1942 — Congress lowers the draft age to 18 and the United States begins strict rationing of food and materials needed for the war effort.

Also that year:

• German troops move in to the unoccupied portions of France. French crews scuttle the fleet at Toulon to prevent German possession of it.
• The German Nazis begin the systematic murder of the Jewish people in gas chambers.
• British Prime Minister Winston Churchill discusses opening a second front with Soviet Premier Stalin.
• Bell Aircraft, under the direction of founder Lawrence Bell, builds and tests the first U.S. jet, the XP-59.