The Bomber Offensive: Heavy nighttime British air raid, 140+ on Bremen. The main target was the Focke-Wulf aircraft plant

Vacant British Empire Bantamweight Boxing Title Jim Brady (GB) beat Richie 'Kid' Tanner (British Guyana) Pts 15, Tannadice Park, Dundee.

The Blitz: Major night time German air raid, 110+ aircraft attack on Cardiff. Llandaff Cathedral damaged

The United States Govenrment announced plans to build 200 utilitarian freighters. These would come to be known as Liberty ships.

The Bomber Offensive: Heavy night time British air raid, 40+ on Bremen

The Battle of Bardia began as part of Operation Compass. The Australian 6th Division assaulted the strongly held Italian fortress of Bardia, Libya

The Blitz: British air raid on Bremen and the Kiel Canal. Kiel Canal Bridge suffers direct hit and collapses on Finnish merchant ship Yrsa

The Blitz: Major night time German air raid, 180+ aircraft attack on Bristol

The Bomber Offensive: Heavy night time British air raid, 70+ on Bremen

The results of a Gallup poll were published asking Americans, "Do you think our country's future safety depends on England winning this war?" 68% said yes, 26% said no and 6% expressed no opinion

The Blitz: Major night time German air raid, 80+ aircraft attack on Bristol & Avonmouth

The Bomber Offensive: Heavy night time British air raid, 50+ on Brest. Heavy night time British air raid, 50+ on Hamburg

German actress Marlene Dietrich became a U.S. citizen

Bugs Bunny was identified by name for the first time, in the short cartoon Elmer's Pet Rabbit.

Belgian Wallonia fascist Rexist Party leader Leon Degrelle announces his support for Nazi Germany in a speech in Liege

Western Desert Campaign: Operation Compass Australian troops capture Bardia taking 45,000 Italian POWs

Football International: Chile 1-2 Argentina, Estadio Nacional, Santiago

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt made the Four Freedoms speech during his State of the Union address. He proposed four fundamental freedoms that all the people of the world ought to enjoy: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

Greco-Italian War: Greek forces launched an assault trying to take the strategically important Klisura Pass

Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto presented Minister of the Navy Koshirō Oikawa with his ideas for a war against the United States in a memorandum titled Gumbi ni kansuru shiken (Views on Preparations for War). Yamamato proposed a crippling first strike on American forces in the first few hours of the war, something that could best be accomplished by an air attack on the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor

The Bomber Offensive: Heavy night time British air raid, 30+ on Wilhelmshaven. Heavy night time British air raid, 10+ on Emden

Hitler held a conference with his generals to discuss plans to attack the Soviet Union. Hitler said that German success in Russia would encourage Japan to attack the United States, thus keeping the Americans too occupied to get involved in the war in Europe

The Blitz: Major night time German air raid, 140+ aircraft attack on Manchester

Football International: Chile 2-5 Argentina, Estadio Nacional, Santiago

The results of a Gallup poll were published asking Americans, "Which of these two things do you think it is more important for the United States to try to do — to keep out of the war ourselves, or to help England win, even at the risk of getting into the war?" 60% said help England, 40% said keep out. A separate question asked, "If you were asked to vote on the question of the United States entering the war against Germany and Italy, how would you vote — to go into the war, or to stay out of the war?" 88% said stay out, 12% said go in

German-Soviet Border and Commercial Agreement signed. This agreement represents between 50%-70% of imports for Germany from the Soviet Union. Agreement covered gain oil, cotton, manganese, phosphates, chrome ore, rubber, soybeans, iron ores, scrap metal, pig iron and platinum

The Blitz: Major night time German air raid, 150+ aircraft attack on Portsmouth. Minelaying attacks in Liverpool Bay

The German civil administration in the Netherlands ordered the registration of all Jews in the country

Greco-Italian War: The Greeks completed the Capture of Klisura Pass

The Blitz: Direct bomb hit during the German air raid on London, lands outside Bank of England demolishing the Underground station 57 dead, 69 injured

The Blitz: Major nighttime German air raid, 140+ aircraft attack on London. A direct bomb hit on Bank Underground station 57 dead, 69 injured. Minelaying attacks in Liverpool Bay

Greco-Italian War: The Greeks completed the Capture of Klisura Pass

The Blitz: Direct bomb hit during the German air raid on London, lands outside Bank of England demolishing the Underground station 57 dead, 69 injured

The Blitz: Major night time German air raid, 140+ aircraft attack on London. A direct bomb hit on Bank Underground station 57 dead, 69 injured. Minelaying attacks in Liverpool Bay

American luxury liner Manhattan ran aground north of Palm Beach, Florida with 750 people on board

Football International: Portugal 2-2 Spain, Estádio do Lumiar, Lisbon

The Blitz: Major night time German air raid, 60+ aircraft attack on Plymouth. Minelaying attacks in Liverpool Bay

The Bomber Offensive: Heavy night time British air raid, 30+ on Wilhelmshaven. Heavy night time British air raid, 10+ on Emden

Disputed World Light-Heavyweight Boxing Title Anton Christoforidis (Greece) beat Melio Bettina (USA) pts 15, Cleveland Arena, Cleveland.

World Bantamweight Boxing Title Lou Salica (USA) beat Tommy Forte (USA) Pts 15, Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia.

The first use of V for victory by Victor de Laveleye on the BBC Radio Belgique radio service

The Blitz: Major night time German air raid, 40+ aircraft attack on Derby

The Bomber Offensive: Heavy night time British air raid, 90+ on Wilhelmshaven

East Africa Front: British forces start an attack on Italian forces in Ethiopia

The Blitz: Major night time German air raid, 60+ aircraft attack on Bristol & Avonmouth. Minelaying attacks in Bristol Channel

The Bomber Offensive: Heavy night time British air raid, 80+ on Wilhelmshaven

In meeting between Soviet Minister Molotov and German Ambassador Schulenburg in Moscow, Soviets express surprise that they have not yet had an answer from their offer to join the Axis

The Blitz: Heavy night time German air raid, 140+ aircraft attack on Swansea

World Welterweight Boxing Title Fritzie Zivic (USA) beat Henry Armstrong (USA) Rsf 12, Madison Square Garden, New York City.

German air raid on Malta

East Africa Front: The exiled Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie re-entered his country behind the advancing British and Commonwealth troops

East Africa Front: British Indian forces start an attack on Italian forces in Eritrea

The Blitz: Major night time German air raid, 60+ aircraft attack on London & 60+ aircraft attack on Southampton

Football International: Peru 1-1 Argentina, Estadio Nacional, Lima

Romania fascist Iron Guard start executing Jews in Bucharest

Western Desert Campaign: Operation Compass British and Australian forces capture Tobruk

Pogrom executed in Bucharest. Romania after Romanian & German army successfully defeats a coup d'etat against Romanian Government

Bulgaria passed antisemitic legislation modeled after Germany's Nuremberg Laws

British Home Secretary Herbert Morrison used Defence Regulation 2D to ban the Communist newspaper Daily Worker, on the grounds that it was attempting to hinder the British war effort

The Legionnaires' rebellion and Bucharest pogrom began in Bucharest, Romania when members of the Iron Guard revolted

Charles Lindburgh during testifying to the US Congress recommends that the US should negotiate a neutrality pact with Germany

Football International: Peru 1-1 Argentina, Estadio Nacional, Lima

Greek dictator Ioannis Metaexas dies

The US–British Staff Conference (ABC–1) began in Washington, D.C., in which U.S. and British military staff members worked to co-ordinate a general plan in the event of U.S. entry into the war.

The Blitz: Major night time German air raid, 60+ aircraft attack on London

The Bomber Offensive: Heavy night time British air raid, 40+ on Wilhelmshaven

Football International: Peru 0-3 Argentina, Estadio Nacional, Lima

Western Desert Campaign: Operation Compass British forces capture Derna

World Heavyweight Boxing Title Joe Louis (USA) beat Red Burman (USA) Ko 5, Madison Square Garden, New York City.