WHAT ALL HAPPENED MAY TO DECEMBER 1942
Find out what all happened May to December 1942

World War II: Swiss Police Instruction of September 25, 1942 – this instruction denied entry into Switzerland to Jewish refugees. (25. September 1942)

World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end with Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attacking and sinking the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington. The battle marks the first time in the naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships. (8. May 1942)

Mexico enters World War II on the side of the Allies. (22. May 1942)

The Holocaust: the Treblinka extermination camp is opened. (23. July 1942)

World War II: Nazis burn the Czech village of Lidice in reprisal for the killing of Reinhard Heydrich. (10. June 1942)

Mutesa II is crowned the 35th and last Kabaka (king) of Buganda. (19. November 1942)

World War II: The Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins U.S. Marines attack Japanese units along the Matanikau River. (23. September 1942)

World War II: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal between Japanese and American forces begins near Guadalcanal. The battle lasts for three days and ends with an American victory. (12. November 1942)

The Holocaust: 1,500 Jews are sent to gas chambers in Auschwitz. (12. May 1942)

World War II: Japanese air forces bomb Calcutta, India. (20. December 1942)

USS Grouper torpedoes Lisbon Maru not knowing she is carrying British PoWs from Hong Kong (1. October 1942)

World War II: The U.S. tanker Virginia was torpedoed in the mouth of the Mississippi River by the German U-Boat U-507. (12. May 1942)

World War II: in the United States, a bill creating the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) is signed into law. (15. May 1942)

Spaceflight: The first successful launch of a V-2 /A4-rocket from Test Stand VII at Peenemünde, Germany. It is the first man-made object to reach space. (3. October 1942)

The B-29 Superfortress makes its maiden flight. (21. September 1942)

The Soviet Union establishes diplomatic relations with Australia. (10. October 1942)

Holocaust in Letychiv, Ukraine. In the course of two days the German SS murders at least 3,000 Jews. (20. September 1942)

World War II: Second Battle of Kharkov: in eastern Ukraine, Red Army forces under Marshal Semyon Timoshenko launch a major offensive from the Izium bridgehead, only to be encircled and destroyed by the troops of Army Group South two weeks later. (12. May 1942)

World War II: Brazil declares war on Germany and Italy. (22. August 1942)

World War II: Matanikau Offensive begins during the Guadalcanal Campaign and ends three days later with an American victory. (1. November 1942)