About the day » Thursday May 21, 1942Calender converter

• Antonius Maria Vosters, Alphen Riel, Noord Brabant, Nederland († 1942)
• van der Wolff, Rotterdam († 1942)
• Frans van Breugel, Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, Nederland († 2006)
• Levenloos Held, Epe, Gelderland, Nederland († 1942)
• Adriana Maria Verdegaal, Noordwijkerhout († 1942)
• Hub Prevo († 2007)
• Klazien de Bruijn († 2015)
• Bryan Thomas Gwillim, New Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand († 2018)
• Gertrudis Wilhelmina Kathmann, Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands († 1942)
• Held, Epe, Gelderland, Nederland

• Alida Maria Chrlt Sweers (56), Haarlem
• Alegonda Elisabeth Scheen (91), Groningen
• Bartha Schievink (79), Groningen, NL-GR
• Aaltje Kranenburg (79), Scharmer
• Aaltje Kranenburg (79), Scharmer, Slochteren,, Groningen, Nederland
• ALLEGONDA ELISABETH SCHEEN (91), Groningen
• Anna Gezina Hoezen (61)
• Antonia Stuckstette (53), Asten
• Anna Stevens (59), Kosciusko County, Indiana, United States of America
• Adriana Stevenia van Langelaar (71), Utrecht (NL)

• 1941 » Ambrose Greenway, 4th Baron Greenway, English photographer and politician
• 1941 » Bobby Cox, American baseball player and manager
• 1941 » Martin Carthy, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1941 » Ronald Isley, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1942 » Danny Ongais, American race car driver
• 1942 » David Hunt, Baron Hunt of Wirral, English politician, Secretary of State for Wales
• 1942 » John Konrads, Australian swimmer
• 1943 » Hilton Valentine, English guitarist and songwriter
• 1943 » John Dalton, English bass player
• 1943 » Vincent Crane, English pianist and composer († 1989)

• 1926 » Ronald Firbank, English-Italian author (b. 1886)
• 1929 » Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1847)
• 1932 » Marcel Boulenger, French fencer and author (b. 1873)
• 1935 » Hugo de Vries, Dutch botanist and geneticist (b. 1848)
• 1935 » Jane Addams, American activist and author, co-founded Hull House, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1860)
• 1940 » Billy Minter, English footballer and manager (b. 1888)
• 1949 » Klaus Mann, German-American novelist, playwright, and critic (b. 1906)
• 1952 » John Garfield, American actor (b. 1913)
• 1956 » Harry Bensley, English businessman and adventurer (b. 1877)
• 1957 » Alexander Vertinsky, Ukrainian-Russian singer-songwriter, actor, and poet (b. 1889)

• Koningin Wilhelmina (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1890 till 1948 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from July 27, 1941 to February 23, 1945 the cabinet Gerbrandy II, with Prof. dr. P.S. Gerbrandy (ARP) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 9.0 million citizens.
• March 17 » Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland.
• July 1 » The Australian Federal Government becomes the sole collector of income tax in Australia as State Income Tax is abolished.
• July 19 » World War II: The Second Happy Time of Hitler's submarines comes to an end, as the increasingly effective American convoy system compels them to return to the central Atlantic.
• September 7 » World War II: Japanese marines are forced to withdraw during the Battle of Milne Bay.
• September 21 » The Boeing B-29 Superfortress makes its maiden flight.
• December 7 » World War II: British commandos conduct Operation Frankton, a raid on shipping in Bordeaux harbour.

The temperature on May 21, 1942 was between 8.0 °C and 15.2 °C and averaged 12.5 °C. There was 1.4 mm of rain during 3.3 hours. There was 1.5 hours of sunshine (9%). The average windspeed was 3 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the north-northeast.