Congress established the Gold Lifesaving Medal and Silver Lifesaving Medal. They were originally issued through the Treasury Department, which properly ran the Coast Guard before it was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security, but they may be issued to anyone.
Adolf Hitler issued a formal statement claiming that the United States had attacked Germany, making reference to the German sinking of the USS Reuben James the day prior.
During wartime the Coast Guard has traditionally serves as an auxiliary of the Navy, while during peace time it used to be part of the Department of the Treasury. Post 9/11 it's been part of the Department of Homeland Safety.
The Coast Guard was transferred from the Treasury Department into the Department of the Navy for the ongoing emergency, recognizing that the US was very near being in a state of war.
Selective Service issued a list of key occupations which were to receive conscription deferments. The last two items are noted here:
The first mass use of Soviet multiple rocket launchers occurred. The production effort, which had actually commenced prior to the war, was so secret that the Soviets didn't even inform the soldiers assigned to them what their official designation, the BM13, was until after the war. As they were marked with the letter "K" soldiers nicknamed them Katyusha after the popular wartime Russian song, although Stalin Organs was also a popular name for them.
The weapon was groundbreaking. Inaccurate, it went for volume of fire and was deployed in mass batteries. It was copied by other combatants once it became known, being a simple weapon to make, and its the origin of multiple rocket launching batteries that have replaced heavy artillery in some armies, including the United States Army.
The song was written just before the war, in 1938, and has gone on to remain a hugely popular Russian tune. About a girl on the Steppes, it is in the same category as Lili Marlene in that it was copied by other parties in the war, including those fighting the Red Army, with new lyrics being written in some instances. A search for it on YouTube will bring up a zillion Russian versions, many with dancing Russian women dressed in wartime uniforms. It's remained popular with Russian expatriot populations, and is popular in Israel as a folk tune. The crowed singing the farewell tune in The Deer Hunter, in the wedding scene, is singing it, most likely spontaneously as it the extras in that scene are actually parishioners of an actual American Russian Orthodox Church.
The Slovakian government issued orders requiring Jews to ride in separate train cars and to wear to mark their mail with the Star of David.
Rainbow Bridge over Niagara Falls, another Depression Era project, was opened to traffic.
