1940 Events

1940 Chrysler Newport is First Produced
The Newport was a name used by the Chrysler division of the Chrysler Corporation used as both a hardtop body designation and also for its entry level model between 1961 and 1981. Chrysler...
1940 Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Founded
In 1940, Frank Lloyd Wright and his third wife, Olgivanna (December 27, 1898 - March 1, 1985), formed the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, which still exists. Upon Wright's death in 1959, o...
1940 'Horton Hatches the Egg' is Published
"I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful one-hundred percent. " —Horton the Elephant
1940 Irving Berlin Assigns Royalties from 'God Bless America' to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America
In 1938, with the rise of Hitler, Berlin, who was Jewish, and a first-generation European immigrant, felt it was time to revive it as a "peace song", and it was introduced on an Armistice...
1940 'Native Son' is Published
Native Son tells the story of a "bad nigger," coal-black, 20-year-old Bigger Thomas, who lives with his pious mother, a mild sister and brother in a one-bedroom tenement apartment on Chic...
1940 Synthetic Biotin Produced
Biotin is also available from supplements. The synthetic process developed by Leo Sternbach and Moses Wolf Goldberg in the 1940s uses fumaric acid as a starting material and is identical ...
1940 Jan 1 Joseph Stalin Is Named Time Magazine's 'Person Of The Year'
Since J. Stalin became the supreme power in Russia, much of the Revolution's history has been rewritten to magnify his part in those stirring events. Trotsky's part has been completely er...
1940 Jan 6 Heavy Fighting Along the Raate Road as Finns Break Soviet 44th Rifle Division
The Battle of Raate Road was fought during the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland in January, 1940, as a part of the Battle of Suomussalmi. This battle proved the effectivene...
1940 Jan 10 Meeting Between President Franklin Roosevelt and Historic Peace Churches
The Historic Peace Churches met with President Franklin Roosevelt in order to discuss conscientious objection in the event of another war. The 1940 meeting did little to change the mind o...
1940 Jan 10 The Mechelen Incident
The Mechelen Incident of 10 January 1940, also known as the Mechelen affair, was an event during the Phoney War. A German aircraft with an officer on-board carrying the plans for Fall Gel...
1940 Jan 11 "His Girl Friday" Is Released
His Girl Friday is a 1940 screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, an adaptation by Charles Lederer, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur of the play The Front Page by Hecht and MacArth...
1940 Jan 12 "The Shop Around The Corner" Is Released
The Shop Around the Corner (1940) is a romantic comedy film, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, and starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. The screenplay was written by Samson Raphaelson ...
1940 Jan 13 Ronald Reagan Appears as Dan Crawford in "Brother Rat and a Baby"
The 1938 Warner Bros. picture Brother Rat -a breezy comedy about a trio of rapscallion military cadets - was a sizable enough hit to compel the Warner brass to revisit the now-graduated c...
1940 Jan 24 "The Grapes Of Wrath" Is Released
The Grapes of Wrath (1940) is an American drama film directed by Academy Award Winner Best Director, John Ford. It was based on the Pulitzer Prize winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939), writ...
1940 Jan 26 Frank Sinatra makes first appearance with Tommy Dorsey
In November 1939, in a meeting at the Palmer House in Chicago, IL, Sinatra was asked by bandleader Tommy Dorsey to join his band as a replacement for Jack Leonard who had recently left to...
1940 Jan 26 Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman Get Married
In 1938, Reagan co-starred in the film Brother Rat with actress Jane Wyman (1917–2007). They were engaged at the Chicago Theatre,[35] and married on January 26, 1940, at the Wee Kirk o' t...
1940 Feb 1 Soviets Launch All-Out Offensive on Karelian Isthmus
Although the Karelian Isthmus front was less active in December than in January, the Soviets began increasing bombardments, wearing down the defenders and softening their fortifications. ...
1940 Feb 3 Japanese Occupy Wuyuan
On 3 and 4 Feb, Wuyuan and Linhe were taken successively. On 20 Mar, Chinese General Fu Zuoyi's 35th Corps, the New 31st Division, and a regiment of the Garrison Brigade, which had been s...
1940 Feb 7 Pinocchio is premiered
Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and based on the story Pinocchio: Tale of a Puppet by Carlo Collodi. It was made after the success of Snow White and ...
1940 Feb 17 Adolf Hitler Approves the Manstein Plan
Adolf Hitler gave his approval to the Manstein Plan on 17th February, 1940, but it was not activated until the 10th May, when the Luftwaffe bombed Dutch and Belgian airfields and the Germ...
1940 Feb 29 12th Academy Awards
The twelfth Academy Awards ceremony was held on Thursday, February 29, 1940 at the Coconut Grove of the Ambassador Hotel. Though the winners were supposed to be kept a secret, attendees w...
1940 Mar Agatha Christie publishes Sad Cypress
Sad Cypress is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in March 1940 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the sa...
1940 Mar 5 Soviet Politburo Members Sign Order to Execute 25,700 Polish Prisoners
On 5 March, 1940, pursuant to a note to Stalin from Beria, the members of the Soviet Politburo — Stalin, Vyacheslav Molotov, Kliment Voroshilov and Anastas Mikoyan; signed an order to exe...
1940 Mar 12 Signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty Between Finland and the Soviet Union
The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on March 12, 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on March 21. It marked the end of the 105-day Winter War. The tr...
1940 Mar 30 Indiana Beats Kansas in NCAA Men's Basketball Championship
The 1940 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the participating champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketb...
1940 Apr 1 'The Hamlet' Is Published
The Hamlet is the first of the "Snopes" trilogy, completed by The Town (1957), and The Mansion (1959). The novel follows the exploits of the Snopes family, beginning with Ab Snopes, wh...
1940 Apr 3 Katyn Forest Massacre
On April 13, 1943, the Germans announced that mass graves had been discovered in the Katyn Forest, in their area of occupation, containing the bodies of thousands of Polish officers who h...
1940 Apr 3 Soviets Begin Month-long Murder of Polish Prisoners, Known as the Katyn Massacre
After 3 April, 1940, at least 22,436 POWs and prisoners were executed: 15,131 POWs (most or all of them from the three camps) and at least 7,305 prisoners in western parts of Belarus and ...
1940 Apr 4
to 1940 Apr 7
 Jimmy Demaret wins the 7th Masters Tournament
Playing in only his second Masters, Jimmy Demaret overcame an opening round 64 by Lloyd Mangrum to win the Tournament. Demaret's four-stroke victory was a then record for margin of victor...
1940 Apr 9
to 1940 Jun 10
 The Norwegian Campaign - first Allied confrontation with Nazi forces
The Norwegian Campaign was the name used by the Allies – United Kingdom and France – for their first direct land confrontation with the military forces of Nazi Germany in World War II. Th...
1940 Apr 12 "Rebecca" Is Released
Rebecca (1940) is a psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock as his first American project, and his first film produced under his contract with David O. Selznick. The film's sc...
1940 Apr 13 Greek Forces Withdraw to Pindus to Fight Pitched Battle against Italian Invaders
The position of the Greek First Army, still fighting in Albania, was seriously jeopardized by the rapid advance of the XL Panzer Corps via Florina and by the British withdrawal to posit...
1940 Apr 13 New York Rangers win Stanley Cup
The 1940 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven series between the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. New York would win the series 4–2 to win their third Stanley Cup. The Range...
1940 Apr 23 The Natchez Fire
The Rhythm Club fire aka The Natchez Dance Hall Holocaust was a conflagration resulting in the death or serious injury of hundreds of people attendees who became trapped inside a one-stor...
1940 Apr 27 Heinrich Himmler Establishes a Concentration Camp at Auchwitz
Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest of Nazi Germany's concentration camps and extermination camps, operational during World War II. The camp took its German name from the hosting town o...
1940 Apr 27 Ronald Regan Appears as Marty Allen in "An Angel from Texas"
...An Angel from Texas (1940), reunited the Reagans with Eddie Albert and Wayne Morris, their co-stars in the popular military academy comedy Brother Rat (1938). It's a pleasant enough fa...
1940 May 8 Ricky Nelson Is Born
Eric Hilliard "Ricky" Nelson, later known as Rick Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985), was an American singer, musician and actor. He placed 53 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 between...
1940 May 9 German Forces Occupy Luxembourg
Germany initiated Fall Gelb on the evening prior to and the night of 10 May. During the late evening of 9 May, German forces occupied Luxembourg. Army Group B launched its (feint) offensi...
1940 May 10 Allied Forces Initiate Dyle Plan
At roughly 04:00 the first air raids were conducted against airfields and communication centres. The Allied armies had enacted their Dyle plan on the morning of 10 May, and were approachi...
1940 May 10 Battle for The Hague
Although the German troops managed to capture the three airfields, they failed in their primary objective of taking the city of Hague and forcing the Dutch to surrender. Accordingly, the ...
1940 May 10 Battle of Fort Eben-Emael Begins
he Battle of Fort Eben-Emael was a battle between Belgian and German forces that took place between 10 May and 11 May, 1940, and was part of the Battle of the Netherlands, Battle of Belgi...
1940 May 10 Battle of Maastricht
The Battle of Maastricht was one of the first battles that took place during the German Campaign on the Western Front. Maastricht was a key city in order to capture the Belgian Fort Eben-...
1940 May 10 Nazi German Forces Begin Operation Fall Gelb with Attack on the Netherlands
On the morning of 10 May 1940 the Dutch awoke to the sound of aircraft engines roaring in the sky. Nazi Germany had commenced operation Fall Gelb and attacked the Netherlands, Belgium, Fr...
1940 May 10 Winston Churchill Is Appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
From as early as 1936 Winston Churchill was making noises in Parliament about the overwhelming rate of German rearmament. His campaign made him unpopular with an administration which favo...
1940 May 12 Battle of Hannut Begins
The Battle of Hannut was a World War II battle fought during the Battle of Belgium and took place on 12 May 1940 – 14 May 1940 at Hannut in Belgium. It was considered to be the first and ...
1940 May 12 British Royal Air Force French Armée de l'Air Attack German-Held Maastricht
On the morning of 12 May, in response to Belgian pressure and necessity, the Royal Air Force and the Armée de l'Air undertook several air attacks on the German-held Maastricht and Meuse b...
1940 May 12 General Winkelman Orders Destruction of Dutch Bridges and Oil Reserves to Prevent German Advance
In the afternoon General Winkelman received information about armoured forces advancing in the Langstraat region, on the road between 's-Hertogenbosch and the Moerdijk bridges. He still f...
1940 May 13 Dutch Cabinet of Ministers Flees the Netherlands Amidst German Invasion
In the early morning of 13 May General Winkelman, advising the Dutch government, considered the general situation to be critical. On land the Dutch had been cut off from the Allied front ...
1940 May 13 German Forces Capture the Grebbeberg
The fall of the Grebbeberg was a huge blow to the Dutch. Defeat at this location meant the collapse of the entire Grebbeline and forced the Dutch to a full retreat of six divisions to the...
1940 May 13 Germans Cross Meuse River into France at Sedan
At Sedan the Meuse Line consisted of a strong defensive belt, six kilometres deep according to the modern principles of zone defence on slopes overlooking the Meuse valley and strengthene...