May 1940

Wednesday 01:

The 1940 Summer Olympics are cancelled due to war.

Sunday 05:

World War II: In London, a Norwegian government in exile is formed.

Monday 06:

John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.

Thursday 09:

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

Friday 10:

World War II: Winston Churchill appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

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.

Friday 17:

World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.

Monday 20:

Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.

Friday 24:

Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.

Saturday 25:

World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk begins.

Sunday 26:

World War II: Battle of Dunkirk – In France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk.

Monday 27:

World War II: 97 out of 99 members of a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are massacred while trying to surrender at Dunkirk. The German commander, Captain Fritz Knochlein, is eventually hanged for war crimes.

Tuesday 28:

World War II: Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces recapture Narvik. First allied infantry victory in WW2.