1940 Events

On 17 September 1940, Hitler held a meeting with Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring and Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. Hitler became convinced that the operation was not viable. Control of...

The Japanese Invasion of French Indochina (仏印進駐 Futsu-in shinchū?), also known as the Vietnam Expedition, was an attempt by the Empire of Japan, during the Second Sino-Japanese War to blo...

The GC was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI. At this time, during the height of The Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage. The exis...

On this day in 1940, the Axis powers are formed as Germany, Italy, and Japan become allies with the signing of the Tripartite Pact in Berlin. The Pact provided for mutual assistance shoul...

The 1940 World Series matched the Cincinnati Reds against the Detroit Tigers, with the Reds winning the Series in seven games for their second championship, their first since the scandal-...

Knute Rockne, All American is a 1940 biographical film which tells the story of Knute Rockne, perhaps the most famous of all of the football coaches at Notre Dame, one of the most success...

John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English rock musician, singer, songwriter, and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding membe...

Although difficult on the civilian population, the Blitz gave the RAF a much-needed break. Air bases and factories could be repaired and plane inventory could be replaced. With its increa...

The Great Dictator is a comedy film written, directed, produced by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. First released in October 1940, it was Chaplin's first true talking picture, and more imp...

The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of the Jewish ghettos located in the territory of General Government in occupied Poland during World War II. It was established by the German Governor...

This novel is told primarily through the thoughts and experiences of Robert Jordan, a character inspired by Hemingway's own experiences in the Spanish Civil War. Robert Jordan is an Ameri...

Tugboat Annie Sails Again stars Marjorie Rambeau as the rambunctious female skipper created by Norman Reilly Raine. In this one, Tugboat Annie is threatened with the loss of her job as ca...

John Joseph Gotti, Jr, also known as Johnny Boy, (October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was the boss of the Gambino crime family after the murder of the previous boss Paul Castellano. John Go...

On 28 October 1940, after Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas rejected an Italian ultimatum demanding the occupation of Greek territory, Italian forces invaded Greece. The Hellenic Army counte...

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1940 and in US by Dodd, Mead and Company in ...

From November 1940 to February 1941, the Luftwaffe attacked industrial and port cities. Targets included Coventry, Southampton, Birmingham, Liverpool, Clydebank, Bristol, Swindon, Plymout...

Pfeiffer married Hemingway on May 10, 1927 but the match was difficult. She was wealthy and he was a best-selling author (The Sun Also Rises) with three books in print. Although they had ...

The winter of 1940-1 brought fears of bombing raids from Germany. Stations that were hit included Bristol, Birmingham, Birkenhead and Plymouth but serious damage also occurred at the Sout...

On November 11, 1940, one of the deadliest blizzards this region has ever seen struck. The Armistice Day Storm killed 49 people in Minnesota, 150 nationwide. One of the most tragic chapte...

The Long Voyage Home (1940) is an American drama film and directed by John Ford. It features John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell, Ian Hunter, Barry Fitzgerald, Wilfrid Lawson, John Qualen, Mildre...

The raid that began on the evening of 14 November 1940 was the most severe to hit Coventry during the war. It was carried out by 515 German bombers, two thirds from Luftflotte 3 and the r...

Greek reserves started reaching the front in early November, while Bulgarian inactivity allowed the Greek High Command to transfer the majority of its divisions from the Greco-Bulgarian b...

Alice in Movieland (1940) – this black-and-white dreamlike trip is part Alice in Wonderland, part A Star Is Born. When a young starlet, played by Joan Leslie, boards a train for Hollywood...

Often travelling with Gellhorn, the two fell in love as they competed for quality stories. They would eventually marry in November of 1940, nearly four years after meeting at Sloppy Joe’s...

The Letter is a 1940 American film noir directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by Howard Koch is based on the 1927 play of the same name by W. Somerset Maugham, originally filmed in 1929.

Southampton Blitz The Second World War hit Southampton particularly hard. Pockets of Georgian architecture remain, but much of the city was leveled during the Blitz of November 1940. 476 ...

The occupation of Nanning cut a Chinese line of supply along the highways from French Indo-China into Kwansi Province. The railway from Indo-China into Yunnan Province, however, lies much...

Hitler's propaganda claimed that Bristol had been completely destroyed in a night raid on November 2, 1940 in which 5,000 incendiary and 10,000 high explosive bombs were dropped on the ol...

The Central Hupei Operation was one of the engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Known as the Central Hupei O...

The Bank Dick (released as The Bank Detective in the United Kingdom) is a 1940 comedy film. (At the time, dick was common USA slang for detective.) W. C. Fields plays a character named Eg...

The Philadelphia Story is a 1940 romantic comedy film directed by George Cukor, starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart. Based on a Broadway play of the same name by Phi...

Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III (December 1, 1940 — December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of ra...

The Japanese North China Area Army estimated the strength of communist regulars to be about 88,000 in December 1939. Two years later, they revised the estimate to 140,000. On the eve of t...

Dr. Eloesser was also a close friend of Diego who was also in San Francisco at the time. While Frida was recuperating, Dr. Eloesser convinced Rivera to reconcile and remarry Frida. Frida ...

Fantasia is a 1940 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and the third film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. Fantasia features animation set to classical music and...

In his three seasons, old ninety-eight scored 33 touchdowns, kicked two field goals and kicked 33 points after touchdowns for 237 points, and threw 16 touchdown passes. He gained 3,438 ya...

The Sheffield Blitz is the name given to the worst nights of German Luftwaffe bombing in Sheffield, England during the Second World War. It took place over the nights of 12 December and 1...

The first major air raids began towards the end of 1940 against Liverpool and Wirral, with over 300 casualties sustained to air raids by the end of the year. 365 people were killed betwee...

Frank Zappa was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 21, 1940 to Francis Vincent Zappa (born in Partinico, Sicily) who was of Greek and Arab descent, and Rose Marie Colimore who was t...

The Manchester Blitz (also known as 'the Christmas Blitz') was the heavy bombing of the city of Manchester and its surrounding areas in England during the Second World War by the Nazi Ger...

Santa Fe Trail is a 1940 western film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Despite glaring historical inaccuracies and racist overtones, the film w...