Eastern Front
Operation Barbarossa – Siege of Leningrad: Transfer of Panzer divisions from Army Group North to Army Group Centre begins. Hitler declares that city must vanish from the earth’s surface and is to be ‘bombarded to pieces’ by artillery and the Luftwaffe.
Occupied Territories
Iran: Abdication of Shah Reza Pahlevi Khan; succeeded by his son 21-year-old Shah Mohammed Reza Khan (rules 1941-1979).