Historical eventMay 41942

World War II

World War II: Aircraft from Imperial Japanese Navy vessels attacked Allied naval forces, beginning the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first naval action in which the participating ships never sighted or fired directly at each other.

Everything on May 4Original source

In context

When
Monday, May 4 194284 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
20th century · 1940s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

At a glance

Dates: From 1942.

What happened

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many engaging in total war on an unprecedented scale. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the deaths of 60 to 75 million people, a majority of whom were civilians. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan,

May 4 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1942World War II
  2. 1994Prime minister
  3. 1998Sacramento, California
  4. 2000Ken Livingstone
  5. 2002EAS Airlines Flight 4226
  6. 2007Greensburg, Kansas
  7. 20142011–2014 terrorist attacks in Kenya
  8. 2015Parliament of Malta
  9. 20192019 W Series
  10. 2019W Series (championship)
  11. 2023Mladenovac and Smederevo shootings

Also in 1942

  • September 12RMS Laconia (1921)RMS Laconia was sunk by a U-boat off the coast of West Africa, which then attempted to rescue the passengers as it was acting under the o…
  • September 12World War IIWorld War II: The Imperial Japanese Army began the Battle of Edson's Ridge in an effort to retake Henderson Field on Guadalcanal in the S…
  • July 13World War IIWorld War II: The 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment was converted from a battalion to accommodate a larger number of volunteers spurred on b…
  • September 3The HolocaustThe Holocaust: In possibly the first Jewish ghetto uprising, residents of the Łachwa Ghetto in occupied Poland, informed of the upcoming…
  • September 3Łachwa GhettoWorld War II: In response to news of its coming liquidation, Dov Lopatyn leads an uprising in the Ghetto of Lakhva (present-day Belarus).
  • June 1World War IIWorld War II: The crews of three Japanese submarines scuttled their vessels and committed suicide after entering Sydney Harbour and launc…
  • December 10Edward Bernard RaczyńskiEdward Raczyński of the Polish government-in-exile issued a note that was the first official report on the Holocaust.
  • October 27Empire of JapanThe Empire of Japan achieved a pyrrhic victory against the United States at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands.

Everything we record for 1942 →

Sources

Cite this page

“World War II”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/world-war-ii-1942-may-4, accessed October 26, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did World War II happen?

May 4 1942 — 84 years ago, on a Monday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

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