At A Glance

31 January 1942 at a glance

Day of the week
31 January 1942 was a Saturday.
Top Film of 1942
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1942 was Bambi.
Star sign
The star sign for 31 January is Aquarius.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 31 January 1942 fell in the Year of the Snake.
Birthstone
The birthstone for January is Garnet.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 31 January 1942 was Waxing Gibbous.

On this day: 31 January

  • 1942 World War II: Allied forces are defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreat to Singapore.
  • 1943 World War II: German field marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to the Soviets at Stalingrad, followed two days later by the remainder of his Sixth Army, ending one of the war's fiercest battles.
  • 1944 World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
  • 1944 World War II: During the Anzio campaign, the 1st Ranger Battalion (Darby's Rangers) is destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Battle of Cisterna, Italy.
  • 1945 World War II: The end of fighting in the Battle of Hill 170 during the Burma Campaign, in which the British 3 Commando Brigade repulsed a Japanese counterattack on their positions and precipitated a general retirement from the Arakan Peninsula.

Famous people born on 31 January

  • Julián Alvarez, Argentine footballer (born 2000)
  • Justin Timberlake, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor (born 1981)
  • Minnie Driver, English singer-songwriter and actress (born 1970)
  • Jackie Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster (1919–1972)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

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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