War Rationing US
The rationing of meat, cheese, butter and cooking oils goes into effect when Americans are given ration books allowing the purchase of a certain amount of meat, cheese, butter and cooking oils each month. This followed earlier rationing of Gasoline. Each household was limited to 48 points in a ration book. Rationing had been in effect in England for a year before it took place in America.
The 1943 U.S. One Cent coin made with steel
Due to copper shortages because of the war effort ( Copper used for ammunition amongst other things ) The US mints zinc coated steel pennies. It was changed to save copper for the war effort. One Cent coins were made from Bronze which is a broad range of copper alloys, usually with Zinc or tin as the main additive. The current One cent coin since 1982 is 97.5% zinc core with 2.5% copper plating.
Mine Explosion Montana
An explosion at the Montana Coal and Iron Company mine trapped and killed 74 miners.
Colossus Computer
The Colossus Computer is developed Tommy Flowers and a team of scientists as the world’s first large electronic valve programmable logic calculator, to help decipher teleprinter messages which had been encrypted using the Lorenz SZ40/42 machine and break the German communication’s code. Colossus is considered by many to be the world‘s first digital, programmable electronic computer.
Lebanon Gains Independence
Lebanon in the Middle East Gains Independence from France in 1943.
Pay As You Go Tax Introduced in US
New laws are passed which require employers to withhold federal taxes from weekly paychecks. This changed the earlier format where taxes were paid in one lump sum at the end of each year, and has been called "Pay As You Go tax" .
Thailand to Burma Railway Completed ( Death Railway )
The 415-km Thailand Burma railroad ( Death Railway ) between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Burma is completed, during the construction of the railway approximately 13,000 prisoners of war and 100,000 civilians died due to the living and working conditions with most dying due to malnutrition, and diseases like cholera, malaria, and dysentery. Part of the railway was “The Bridge on the River Kwai” which was later made into a movie.
Golden Globe's
The Golden Globe Awards Started
The Scharnhorst Sunk
Nazi battleship, The Scharnhorst, was sunk by the British off the coast of Norway. The battleship was a 28,000 ton vessel that probably intended to strike a convoy near Murmansk.
"The Man Who Never Was" Operation Mincemeat
"The Man Who Never Was" is pushed into the sea off the coast of Spain where the tide would bring the body ashore into German Hands. This was known as operation "Mincemeat".
The operation was a British deception plan to convince the German High Command that allied forces would be invading the Balkans and Sardinia instead of the island of Sicily, by planting invasion plans on a corpse the Germans would find.
The full deception is very complicated but great detail can be found on Wikipedia by searching for "The Man Who Never Was" .
The operation was a complete success which makes it even more interesting reading.
Dam Busters Raid
Lancaster bombers use the revolutionary bomb designed to bounce on the water to bypass dam defences ( immortalised in a 1954 war film Dambusters ) . The bombs were invented for the task by aircraft engineer Dr Barnes Wallis with pilots flying the Wellington bombers just 100ft above the water .
The destruction of the dams two on the rivers Möhne and Sorpe, and a third on the River Eder caused flood waters to sweep through the Ruhr valley, damaging factories, houses and power stations.
Dusseldorf Bombing
500 RAF Bombers bombed Dusseldorf and laid waste to parts of the city that have been left standing, also the RAF were in action in Burma with a raids into western Burma.
Hamburg Bombing and Firestorm
Britain and the United States work together on bombing raids on Hamburg continuing non stop for 7 days and nights with British bombers bombing Hamburg by night, and Americans bombing it by day. The resulting Firestorms from the bombing left at least 40,000 dead in the first 3 days.
Bengal Famine
A major famine happens in Bengal, India caused by lack of rice and poor administration by the British appointed Bengal government, who reacted to the crisis poorly, failing to stop exports of rice from the region when it was needed in the area. It is estimated as many as 3 million people died from starvation and malnutrition.
Oklahoma Debuts On Broadway
The musical "Oklahoma!" debuts on Broadway. This play, written by the famed duo Rodgers and Hammerstein, was originally titled "Away We Go" and continues to be produced by theaters across the country.
2000 Hungarian Citizens Sent To Concentration Camps
In Budapest more than 2,000 citizens in cafes and restaurants were arrested allegedly to “combat a wave of defeatism” a Turkish report said. Those captured were held on trumped up charges of spreading lies about what was happening in Africa and Russia. Some prisoners were released, but most went to concentration camps.
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
On the eve of Passover, April 19, 1943, the police and SS auxiliary forces entered the Ghetto under the command of SS-Oberführer Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg, planning to clean out insurgents who had begun an uprising in January. But Jewish insurgents, who shot and launched Molotov cocktails and hand grenades at them from alleyways forced them to halt the exercise and withdraw. SS-Oberführer Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg was replaced by Brigadeführer Jürgen Stroop who proceeded with a better organized assault that included artillery support and on April 29, 1943, the Jewish resistance was crushed.
Following two years of misery for thousands of Jews forced to live in the Warsaw Ghetto by the Nazi's where they had been starved, and living with disease and deportations to concentration camps and extermination camps which had dropped the population of the ghetto from an estimated 450,000 to approximately 71,000.
The Nazi's planned effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to the Treblinka extermination camp caused the Jewish people to begin a revolt against the Nazi's beginning on January 18, 1943.
42,000 Jews murdered in two days
Nazi's carry out "Operation Harvest Festival" to kill all Jews remaining in the Lublin District of Poland. The operation "Erntefest" began at dawn when German Nazi SS troops rounded up large numbers of Jews and took them out into nearby trenches and shot and murdered them, it is estimated that in two days 42,000 men, women and children were murdered.
Allied Leaders Meet For First Time
The Allied leaders of Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union meet together for the first time in Tehran, the capital of Iran. They agree to work together to win the war in Europe and in Asia and establish an "enduring peace". The leaders Winston Churchill, President Franklin D Roosevelt and Marshal Joseph Stalin had never met together in one place
Allied Armies complete the conquest of Tunisia in North Africa
Allied Armies completed the conquest of Tunisia in North Africa as a base for invasion of Southern Europe capturing some 150,000 prisoners, 1000 guns and 250 tanks. The two generals commanding this part of the war in North Africa General Eisenhower and General Alexander said the conquest of North Africa is now complete.
PT-109 Commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy Sunk By Japanese
The future president Lt. John F. Kennedy of the United States command, the PT-109 is sunk by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri while on patrol near the Solomon Islands. The future president was credited with saving members of his crew.
Operation Husky
Allies begin their invasion of Axis controlled Europe with landings on the island of Sicily "Operation Husky" . Within a short few weeks the allies had taken Italy and
Italy Declares War on Germany
Italy declared war on Germany, its one-time ally, and was granted the status of a co-belligerent by the United Nations .
Guadalcanal
Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal, leaving the island in American possession after a long and bloody battle for control of the Island.
Gypsies To Concentration Camps
Heinrich Himmler orders that all Gypsies and those of mixed Gypsy blood are to be put on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps
Early In The Year Britain Prepares For Possible German Invasion
Plans are in place to combat an invasion by Germany of England later this year as they are thought to favor invading England which would complete the conquest of Western Europe rather than continuing into Russia. ( history tells us that the decision in the end was to march into Russia and many historians wonder if the war would have been very different if they had gone for England )
Pentagon Finished
The Pentagon headquarters of the Department of Defense was completed after just 16 months construction
LSD-25 Effects
Albert Hoffman, a Swiss chemist accidentally consumes LSD-25. After taking the drug, formally known as lysergic acid diethylamide, Dr. Hoffman was disturbed by unusual sensations and hallucinations.
The Jefferson Memorial
President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father and the third president of the United States.
Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor starts her first acting role for MGM when she was 11 years old her first appearance was in Lassie Come Home.
Alcatraz Attempted Escape
Four convicts attempted to escape from the prison at Alcatraz today. Two were drowned in San Francisco Bay after being shot and the other two were recaptured.
1942 Previous Year ---- ( Current Year Is 1943 ) ---- Following Year 1944
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