1940

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1910s  1920s  1930s  – 1940s –  1950s  1960s  1970s
Years:	1937 1938 1939 – 1940 – 1941 1942 1943

Events

• March 3 – In Sweden, a time bomb destroys the office of Norrskenflamman newspaper of Swedish communists – 5 dead
• March 5- Members of Soviet politburo: Stalin, Molotov, Lazar Kaganovich, Mikhail Kalinin, Kliment Voroshilov and Lavrenty Beria himself, signed execution order prepared by Beria & Stalin. Over 25700 Polish intelligentsia, including over 22000 Polish POW, known also as Katyn massacre were slaughtered.
• March 12 – Soviet Union and Finland sign a peace treaty in Moscow ending the Winter War. Finns, and the World opinion, shocked by the harsh terms.
• March 18 – World War II: Axis powers – Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
• March 21 Édouard Daladier resigns as prime minister of France. He is replaced by Paul Reynaud.
• April 4 – Prime minister of Greece, Aleksandros Korizis, shoots himself – initial official explanation is "heart attack"
• April 7 – Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.
• April 9 – World War II: Germany invades Denmark and Norway in operation Weserübung. The British campaign in Norway is simultaneously commenced.
• April 23 – Rhythm Night Club burns in Natchez, Mississippi – 198 dead
• December 30 – California opens the first freeway.

Births

• February 23 – Peter Fonda, actor
• March 24 – Bob Mackie, clothing designer
• April 16 – Margrethe II of Denmark, Queen of Denmark
• April 25 – Al Pacino, American actor
• May 10 – Chuck Norris
• May 20 – Stan Mikita, Retired Slovakian-Canadian professional ice hockey player
• June 7 – Tom Jones, American singer
• July 3 – Jerzy Buzek, Polish politician
• July 7 – Ringo Starr, British musician, actor
• September 29 – John Miszuk, Retired Polish professional ice hockey player
• October 9 – John Lennon, British musician (d. 1980)
• November 21- Doctor John, musican
• November 22 – Terry Gilliam, animator, filmaker
• December 1 – Richard Pryor
• December 12 – Dionne Warwick, American singer
• December 26 – Phil Spector, music producer

Deaths

• January 4 – Flora Finch, English-born actress and comedienne (b. 1869)
• January 18 – Kazimierz Tetmajer, Polish poet and writer (b. 1865)
• January 27 – Isaac Babel, Ukrainian writer (b. 1894)
• February 11 – John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Governor General of Canada (b. 1875)
• March 10 – Mikhaïl Boulgakov, Russian writer (b. 1891)
• March 16 – Selma Lagerlöf, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)
• March 20 – Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (b. 1860)
• March 31 – Tinsley Lindley, English footballer (b. 1865)
• April 26 – Carl Bosch, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
• May 15 – Menno ter Braak, Dutch writer (b. 1902)
• May 20 – Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
• May 25 – Joe De Grasse, Canadian film director (b. 1873)
• May 28 – Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse (b. 1868)
• June 10 – Marcus Garvey, Jamaican-born publisher, entrepreneur, and black nationalist (b. 1887)
• June 17 – Arthur Harden, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
• June 21 – Smedley Butler, U.S. general (b. 1881)
• June 29 – Paul Klee, Swiss artist (b. 1879)
• July 4 – Robert Pershing Wadlow, tallest man in the world (infection) (b. 1918)
• August 8 – Johnny Dodds, American jazz clarinettist (b. 1892)
• August 18 – Walter Chrysler, American automobile pioneer (b. 1875)
• August 21 – Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary (b. 1879)
• August 22 – Mary Vaux Walcott, American artist and naturalist (b. 1860)
• August 30 – J.J. Thomson, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856)
• October 10 – Berton Churchill, Canadian actor (b. 1876)
• November 9 – Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1869)
• December 5 – Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist (b. 1880)
• December 19 – Kyösti Kallio, President of Finland (b. 1873)
• December 21 – F. Scott Fitzgerald, American writer (b. 1896)
• December 25 – Agnes Ayres, American actress (b. 1898)

Film Released

• Pinocchio

Hit songs

• "When You Wish Upon A Star" – by Neil Washington and Leigh Harline, from the movie Pinocchio, won the Academy Award for the best song.