1941 Pop Culture History, Fun Facts and Trivia

• World Changing Event: December 7, 1941 – Imperial Japanese fighter planes attacked the Pearl Harbor naval base, bringing the United States into WWII. On December 8, 1941, over 81% of American households tuned in to FDR’s “a date which will live in infamy” speech.
• Influential Songs include: God Bless The Child by Billie Holiday
• The Movies to Watch include The Maltese Falcon, Dumbo, Suspicion, Citizen Kane, Road to Zanzibar, The Wolf Man, Here Comes Mr. Jordan and Buck Privates
• The Most Famous Person in America was probably Mickey Rooney
• Notable books include: Curious George by H.A. and Margret Ray
• Price of six 12 oz Pepsi cans in 1941: 23 cents
  Price of a movie ticket: 25 cents
• The Funny Duo were: Abbott and Costello
• The Funny Trio Were: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour
• The Escapes: Maps and other escape aids were smuggled to Allied POWs in Monopoly sets during World War II. Of the estimated 35,000 Allied POWs who successfully escaped, an estimated one-third were aided in their flight by the rigged Monopoly sets.

Firsts, Inventions, and Wonders:
M&Ms were invented in 1941 as a means for soldiers to enjoy chocolate without it melting. During the war, the candy was sold exclusively to the military.

Captain America Comics #1, the first appearance of Captain America and Bucky. (cover-dated March 1941)

Aquaman and Green Arrow debuted in More Fun Comics, issue number 73. (cover date November)

The first superhero comic book movie to be made was Adventures of Captain Marvel.

Classic Comics series launched in the United States with illustrated versions of The Three Musketeers, followed by Ivanhoe and The Count of Monte Cristo.

The breakfast cereal Cheerios was introduced as CheeriOats by General Mills.

Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr invented the basis for modern WiFi and Bluetooth in 1941.

All persons born in Puerto Rico as of January 13, 1941, were declared US citizens by birth, through federal law.

Pop Culture News:
Fantasia and Citizen Kane both bombed at the box office. Disney’s Dumbo, released on October 23, was a hit.

The phrase “You can run but you can’t hide” dates back to a taunt made by boxer Joe Louis during his fight against Billy Conn in 1941.

Coach bags, introduced in 1941, were based on the design and surface wear on a baseball glove.

Time Magazine’s Person (Mammal) of the Year for 1941 was to be Dumbo the elephant, but when the Pearl Harbor attack occurred, they changed their minds and gave it to Franklin Roosevelt.

The term ‘Genocide’ was coined by Polish writer and attorney, Raphael Lemkin, in 1941 by combining the Greek word ‘genos’ (race) with the Latin word ‘cide’ (killing).

The term “robotics” was coined by science fiction author Isaac Asimov in 1941.

December 7th was ‘a date which will live in infamy.’ Many Americans believe that President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew about the Japanese “sneak attack” on Pearl Harbor. They say he let it happen because it was the only way he could get Americans involved in the war.

Regis Toomey and Jane Wyman held the longest screen kiss at 3 minutes and 5 seconds in You’re In The Army Now.

In 1941, more than three million cars were manufactured in the United States. Only 139 more were made for the duration of the war. Ford turned out one B-24 bomber every 63 minutes for 24 hours a day.

Mrs. Japp’s Potato Chips (1927 to 2007, Chicago) changed their name to Jays Potato Chips, due to the negative connotation associated with the word ‘Jap’

Using Dr. Charles Drew’s idea, the American Red Cross decided to set up blood donor stations to collect plasma for the U.S. Armed Forces.

Glenn Miller’s Chattanooga Choo-Choo was awarded the first Gold record.

Plutonium was officially chemically identified on February 23rd by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg’s team.

A ten-second ad for Bulova watches was aired by NBC. This was the first television commercial and cost $7.

Elaine Esposito holds the record for the longest coma according to the Guinness World Records, having lost consciousness in 1941 and eventually dying in that condition in 1978.

John Huston made his directorial debut in the gritty detective movie The Maltese Falcon starring Humphrey Bogart. Many historians consider this film to be the first example of film noir.