January 12
January 12
Soviet forces penetrate the siege of Leningrad
On January 12, 1943, Soviet troops create a breach in the German siege of Leningrad, which had lasted for a year and a half. The Soviet forces punched a hole…
A Year In History: 1943
Also Within This Year in History:
1943
As World War II raged on, Allied troops made their first landing in Europe on the island of Sicily. Russian forces turned back German invaders in the Battle of Stalingrad. In the Pacific, Japanese troops evacuated Guadalcanal after bloody battles with U.S. troops. In the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Polish resistance fighters tried and failed to stop the deportation of Jews to Nazi death camps. Back on the American homefront, crooner Bing Crosby scored a huge hit with the song “White Christmas.”
January 14
January 14
FDR becomes first president to travel by airplane on U.S. official business
On January 14, 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the first president to travel on official business by airplane. Crossing the Atlantic by air, Roosevelt flew in a Boeing 314 Flying…
January 24
January 24
General Paulus to Hitler: Let us surrender!
German Gen. Friedrich Paulus, commander in chief of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad, urgently requests permission from Adolf Hitler to surrender his position there, but Hitler refuses. The Battle…
January 27
January 27
Americans bomb Germans for first time
8th Air Force bombers, dispatched from their bases in England, fly the first American bombing raid against the Germans, targeting the Wilhelmshaven port. Of 64 planes participating in the raid,…
January 27
January 27
Future President Ronald Reagan serves in film unit
On January 27, 1943, future President Ronald Reagan, an Army Air Corps first lieutenant during World War II, is on an active‑duty assignment with the Army’s First Motion Picture Unit.…
February 2
February 2
Battle of Stalingrad ends
The last German troops in the Soviet city of Stalingrad surrender to the Red Army, ending one of the pivotal battles of World War II. On June 22, 1941, despite…
February 6
February 6
Mussolini fires his son‑in‑law
Wary of his growing antiwar attitude, Benito Mussolini removes Count Galeazzo Ciano, his son‑in‑law, as head of Italy’s foreign ministry and takes over the duty himself. The removal is part…
February 8
February 8
Americans secure Guadalcanal
On February 8, 1943, Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal, leaving the island in Allied possession after a prolonged campaign. The American victory paved the way for other Allied wins in the…
February 14
February 14
Battle of the Kasserine Pass begins
On this day, German General Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps launch an offensive against an Allied defensive line in Tunisia, North Africa. The Kasserine Pass was the site of…
February 18
February 18
Nazis arrest White Rose resistance leaders
Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie, the leaders of the German youth group Weisse Rose (White Rose), are arrested by the Gestapo for opposing the Nazi regime. The White Rose…
March 2
March 2
The Battle of the Bismarck Sea begins
On March 2, 1943, the Battle of the Bismarck Sea begins when U.S. and Australian land‑based planes launch an offensive against a convoy of Japanese ships in the western Pacific.…
March 21
March 21
Another plot to kill Hitler foiled
On March 21, 1943, the second military conspiracy plan to assassinate Hitler in a week fails. Back in the summer of 1941, Maj. Gen. Henning von Tresckow, a member of…
March 31
March 31
“Oklahoma!” premieres on Broadway
Oklahoma! opens on Broadway on March 31, 1943. In spite of a less‑than‑promising lead‑up, it would go on to set a Broadway record of 2,212 performances before finally closing five…
April 16
April 16
Hallucinogenic effects of LSD discovered
In Basel, Switzerland, Albert Hofmann, a Swiss chemist working at the Sandoz pharmaceutical research laboratory, accidentally consumes LSD‑25, a synthetic drug he had created in 1938 as part of his…
April 16
April 16
This Day in History Video: What Happened on April 16
LSD the hallucinogenic is discovered, Lenin returns to Russia during the Russian Revolution, Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones release their first album, and Wayne Gretzky retires from hockey in…
April 19
April 19
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins
In Warsaw, Poland, Nazi forces attempting to clear out the city’s Jewish ghetto are met by gunfire from Jewish resistance fighters, and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins. Shortly after the…
May 16
May 16
Warsaw Ghetto uprising ends
In Poland, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising comes to an end as Nazi soldiers gain control of Warsaw’s Jewish ghetto, blowing up the last remaining synagogue and beginning the mass deportation…
May 17
May 17
The Memphis Belle flies its 25th bombing mission
On May 17, 1943, the crew of the Memphis Belle, one of a group of American bombers based in Britain, becomes one of the first B‑17 crews to complete 25…
May 19
May 19
FDR and Winston Churchill plot D‑Day
On May 19, 1943, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt plot the cross‑Channel landing that would become D‑Day—May 1, 1944. That date will prove a bit…
May 27
May 27
U.S. Olympian Louis Zamperini’s plane goes down in the Pacific
On May 27, 1943, a B‑24 carrying U.S. airman and former Olympic runner Louis Zamperini crashes into the Pacific Ocean. After surviving the crash, Zamperini floated on a raft in…