At A Glance

20 June 1942 at a glance

Day of the week
20 June 1942 was a Saturday.
Top Film of 1942
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1942 was Bambi.
Star sign
The star sign for 20 June is Gemini.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 20 June 1942 fell in the Year of the Horse.
Birthstone
The birthstone for June is Pearl.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 20 June 1942 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 20 June

  • 1942 The Holocaust: Kazimierz Piechowski and three others, dressed as members of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, steal an SS staff car and escape from the Auschwitz concentration camp.
  • 1944 World War II: The Battle of the Philippine Sea concludes with a decisive U.S. naval victory. The lopsided naval air battle is also known as the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot".
  • 1944 World War II: During the Continuation War, the Soviet Union demands unconditional surrender from Finland during the beginning of partially successful Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive. The Finnish government refuses.
  • 1944 The experimental MW 18014 V-2 rocket reaches an altitude of 176 km, becoming the first man-made object to reach outer space.
  • 1945 The United States Secretary of State approves the transfer of Wernher von Braun and his team of Nazi rocket scientists to the U.S. under Operation Paperclip.

Famous people born on 20 June

  • Nicole Kidman, American-Australian actress (born 1967)
  • John Goodman, American actor (born 1952)
  • Lionel Richie, American singer, songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor (born 1949)
  • Frank Lampard, English footballer (born 1978)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1942 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1942 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 29 January – radio programme Desert Island Discs first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme, presented by Roy Plomley; Austrian-born revue performer Vic Oliver (the Prime Minister's son-in-law) is the first castaway. The programme will still be running 80 years later.
  • 15 February – World War II: General Arthur Percival's forces surrender to the Japanese in the event known as the Fall of Singapore.
  • 10 July – the patriotic Academy Award-winning drama film Mrs. Miniver, starring Greer Garson, is released in London.

Life in 1942

Prime Minister

Winston Churchill

Monarch

George VI

Pint of Beer

3p

Loaf of Bread

2p

Average House

£650

Weekly Wage

£4.10

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1940s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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