Timeline October 1941

Events in October 1941 12

• 1856 – 1941 Louis Brandeis (1856-1941) Died 5 October 1941, aged 84 Louis Brandeis was the first Jewish justice of the US Supreme Court and served from 1916 to 1939. He was a leading champion of the right to privacy and of free speech.
• 1885 – 1941 Robert Delaunay (1885-1941) Died 25 October 1941, aged 56 Robert Delaunay was a French painter who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay, founded Orphism, a colourful style of abstraction. He died in Montpellier.
• 1941 Operation Typhoon The German offensive against Moscow Army Group Centre launched its drive on Moscow and won huge encirclement battles at Vyazma and Bryansk. The advance stalled in winter weather just short of the capital, and on 5 December the Red Army counterattacked and drove the Germans back.
• 1941 The Maltese Falcon released John Huston's debut defines film noir Warner Bros. released John Huston's adaptation of the Dashiell Hammett novel, starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade. It is often cited as the first major film noir.
• 1941 Head Injuries in Motor-cyclists Oxford, United Kingdom Cairns published in the British Medical Journal on the deaths of despatch riders, showing that most had died of head injuries that a hard helmet would have prevented. He had been collecting the cases since 1935, when Lawrence died under his care.
• 1941 Head Injuries in Motor-cyclists Oxford, United Kingdom Cairns published in the British Medical Journal on despatch riders killed in the first 21 months of the war — 2,279 of them, most by head injuries that a hard helmet would have prevented. He had been collecting cases since Lawrence died under his care in 1935.
• 1941 – 2026 Jesse Jackson (1941-2026) Died 17 February 2026, aged 84 American activist and politician, one of the defining leaders of the twentieth-century civil rights movement and a two-time candidate for the presidency.
• 1941 Hideki Tojo becomes Prime Minister of Japan Army general takes power as war approaches General Hideki Tojo replaced Fumimaro Konoe as Prime Minister of Japan. His government approved the decision to go to war with the United States, Britain and the Netherlands.
• 1941 Odessa massacre Romanian forces kill tens of thousands of Jews After a bomb destroyed the Romanian headquarters in occupied Odessa, Romanian and German troops carried out mass reprisals against the city's Jews. Between 25,000 and 34,000 people were shot or burned to death.
• 1941 Dumbo released Disney's fourth animated feature Walt Disney Productions released Dumbo, the story of a circus elephant who learns to fly with his oversized ears. It was made cheaply to recover losses on Fantasia and was a commercial success.
• 1941 Hank Marvin born Newcastle upon Tyne Brian Robson Rankin — later known as Hank Marvin — was born on 28 October 1941 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He would become the band's iconic lead guitarist, instantly recognisable by his Fender Stratocaster and horn-rimmed glasses.
• 1941 Sinking of USS Reuben James The first US warship sunk in the Second World War A German U-boat torpedoed the destroyer USS Reuben James while it escorted a convoy west of Iceland. About 100 crew died, and Woody Guthrie wrote a song about the sinking.