For the first time in World War II, a German submarine attacks an American ship.

World War II: Thousands of civilians in Kragujevac in German-occupied Serbia are killed in the Kragujevac massacre.

World War II: French resistance member Guy Môquet and 29 other hostages are executed by the Germans in retaliation for the death of a German officer.

World War II: Field Marshal Georgy Zhukov takes command of Red Army operations to prevent the further advance into Russia of German forces and to prevent the Wehrmacht from capturing Moscow.

World War II: Franklin Delano Roosevelt approves U.S. $1 billion in Lend-Lease aid to the Allied nations.

World War II: Soviet hospital ship Armenia is sunk by German planes while evacuating refugees and wounded military and staff of several Crimea’s hospitals. It is estimated that over 5,000 people died in the sinking.

World War II: Temperatures around Moscow drop to -12 ° C and the Soviet Union launches ski troops for the first time against the freezing German forces near the city.

World War II: The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is torpedoed by U 81, sinking the following day.

World War II: Battle between HMAS ''Sydney'' and HSK ''Kormoran''. The two ships sink each other off the coast of Western Australia, with the loss of 645 Australians and about 77 German seamen.

World War II: The United States grants Lend-Lease to the Free French.

World War II: Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor of New York City and Director of the Office of Civilian Defense, signs Administrative Order 9, creating the Civil Air Patrol.

World War II: In the Battle of Moscow Georgy Zhukov launches a massive Soviet counter-attack against the German army, with the biggest offensive launched against Army Group Centre.

World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Finland in support of the Soviet Union during the Continuation War.

World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor

World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers near Malaya.

World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on Germany and Italy.

World War II: Japan signs treaty of alliance with Thailand.

World War II: Japanese forces occupy Miri, Sarawak

World War II: Adolf Hitler becomes Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the German Army.

World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming, China.

World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong.

World War II: The siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins.

World War II: Japan declares war on the Netherlands and invades the Netherlands East Indies.

World War II: President Franklin Roosevelt creates the National War Labor Board.

World War II: First use of aircraft ejection seat by a German test pilot in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter.

World War II: At the Wannsee Conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, senior Nazi German officials decided on the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question", accelerating The Holocaust.

World War II: The Allies bombard Bangkok, leading Thailand to the decision of war declaration against the United States and United Kingdom .

World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.

World War II: Allied forces are defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreat to the island of Singapore.

World War II: Josef Terboven, Reichskommissar of German-occupied Norway, appoints Vidkun Quisling the Minister President of the National Government.

World War II: Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war.

The Battle of Bukit Timah is fought in Singapore during World War II.

World War II: The Fall of Singapore. Following an assault by Japanese forces, the British General Arthur Percival surrenders. About 80,000 Indian, United Kingdom and Australian soldiers become prisoners of war, the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history. The Sook Ching massacre begins.

World War II: nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack the northern Australian city of Darwin killing 243 people.

Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.

World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as the Japanese victory becomes inevitable.

World War II: During the Battle of the Java Sea, an allied strike force is defeated by a Japanese task force in the Java Sea in the Dutch East Indies

World War II: Ten Japanese warplanes raid the town of Broome, Western Australia killing more than 100 people.

World War II: The Dutch surrender to Japanese forces on Java.

World War II: General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: "I came out of Bataan and I shall return".