istoryworld
All Events
French author Albert Camus creates an early anti-hero in his novel The Outsider (L'Étranger)
Mahatma Gandhi and nearly all the leaders of India's Congress party are arrested and will remain in prison until the end of the war
French author Marguerite Duras makes her name with her partly autobiographical novel The Sea Wall
French music student Pierre Boulez joins a harmony class taught by Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire
Italian director Luchino Visconti's first film, Obsession, brings neorealism to the cinema
US poet Ezra Pound, in Italy during the war, broadcasts Fascist propaganda aimed at the United States
US poet Randall Jarrell publishes his first collection, Blood for a Stranger
Michael Curtiz directs Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca
James Cagney stars in the screen musical Yankee Doodle Dandy, directed by Michael Curtiz
Early tests of the Dambusters' bouncing bomb are carried out at the National Physical Laboratory's ship tank
Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy star in the first of many films together, Woman of the Year
A rich hoard of Roman silver is unearthed near Mildenhall, in Suffolk
English children's author Enid Blyton introduces the Famous Five in Five on a Treasure Island
Thornton Wilder's play The Skin of our Teeth has a mixed reception at its New Haven premiere
US crooner Bing Crosby sings Irving Berlin's White Christmas
Aung San's Burma Independence Army enters Burma as part of the Japanese invasion
Before the end of the month the Japanese control the whole of Malaya
Reinhard Heydrich convenes a meeting at Wannsee to discuss the practical details of the 'final solution'
Arthur Harris is put in charge of British Bomber Command, and is later much criticized for his ruthless approach
Joseph Stilwell is appointed to head the US military mission to Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek)
An Indian National Army is formed among Indian soldiers captured by the Japanese, with the purpose of evicting the British from India
Hitler's chief architect, Albert Speer, is put in charge of Germany's armaments programme
Vidkun Quisling, founder of the Norwegian Fascist party, is appointed president of German-occupied Norway
Singapore falls to the continuing Japanese onslaught in southeast Asia
Japanese aircraft attack Australia, bombing Darwin's harbour and air force base
