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General Groves appoints Leo Szilard to head the Manhattan Project

The US Army is tasked with taking charge of the Uranium Project, or the future Manhattan Project.

American chemist Russell Marker worked to produce the steroid cortisone, but his research would prove crucial to the development of the contraceptive pill. He developed a process to obtain pure synthetic progesterone, the same one produced by the female body. Once the side group was

Vannevar Bush updates President Roosevelt on the state of atomic bomb technology: 1) several kilograms of Pu239 or U235 can create an explosion of several kilotons; 2) there are four possible methods of preparing the fissile material: electromagnetic U235, diffusion U235, centrifugal U235, or chain

Robert Oppenheimer is appointed director of fast neutron research at Berkeley with the title of Coordinator of Fast Rupture

Prague. Operation Anthropoid. Operation Anthropoid for the assassination of SS-Obergruppenführer and Police General Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Main Security Office, RSHA), and Reichsprotektor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The operation was prepared by the British Special Operations Executive with the

Aircraft carrier Lexington sunk

The Biltmore Conference, also known by its resolution as the Biltmore Program, represented a fundamental shift from traditional Zionist policy with its demand “that Palestine be established as a Jewish Commonwealth.” The meeting was held in New York City at the prestigious Biltmore Hotel from

Soviet Union. 110,000 Polish prisoners set out on foot from the Gulag, sometimes marching thousands of kilometers, to reach the assembly point. They then boarded cargo ships in the Caspian Sea, reached Iran, received training from the British, moved first to Palestine and then to

Battle of the Coral Sea

First employees move into newly completed Pentagon

Mauthausen, Austria. On April 30, 1942, the head of the SS Office issued a circular (the “Pohl Circular”) to maximize the exploitation of labor: the German war industry had a growing need for labor. The subcamps arose from the need to shelter the war industries

Berchtesgaden, the “eagle’s nest.” Hitler and Mussolini meet, accompanied by a large entourage of generals. Things take a turn for the better. Never before had German soldiers raised their flag over such a vast territory: from the Urals to the Atlantic, from the North Cape

First bombing (With B-25s from Hornet) on Tokyo

Soviet industrial war production surpassed that of the Nazis. Safely beyond the Urals, the Soviet bear produced 25,000 tanks, 25,000 aircraft, and 30,000 medium- and heavy-caliber artillery pieces in 1942. The USSR, unlike Germany, was also engaged on only one (major) front. The entry of

Bletchey Park. Several transmissions from encrypted Nazi Lorenz SZ 40/42 teleprinters are decrypted (Tunny code).

Great Britain. Project Habakkuk. The British attempt to determine whether an iceberg could serve as an aircraft carrier. Due to the ease with which icebergs capsize, the project nearly dies, but then comes the invention of pykrete, a mixture of water and wood pulp that,

Werner Heisenberg, in a meeting that includes senior Nazi officials, declares: As soon as such a machine [reactor] is in operation, the question of how to obtain explosive material, according to an idea of von Weizsäcker takes a new turn. In the transmutation of the

United States. President Roosevelt signs the infamous Executive Order 9066, which, without mentioning the Japanese, authorizes the internment of individuals deemed dangerous. This act paves the way for the imprisonment of thousands of Japanese. His wife, Eleanor, had spoken out against this act, and afterward,

United States. J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI for only five months, opposes President Roosevelt’s request to intern Japanese residents in the United States. Hoover argues that the request is based on widespread American opinion and political pressure, rather than on specific facts. He

Australia. Japanese bombing of Port Darwin. Only four days after the fall of Singapore, the last British bastion defending Australia. Sixty more bombings of Australia would follow. It became clear to Australians that the only power capable of defending them from the Japanese was the

Singapore surrenders to Japan. During World War II, in one of the worst military defeats in its history, Great Britain was forced to cede the previously impregnable Singapore to Japan. Located off the Malay Peninsula and protected by enormous defensive cannons, Singapore was considered unassailable.

Of the 3.9 million Russians captured by the Nazis, only 1.1 million are still alive.

The Normandie burns in New York. The Normandie, considered by many to be the most elegant ocean liner ever built, catches fire in New York Harbor while preparing to transport Allied troops. Built in France in the early 1930s, the Normandie dominated transoceanic passenger transport.

United States. The Roberts Commission presents its findings on Pearl Harbor to Congress: President Roosevelt is not to blame for the disaster and attributes negligence to Admiral Kimmel, while conceding that he had not been adequately informed by Washington of the imminence of war with

Soviet Union. Os-Kur Mission near Ust-Usa. Retyunin, a free worker, gathers a couple of hundred detained volunteers, disarms the guards, and escapes on horseback into the Siberian forests. They are captured and killed one by one. For several years, people will be convicted for the

Bletchley Park, central England. First effective decryption of a Nazi message. Brute-force decryption would be impossible (at the time, and perhaps even today). Various tricks were therefore used, such as the final sentence of many German communiqués ending with “Heil Hitler!”. Or the morning communiqué

Libya. The second Italian-German counteroffensive in Cyrenaica begins unexpectedly. Cruwell’s 15th Panzer Regiment and Zingales’ Ariete tanks are at the forefront. Caught by surprise, the British quickly retreat. They are inexperienced troops, suffering from a significant inferiority complex compared to the Afrika Corps. In two

On Lake Wansee, Adolf Eichmann and other Nazi leaders decide, in a 90-minute meeting, on the “Final Solution” that is, the Holocaust of the Jews.

The number of democracies worldwide is at an all-time low of just 12, after a peak of 29 in 1922. It will rise again after the war, to 36 in 1962.

Boston fire: Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire. 492 people die.

United States. President Roosevelt reads his State of the Union address. Speaking more slowly than usual and enunciating his words, he speaks of Japan’s modest dreams compared to the gigantic aspirations of Hitler’s Germany and the Nazis, a kind of pagan religion. The militarists of

Roosevelt, despite his well-known reservations about multinational organizations, chose the name for the new League of Nations: the United Nations. He had been mulling it over for several days, and one day, before breakfast, he burst into Churchill’s bathroom and told him. The British prime

Russia. Three million Russian prisoners are in German hands.

Richard Feynman becomes increasingly involved in the Manhattan Project. His wife, Arline, becomes seriously ill.

Richard Feynman meets with Robert R. Wilson, a senior physicist who recently arrived at Princeton. Wilson is involved in what will soon become the Manhattan Project, specifically the separation of the isotope U235. He has received funding and needs help. So he tries to convince

Stuckwlberg and, independently later, John Wheeler and then Richard Feynman, realized that a convenient way to interpret antimatter is to see it as matter traveling backwards in time.

The Manhattan Project moves from Columbia University to Chicago.

During the war, North American produced 42,683 Texan aircraft, Boeing produced 12,729 B17 Flying-Fortress (including 3,000 from Douglas), 3,890 B29 Super-Fortress; the B17s, with their range of only 3,220 km, were used mainly in Europe, the B29s, with a range of 9,012 km and a

Mexico City. Tina Modotti, a beautiful Hollywood actress and lover of Vittorio Vidali, is murdered on January 1, 1942. After a New Year’s Eve party, organized by Pablo Neruda and attended by several communist veterans of the Spanish Civil War, Tina takes a taxi home,

The German army manages to starve between 1.3 and 1.65 million Soviet prisoners of war.

The British colony of Hong Kong surrenders to Japan.

The daring raiders of the Decima MAS (X MAS) deal a devastating blow to the Royal Navy. Six men, escaping from the submarine Sciré, enter the Bay of Alexandria astride their assault craft, known as “pigs.” They avenge the mockery of Matapan by sinking the

Libya. Rommel orders an “offensive retreat” through Cyrenaica. For the second time, Benghazi is evacuated by Axis troops and abandoned to the British.

A contingent of American Marines is surprised in China after the attack on Pearl Harbor and attempts to leave the country, which is occupied by the Japanese; the Marines are in possession of the bones of the Peking Man (Sinanthropus pekinensis) discovered by Canadian Davidson

Moscow. Operation Typhoon. The Germans lost half a million men attempting to capture Moscow. It was the Wehrmacht’s first defeat.

Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, which had been attacked by Japan a few days earlier

Far East. The Japanese sink the only two large British Royal Navy ships available in the entire theater of war: the Prince of Wales and the Repulse. On February 15, Singapore also falls to the Japanese. Australia can no longer be defended by Britain.

United States. The Senate approves President Roosevelt’s request for a declaration of war on Japan, 82 to 0. The House approves the motion 388 to 1 (Montana Republican pacifist Jeannette Rankin).

First successful test of a remote-controlled aircraft for military purposes

4:00 p.m.: Secretary of State Hull receives the Japanese declaration of war

8:40 a.m.: Second and final wave of the Japanese attack: the USS Shaw and USS Sotoyomo are sunk, and the Nevada scuttles itself to avoid blocking access to the port. A total of 12 American ships and 5 Japanese submarines are sunk, resulting in 2,395

8:10 a.m.: The USS Arizona is hit by three 1,800-pound bombs, the Santa Barbara explodes on her bow, sinking within eight minutes, killing 1,177 soldiers; the USS Oklahoma, hit by 12 torpedoes and 12 550-pound bombs, capsizes, trapping more than 400 soldiers in her hull;

7:57 a.m.: The first Japanese planes are mistaken for an American exercise; then Commander Logan Ramsey broadcasts in clear: “AIR RAID, PEARL HARBOR. THIS IS NOT AN EXERCISE!”—the message that jolted the United States from its long slumber.

7:55 a.m.: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor begins.

7:53 a.m.: Mitsuo Fuchida, commander of the air attack on Pearl Harbor, shouts from his plane: “Tora! Tora! Tora!” (Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!): the surprise was complete!

7:15 a.m.: The second wave takes off for Pearl Harbor.

7:03 a.m.: The destroyer Ward sinks an unidentified submarine sighted at 3:57 a.m. (The submarine was later recovered on August 29, 2002.)

7:02 a.m.: The Opana mobile radar station, just before it shuts down, detects at least 50 aircraft. It’s thought to be a malfunction, but Private Joseph Lockard insists on calling the information center, where Lieutenant Kermit Tyler answers. Tyler thinks he’s sighted several B-17s expected

An all-American dispute between the SigInt (Signal Intelligence) services of the US Army and the US Navy had led, as early as September 1940, to the (paradoxical and inefficient) division of roles as follows: on even-numbered days, the SIS (Signal Intelligence Service of the Army)

On Winston Churchill’s orders, and after the USSR entered the war as an ally, the Bletchley Park units that decrypted Soviet codes were closed. However, Poles working for the British were still asked to continue intercepting Soviet traffic and attempting to decrypt it. Bletchley Park

The aircraft carrier Lexington and the heavy cruisers Chicago, Portland, Astoria, and their escorting destroyers were sailing from Pearl Harbor for Midway, the Indianapolis and Minneapolis had sailed a few hours earlier, the Saratoga was on the west coast, the Enterprise at Wake.

Zhukov orders the counteroffensive that for the first time pushes the Wehrmacht back, at the gates of Moscow

Moscow. Stalin meets with Polish General Sikorski, head of the Polish government-in-exile. Sikorski convinces Stalin to free all Polish prisoners in the Gulags to contribute to the Allied war effort. They will form the Second Polish Army Corps. After thousands of kilometers of marching on

Libya. Battle of Bir and Gobi. The British attacked seven times, supported by RAF bombers, and were repelled seven times. Tanks twice penetrated the Axis defenses but were then neutralized. The British suffered over 300 deaths and hundreds of prisoners, while the Italians suffered around

Libya. Three motorized battalions of Indian Gurkhas and Scottish Camerons and an artillery unit with a squadron of Valentine tanks are the spearhead of the British advance, forming the southern branch of the pincer movement to close around Tobruk (where the Australians are still holding

The Wehrmacht is at the gates of Moscow

Some Wehrmacht tanks arrive 23 kilometers from the center of Moscow: they scan the outskirts through binoculars. A patrol arrives at the terminus of a tram leading to Red Square.

Civil War in Greece – Nearly 1 million Greeks emigrate to the USA, Canada, Australia

At the war council meeting, Roosevelt observed that “we will probably be attacked next Monday” because the Japanese were known to attack without warning. The question was where they had attacked (the Philippines and Singapore were being considered); it was hoped that the Japanese would

The aircraft carrier Ark Royal (from which the planes that sank the Bismarck took off) and the battleship Barhaim were sunk by torpedoes from Nazi U-boats.

The aircraft carrier Akagi (2,000 men, 26,900 tons) sails from Sasebo (north of Nagasaki) and off Kagoshima (south of Nagasaki) gathers her aircraft for the mission to Pearl Harbor.

Bletchley Park, England. Turing, Welchman, Alexander, and Milner-Barry sign a letter to Winston Churchill requesting greater resources to build and test the “bombes,” the electromechanical machines used to crack the Nazi Enigma code. Churchill promptly responds to General Ismay, requesting the matter be given the

Yamamoto reports to Emperor Hiroito his bold plan for a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

Japan. Japanese counterintelligence services arrest Russian spy Richard Sorge. Sorge had managed to warn Stalin in advance (to Stalin’s disbelief) of the German invasion of the USSR and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, rather than Siberia as feared. Sorge was hanged on November 7.

The Japanese army, while not interrupting negotiations, decides that there is no hope: war is inevitable.

Roosevelt faces microphones after the German underwater attack on the American destroyer Greer off Iceland.

The Forschungsantalt unit, led by the young engineer Kurt E. Vetterlein, successfully and continuously decrypts all transatlantic conversations between Churchill and Roosevelt, as well as those with Canada. This all happens from the basement of an unsuspecting cottage on the Dutch moors in Noordwijk.

Lawrence tries to bring Oppenheimer into the bomb project, but fears the military will not like him because of his activities with the Communist Party.

Yugoslavia. Construction of the Jasenovac concentration camp. It will be run by the Croatian Ustasha, collaborators of the Axis powers. Approximately 100,000 people will perish there, including 45,000-52,000 Serbs, 15,000-20,000 Gypsies (this figure, however, is the most controversial and difficult to verify), between 12,000 and