Dashed left edge = started before June 1942 ·
Dashed right edge = ongoing beyond June 1942
Events in June 1942 14
1904 – 1942Reinhard Heydrich (1904-1942)Died 4 June 1942, aged 38Reinhard Heydrich was a senior SS officer, head of the Reich Security Main Office and Acting Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. He was one of the main architects of the Holocaust and chaired the Wannsee Conference. He died of wounds from an attack by Czechoslovak parachutists in Prague.
1939 – 1942Chick Webb dies -- Fitzgerald leads the bandChick Webb dies of tuberculosis of the spine on 16 June 1939, aged 30. At 22, Fitzgerald takes over the leadership of his orchestra -- an almost unprecedented responsibility for a young female singer. She leads Chick Webb and His Orchestra (renamed Ella Fitzgerald and Her Famous Orchestra) for three years, recording and touring. The experience gives her musical authority and organizational confidence that shapes her entire subsequent career. She dissolves the band in 1942 and begins her solo career.
1942Assassination of Reinhard HeydrichCzechoslovak parachutists attack the Reich ProtectorJozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, trained in Britain for Operation Anthropoid, ambushed Heydrich's car in Prague on 27 May. Heydrich died of his wounds on 4 June. He was the most senior Nazi official assassinated during the war.
1942 – 1943The White RoseResistance MovementA non-violent student resistance group led by Hans and Sophie Scholl against the Nazi regime.
1942 – 1999Curtis Mayfield (1942-1999)Died 26 December 1999, aged 57Curtis Mayfield was an American soul and funk musician known for his work with The Impressions and his solo album Super Fly. He continued recording after being paralyzed in a 1990 stage accident. He died of complications from diabetes in Roswell, Georgia.
1942Curtis Mayfield born in ChicagoCabrini-GreenGrows up poor on Chicago's North Side.
1942Battle of MidwayTurning point in the Pacific WarThe Battle of Midway, fought June 4-7, 1942, was a decisive US victory in which four Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk. It ended Japanese naval supremacy in the Pacific and is considered the turning point of the Pacific War.
1942Battle of MidwayUS Navy sinks four Japanese carriersAmerican codebreakers found out about Japan's plan to take Midway Atoll, and US carriers ambushed the Japanese fleet. Dive bombers sank the carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu, while the US lost the Yorktown. The battle turned the Pacific War in the Allies' favour.
1942Lidice massacreNazis destroy a Czech village in reprisalGerman forces falsely linked the village of Lidice to Heydrich's assassins and destroyed it in retaliation. All 173 men over 15 were shot, and the women and most of the children were deported to camps, where many were killed. The village was then burned and levelled.
1942 – presentPaul McCartneySinger, songwriter, bassistEnglish musician and co-writer with John Lennon of most Beatles songs. Later led Wings and became one of the most successful songwriters in history.
1942Paul McCartney born in LiverpoolJames Paul McCartneyBorn at Walton Hospital, the son of a jazz-band cotton salesman.
1942 – 2013Roger Ebert (1942-2013)Died 4 April 2013, aged 70Roger Ebert was an American film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times and co-host of the television program At the Movies, the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for criticism. He died after a long battle with cancer that had cost him the ability to speak.
1942 – 2011Muammar Gaddafi (1942-2011)Died 20 October 2011, aged 69Gaddafi, the longtime ruler of Libya, was captured and killed by rebel fighters near his hometown of Sirte during the Libyan Civil War. His death marked the effective end of his four-decade rule and the collapse of his government. Video of his capture and death spread rapidly worldwide.
1942 – 1993Chris Hani (1942-1993)Died 10 April 1993, aged 50Chris Hani was general secretary of the South African Communist Party and a senior leader of the African National Congress's armed wing. He was assassinated outside his home near Johannesburg by a right-wing extremist opposed to the end of apartheid. His killing nearly derailed South Africa's negotiated transition and prompted Nelson Mandela to appeal for calm on national television.