Date in year · 1942 · The 1940s

May 27, 1942

On May 27, 1942, world War II: In Operation Anthropoid, Reinhard Heydrich is fatally wounded in Prague; he dies of his injuries eight days later. 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 May 27, 1942

  1. 1942 World War II: In Operation Anthropoid, Reinhard Heydrich is fatally wounded in Prague; he dies of his injuries eight days later.

    1942 assassination in Prague

    Reinhard Heydrich, the commander of the German Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), the acting Reichsprotektor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a principal architect of the Holocaust, was attacked during the Second World War in a coordinated operation by the Czechoslovak resistance. The assassination attempt, code-named Operation Anthropoid, was carried out by resistance operatives Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš on 27 May 1942. Heydrich was wounded in the attack and he died 8 days later of his injuries.

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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