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World Events
- Nazi leaders attend the Wannsee Conference to coordinate the "final solution to the Jewish question," the systematic genocide of Jews known as the Holocaust.
- Declaration of United Nations is signed in Washington.
U.S. Events
Economics
Federal spending: $35.14 billion
Federal debt: $79.2 billion
Consumer Price Index: 16.3
Unemployment: 4.7%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.03
Sports
World SeriesSt. Louis Cardinals d. NY Yankees (4-1)Stanley CupToronto d. Detroit (4-3)WimbledonWomen: Not held (World War II)
Men: Not held (World War II)Kentucky Derby ChampionShut OutNCAA Basketball ChampionshipStanford d. Dartmouth (53-38)NCAA Football ChampionsOhio St. (9-1-0)World CupNot held (World War II)
Entertainment
Events- Casablanca premieres in theaters.
- Bing Crosby releases "White Christmas," from the film Holiday Inn. The song goes on to be the all-time, top-selling song from a film.
- RCA Victor sprays gold over Glenn Miller's million-copy-seller Chattanooga Choo Choo, creating the first "gold record."
Science
- The first safe self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction is accomplished by Erico Fermi, Edward Teller and Leo Szilard at the University of Chicago.
- Harvard University chemist Louis F. Fieser invents napalm, a jelly-like mixture of gasoline and palm oils that sticks to its target until it burns out.
- Radar comes into operational use.
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The U.S. government establishes the Manhattan Project, led by Robert Oppenheimer, to coordinate ongoing American efforts to design and build the atomic bomb.
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