Timeline May 1941

Events in May 1941 20

• 1854 – 1941 James George Frazer (1854-1941) Died 7 May 1941, aged 87 James George Frazer was a Scottish social anthropologist whose study of myth and religion, The Golden Bough, influenced literature and scholarship. He died in Cambridge.
• 1940 – 1941 The Blitz London bombed for 57 consecutive nights Germany began the Blitz on September 7, 1940, bombing London and other British cities. London was bombed for 57 consecutive nights. Over 43,000 civilians were killed but British morale held firm.
• 1941 Big Bill Broonzy records Key to the Highway Blues standard Later covered by Eric Clapton.
• 1941 Billie Holiday records God Bless the Child Her own song One of her best-known compositions.
• 1941 Woody Guthrie writes the Columbia River songs Roll On, Columbia Writes 26 songs in a month for the Bonneville Power Administration.
• 1941 Citizen Kane premieres Orson Welles's debut feature opens in New York Citizen Kane premiered at the Palace Theatre in New York despite attempts by William Randolph Hearst to suppress it. Its deep-focus photography and non-linear structure made it one of the most influential films ever made.
• 1941 Anglo-Iraqi War Britain overthrows the pro-Axis Rashid Ali government After Rashid Ali al-Gaylani seized power in a coup, Iraqi forces besieged the RAF base at Habbaniya. British and Commonwealth forces broke the siege and advanced on Baghdad, and the regent was restored.
• 1941 Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa Ethiopia liberated from Italian rule Emperor Haile Selassie re-entered his capital five years to the day after Italian forces had occupied it. British, Commonwealth and Ethiopian patriot forces had driven the Italians out.
• 1941 – present Jan Jansen Dutch shoe designer Jan Jansen (1941-2026) was one of the best-known Dutch shoe designers, famous for over 4,000 designs across more than six decades — from the iconic Woody clog and the bamboo-heeled Bamboo shoe to his pioneering "floating heel" constructions.
• 1941 Jan Jansen born in Nijmegen 6 May 1941 Jan Jansen was born in Nijmegen, the son of a sales manager at the Nimco children's shoe factory — surrounded by shoe samples from an early age.
• 1941 Rudolf Hess flies to Scotland Hitler's deputy on a solo peace mission Rudolf Hess flew a Messerschmitt Bf 110 alone to Scotland and parachuted near Eaglesham, hoping to negotiate peace with Britain. He was taken prisoner, disowned by Hitler, and held for the rest of the war.
• 1941 Zuse Z3 demonstrated The first working programmable digital computer Konrad Zuse presented the Z3 to scientists in Berlin. The electromechanical relay machine read its program from punched film and is regarded as the first working programmable, fully automatic digital computer.
• 1941 Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak A baseball record that still stands New York Yankees outfielder Joe DiMaggio got at least one hit in 56 consecutive games. The streak ended in Cleveland on 17 July and remains the Major League record.
• 1941 – 2012 Nora Ephron (1941-2012) Died 26 June 2012, aged 71 American writer and filmmaker known for romantic comedies including "When Harry Met Sally..." and "Sleepless in Seattle." She died of complications from leukemia.
• 1941 Viet Minh founded Ho Chi Minh forms the Vietnamese independence league At Pác Bó near the Chinese border, Ho Chi Minh and the Indochinese Communist Party founded the League for the Independence of Vietnam. The Viet Minh later led the August Revolution and the war against France.
• 1941 Battle of Crete The first mainly airborne invasion in history German paratroopers and glider troops landed on Crete and, despite very heavy losses, took Maleme airfield and then the island. Allied forces were evacuated by sea, and the losses convinced Hitler not to mount another large airborne operation.
• 1941 – present Bob Dylan Singer-songwriter, Nobel laureate American singer-songwriter who brought poetry and protest into popular music, from Blowin' in the Wind to Like a Rolling Stone. Nobel Prize in Literature 2016.
• 1941 Bob Dylan born in Duluth, Minnesota Born Robert Allen Zimmerman Born in Duluth and raised in the iron-mining town of Hibbing, Minnesota.
• 1941 – 2026 Aldrich Ames (1941-2026) Died 5 January 2026, aged 84 American CIA officer who became one of the most damaging double agents ever to work for the Soviet Union and Russia. Arrested in 1994, he was sentenced to life in prison.
• 1941 Sinking of the Bismarck Royal Navy sinks Germany's largest battleship Three days after the Bismarck sank HMS Hood in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, British forces hunted her down in the North Atlantic. Crippled by a torpedo hit to her rudder, she was sunk on 27 May with the loss of more than 2,000 men.