Year (''' MCMXL ''') was a Leap Year Starting On Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar .
: ''(Below, many events of World War II have the " WWII " prefix.)''
: .]]
- March 2 - Elmer Fudd makes his debut in the short '' Elmer's Candid Camera ''.
- March 3 - In Sweden, a Time Bomb destroys the office of '' Norrskenflamman '' newspaper of Swedish Communists - 5 dead.
- , Molotov , Lazar Kaganovich , Mikhail Kalinin , Kliment Voroshilov and Lavrenty Beria , signed an order, prepared by Beria, for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs. The action is known as the Katyn Massacre .
- March 12 - Soviet Union and Finland sign a peace treaty in Moscow ending the Winter War . Finns, along with the world at large, were shocked by the harsh terms.
- - 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 .
- from every corner of India meet up around Iqbal Park , Lahore , now in modern-day Pakistan .
- May 10 - WWII :
- --- Battle Of France begins - German forces invade Low Countries .
- --- Invasion Of Iceland by the United Kingdom .
- ---With the resignation of Neville Chamberlain , Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister Of The United Kingdom .
- May 13
- --- Winston Churchill , in his first address as Prime Minister, tells the House Of Commons , "I have nothing to offer you but blood, toil, tears, and sweat."
- --- at Sedan .
- May 14
- --- Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and her government flee to London ; Rotterdam subjected to savage terror bombing by the Luftwaffe - 980 killed, 20,000 buildings destroyed.
- ---Recruitment begins in Britain for a home defence force - the Local Defence Volunteers , later known as the Home Guard.
- May 15
- --- surrenders.
- --- McDonald's founded. Dick And Mac McDonald open their first Restaurant in San Bernardino, California , featuring a broad menu including Barbecue . Eight years later, they would streamline production to focus on Hamburger s only.
- May 16 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt , addressing a joint session of Congress , asks for an extraordinary credit of approximately $900 million to finance construction of at least 50,000 airplanes per year.
- May 17 - Brussels falls to German forces; Belgian government flees to Ostend .
- May 18 - Marshal Henri Petain named vice-premier of France .
- May 19 - General Maxime Weygand replaces Maurice Gamelin as commander-in-chief of all French forces.
- opens in Poland .
- passes Emergency Powers Act giving the government full control over all persons and property.
- of British Expeditionary Force starts.
- May 28
- --- surrenders.
- --- Winston Churchill warns the House Of Commons to, "... prepare itself for hard and heavy tidings."
- September - U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division (previously a National Guard Division in Arizona , Colorado , New Mexico , and Oklahoma ), activated and ordered into federal service for one year to engage in a training program in Ft. Sill and Louisiana prior to serving in World War II .
- and Great Britain announced. Fifty U.S. destroyers needed for escort work transferred to Great Britain. In return, America gains 99-year leases on British bases in the North Atlantic , West Indies and Bermuda .
- September 7
- --- loses Southern Dobrudja to Bulgaria .
- --- - Nazi Germany begins to rain bombs on London . This will be the first of 57 consecutive nights of Strategic Bombing .
- September 12
- --- Lascaux , France - 17,000-year-old Cave Painting s are discovered by a group of young Frenchmen hiking through Southern France. The paintings depict animals and date to the Stone Age .
- ---The Hercules Munitions Plant in Kenvil, New Jersey explodes, killing 55 people.
- signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt , creating the first peacetime draft in U.S. history.
- imposes a total Embargo on all shipments of scrap metal to Japan .
- , Italy and Japan sign Tripartite Pact .
- incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Republican challenger Wendell Willkie and becomes the United States ' first third-term president.
- November 7 - In Washington , the middle section of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapses in a windstorm, a mere four months after the bridge's completion (it opened to traffic on July 1 , 1940 as the third-longest Suspension Bridge in the world).
- November 9 - Premiere of Joaquin Rodrigo 's '' Concierto De Aranjuez '' in Barcelona , Spain .
- November 10 - Earthquake in Bucharest , Romania - 1,000 dead.
- November 11 - WWII :
- --- Battle Of Taranto - The Royal Navy launches the first Aircraft Carrier strike in history, on the Italian fleet at Taranto .
- ---The German Hilfskreuzer (cruiser) '' Atlantis '' captures Top Secret British mail, and sends it to Japan
- --- kills 144 in U.S. Midwest .
- November 13 - Walt Disney 's '' Fantasia (film) '' is released. It is the first box office failure for Disney, though it will eventually recoup its cost years later, and become one of the most highly regarded of Disney's films.
- , the city of Coventry is destroyed by 500 German Luftwaffe bombers (150,000 Fire Bomb s, 503 tons of high explosives, 130 parachute mines leveled 60,000 of the city's 75,000 buildings; 568 people were killed).
- November 16
- --- leveling Coventry two days before, the Royal Air Force begins to bomb Hamburg (by war's end, 50,000 Hamburg residents died from Allied attacks).
- ---Unexploded Pipe Bomb found in Consolidated Edison office building. (Only years later is the culprit, George Metesky , apprehended.)
- leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini 's disastrous invasion of Greece .
- , Romania and Slovakia join the Axis Powers .
- November 27
- ---In Romania , coup leader General Ion Antonescu 's Iron Guard arrests and executes over 60 of exiled king Carol II Of Romania 's aides. Among the dead is former minister and acclaimed historian Nicolae Iorga .
- --- and Regia Marina fight the Battle Of Cape Spartivento .
- December 8 - The Chicago Bears , in what will become the most one-sided victory in National Football League history, defeat the Washington Redskins 73-0 in the annual NFL Championship Game.
- ". The City Of Sheffield is badly damaged by German air-raids.
- December 23 - Winston Churchill , in a broadcast address to the people of Italy , squarely blames Benito Mussolini for leading his nation to war against the British contrary to Italy's historic friendship with them.
- December 26 - The film version of '' The Philadelphia Story '', starring Katharine Hepburn , Cary Grant , James Stewart and Ruth Hussey , premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City .
- December 29
- --- Franklin D. Roosevelt , in a Fireside Chat to the nation, declares that the United States must become, "... the great arsenal of democracy."
- --- carries out massive incendiary bombing raid starting 1500 fires. Many famous buildings, including the Guildhall and Trinity House, are either damaged or destroyed.
- December 30 - California 's first modern Freeway , the future California State Route 110 , is opened to traffic in Pasadena, California , as the Arroyo Seco Parkway. It is now called the Pasadena Freeway.
- January 2 - Jim Bakker , American televangelist
- January 4
- --- Brian David Josephson , Welsh physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- --- Gao Xingjian , Chinese-born writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- January 6 - Penny Lernoux , American journalist and author (d. 1989 )
- January 9 - Miguel Ángel Rodríguez , a Costa Rican politician, lawyer, economist, and businessman.
- January 14 - Julian Bond , American civil rights activist
- January 20 - Carol Heiss , American figure skater
- January 22 - John Hurt , English actor
- January 27 - James Cromwell , American actor
- January 31 - Kitch Christie , South African rugby coach (d. 1998 )
- February 2 - David Jason , English actor
- February 3 - Fran Tarkenton , American football player
- February 4 - George Romero , American film writer, producer, and director
- February 5 - H.R. Giger , Swiss artist
- February 6
- --- Tom Brokaw , American television news reporter
- --- Jimmy Tarbuck , English comedian
- February 8
- --- Ted Koppel , American journalist
- --- Joe South , American singer and songwriter
- February 9 - J. M. Coetzee , South African writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- February 12 - Richard Lynch , American actor
- February 17 - Gene Pitney , American singer (d. 2006 )
- February 19 - Smokey Robinson , American musician
- February 20 - Jimmy Greaves , English footballer
- February 21 - James Wong , Hong Kong composer (d. 2004 )
- February 22
- --- Johnson Mlambo , South African politician
- --- Billy Name , American photographer and Warhol archivist
- February 23 - Peter Fonda , American actor
- February 24 - Denis Law , Scottish footballer
- February 25 - Ron Santo , American baseball player
- February 28 - Mario Andretti , American race car driver
- February 29 - Edward Frederic Benson , American writer
- March 3 - Germán Castro Caycedo , Colombian writer and journalist
- March 6 - Willie Stargell , baseball player (d. 2001 )
- March 7 - Rudi Dutschke , German student leader (d. 1979 )
- March 9 - Raúl Juliá , Puerto Rican actor (d. 1994 )
- March 10 - Chuck Norris , American actor and martial artist
- March 12 - Al Jarreau , American singer
- March 15 - Phil Lesh , American musician ( Grateful Dead )
- March 16
- --- Bernardo Bertolucci , Italian writer and film director
- --- Jan Pronk , Dutch politician and diplomat
- March 17 - Mark White , Governor of Texas
- March 22 - Haing S. Ngor , Cambodian actor (d. 1996 )
- March 25 - Anita Bryant , American entertainer
- March 26 - James Caan , American actor
- March 27
- --- Austin Pendleton , American actor
- --- Cale Yarborough , American race car driver
- March 29 - Ray Davis , American musician ( P-Funk )
- March 30 - Astrud Gilberto , Brazilian-born singer
- April 1 - Wangari Maathai , Kenyan environmentalist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- April 2 - Penelope Keith , English actress
- April 12
- --- Herbie Hancock , American musician
- --- John Hagee , American Televangelist
- April 16 - Queen Margrethe II Of Denmark
- April 18 - Joseph L. Goldstein , American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize In Physiology Or Medicine
- April 20 - George Takei , American actor
- April 25 - Al Pacino , American actor
- April 26 - Giorgio Moroder , Italian film composer
- May 1 - Elsa Peretti , Italian jewelry designer
- May 8
- --- Angela Carter , English author and editor (d. 1992 )
- --- Ricky Nelson , American singer (d. 1985 )
- May 8 - Toni Tennille , American singer
- May 9 - James L. Brooks , American film producer and writer
- May 11 - Juan Downey , Chilean-born video artist (d. 1993 )
- May 17 - Alan Kay , American computer scientist
- May 18 - Lenny Lipton , American Inventor
- May 20
- --- Stan Mikita , Slovakian-born hockey player
- --- Sadaharu Oh , Japanese baseball player
- May 22 - Bernard Shaw , American journalist and television news reporter
- May 24 - Joseph Brodsky , Russian-born poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996 )
- May 29 - Farooq Leghari , President Of Pakistan
- May 30 - Deanna Summers , American songwriter
- June 1 - René Auberjonois , American actor
- June 2 - King Constantine II Of Greece
- June 7 - Tom Jones , Welsh singer
- June 8 - Carole Ann Ford , British actress
- June 8 - Nancy Sinatra , American singer
- June 16 - Neil Goldschmidt , Governor of Oregon
- June 17 - George Akerlof , American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 20 - John Mahoney , English-born actor
- June 21 - Mariette Hartley , American actress
- June 22
- --- Abbas Kiarostami , Iranian film director, screenwriter, and film producer
- --- Esther Rantzen , British broadcaster
- June 23
- --- Adam Faith , English singer and actor (d. 2003 )
- --- Lord Irvine Of Lairg , Lord Chancellor Of England
- --- Wilma Rudolph , American athlete (d. 1994 )
- June 25 - A.J. Quinnell , English writer (d. 2005 )
- June 29 - Vyacheslav Artyomov , Russian composer
- July 3 - César Tovar , Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (d. 1994 )
- July 7 - Ringo Starr , British drummer ( The Beatles )
- July 10
- --- Gene Alley , baseball player
- --- Tom Farmer , Scottish entrepreneur
- --- Helen Donath , American soprano
- July 13 - Patrick Stewart , English actor
- July 17
- --- Tim Brooke-Taylor , English comedian
- --- Verne Lundquist , American sportscaster
- July 18
- --- Joe Torre , baseball player and manager
- --- James Brolin , American actor and director
- July 22
- --- George Clinton , American musician
- --- Alex Trebek , Canadian game show host
- July 24 - Stanley Hauerwas , American theologian
- July 26 - Mary Jo Kopechne , American aide to Ted Kennedy (d. 1969 )
- July 27 - Bharati Mukherjee , Indian-born novelist
- July 31 - Roy Walker , comedian and TV presenter of ITV's Catchphrase (1986-1999)
- August 3 - Martin Sheen , American actor
- August 7 - Jean-Luc Dehaene , Prime Minister Of Belgium
- August 8 - Dilip Sardesai , former Indian Test cricketer (d. 2007 )
- August 9 - Beverlee McKinsey , American actress
- August 10 - Bobby Hatfield , American singer ( Righteous Brothers ) (d. 2003 )
- August 19 - Jill St. John , American actress
- August 20
- --- Musa Geshaev , Chechen poet and historian
- --- Rubén Hinojosa , American politician
- August 22 - Valerie Harper , American actress
- August 25 - José Van Dam , Belgian bass-baritone
- August 28 - Tom Baker , American actor (d. 1982 )
- August 29
- --- Johnny Paris , American musician ( Johnny And The Hurricanes ) (d. 2006 )
- --- Bennie Maupin , American musician
- September 5 - Raquel Welch , American actress
- September 10 - David Mann , American artist (d. 2004 )
- September 12
- --- Skip Hinnant , American actor
- --- Mickey Lolich , baseball player
- September 13 - Óscar Arias , Costa Rican politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- September 14 - Larry Brown , American basketball coach
- September 23 - Mohammad-Reza Shajarian , Iranian traditional singer and undisputed Master
- October 9 - John Lennon , British musician and singer ( The Beatles ) (d. 1980 )
- October 13 - Pharoah Sanders , American saxophonist
- October 14 - Cliff Richard , English singer
- October 15 - Peter Doherty , Australian immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize In Physiology Or Medicine
- October 19 - Michael Gambon , Irish actor
- October 20 - Robert Pinsky , Poet Laureate Of The United States
- October 21
- ---Manfred Mann ( Manfred Lubowitz ), South African musician ( Manfred Mann bands)
- --- Geoffrey Boycott , English cricketer
- October 23 - Pelé , Brazilian footballer
- October 25 - Bobby Knight , American basketball coach
- October 27 - John Gotti , American gangster (d. 2002 )
- November 1 - Ramesh Chandra Lahoti , Chief Justice Of India
- November 15 - Sam Waterston , American actor
- November 21 - Richard Marcinko , U.S. Navy SEAL team member and author
- November 25 - Joe Gibbs , American football coach
- November 27 - Bruce Lee , Chinese American martial artist and actor (d. 1973 )
- November 29 - Chuck Mangione , famous American Flugelhorn player
- December 1 - Richard Pryor , American actor and comedian (d. 2005 )
- December 4 - Gary Gilmore , American murderer
- December 5 - Peter Pohl , Swedish writer
- December 12 - Sharad Pawar , Indian politician
- December 12 - Dionne Warwick , American singer
- December 21 - Frank Zappa , American musician, composer, and satirist (d. 1993 )
- December 22 - Noel Jones , British ambassador to Kazakhstan (d. 1995 )
- December 23 - Robert Labine , former mayor of old city of Gatineau, Quebec
- December 26 - Edward C. Prescott , American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- April 26 - Carl Bosch , German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874 )
- May 14 - Emma Goldman , Lithuanian-born anarchist (b. 1869 )
- 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 11 - Alfred S. Alschuler , American Architect (b. 1876 )
- 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 ever (infection) (b. 1918 )
- August 8 - Johnny Dodds , American jazz clarinetist (b. 1892 )
- August 18 - Walter Chrysler , American automobile pioneer (b. 1875 )
- August 21 - Leon Trotsky , Russian revolutionary (b. 1879 )
- August 21 - Hermann Obrecht , Swiss Federal Councillor (b. 1882 )
- August 22 - Mary Vaux Walcott , American artist and naturalist (b. 1860 )
- August 30 - J.J. Thomson , English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856 )
- September 5 - Charles De Broqueville , Prime Minister Of Belgium (b. 1860 )
- September 27 - Julius Wagner-Jauregg , Austrian neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize In Physiology Or Medicine (b. 1857 )
- October 5 - Ballington Booth , American co-founder of Volunteers of America (b. 1857 )
- October 9 - Wilfred Grenfell , English medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador (b. 1865 )
- October 10 - Berton Churchill , Canadian actor (b. 1876 )
- November 9 - Neville Chamberlain , Prime Minister Of The United Kingdom (b. 1869 )
- November 9 - John Henry Kirby , Texas legislator and American businessman (b. 1860 )
- November 17 - Eric Gill , British sculptor and writer (b. 1882 )
- November 17 - Raymond Pearl , American biologist (b. 1879 )
- 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 )
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