1940 - What happened in 1940 ?

January 1940

Friday 05:

FM radio is demonstrated to the FCC for the first time.

Saturday 06:

Mass execution of Poles, committed by Germans in the city of Poznan, Warthegau.

Friday 12:

World War II: Russia bombs cities in Finland.

February 1940

Wednesday 07:

Pinocchio, an Academy Award-winning animated feature based on the story Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, was first released by Walt Disney Productions.

Friday 16:

Altmark Incident: The German tanker Altmark, with 299 British prisoners, was boarded in neutral Norwegian waters by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack and the prisoners set free, a breach of Norwegian neutrality at the beginning of World War II.

Friday 23:

The animated movie Pinocchio is released.

Wednesday 28:

Basketball is televised for the first time (Fordham University vs. the University of Pittsburgh in Madison Square Garden).

Thursday 29:

Finland initiates Winter War peace negotiations

March 1940

Tuesday 05:

Members of Soviet politbiuro sign an order for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POW, known also as Katyn massacre.

Wednesday 13:

Winter War ended.

Monday 18:

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.

Saturday 23:

The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or the then Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All India Muslim League.

Saturday 30:

Sino-Japanese War: Japan declares Nanking to be the capital of a new Chinese puppet government, nominally controlled by Wang Ching-wei.

April 1940

Tuesday 09:

World War II: Germany invades Denmark and Norway.

Sunday 14:

Royal Marines land in Namsos, Norway, occupying key points, preparatory to a larger force arriving two days later.

Monday 15:

The Allies start their attack on the Norwegian town of Narvik which was occupied by Nazi Germany.

Tuesday 23:

A fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi kills 198 people.

Thursday 25:

The Faroese flag Merkið is made the official flag for the Faroe Islands.

May 1940

Wednesday 01:

The 1940 Summer Olympics are cancelled due to war.

Thursday 09:

World War II: The German submarine U-9 sinks French coastal submarine Doris near Den Helder.

Monday 13:

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands flees the Nazi invasion in the Netherlands to Britain. Princess Juliana takes her children to Canada for their safety.

Tuesday 14:

World War II: The Netherlands surrender to Germany.

Wednesday 15:

World War II: German troops occupy Amsterdam and invade Northern France.

June 1940

Monday 03:

World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk ends with a German tactical victory and with Allied forces in full evacuation.

Tuesday 04:

The Destroyer War Badge for Kriegsmarine was instituted.

Saturday 22:

France forced to sign armistice with Nazi Germany.

Sunday 23:

World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler surveys newly defeated Paris in now occupied France.

Wednesday 26:

World War II: Under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Romania requiring it to cede Bessarabia and northern part of Bukovina.

July 1940

Wednesday 10:

The German Luftwaffe begin to hit British convoys in the English Channel thus starting the battle (this start date is contested, though).

Thursday 11:

World War II: Vichy France regime formally established. Henri Philippe Pétain becomes Prime Minister of France.

Friday 19:

World War II: Battle of Cape Spada between the Royal Navy and the Regia Marina; the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni sinks, with 121 casualities.

Saturday 20:

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill limiting political activity by Federal employees, the Hatch Act.

Saturday 27:

Bugs Bunny makes his official debut in the animated cartoon A Wild Hare.

August 1940

Saturday 03:

Second World War: Italy invades British Somaliland.

Tuesday 13:

The Luftwaffe launches a series of attacks on British fighter bases and radar installations.

Tuesday 20:

Exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky is fatally wounded in Mexico City by an assassin's ice-ax. He will die the next day.

Friday 23:

World War II: The Germans start bombing London.

Monday 26:

Chad is the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor.

September 1940

Saturday 07:

Treaty of Craiova: Romania loses Southern Dobrudja to Bulgaria.

Wednesday 11:

George Stibitz pioneers the first remote operation of a computer.

Thursday 12:

The Hercules Munitions Plant in Kenvil, New Jersey explodes, killing 55 people.

Monday 16:

Sam Rayburn elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

Tuesday 24:

Baseball: Jimmie Foxx becomes the second member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

October 1940

Monday 07:

Germany invades Romania.

Wednesday 09:

During a nighttime air raid by the German Luftwaffe, St. Paul's Cathedral is pierced by a bomb.

Tuesday 15:

The Great Dictator, a satiric social commentary film by and starring Charlie Chaplin, is released.

Wednesday 16:

1940 - Warsaw Ghetto established

Thursday 31:

The United Kingdom prevents Germany from invading Great Britain.

November 1940

Tuesday 05:

U.S. presidential election, 1940: Democrat incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Republican challenger Wendell Willkie and becomes the United States' first third-term president.

Saturday 09:

Premiere of Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez in Barcelona, Spain.

Monday 11:

Armistice Day Blizzard: An unexpected blizzard kills 144 in U.S. Midwest.

Wednesday 27:

In Romania, General Ion Antonescu's Iron Guard arrests and executes over 60 of exiled king Carol II of Romania's aides, including former minister and acclaimed historian Nicolae Iorga. Mediterranean Sea: battle of Cape Spartivento between the Royal Navy and the Regia Marina

Saturday 30:

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz are married in Greenwich, Connecticut.

December 1940

Monday 09:

British Army attacks Italian forces in North Africa

Sunday 29:

Battle of Britain: Luftwaffe firebombs London, killing almost 3000 civilians

Monday 30:

California opens its first freeway: the Arroyo Seco Parkway.