1942
The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in these terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was the deadliest such year. Death toll estimates for both 1941 and 1942 range from 2.28 to 7.71 million each. Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January 1942 January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in which they agree "not to make any separate peace with the Axis powers". January 5 – WWII: Two prisoners, British officer Airey Neave and Dutch officer Anthony Luteyn, escape from Colditz Castle in Germany. After travelling for three days, they reach the Swiss border. January 7 – WWII: Battle of Slim River: Japanese forces of the 5th Division, supported by tanks, sweep through sixteen miles of British defenses, shattering the exhausted 11th Indian Division and inflicting some 3,000 casualties. Operation Typhoon, the German attempt to take Moscow, ends in failure. January 11 – WWII: Dutch East Indies campaign: Japan declares war on the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. Japanese forces invade Borneo and Celebes. Malayan Campaign: The Japanese capture Kuala Lumpur, the capital of the Federated Malay States. January 13 Heinkel test pilot Helmut Schenk becomes the first person to escape from a stricken aircraft with an ejection seat. Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile that would be 30% lighter than a conventional car. January 14 WWII: "Second Happy Time", the German submarine commanders' name for Operation Paukenschlag (Operation Drumbeat), the phase in the Battle of the Atlantic during which German submarines are successful in attacking Allied shipping along the East Coast of the United States, opens early this morning when German submarine U-123 under the command of Reinhard Hardegen sinks a Norwegian tanker within sight of Long Island, before entering New York Harbor and sinking a British tanker off Sandy Hook the following night, as she leaves heading south along the coast.