Date in year · 1942 · The 1940s

August 25, 1942

On August 25, 1942, world War II: Second day of the Battle of the Eastern Solomons; a Japanese naval transport convoy headed towards Guadalcanal is turned back by an Allied air attack. Michael Beloff, Robert Christgau, Jochen Rindt would arrive in the same year.

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1942

1940s

Around 1942

The year in brief

1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1942nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 942nd year of the 2nd millennium, the 42nd year of the 20th century, and the 3rd year of the 1940s decade.

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What happened

On August 25, 1942

  1. 1942 World War II: Second day of the Battle of the Eastern Solomons; a Japanese naval transport convoy headed towards Guadalcanal is turned back by an Allied air attack.

    World War II carrier battle in the Pacific Theater

    The naval Battle of the Eastern Solomons took place on 24–25 August 1942 and was the third carrier battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II and the second major engagement fought between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the Guadalcanal campaign. As at the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway, the ships of the two adversaries were never within sight of each other. Instead, all attacks were carried out by carrier-based or land-based aircraft.

  2. 1942 World War II: Battle of Milne Bay: Japanese marines assault Allied airfields at Milne Bay, New Guinea, initiating the Battle of Milne Bay.

    Battle of World War II

    The Battle of Milne Bay, also known as Operation RE or the Battle of Rabi (ラビの戦い) by the Japanese, was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Japanese naval infantry, known as Kaigun Tokubetsu Rikusentai, with two small tanks attacked the Allied airfields at Milne Bay that had been established on the eastern tip of New Guinea. Due to poor intelligence work, the Japanese miscalculated the size of the predominantly Australian garrison and, believing that the airfields were defended by only two or three companies, initially landed a force roughly equivalent in size to one battalion on 25 August 1942.

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 1942

The class of 1942

Others born in 1942

Michael Beloff 1942– English lawyer and academic
Robert Christgau 1942– American journalist and critic
Jochen Rindt 1942– German-Austrian racing driver (died 1970)
Javier Solana 1942– Spanish physicist and politician, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs
John Ashcroft 1942– American lawyer and politician, 79th United States Attorney General
David Gergen 1942– American political consultant (died 2025)

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