Remembering 1941

Major Events
. First units of Rommel's German Afrika Corps arrive in North Africa    
Germany defeats Greece, Yugoslavia    
Germans invade Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa)  
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor bringing the USA into World War II   
Japanese forces land in Philippines    
Joe DiMaggio hits in 56 consecutive games		 .



President Franklin D. Roosevelt condemned December 7, 1941 as a day of infamy after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. 

President Roosevelt is shown here in his ADDRESS TO CONGRESS asking for a Declaration of a State of War between the United States and Japan, December 8, 1941 .  

Picture from Pearl Harbor Attacked website.



People

General Douglas MacArthur was appointed on July 26, 1941 to command U.S. forces in the Far East. 
Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald died of a heart attack, leaving an unfinished novel, The Tycoon (1941).    
American author Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) died after a toothpick he accidentally swallowed punctured his intestine, causing peritonitis. 
Josef Jacobs , convicted of being a German spy, was the last person to   
be executed at the Tower of London on August 15, 1941.  
Ted Williams of the Red Sox was one of baseball's greatest hitters with a .406 season in 1941. 



Movies

Secrecy about who the Oscar winners would be didn’t start until 1941. Before then, newspapers were given an advance list of winners to be published at 11p.m. However, in 1940, the Los Angeles Times published the winners in their 8:45 p.m. edition, before the ceremony even started. The very next year sealed, secret envelopes were used for the first time and have been in use ever since.   

Best Picture: How Green Was My Valley (1941) - Darryl F. Zanuck   
Other Nominees: Blossoms In the Dust (1941) - Irving Asher   
                                Citizen Kane (1941) - Orson Welles    
                                Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) - Everett Riskin   
                                Hold Back the Dawn (1941) - Arthur Hornblow Jr.   
                                Little Foxes, The (1941) - Samuel Goldwyn    
                                Maltese Falcon, The (1941) - Hal B. Wallis   
                                One Foot in Heaven (1941) - Hal B. Wallis    
                                Sergeant York (1941) - Jesse L. Lasky; Hal B. Wallis   
                                Suspicion (1941) - Alfred Hitchcock    

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Sergeant York (1941) - Gary Cooper    
Other Nominees: Citizen Kane (1941) - Orson Welles    
                                Devil and Daniel Webster, The (1941) - Walter Huston   
                                Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) - Robert Montgomery   
                                Penny Serenade (1941) - Cary Grant    

Best Actress in a Leading Role: Suspicion (1941) - Joan Fontaine   
Other Nominees: Ball of Fire (1941) - Barbara Stanwyck    
                                Blossoms In the Dust (1941) - Greer Garson    
                                Hold Back the Dawn (1941) - Olivia de Havilland   
                                Little Foxes, The (1941) - Bette Davis   
 



#1 Songs of 1941 

   1. Amapola - Jimmy Dorsey  
   2. Beat Me Daddy (Eight To the Bar) - Will Bradley  
   3. Blue Champagne - Jimmy Dorsey  
   4. Chattanooga Choo Choo - Glenn Miller  
   5. Daddy - Sammy Kaye  
   6. Dream Valley - Sammy Kaye  
   7. Elmer's Tune - Glenn Miller  
   8. Green Eyes - Jimmy Dorsey  
   9. High On A Windy Hill - Jimmy Dorsey  
 10. I Don't Want To Set the World On Fire - Horace Heidt  
 11. I Hear A Rhapsody - Jimmy Dorsey  
 12. In The Mood - Glenn Miller  
 13. Intermezzo - Guy Lombardo  
 14. Maria Elena - Jimmy Dorsey  
 15. My Sister and I - Jimmy Dorsey  
 16. 'Till Reveille - Kay Kyser  
 17. Tonight We Love (Piano Concerto In B Flat) - Freddy Martin  
 18. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow & Me) - Ink Spots  
 19. You and I - Glenn Miller  



New Words Coined

antibiotic n: substance that kills bacteria without injuring other forms of life  
gremlin n: an imaginary imp jokingly said to be responsible for mechanical problems during the war   
teenager n: person from 13 to 19 years of age



Pentagon Built

Built in only 16 months between 1941 and 1942, the Pentagon is only 71ft tall and yet it has 5 floors, 17.5 miles of corridors, 131 stairways, 284 restrooms, 691 drinking fountains, and 7,754 windows. Workers replace more than 250 lightbulbs each day. 
Picure from Defense Link website.

 

 
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Last Update - February 9, 2000