Henkels & McCoy Timeline: 1941


1941
"DECEMBER 7, 1941... A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY"... -- President Roosevelt
Photos: Library of Congress Japanese aerial photo showing Pearl Harbor's Battleship Row under attack on the morning of December 7, 1941. Note the rows of anchored battleships flanking Ford Island, center. (Above Right), A Japanese bomb slashes through four decks of the USS Arizona and explodes in an ammunition storage room. The blast killed 1,177 US sailors, more than were lost in the Spanish American War and World War I combined.	Roosevelt's famous "Day of Infamy" speech to Congress on December 8. Speech excerpt Entire speech
Winter 1940-41 Henkels & McCoy is again contracted for emergency power restoration and telephone work, this time following an ice storm in Connecticut (see 1938 for details of H&M's first major emergency power restoration project). May 1 Comic Bob Hope (third from left) travels to March Field, in California, and with a small group of performers (including Jerry Colonna, mustache) does a radio show for airmen stationed there. It is his first show done especially for servicemen and women. When war is declared, Hope hears the call and begins a lifelong commitment to entertaining US troops. June 22 Germany invades Soviet Union. December 7 Aircraft carrier borne warplanes of Japan's Imperial Navy bomb American bases and ships in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Radar successfully detects the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but the warnings are ignored. The following day, the United States declares war on Japan. Germany, Italy and Japan, the Axis powers, declare war on the US. The United States enters the Second World War. (Click here to read personal accounts of the attack on Pearl Harbor) The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor affects the telephone system of the United States by causing tremendous traffic peaks in all cities, and an increase from 100 to 400 percent in long distance telephoning - which already is at a record high of 3 million messages per day (The United States would again experience this phenomenon in 2001, during the September 11 terrorist attacks). December 8 Roosevelt addresses Congress and asks for a declaration of war against Japan. December 11 Germany and Italy declare war on the US. The US declares war on Germany and Italy. It seems as though the entire world is now at war. ALSO IN 1941: Dashiell Hammet's The Maltese Falcon, directed by John Houston and starring Humphrey Bogart and a memorable supporting cast (Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Elisha Cooke, Jr.) is released in theatres. The film firmly establishes Bogey as a star and Huston as a director. Hammet also wrote the screenplay. Orson Wells' epic Citizen Kane is released, pushing the boundaries of motion picture technology. Swedish screen enigma Greta Garbo retires at 36, famously misquoted as saying, "I want to be alone." Leopold Stokowski (right) leaves the helm as Muscial Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra for Hollywood. He worked with the Orchestrsa since 1912. Stokowski is largely responsible for transforming the Philadelphia Orchestra to a world class organization. He will be involved with symphonies at the Hollywood Bowl and will head a new concept, the Orchestra of the Air, a symphony orchestra which performs on network radio and thus has the ability to reach a mass, coast to coast audience. Debut of world's largest steam-powered locomotive, Union Pacific's "Big Boy." A brand new '41 Pontiac sells for 828 bucks -- and gas is 12 cents a gallon. Fill 'er up!
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