Editing 1942 (section)

===December===
{{Main|December 1942}}
* [[December 1]] &ndash; [[Gasoline]] rationing begins in the United States.
* [[December 2]] &ndash; [[Manhattan Project]]: Below the bleachers of Stagg Field at the [[University of Chicago]], a team led by [[Enrico Fermi]] initiates the first self-sustaining [[nuclear chain reaction]] (a coded message, "The Italian navigator has landed in the new world" is then sent to U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]).
* [[December 4]]
** [[The Holocaust]]: In [[Warsaw]], two women, [[Zofia Kossak]] and Wanda Filipowicz, risk their lives by setting up the Council for the Assistance of the Jews.
** WWII: USAAF bombers make their first raid on Italy.
* [[December 6]] &ndash; [[Stary Ciepielów and Rekówka massacre]]: 5 families in [[Occupied Poland]] are executed by the ''[[Ordnungspolizei]]'' as part of the [[German retribution against Poles who helped Jews]].
* [[December 7]] &ndash; WWII: 
**British commandos conduct [[Operation Frankton]], a raid on shipping in [[Bordeaux]] Harbour.
**The [[battleship]] {{USS|New Jersey|BB-62}} is launched at [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]].
* [[December 8]] &ndash; A fire at [[Seacliff Lunatic Asylum]] in New Zealand kills 39 patients.
* [[December 10]] &ndash; [[The Holocaust]]: The [[Polish government-in-exile]] sends copies of ''[[The Mass Extermination of Jews in German Occupied Poland]]'', including [[Raczyński's Note]], the first official report on The Holocaust, to 26 governments who signed the [[Declaration by United Nations]].
* [[December 11]] &ndash; WWII: [[Operation Lilliput]]: The Allies start a convoy operation for transportation of troops, weapons and supplies in a regular transport service between [[Milne Bay]] and [[Oro Bay]] in [[New Guinea]]. The first vessel to arrive at Oro Bay is [[SS Karsik (1938)|''Karsik'']], escorted by [[HMAS Lithgow (J206)|HMAS ''Lithgow'']], with four [[M3 Stuart|Stuart]] [[light tank]]s.<ref>Gill, G. Hermon (1968). ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', pp. 244–245. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy: Volume II. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. {{OCLC|65475}}.</ref>
* [[December 12]] &ndash; WWII: German troops began [[Operation Winter Storm]], an attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the [[Battle of Stalingrad]].
* [[December 15]] &ndash; WWII: [[Guadalcanal Campaign]] &ndash; [[Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse]]: the United States and allied forces begin to attack Japanese positions near the [[Matanikau River]].
* [[December 17]] &ndash; The Allies issue the [[Joint Declaration by Members of the United Nations]] (as the answer to [[Raczyński's Note]]), the first time they publicly acknowledge the [[Holocaust]].
* [[December 20]] &ndash; WWII: [[Arakan Campaign 1942–43|First Arakan Campaign]]: Allied forces begin a counter-offensive into [[Burma]]. During the offensive, Japanese defenders occupying well-prepared positions repeatedly repulse the British and Indian forces.
* [[December 22]]
** An avalanche in [[Aliquippa, Pennsylvania]], kills 26, including Vulcan Crucible Steel heir-apparent Samuel A. Stafford Sr., when two 100 ton boulders fall on a bus filled with wartime steelworkers on their way home.
** An airplane carrying prominent Ustashe general [[Jure Francetić]] crashes. Francetić dies as a result of the injuries on [[December 27]].
* [[December 24]] &ndash; French [[François Darlan|Admiral Darlan]], the former [[Vichy France|Vichy]] leader who has switched over to the Allies following the Torch landings, is assassinated in [[Algiers]].
* [[December 27]] &ndash; The [[Union of Pioneers of Yugoslavia]], a communist youth movement, is founded.
* [[December 28]] &ndash; North Atlantic [[Convoy ON 154]] is heavily attacked by [[U-boat]]s, sinking 13 ships.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gordonmumford.com/m-navy/ons154-0.htm |title=Convoy ONS 154 |publisher=J. Gordon Mumford |access-date=2010-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111050815/http://www.gordonmumford.com/m-navy/ons154-0.htm |archive-date=January 11, 2011 |url-status=usurped}}</ref>
* [[December 31]] &ndash; The [[Times Square Ball]] in [[Times Square]], New York City is not dropped for the first time. Instead, there is a [[moment of silence]] at midnight, followed by the sound of bells playing from sound trucks at the base of [[One Times Square]].