The U.S. begins shipping Lend-Lease military equipment to China.
April 23 – The America First Committee holds its first mass rally in New York City, with Charles Lindbergh as keynote speaker.
April 25 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, at his regular press conference, criticizes Charles Lindbergh by comparing him to the Copperheads of the Civil War period. In response, Lindbergh resigns his commission in the U.S. Army Air Corps Reserve on April 28.

May

May 1: President Roosevelt buys the first War Bond BuyWarBonds.jpg — May 1: President Roosevelt buys the first War Bond

May – Woody Guthrie records the Columbia River Ballads.
May 1
- Orson Welles' film Citizen Kane premieres in New York City.
- The first Series E "War Bonds" and Defense Savings Stamps go on sale in the United States, to help fund the greatly increased production of military equipment.
May 6 – At California's March Field, entertainer Bob Hope performs his first USO Show.
May 15 – Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak begins as the New York Yankee center fielder goes one for 4 against Chicago White Sox pitcher Eddie Smith.
May 21 – World War II: 950 miles off the coast of Brazil, the freighter SS Robin Moor becomes the first United States (neutral) ship sunk by a German U-boat, after its crew have been allowed to disembark.
May 27 – World War II: President Roosevelt proclaims an "unlimited national emergency."

June

June 14 – All German and Italian assets in the United States are frozen.
June 16
- All German and Italian consulates in the United States are ordered closed and their staffs to leave the country by July 10.
- Official start of production at Ford's Willow Run facility (Air Force Plant 31) in Michigan. At its wartime peak, it will produce one B-24 bomber every hour.^[1]
June 20
- The United States Army Air Forces comes into being, taking over the former United States Army Air Corps.
- Walt Disney's live-action animated feature The Reluctant Dragon is released.

July

July 1
- Mammoth Cave National Park is authorized by Congress.
- Commercial television is authorized by the Federal Communications Commission.
- NBC Television begins commercial operation on WNBT, on Channel 1. The world's first legal TV commercial, for Bulova watches, occurs at 2:29 PM over WNBT, before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. The 10-second spot displays a picture of a clock superimposed on a map of the United States, accompanied by the voice-over "America runs on Bulova time."^[2]^[3] As a one-off special, the first quiz show called "Uncle Bee" is telecast on WNBT's inaugural broadcast day, followed later the same day by Ralph Edwards hosting the second game show broadcast on U.S. television, Truth or Consequences , as simulcast on radio and TV and sponsored by Ivory Soap. Weekly broadcasts of the show commence in 1956, with Bob Barker.
- CBS Television begins commercial operation on New York station WCBW (modern-day WCBS-TV), on Channel 2.
July 7 – World War II: American forces take over the defense of Iceland from the British.
July 23 – Hero thrill show is held in Philadelphia.^[4]
July 26
- World War II: In response to the Japanese occupation of French Indochina, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the freezing of all Japanese assets in the United States.^[5]
- World War II: General Douglas MacArthur is named commander of all U.S. forces in the Philippines; the Philippines Army is ordered nationalized by President Roosevelt.
July 28 – World War II: Japan freezes all American assets.^[6] After the United States froze Japanese assets the Japanese responded by freezing the assets of the United States, United Kingdom and the Netherlands.^[7]
July 30 – World War II: The U.S. gunboat Tutuila is attacked by Japanese aircraft while anchored in the Yangtze River at Chungking. Japan apologizes for the incident the following day.
July – The Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft is introduced.^[8]

August

August 1 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt bans the export of U.S. aviation fuel from the western hemisphere except to Britain and allies.
August 6 – Six-year-old Elaine Esposito undergoes an appendectomy and lapses into a coma that lasts for a record-breaking 37 years until her death in 1978.
August 9 – Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet at Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador. The Atlantic Charter is created as a result.
August 12 – By one vote (203–202), the U.S. House of Representatives passes legislation extending the draft period for selectees and the National Guard from 1 year to 30 months.
August 31 – The Great Gildersleeve debuts on NBC Radio.

September

September 4 – World War II: The USS Greer becomes the first United States Navy ship fired upon by a German submarine in the war, even though the United States is a neutral power. Tension heightens between the nations as a result.
September 11 – World War II: Charles Lindbergh, at an America First Committee rally in Des Moines, Iowa, accuses "the British, the Jewish, and the Roosevelt administration" of leading the United States toward war. Widespread condemnation of Lindbergh follows.
September 27 – The first liberty ship, the SS Patrick Henry, is launched at Baltimore.
September 29 – World War II: The first Moscow Conference begins; U.S. representative Averell Harriman and British representative Lord Beaverbrook meet with Soviet foreign minister Molotov to arrange urgent assistance for Russia.

October

October 6 – The New York Yankees defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4 games to 1, to win their 9th World Series Title.
October 17 – World War II: The destroyer USS Kearny is torpedoed and damaged by German submarine U-568 off Iceland, killing 11 sailors (the first American military casualties of the war).
October 23 – Walt Disney's fourth animated film, Dumbo , is released to recoup the initial financial losses of both Pinocchio and Fantasia the year prior.
October 30 – World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt approves US$1 billion in Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union.
October 31
- After 14 years, work ceases on sculpting Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
- World War II: The destroyer USS Reuben James is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-552 off Iceland, killing more than 100 U.S. Navy sailors.

November

November 10 – In a speech at the Mansion House, London, Winston Churchill promises, "should the United States become involved in war with Japan, the British declaration will follow within the hour."
November 14
- World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: Japanese diplomat Saburō Kurusu arrives in the United States to assist Ambassador Kichisaburō Nomura in peace negotiations.
- The 5.4 M_s  Los Angeles earthquake severely affected the Gardena–Torrance area of California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), causing $1.1 million in financial losses, but no injuries or deaths.
November 17 – World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: Joseph Grew, the United States ambassador to Japan, cables to Washington, D.C., a warning that Japan may strike suddenly and unexpectedly at any time.
November 24 – World War II: The United States grants Lend-Lease to the Free French.
November 26
- U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the 4th Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States (this partly reverses a 1939 action by Roosevelt that changed the celebration of Thanksgiving to the third Thursday of November).
- The Hull note ultimatum is delivered to Japan by the United States.
November 27
- A group of young men stop traffic on U.S. Highway 99 south of Yreka, California, handing out fliers proclaiming the establishment of the State of Jefferson.
- World War II – Attack on Pearl Harbor: All U.S. military forces in Asia and the Pacific are placed on war alert.

December

Wonder Woman comic begins publication.
December 1 – Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor of New York City and Director of the Office of Civilian Defense, signs Administrative Order 9, creating the Civil Air Patrol under the authority of the United States Army Air Forces.
December 4 – The State of Jefferson is declared in Yreka, California, with John C. Childs as a governor.
December 6 – World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor – Franklin D. Roosevelt makes a personal peace appeal to Emperor Hirohito of Japan.
December 7 (07:48 Hawaiian Time; 12:48 EST; December 8 03:18 Japan Standard Time) – Attack on Pearl Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service stages a military strike on the United States Navy fleet at Pearl Harbor in the Territory of Hawaii, thus drawing the U.S. into World War II.
December 8
- World War II (12:30 EST): Franklin Roosevelt gives his Infamy Speech to a joint session of Congress. Within an hour the United States declaration of war on Japan is signed.
- The exhibition American Negro Art: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries opens in Edith Halpert's Downtown Gallery in New York City.
December 11 – World War II:
- American forces repel a Japanese landing attempt at Wake Island.
- Germany and Italy declare war on the United States. The U.S. responds in kind.
December 12 – World War II:
- Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States.
- The U.S. seizes the French transatlantic liner SS Normandie.
December 19 – The United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland graduates its "Class of 1942" a semester early so as to induct the graduating students without delay into the U.S. Navy and/or Marine Corps as officers, for immediate stationing in the war.^[9]
December 20 – Admiral Ernest King is appointed Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. fleet.
December 23 – World War II: A second Japanese landing attempt on Wake Island is successful and the American garrison surrenders after a full night and morning of fighting.
December 26 – World War II: Winston Churchill becomes the first British Prime Minister to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress.

Ongoing

World War II, U.S. involvement (1941–1945)

Undated

The Centenary College Choir (America's Singing Ambassadors) is formed by Dr. A. C. Voran at Centenary College of Louisiana.
This calendar year is the wettest on record in Utah with 20.33 inches (516.4 mm),^[10] Colorado with 25.52 inches (648.2 mm)^[11] and New Mexico with 26.57 inches (674.9 mm) against a mean of only 13.74 inches or 349.0 millimetres.^[12]
In contrast to the wetness in the West, it is the driest calendar year in Tennessee with only 36.44 inches (925.6 mm) versus a mean of 50.97 inches or 1,294.6 millimetres^[13] and New Hampshire with 32.65 inches (829.3 mm) against a mean of 42.74 inches or 1,085.6 millimetres.^[14]

Sport

April 12 – The Boston Bruins won their third Stanley Cup, and last until 1970, defeating the Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 0. The deciding Game 4 was played at Detroit's Olympia Arena.

Baseball fans across the nation witnessed not one, but two of the most amazing individual efforts and achievements the game has ever known. The two measures recorded during the 1941 campaign both stand to this day and are regarded by practically all, even the most casual of fans, to be unattainable in the game today. 1941 saw the great Joltin' Joe DiMaggio step up to the plate in 56 consecutive baseball games and hit safely to break a record that had withstood the test of time since 1897 when Wee Willie Keeler totaled 45 consecutive games hitting safely over the course of the 1896 and 97 seasons. The Splendid Splinter, Ted Williams, also treated baseball fans to a feat that has also barely been threatened since by having a season for the ages. During the 1941 Teddy Ballgame managed to record a batting average over .400 by finishing the season with an unparalleled .406 batting average. Although his average for the season is not the single season record for baseball, no player has hit .400 or better since.