1940s
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| Centuries: | 19th century - 20th century - 21st century |
| Decades: | 1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s |
| Years: | 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 |
The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949.
Contents |
[edit] Events and trends
The 1940s were seen as a transition period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s, which also leads the period to be divided in two halves:
The first half of the decade was dominated by World War II, the widest and most destructive armed conflict in human history. So consequential was this event and its brutal aftermath that it laid the foundation for other major world events and trends for decades to follow. This war was also the first modern civilian war.
The second half marked the beginning of the East-West conflict and the Cold War, together with major social upheaval caused by the destruction of the war, the large number of refugees, and soldiers returning home and demanding government recognition for their sacrifice, especially in colonies of European countries, many of which gained independence.
[edit] Technology
The first nuclear weapon is built and tested in 1945.
- First cruise missile, the V-1 flying bomb (in 1941 or 1942), and the first ballistic missile, the V-2 rocket (in 1942) are invented.
- Colossus, the world's first totally electronic and digital computer is built in 1944.
- Chuck Yeager, a U.S. Air Force test pilot, breaks the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 rocket-powered aircraft in 1947.
- Plutonium discovered in 1941.
[edit] Science
- Quantum electrodynamics developed by Feynman, Dyson, Schwinger, and Tomonaga
- Mathematics: cybernetics, game theory, cryptology
- Recombination in bacteria discovered by Tatum and Ledergerg
- TRIZ
- The first record player was made on May 17, 1946
[edit] War, peace and politics
- Nazi Germany invades Denmark, Norway, Benelux, France, and the Soviet Union from 1940-1941.
- The United States enters World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
- Germany and Japan suffer defeats at Stalingrad, El Alamein, and Midway in 1942 and 1943.
- D-Day (June 6, 1944)
- Germany surrenders May 7, 1945
- Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6 and August 9, 1945); Japan surrenders on August 15.
- World War II officially ends on September 2, 1945.
- The Holocaust (the shoah)
- United Nations established in 1945
- In 1946, former British PM Winston S. Churchill gives his famous "Iron Curtain" speech with US President Harry S Truman present.
- Beginning of the Cold War (generally thought of as somewhere from 1946-1949)
- Independence for some former colonies (including India and Pakistan in 1947, Israel in 1948, and Indonesia in 1949)
- 1948 Arab-Israeli War
- The Irish Free State becomes a republic in 1948
- NATO founded in 1949
- The Chinese Civil War ends in victory for the Communists in 1949. The Nationalists government retreat to Taiwan.
- The Berlin blockade in 1948.
- Informbiro period in Yugoslavia begins
- Truman Doctrine is created.
- Soviets test their first nuclear bomb in 1949 (Soviet atomic bomb project). This is seen by some as the beginning of the Cold War.
[edit] Economics
- The Great Depression ends in the United States after it begins participation in World War II, creating millions of jobs for unemployed workers.
- The Marshall Plan is implemented by the United States, giving billions of dollars in aid to reconstruct the war-devastated economies of Europe
- International Monetary Fund
- World Bank
[edit] Culture, religion
- Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life is released in 1946
- Michael Curtiz's Casablanca is released in 1942
- Orson Welles' Citizen Kane is released in 1941
- Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity is released in 1944
- William Wyler's Mrs. Miniver is released in 1942
- Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious is released in 1946
- Walt Disney's Pinocchio (1940 film) and Fantasia are released in 1940.
- Walt Disney's Dumbo is released in 1941
- Walt Disney's Bambi is released in 1942
- The Abstract Expressionism movement in art emerges
- Bebop emerges
- Rhythm and blues emerges
- Rock and roll emerges
- George Orwell publishes Animal Farm
- The Gremlins, the first book by Roald Dahl is published in 1943
- Arthur Miller publishes Death of a Salesman
[edit] Others
- Alcohol exclusion laws first passed in US.
- The Basketball Association of America, soon to be renamed the National Basketball Association (NBA), begins play in 1946
[edit] People
[edit] World leaders
- Prime Minister Robert Menzies (Australia)
- Prime Minister Arthur Fadden (Australia)
- Prime Minister John Curtin (Australia)
- Prime Minister Frank Forde (Australia)
- Prime Minister Ben Chifley (Australia)
- Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (Canada)
- Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion (Israel)
- Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (Italy)
- President Lin Sen (Republic of China)
- President Chiang Kai-shek (Republic of China)
- President Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (India)
- Führer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler (Germany)
- Mohandas Gandhi (India) († 1948)
- Governor-General Mohammad Ali Jinnah (Pakistan)
- King Victor Emmanuel III (Italy)
- Emperor Hirohito (Japan)
- Holy Father Pope Pius XII
- Taoiseach Eamon de Valera (Éire)
- Taoiseach John A. Costello (Republic of Ireland)
- General Secretary Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)
- Captain General Francisco Franco (Spain)
- President İsmet İnönü (Turkey)
- Prime Minister Winston Churchill (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Clement Attlee (United Kingdom)
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt (United States)
- President Harry S. Truman (United States)
- Governor Luis Muñoz Marín (Commonwealth of Puerto Rico)
- President Getúlio Vargas (Brazil)
- President Juan Peron (Argentina)
[edit] Sports figures
- Alec Bedser
- Denis Compton
- Don Bradman
- Joe Louis
- Jackie Robinson
- Joe DiMaggio
- Keith Miller
- Len Hutton
- Ray Lindwall
- Sammy Baugh
- Satchel Paige
- Stan Musial
- Steve Van Buren
- Sugar Ray Robinson
- Ted Williams
- Jeff Miller
- Cool Papa Bell
- John Smith
- Mike Hunt
[edit] Entertainers
- Dizzy Gillespie
- Abbott and Costello
- Bing Crosby
- Bob Hope
- Jack Benny
- Fred Allen
- Cary Grant
- Clark Gable
- Frank Sinatra
- Humphrey Bogart
- Ingrid Bergman
- Ink Spots
- James Cagney
- Jimmy Stewart
- Katharine Hepburn
- Carole Lombard
- Gary Cooper
- Marlene Dietrich
- Judy Garland
- Ginger Rogers
- Lana Turner
- Lena Horne
- Cab Calloway
- Lauren Bacall
- John Wayne
- Orson Welles
- Veronica Lake
- Vivien Leigh
- Marlon Brando
- Spencer Tracy
- Duke Ellington
- Walt Disney
- Carl Stuart Hamblen
- Rita Hayworth
- Danny Kaye
- Betty Grable
- The Andrews Sisters
- Vera Lynn
