Person report

★01 Oct 1940
The first section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the United States' first inter-city expressway comparable to the German Autobahn, opened to traffic.

★10 May 1941
World War II: Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess parachuted into Scotland in an attempt to negotiate peace with the British government.

★20 Mar 1942
World War II: After being forced to flee the Philippines, U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur announced in Terowie, South Australia, "I shall return.".

★04 Jun 1942
The Battle of Midway, a major battle in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, began with a massive Imperial Japanese strike on Midway Atoll.

★13 Mar 1943
The Holocaust: Nazi troops began the final liquidation of the Kraków Ghetto in Poland, sending about 2,000 Jews to the Płaszów labor camp, with the remaining 5,000 either killed or sent to Auschwitz.

★04 Jul 1943
The aircraft carrying Władysław Sikorski, Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile, crashed, killing him and fifteen others, leading to several conspiracy theories.

★20 Oct 1944
World War II: Fulfilling a promise he made two years previously, General Douglas MacArthur landed on Leyte to begin the recapture of the entire Philippine Archipelago.

★20 Nov 1947
Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King George VI of the United Kingdom, married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who was given the title Duke of Edinburgh.

★18 Jan 1958
Black Canadian Willie O'Ree of the Boston Bruins played his first game in the National Hockey League, breaking the colour barrier in professional ice hockey.

★18 May 1965
Eli Cohen, a spy who is credited with gathering significant intelligence for Israel in the Six-Day War against Syria, was publicly hanged after having been captured four months earlier.

Historical data by Wikipedia Contributors CC BY-SA 3.0.