1941

Events from the year 1941 in the United States. United States joins 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-NY)
* Vice President: John Nance Garner (D-TX) (until January 20), Henry A. Wallace (D-IA) (starting January 20)
* Chief Justice: Charles Evans Hughes (NY) (until June 30), Harlan F. Stone (NY) (starting July 3)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Sam Rayburn (D-TX)
* Senate Majority Leader: Alben W. Barkley (D-KY)
* Congress: 76th (until January 3), 77th (starting January 3)
==Events==
===January===
* 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 Vice President of the United States.
* 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 31 – 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 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 2 – Captain America Comics #1 issues the first Captain America & Bucky comic.
* 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
** 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 2 – Woody Guthrie records the Columbia River Ballads.
* 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.
* 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." 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 26
** World War II: In response to the Japanese occupation of French Indochina, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the seizure of all Japanese assets in the United States.
** 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 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.
===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.
* September 30 – First production P38E Lightning fighter produced by Lockheed.
===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 Ms  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===
* 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 2 – Wonder Woman comic begins publication.
* 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 United States joins 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.
** World War II: Philippines campaign begins.
* December 11
** World War II: American forces repel a Japanese landing attempt at Wake Island.
** World War II: 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.
** World War II: The U.S. seizes the French transatlantic liner SS Normandie.
* December 14 – World War II: Burma campaign begins.
* 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.
* 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.
==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.
==Memoriam==
* January 8 – Jennie Tuttle Hobart as wife of Garret Hobart, Second Lady of the United States (aged 91; Haledon, NJ, USA)
* January 12 – Mary Onahan Gallery, writer and editor (aged 74; Milwaukee, WI, USA)
* January 20 – Joe Penner, Hungarian-American actor (aged 36; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* January 20 – John Bissinger, Olympic gymnast (aged 62; Lansing, MI, USA)
* February 1 – William Gibbs McAdoo, U.S. Senator from California from 1933 to 1938 (aged 77; Washington, DC, USA)
* February 2 – Harris Laning, admiral (aged 67; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* February 9 – Aaron S. Watkins, Presidential candidate (Prohibition Party) (aged 77; Rushsylvania, OH, USA)
* February 20 – Charles Rockwell Lanman, Sanskrit scholar (aged 90; Cambridge, MA, USA)
* February 27 – William D. Byron, Congressman (aged 45; Jonesboro, GA, USA)
* March 6 – Gutzon Borglum, artist, sculptor, creator of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial (aged 73; Chicago, IL, USA)
* March 8 – Sherwood Anderson, fiction writer (aged 64; Colón, Panama)
* March 13 – Elizabeth Madox Roberts, novelist and poet (aged 59; Orlando, FL, USA)
* April 13 – Annie Jump Cannon, astronomer (aged 77; Cambridge, MA, USA)
* April 23 – Charles Edward Russell, journalist, opinion columnist, newspaper editor, and political activist (aged 80; Washington, DC, USA)
* June 2 – Lou Gehrig, baseball player (New York Yankees) (aged 37; New York City, NY, USA)
* June 11 – Daniel Carter Beard, scouting pioneer (aged 90; Suffern, NY, USA)
* June 12 – Bird Sim Coler, stockbroker and politician (aged 73; Brooklyn, NY, USA)
* June 21 – Elliott Dexter, actor (aged 71; Amityville, NY, USA)
* June 22 – Pat Harrison, politician (aged 59; Washington, DC, USA)
* June 26 – Andrew Jackson Houston, politician (aged 87; Baltimore, MD, USA)
* June 28 – Richard Carle, actor (aged 69; North Hollywood, CA, USA)
* July 10 – Jelly Roll Morton, African American jazz pianist (aged 50; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* July 12 – Carl Jules Weyl, art director and Reichswehr soldier (aged 57; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* July 20 – Lew Fields, vaudeville performer (aged 74; Beverly Hills, CA, USA)
* July 25 – Allan Forrest, actor (aged 55; Detroit, MI, USA)
* July 26 – Benjamin Lee Whorf, linguist (aged 44; Hartford, CT, USA)
* July 30 – Mickey Welch, baseball player, MLB Hall of Famer (aged 82; Concord, NH, USA)
* September 13 – Elias Disney, farmer, father of Walt Disney (aged 82; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* October 5 – Louis Brandeis, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (aged 84; Washington, DC, USA)
* October 8 – Gus Kahn, lyricist (aged 54; Beverly Hills, CA, USA)
* October 11 – Ira Landrith, Presbyterian minister and temperance activist (aged 76; Altadena, CA, USA)
* October 23 – Anton Marius Andersen, Lutheran minister (aged 94; Blair, NE, USA)
* November 6 – William Sulzer, lawyer and politician (aged 78; New York City, NY, USA)
* November 10 – Grace Ingalls, youngest sister of author Laura Ingalls Wilder (aged 64; Manchester, SD, USA)
* November 12 – Abe Reles, mobster (aged 35; Brooklyn, NY, USA)
* December 1 – Alva B. Adams, politician (aged 66; Washington, DC, USA)
* December 7
** Mervyn S. Bennion, captain (aged 54; Pearl Harbor, HI Territory, USA)
** Herbert C. Jones, officer (aged 23; Pearl Harbor, HI Territory, USA)
** Isaac C. Kidd, admiral (aged 57; Pearl Harbor, HI Territory, USA)
** Thomas James Reeves, radioman (aged 45; Pearl Harbor, HI Territory, USA)
** Franklin Van Valkenburgh, captain (aged Pearl Harbor, HI Territory, USA)
* December 25 – Blanche Bates, stage actress (aged 68; San Francisco, CA, USA)
==External links==
* 1941 in the United States
Category:United States History: Volume 17