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1940
1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar, the 1940th year in the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini designations, the 940th year of the 2nd millennium, the 40th year of the 20th century, and the 1st year of the 1940s decade.
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 execution order prepared by Beria & Stalin. Over 25700 Polish intelligentsia, including over 22000 Polish POW, known also as Katyn massacre were slaughtered.
- 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.
- May 4 – Nazi Germany opens Auschwitz concentration camp
- May 10 - World War II: Germany invades the Netherlands and Belgium.
- May 10 - Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- May 10 - World War II: British troops land on Iceland.
- June 4 - World War II: British troops are evacuated from Dunkirk.
- August 20 - Leon Trotsky is wounded with an ice pick, dying the next day.
- November 5 - Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected to a record third term as President of the United States.
- December 30 – California opens the first freeway.
Births
- January 2 - Jim Bakker, American televangelist
- January 4 - Gao Xingjian, Chinese-born French writer
- January 21 - Jack Nicklaus, American golfer
- January 22 - John Hurt, British actor
- January 24 - Joachim Gauck, President of Germany
- January 28 - Carlos Slim, Mexican businessman
- February 2 - David Jason, British actor
- February 6 - Tom Brokaw, American television journalist
- February 7 - Tony Tan Keng Yam, President of Singapore
- February 9 - J. M. Coetzee, South African writer
- February 10 - Kenny Rankin, pop and jazz singer and songwriter
- February 17 - Gene Pitney, American singer (d. 2006)
- February 19 - Smokey Robinson, American singer
- February 19 - Saparmurat Niyazov, President of Turkmenistan (d. 2006)
- February 20 - Jimmy Greaves, English footballer
- February 23 – Peter Fonda, American actor (d. 2019)
- February 27 - Bill Hunter, Australian actor (d. 2011)
- February 28 - Mario Andretti, Italian-born racing driver
- March 2 - Billy McNeill, Scottish footballer
- March 7 - Rudi Dutschke, German student leader (d. 1979)
- March 10 - Chuck Norris, American actor
- March 12 - Al Jarreau, American musician
- March 16 - Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian movie director
- March 24 – Bob Mackie, clothing designer
- March 26 - Nancy Pelosi, American politician
- March 26 - James Caan, American actor
- March 28 - Luis Cubilla, Uruguayan footballer (d. 2013)
- April 1 - Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmental and political activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner (d. 2011)
- April 12 - Herbie Hancock, American musician
- April 15 - Jeffrey Archer, British politician and writer
- April 16 – Margrethe II of Denmark, Queen of Denmark
- April 18 - Joseph L. Goldstein, American biochemist and geneticist
- April 20 - James Gammon, American actor (d. 2010)
- April 25 – Al Pacino, American actor
- April 26 - Giorgio Moroder, Italian composer
- May 4 - Sean Barrett, English actor
- May 8 - Peter Benchley, American writer (d. 2006)
- May 8 - Toni Tennille, American singer (Captain & Tennille)
- May 9 - James L. Brooks, American producer and writer
- May 20 – Stan Mikita, Retired Slovakian-Canadian professional ice hockey player
- May 20 - Sadaharu Oh, Japanese baseball player
- May 21 - Tony Sheridan, English musician (d. 2013)
- May 24 - Joseph Brodsky, Russian writer (d. 1996)
- May 26 - Levon Helm, American musician and actor (The Band) (d. 2012)
- May 28 - Maeve Binchy, Irish writer (d. 2012)
- May 29 - Farooq Leghari, President of Pakistan (d. 2010)
- June 7 – Tom Jones, Welsh singer
- June 8 - Nancy Sinatra, American singer
- June 23 - Adam Faith, British singer (d. 2003)
- June 28 - Muhammad Yunus, Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize winner
- July 2 - Kenneth Clarke, British politician
- July 3 – Jerzy Buzek, Polish politician
- July 3 - Fontella Bass, American singer (d. 2012)
- July 7 – Ringo Starr, British musician, actor (The Beatles)
- July 13 - Patrick Stewart, British actor
- July 15 - Robert Winstone, British scientist
- July 27 - Pina Bausch, German choreographer (d. 2009)
- August 3 - Martin Sheen, American actor
- August 16 - Bruce Beresford, Australian director
- August 26 - Don LaFontaine, American actor (d. 2008)
- September 5 - Raquel Welch, American actress
- September 7 - Abdurrahman Wahid, President of Indonesia (d. 2009)
- September 20 - Taro Aso, former Prime Minister of Japan
- September 21 - Rick May, Canadian-American voice actor (d. 2020)
- September 29 – John Miszuk, retired Polish professional ice hockey player
- October 9 – John Lennon, British musician (The Beatles) (died 1980)
- October 14 - Cliff Richard, British singer (Cliff Richard And The Shadows)
- October 19 - Michael Gambon, British actor
- October 21 - Manfred Mann, musician (Manfred Mann)
- October 23 - Pele, Brazilian footballer
- November 5 - Anthony Rolfe Johnson, British tenor (d. 2010)
- November 10 - Screaming Lord Sutch, British musician and politician (d. 1999)
- November 15 - Sam Waterston, American actor
- November 18 - Qaboos, Sultan of Oman (d. 2020)
- November 21 - Doctor John, American musician
- November 22 – Terry Gilliam, American-born British animator, movie maker
- November 27 - Bruce Lee, American actor and martial artist (d. 1973)
- November 29 - Denny Doherty, Canadian singer and musician (The Mamas & the Papas) (d. 2007)
- December 1 – Richard Pryor, American actor and comedian (d. 2005)
- December 12 – Dionne Warwick, American singer
- December 18 - Bram Morrison, Canadian singer and musician (Sharon, Lois & Bram)
- December 21 - Frank Zappa, American musician (d. 1993)
- December 28 - Don Francisco, Chilean television host
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 movie 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 15 – 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)
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