Born in 1941

What things cost in 1941

1941 figures are annual averages of the published monthly (or quarterly) values. “Today’s dollars” uses the Consumer Price Index for September 2026; “latest” is the most recent published price. Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, via FRED. Average retail prices are only published from 1976 on; 1941 has the CPI alone.

Who was in charge in 1941

United States

Franklin D. Roosevelt (President)

United Kingdom

George VI (King); Winston Churchill (Prime minister)

Soviet Union

Joseph Stalin (General Secretary); Mikhail Kalinin (Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet); Vyacheslav Molotov, then Joseph Stalin (Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars)

Republic of China (1916–1949)

Chiang Kai-shek (Premier)

Vichy France

Philippe Pétain (Chief of state); Pierre-Étienne Flandin, then François Darlan (Prime minister)

Nazi Germany

Adolf Hitler (Führer); Adolf Hitler (Chancellor)

Empire of Japan

Hirohito (Emperor); Fumimaro Konoe, then Hideki Tojo (Prime minister)

From Wikipedia’s List of state leaders in the 20th century (1901–1950) (revision 1377869146), each name checked against Wikidata. Every country in 1941 →

Famous people born in 1941

• September 8 – Bernie Sanders, American politician, U.S. Senator (D-Vt.) and 2016 presidential candidate source
• May 24 – Bob Dylan, American poet, musician and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature source
• 31 December – Alex Ferguson, Scottish footballer and football manager source
• January 30 – Dick Cheney, 46th Vice President of the United States (died 2025) source
• January 1 – Marshall "Rock" Jones, African-American bass player (Ohio Players) (died 2016) source
• 1 January – Martin Evans, geneticist and academic (in Stroud, Gloucestershire) source
• January 5 – Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese film director, screenwriter source
• June 8 – George Pell, Australian cardinal (died 2023) source
• July 23 – Sergio Mattarella, Italian lawyer, judge and politician, 12th President of Italy source
• March 12 – Erkki Salmenhaara, Finnish composer (died 2002) source
• January 3 – Shima Iwashita, Japanese actress source
• December 29 – Ray Thomas, English flautist, singer and songwriter (The Moody Blues) (died 2018) source
• July 25 – Emmett Till, African-American civil rights icon (died 1955) source
• September 29 – Fred West, English serial killer, suicide (died 1995) source
• 26 March – Richard Dawkins, Kenyan-born British scientist source

What happened in 1941

• January 6 – During his State of the Union address, President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt presents his Four Freedoms, as fundamental global human rights. source
• February 3 – WWII: The Nazis forcibly restore Pierre Laval to the office of Prime Minister in occupied Vichy France. source
• January 1 – Thailand's Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram decrees January 1 as the official start of the Thai solar calendar new year (thus the previous year that began April 1 had only 9 months). source
• January 6 – The keel of battleship USS Missouri is laid at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn. source
• 21 February – First flight by a Royal Air Force flying boat through the "Donegal Corridor", neutral Republic of Ireland airspace between its base in Northern Ireland and the Atlantic Ocean, a concession secretly agreed by Éamon de Valera. source
• January 11 – WWII: The British Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Southampton is bombed, catches fire and has to be sunk off Malta, with the loss of 81 crew. source
• 4 March - ends the 1941 South American Championship held in Chile. source
• 18 January: Petrol Ofisi a national petroleum company founded. source