1940
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| Centuries: | 19th century - 20th century - 21st century |
| Decades: | 1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s |
| Years: | 1937 1938 1939 - 1940 - 1941 1942 1943 |
Contents |
[change] 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 prepared by Beria order of execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POW, known also as Katyn massacre.
- 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.
[change] 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
- June 7 - Tom Jones, American singer
- July 7 - Ringo Starr, British musician, actor
- October 8 - John Lennon, British musician
- 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
[change] 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)
