Chemist Percy Lavon Julian was born on April 11, 1899, in Montgomery, Alabama. Julian was one of the first African Americans to receive a doctorate in chemistry, and the first to be inducted into the National Academy of Sciences. He owned more than 100 chemical patents and was a pioneer in chemical synthesis of drugs used in medicine.
The WWII Battle of Manila begins. It was the first and most violent urban fighting of the war in the Pacific, but the Allies were victorious.
Actor, director, race car driver, and philanthropist Paul Leonard Newman was born on January 26, 1925, in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Oveta Culp Hobby was born on January 19, 1905, in Killeen, Texas.
On January 17, 1944, the Allies launched one of the longest and bloodiest fights of the Italian campaign – the Battle of Monte Cassino.
On January 14, 1943, Allied leaders met in Casablanca, Morocco, to discuss the next stage of World War II.
On January 6, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt gave his “Four Freedoms” speech while delivering the State of the Union Address.
On December 20, 1941, the Flying Tigers engaged in their first battle.
On November 29, 1944, the War Department officially adopted the honorable discharge emblem.