May 1943

Wednesday 05:

The film curator of the Library of Congress, Howard Walls, announces that about 5,000 films will be preserved in the library.

Tuesday 11:

World War II: American troops invade Attu in the Aleutian Islands in an attempt to expel occupying Japanese forces.

Thursday 13:

World War II: German Afrika Korps and Italian troops in North Africa surrender to Allied forces.

Saturday 15:

Joseph Stalin dissolves the Comintern (or Third International).

Sunday 16:

World War II: The Dambuster Raids by RAF 617 Squadron on German dams.

Monday 17:

The United States Army contracts with the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School to develop the ENIAC.

Wednesday 19:

World War II: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set Monday, May 1, 1944 as the date for the cross-English Channel landing (D-Day would later be delayed over a month due to bad weather).

Monday 24:

Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer in Auschwitz concentration camp.