Important Events in 1940
- Feb 27 Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14 (radiocarbon dating) at the University of California Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley, California
- Mar 18 Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler meet at Brenner Pass where the Italian dictator agrees he will, in due course, join Germany's impending war effort in the west
- May 10 Winston Churchill succeeds Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister
- May 12 Nazi blitzkrieg and conquest of France begins with the crossing of the Muese River
- May 13 Winston Churchill says "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat" in his first speech as Prime Minister to British House of Commons
- May 15 Richard and Maurice McDonald open the 1st McDonald's restaurant in San Bernardino, California
- May 27 British and Allied forces begin the evacuation of Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo) during WWII
- Jun 4 British complete the "Miracle of Dunkirk" by evacuating 338,226 allied troops from France via a flotilla of over 800 vessels including Royal Navy destroyers, merchant marine boats, fishing boats, pleasure craft and even lifeboats
- Jun 14 Auschwitz concentration camp opens in Nazi controlled Poland with Polish POWs (approx. 3 million would die within its walls)
- Jun 15 World War II: France surrenders to NAZI Germany, German troops occupy Paris
- Jun 18 Winston Churchill's "this was their finest hour" speech urging perseverance during Battle of Britain delivered to British House of Commons
- Jul 10 Battle of Britain begins as Nazi forces attack shipping convoys in the English Channel
- Jul 16 Adolf Hitler orders preparations for the invasion of Britain (Operation Sealion)
- Aug 18 Battle of Britain: The air battle known as "The Hardest Day" occurs; Luftwaffe lose approximately 69 aircraft and the RAF lose 68 in one of the largest ever air battles
- Sep 12 Four teens, following their dog down a hole near Lascaux, France discover 17,000 year old drawings now known as the Lascaux Cave Paintings
- Sep 15 Battle of Britain Day: climax of the Battle of Britain, tide begins to turn as the Royal Air Force repulses a major Luftwaffe attack, losing 29 aircraft to the Germans' 57-61
More Historical Events
1940 in Film & TV
- Jan 24 "The Grapes of Wrath", directed by John Ford and based on John Steinbeck's novel of the same name, starring Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell, is released
- Feb 29 Hattie McDaniel becomes 1st African American woman to win an Oscar for "Gone with the Wind"
- Mar 21 "Rebecca" based on the book by Daphne du Maurier, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine premieres in Miami, Florida (Best Picture 1941)
- Mar 23 1st radio broadcast of "Truth or Consequences" on CBS
1940 in Music
- Apr 28 Glenn Miller records "Pennsylvania 6-5000"
- Jul 20 Billboard publishes its 1st singles record chart (#1 is "I'll Never Smile Again" by Tommy Dorsey)
Did You Know?
Did You Know?British PM Churchill says of Royal Air Force, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few"
On August 20, 1940
Bruce Lee
Chuck Norris
Jack Nicklaus
John Gotti
John Lennon
Ringo StarrFamous People in 1940
Ginger Rogers
Oscar for Best Actress- James Stewart
Oscar for Best Actor - Winston Churchill
Time Person
of the Year
Ginger Rogers
James Stewart
Winston ChurchillWorld Leaders in 1940
- Adolf Hitler
Dictator of Nazi Germany - Franklin D. Roosevelt
32nd US President - Joseph Stalin
Soviet General Secretary - Winston Churchill
Soldier, Author and British Prime Minister
Adolf Hitler
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Joseph StalinWould You Believe?
Walt Disney begins serving as an informer for the Los Angeles office of the FBI; his job is to report back information on Hollywood subversives.
On November 10, 1940
Famous Weddings in 1940
- Jan 1 68th Prime Minister of UK Harold Wilson (23) weds poet Mary Baldwin (23) in the chapel of Mansfield College, Oxford
- Jan 2 Archibald Campbell Mzoliza Jordan, Xhosa writer, linguist and academic and outspoken critic of the South African National Party government's Bantu Education policy, marries Priscilla Phyllis Ntantla.
- Jan 26 Actor Ronald Raegan (28) weds Academy Award-winning actress Jane Wyman (23) at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather church in Glendale, California
Famous Divorces in 1940
- Jul 22 Jacqueline Kennedy's parents John Vernou "Black Jack" Bouvier III and Janet (Norton Lee) divorce
- Nov 4 American author and journalist "The Old Man and the Sea" Ernest Hemingway divorces 2nd wife Pauline Pfeiffer
More Weddings & Divorces
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Henry Ossian Flipper
Leon Trotsky
Neville Chamberlain
Selma Lagerlöf
Walter Chrysler1940 in Articles and Photos
Dunkirk: Military Retreat They Called a Miracle
Trapped on beaches and a sitting target for German fighter planes and bombers, 330,000 Allied troops looked doomed. Then came the "miracle" of Dunkirk.
June 4, 1940Churchill’s Deadly Attack On His Ally
French battleships could have fallen into German hands in 1940. There seemed to be only one thing to do. And on this day Winston Churchill did it . . .
July 3, 1940Franklin Roosevelt – ‘Britain’s Greatest Friend’
On this day Franklin Delano Roosevelt was nominated by the Democratic Party in Chicago for an unprecedented third term as President of the United States.
July 18, 1940Dog Unearths Cave of Antiquity
A cave complex that contained wall paintings later described by experts as 'the cradle of art' was unearthed on this day by a curious dog, named Robot.
September 12, 1940'Hitler Will Have to Break Us or Lose the War'
The German Luftwaffe were hammering the British RAF until a furious and frustrated Hitler changed the plan and possibly the outcome of the war.
December 29, 1940
