World Events and Discoveries in 1943 — Timeline
11 documented historical milestones concerning world events and discoveries in 1943.
Dated historical records
Entries below follow the dates recorded in the WWII CHRONOS archive. Each linked title opens the original historical entry, including its source reference.
- — First Flight of the Lockheed Constellation — A future symbol of post-war long-range piston-powered aviation.
- — Construction Begins on the First Y-12 Production Building at Oak Ridge — Start of a major electromagnetic uranium-isotope separation complex.
- — First Flight of the Gloster Meteor — The aircraft that would become Britain's first production jet aeroplane.
- — Major Construction Begins at the Hanford Industrial Complex — Start of the first complex for large-scale plutonium production.
- — Contract Signed to Build ENIAC — The Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania and the US Army sign a contract to develop the ENIAC electronic computer. One of its intended tasks is artil
- — First Flight of the First Production B-29 Built at Wichita — A milestone for one of the most complex mass-produced aircraft of the war.
- — Big Inch Oil Pipeline Completed — The trunk line stretched for more than 2,000 km.
- — Polymer Corporation Begins Industrial Production of Synthetic Rubber — Later production capacity exceeded about 36,000 t per year.
- — Discovery of the Antibiotic Streptomycin — Researchers at Rutgers identified a substance that became important in the treatment of tuberculosis.
- — Willow Run Completes Its 1,000th B-24 Bomber — The 1,000th completed B-24; a precursor to the peak assembly-line rate reached in 1944.
- — X-10 Graphite Reactor Begins Operation at Oak Ridge — The first reactor to produce plutonium continuously on a pilot-industrial scale.
For wider context, explore the interactive historical timeline and compare events across theaters.