SEPTEMBER 19, 1942

SATURDAY
1942 Coca-Cola advertising artwork
$1,000 INVESTED IN COKE STOCK (KO) IN 1942
WOULD HAVE MADE YOU $8,968,676 IN THE 2025 DATASET
Min Wage Hourly$0.39
Median Home Price$4,680.00
Gas Price Avg$0.20
Bread Price Avg$0.10
Movie Ticket Avg$0.33
First Class Stamp$0.03
Milk Price Avg$0.61
Top Movies From 1942
Show screen release and event cards
1 Mrs. Miniver
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Mrs. Miniver
2 Random Harvest
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Random Harvest
3 Yankee Doodle Dandy
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Yankee Doodle Dandy
4 Reap the Wild Wind
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Reap the Wild Wind
5 Road to Morocco
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Road to Morocco
6 Holiday Inn
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Holiday Inn
7 Wake Island
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Wake Island
8 The Pride of the Yankees
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The Pride of the Yankees
9 Kings Row
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Kings Row
10 For Me and My Gal
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For Me and My Gal
The Man Who Came to Dinner
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The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Palm Beach Story
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The Palm Beach Story
To Be or Not to Be
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To Be or Not to Be
Woman of the Year
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Woman of the Year
In This Our Life
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In This Our Life
The Talk of the Town
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The Talk of the Town
The Male Animal
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The Male Animal
My Favorite Blonde
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My Favorite Blonde
This Above All
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This Above All
The Spoilers
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The Spoilers
Across the Pacific
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Across the Pacific
The Magnificent Ambersons
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The Magnificent Ambersons
The Pied Piper
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The Pied Piper
The Major and the Minor
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The Major and the Minor
Saboteur
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Saboteur
Larceny, Inc.
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Larceny, Inc.
Moontide
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Moontide
The Ghost of Frankenstein
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The Ghost of Frankenstein
The Big Street
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The Big Street
Bambi
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Bambi
Tales of Manhattan
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Tales of Manhattan
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror
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Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror
The Glass Key
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The Glass Key
The Jungle Book
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The Jungle Book
Tarzan's New York Adventure
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Tarzan's New York Adventure
The Maltese Falcon
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The Maltese Falcon
Citizen Kane
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Citizen Kane
The Wolf Man
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The Wolf Man
Suspicion
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Suspicion
Dumbo
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Dumbo
Sullivan's Travels
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Sullivan's Travels
Ball of Fire
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Ball of Fire
Shadow of the Thin Man
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Shadow of the Thin Man
Hellzapoppin'
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Hellzapoppin'

September 19, 1942 Trivia

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Exact-date daily brief

September 19, 1942

On September 19, 1942, Colonel David A. L'Esperance, a former special assistant to the U.S. Attorney General, made headlines as a prominent figure in the legal community. Meanwhile, preparations for Navy Day, scheduled for October...

Inventions & Breakthroughs of September 1942

Gadgets, lab surprises, odd bets, and future-shocks from this slice of the calendar.

1 Atomic Reactor (Chicago Pile-1)
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Atomic Reactor (Chicago Pile-1)
2 Electronic Countermeasures Systems
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Electronic Countermeasures Systems
3 Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus
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Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus
4 Modern Rocket Engine
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Modern Rocket Engine
5 High-Altitude Pressure Suit
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High-Altitude Pressure Suit
6 Amphibious Landing Craft
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Amphibious Landing Craft
7 Synthetic Rubber (GR-S)
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Synthetic Rubber (GR-S)
8 Automatic Analog Computer
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Automatic Analog Computer
9 Magnetic Mine Detection
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Magnetic Mine Detection
10 Portable Field Radio
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Portable Field Radio

The Sounds of

Popular recordings and roots/country selections associated with the year

Headlines From September 19, 1942

Full News Archive

  • Headline: Colonel David A. L'Esperance's Legacy. Impact: The appointment of Col. David A. L'Esperance as the U.S. Attorney General sparked a secret society known as the 'Col. Club,' which believed that wearing hats backwards bestowed legal wisdom. This led to a generation of backward-hat-wearing legal scholars, ultimately resulting in the world's first 'Rugrats' courtroom drama. Fact: Col. L'Esperance spent more time arguing with the office coffee machine than he did in court. It’s rumored the machine was more litigious.
  • Headline: Dillon Navy Day Celebration Announcement. Impact: Dillon Navy Day became the launching pad for an annual pancake-eating contest that accidentally ignited a national obsession with brunch, leading to the creation of the world's first pancake-flipping robots. The Navy never saw it coming. Fact: The original Navy Day was supposed to celebrate naval victories, but someone misread the memo and brought breakfast instead. The rest is history... and syrup.
  • Headline: Associated Dry Goods Reports Profit Surge. Impact: The surge in profits for Associated Dry Goods inadvertently led to the invention of the 'shopping cart,' which was originally designed to store all the extra profits instead of actual groceries. The idea caught onβ€”now we can’t escape the aisles!. Fact: Back when transactions averaged $3.12, people actually carried their groceries. Can you imagine?! No wonder they invented the cart.
  • Headline: Grocers Ask President to Order Inquiry Into 'Chaos' in Food Field; Want Baruch or Similar Committee to Make Investigation -- Move Seen as Another Break Between Stores and OPA PLEA TO PRESIDENT ASKS FOOD INQUIRY. Impact: The grocery industry's plea for a presidential inquiry paved the way for the establishment of the USDA, which inadvertently led to the rise of organic kale. Thanks, grocery stores, for giving us a new way to pretend we're healthy!. Fact: This inquiry was the grocery industry's way of saying, 'We know we’re chaotic, but could you at least make it look like we care?'.
  • Headline: NORRIS JONES. Impact: Norris Jones's name became synonymous with mystery, leading to a series of poorly received detective novels that no one could figure out. The literary world still hasn't forgiven him. Fact: Norris Jones was so unremarkable that even his biography is just a blank page. Talk about leaving a legacy!.
  • Headline: Books of the Times. Impact: Henrik W. Van Loon's books inspired a cult of historians who believed in time travel through literature. This led to a bizarre trend of historians wearing capes and holding meetings in coffee shops. Fact: Van Loon’s Lives became so popular that it was rumored to have caused a literary time warp, making all authors from then on feel inadequate.
  • Headline: ORDER TO ASSURE POWER; Long Island Lighting Company Directed to Inspect System. Impact: The inspection order from the Long Island Lighting Company led to a series of power outages that sparked the first ever 'Power Outage Party.' Now, it's a full-blown phenomenon complete with glow sticks and candlelight. Fact: They say necessity is the mother of invention, but in this case, it was probably just a bunch of bored neighbors with a flashlight and too much time.
  • Headline: Suggested to the Treasury. Impact: The suggestion to abolish the gains tax led to an underground economy where people started trading in potato chips instead of cash. Who knew snacks could fuel a black market?. Fact: Abolishing the gains tax was so popular that potato chip companies began hiring lobbyists. Welcome to the crunchy underbelly of politics!.

Wall Street Time Machine

The Right Call: A historical $1,000 investment comparison using the stored long-range dataset.
Rank #1
KMB
Kimberly-Clark
Price in 1942
$0.69
Stored value
$147,887

Kimberly-Clark - If you invested $1,000 in 1942, it would be worth $147,887 today (147.9x return)

Rank #3
CVX
Chevron
Price in 1942
$0.31
Stored value
$474,914

Chevron - If you invested $1,000 in 1942, it would be worth $474,914 today (474.9x return)

🦸 Top 5 Comics
Wonder Woman #1
Wonder Woman #1
$25,000
All Star Comics #11
All Star Comics #11
$3,000
Captain America Comics #13
Captain America Comics #13
$20,000
Hit Comics #27
Hit Comics #27
$10,200
Detective Comics #66
Detective Comics #66
$1,500
🧸 Top 5 Toys
Inflatable Airplane
Inflatable Airplane
$120.00
Tin Soldiers
Tin Soldiers
$75.00
Simple Wooden Blocks
Simple Wooden Blocks
$75.00
Yo-Yo
Yo-Yo
$1350.00
Silhouette Jigsaw Puzzles
Silhouette Jigsaw Puzzles
$25.00
⚾ Top 5 Trading Cards
War Gum (1942)
War Gum (1942)
$2,000
Gill'S Cigarette Cards - Military Series
Gill'S Cigarette Cards - Military Series
$20
British Wartime Stamps
British Wartime Stamps
$10,000,000
Canada War Savings Stamps
Canada War Savings Stamps
$2,000
Ration Card Series
Ration Card Series
$1,000