Born in 1942
People born in 1942 turn 84 in 2026. A dollar in 1942 buys what $20.63 buys in September 2026, and about 2.33 billion people were alive. Every figure below links to the source it came from.
Your birthday in 1942
1942
What things cost in 1942
| U.S. average | 1942 | in today’s dollars | latest |
|---|---|---|---|
| One dollar | $1.00 | $20.63 | CPI-U |
1942 figures are annual averages of the published monthly (or quarterly) values. “Today’s dollars” uses the Consumer Price Index for September 2026; “latest” is the most recent published price. Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, via FRED. Average retail prices are only published from 1976 on; 1942 has the CPI alone.
Who was in charge in 1942
- United States
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (President)
- United Kingdom
- George VI (King); Winston Churchill (Prime minister)
- Soviet Union
- Joseph Stalin (General Secretary); Mikhail Kalinin (Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet); Joseph Stalin (Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars)
- Republic of China (1916–1949)
- Chiang Kai-shek (Premier)
- Vichy France
- Philippe Pétain (Chief of state); François Darlan, then Pierre Laval (Prime minister)
- Nazi Germany
- Adolf Hitler (Führer); Adolf Hitler (Chancellor)
- Empire of Japan
- Hirohito (Emperor); Hideki Tojo (Prime minister)
From Wikipedia’s List of state leaders in the 20th century (1901–1950) (revision 1377869146), each name checked against Wikidata. Every country in 1942 →
Famous people born in 1942
- November 20 – Joe Biden, 46th President of the United States source
- January 17 – Muhammad Ali, African-American boxer, activist, and philanthropist (died 2016) source
- Brian Wilson, American singer, composer and producer (The Beach Boys) (died 2025) source
- June 18 – Paul McCartney, English musician and composer source
- February 20 – Mitch McConnell, American politician, U.S. senior senator from Kentucky source
- April 12 – Jacob Zuma, 4th President of South Africa source
- June 7 – Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan revolutionary, politician, and political theorist (died 2011) source
- November 17 – Martin Scorsese, American film director source
- January 8 – Stephen Hawking, British physicist (died 2018) source
- June 18 – Roger Ebert, American film critic and television personality (died 2013) source
- 11 October – Amitabh Bachchan, actor. source
- December 17 – Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerian army general, 7th and 15th President of Nigeria (died 2025) source
- November 27 – Jimi Hendrix, American guitarist (died 1970) source
- September 15 – Emmerson Mnangagwa, 3rd President of Zimbabwe source
- March 12 – Ratko Mladić, Bosnian Serb military leader and war criminal (died 2026) source
What happened in 1942
- January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in which they agree "not to make any separate peace with the Axis powers". source
- January 11 – Dutch East Indies campaign: Japan declares war on the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. Japanese forces invade Borneo and Celebes. source
- February 20 – Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace. source
- 1 January – Clogher Valley Railway ceases operations and closes. source
- March 11 – General MacArthur leaves for Australia to take command of the South Western Pacific Area. source
- January 16 – American film actress Carole Lombard and her mother are among all 22 killed aboard TWA Flight 3 when the Douglas DC-3 plane crashes into Potosi Mountain near Las Vegas while she is returning from a tour to promote the sale of war bonds. source
- February 1 – Mao Zedong makes a speech on "Reform in Learning, the Party and Literature", starting the Yan'an Rectification Movement in the Chinese Communist Party. source
- 3 January – Pinhas Rutenberg (born 1879), Ukrainian-born Palestinian Jew who was the founder of The Palestine Electricity Corporation source