1940 CE

Nazi Germany conquers France in the Battle of France; the United Kingdom endures the Battle of Britain and The Blitz; the Dunkirk evacuation saves trapped Allied troops; Germany occupies Denmark and Norway in Operation Weserübung; Italy’s invasion of Greece sparks the Greco-Italian War; the Soviets carry out the Katyn massacre; the Tripartite Pact forms the Axis alliance; the 1940 Vrancea earthquake strikes Romania; and Leon Trotsky is assassinated in Mexico.

In the 1940s, the 20th century.

1940 at a glance

World population: about 2.29 billion Our World in Data
United States: Franklin D. Roosevelt (President) Wikipedia rev. 1377869146
United Kingdom: George VI (King); Neville Chamberlain, then Winston Churchill (Prime minister) Wikipedia rev. 1377869146
Soviet Union: Joseph Stalin (General Secretary); Mikhail Kalinin (Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet); Vyacheslav Molotov (Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars) Wikipedia rev. 1377869146
Republic of China (1916–1949): Chiang Kai-shek (Premier) Wikipedia rev. 1377869146
French Third Republic: Albert François Lebrun (President); Édouard Daladier, then Philippe Pétain (President of the Council of ministers) Wikipedia rev. 1377869146
Vichy France: Philippe Pétain (Chief of state); Pierre Laval, then Pierre-Étienne Flandin (Prime minister) Wikipedia rev. 1377869146
Nazi Germany: Adolf Hitler (Führer); Adolf Hitler (Chancellor) Wikipedia rev. 1377869146
$1 in 1940: $24.05 in September 2026 dollars BLS CPI-U

Who led every country in 1940 →Born in 1940? What it cost, who led, what was No. 1 →

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

10 March – General elections are held. Enrique Peñaranda (I-CONC) wins by 85.99%Bolivia source
March 12 – Moscow Peace Treaty: The Soviet Union and Finland sign a peace treaty in Moscow, ending the Winter War; Finns, along with the world at large, are shocked by the harsh terms.source
March 30 – WWII: Former Kuomintang member and Chinese foreign minister, Wang Jingwei, announces the creation of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China in Nanjing.source
April 27 – Mandatory Palestine and Lebanon play an association football friendly; it is Lebanon's first official match, and Mandatory Palestine's last before they become Israel in 1948.source
27 April – A friendly association football match between the national teams of Mandatory Palestine and Lebanon takes place at the Maccabiah Stadium in Tel Aviv; Mandatory Palestine beats Lebanon 5–1.Mandatory Palestine source
1 May: President Getúlio Vargas signs a decree, establishing the country's minimum wage.Brazil source
May 10 – With the resignation of Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.source
May 13 – Winston Churchill, in his first address as Prime Minister, tells the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, "I have nothing to offer you but blood, toil, tears and sweat."source
May 22 – WWII: The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1940, giving the government full control over all persons and property.source
June 17 – Occupation of the Baltic states: The Soviet Union occupies Estonia and Latvia.source
June 17 – Philippe Pétain becomes Prime Minister of France, and immediately asks Germany for peace terms.source
June 28 – General Charles de Gaulle is officially recognized by Britain as the "Leader of all Free Frenchmen, wherever they may be."source
July 3 – WWII: Attack on Mers-el-Kébir: British naval units sink or seize ships of the French fleet anchored in the Algerian ports of Mers-el-Kebir and Oran, to prevent them from falling into German hands. The following day, Vichy France breaks off diplomatic relations with Britain.source
4 July – Taoiseach Éamon de Valera announces that the policy of neutrality adopted the previous September will not be reversed.Northern Ireland source
July 11 – Vichy France begins with a constitutional law which only eighty members of the parliament vote against. Philippe Pétain becomes Prime Minister of France.source
July 19 – Adolf Hitler makes a peace appeal ("appeal to reason") to Britain, in an address to the Reichstag. BBC German-language broadcaster Sefton Delmer unofficially rejects it at once and Lord Halifax, the British foreign minister, flatly rejects peace terms in a broadcast reply on July 22.source
July 21 – After rigged parliamentary elections in the three occupied countries on July 14–15, the parliaments proclaim the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republics.source
21 July – New Estonian Parliament (loyal to Soviet powers) proclaimed Estonian SSR.Estonia source
July 23 – Welles Declaration: United States Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles announces that the U.S. will not accord diplomatic recognition to the Soviet Union's occupation of the Baltic states.source
August 3 – The Lithuanian SSR is annexed into the Soviet Union, followed by the Latvian SSR on August 5 and the Estonian SSR August 6, just seven weeks after their occupation. Ethnic Germans will be deported to Germany.source
August 18 – The Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, is installed as Governor of the Bahamas.source
August 30 – Second Vienna Award: Germany and Italy compel Romania to cede half of Transylvania to Hungary.source
Ortiz, during his leave from work, offers his resignation to the Congress amid a political controversy. The Congress does not accept it.Argentina source
September 6 – King Carol II of Romania abdicates and is succeeded by his son Michael.source
September 7 – Treaty of Craiova: Romania loses Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria.source
September 21 – 1940 Australian federal election: Robert Menzies' UAP/Country Coalition Government is re-elected as a minority government, narrowly defeating the Labor Party led by John Curtin. It is the last federal election to result in a minority government until 2010.source
September 27 – WWII: Germany, Italy and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact.source
27 September – World War II: Germany, Italy and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact.Germany source
November 5 – 1940 United States presidential election: Democrat incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt decisively defeats Republican challenger Wendell Willkie, and becomes the United States' first and only third-term president.source
December 1 – Manuel Ávila Camacho takes office as President of Mexico.source
December 29 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a fireside chat to the nation, declares that the United States must become "the great arsenal of democracy."source
Ruling party – Republican People's Party (CHP)Turkey source

Conflict & Security

January 6 – WWII: Winter War – General Semyon Timoshenko takes command of all Soviet forces.source
January 7 – WWII: Winter War: Battle of Raate Road – Outnumbered Finnish troops decisively defeat Soviet forces.source
January 8 – Winter War: Battle of Suomussalmi – Finnish forces destroy the Soviet 44th Rifle Division.source
February – The last mounted charge by a British cavalry regiment is made when the Royal Scots Greys are called to quell Arab rioters in Mandatory Palestine.source
March 5 – Katyn massacre: Members of the Soviet Politburo (Joseph Stalin, Vyacheslav Molotov, Lazar Kaganovich, Mikhail Kalinin, Kliment Voroshilov and Lavrentiy Beria) sign an order, prepared by Beria, for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs.source
April 9 – WWII: Germany invades the neutral countries of Denmark and Norway in Operation Weserübung, opening the Norwegian campaign. The British Royal Navy attempts to attack elements of the German fleet off Norway. Vidkun Quisling proclaims a new collaborationist regime in Norway. The German invasion of Denmark lasts for about six hours, before that country capitulates.source
9 April - Iceland takes full control of its foreign policy following the German invasion of Denmark.Iceland source
April 10 – WWII: First naval Battle of Narvik – The British Royal Navy attacks the German fleet in the Ofotfjord. At Bergen, German cruiser Königsberg is sunk by British Fleet Air Arm Blackburn Skua dive bombers, flying from RNAS Hatston in Orkney.source
April 16 – In American baseball, the Cleveland Indians, behind Bob Feller's Opening Day no-hitter, defeat the Chicago White Sox, 1–0.source
May 17 – Zeeland is overrun by German forces, ending the Battle of the Netherlands and beginning full German occupation of the Netherlands (Noord-Beveland surrenders on May 18, and the remaining Dutch troops are withdrawn from Zeelandic Flanders on May 19).source
May 20 – The Holocaust: The Nazi concentration camp and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the German concentration camps, opens in occupied Poland, near the town of Oświęcim. From now on until January 1945, around 1.1 million people will be killed here.source
27 May – The new Churchill war ministry in London agrees to seek co-operation from Éamon de Valera and creation of an All-Ireland Council during "the present emergency".Northern Ireland source
June 4 – The Dunkirk evacuation ends: The British and French navies, together with large numbers of civilian vessels from various nations, complete evacuating 300,000 troops from Dunkirk, France to England.source
10 June – Count Ciano, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, relays Italy's declaration of war to André François-Poncet, the French Ambassador to Italy, declaring war on both the United Kingdom and France. This begins Italy's participation in World War II.Italy source
June 16 – The Churchill war ministry in the United Kingdom offers a Franco-British Union (inspired by Jean Monnet) to Paul Reynaud, Prime Minister of France, in the hope of preventing France from agreeing to an armistice with Germany, but Reynaud resigns when his own cabinet refuses to accept it.source
17 June – The Red Army occupied Estonia and Latvia.Estonia source
June 18 – Winston Churchill tells the House of Commons of the United Kingdom: "The Battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin... if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour."source
June 22 – WWII: Second Armistice at Compiègne: The French Third Republic and Nazi Germany sign an armistice, ending the Battle of France in the Forest of Compiègne, in the same Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits railroad car used by Marshal Ferdinand Foch to conclude the Armistice with Germany in 1918. This divides France into a Zone occupée in the north and west, under the Military Administration in France (Nazi Germany), and a southern Zone libre, Vichy France.source
June 28–July 4 – Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern BukovinaRomania source
June 30 – WWII: German forces land in Guernsey, marking the start of the 5-year Occupation of the Channel Islands.source
June – The Zionist underground paramilitary group "Lehi" is established by Avraham Stern with the aim of forcibly evicting the British from Palestine.Mandatory Palestine source
August 4 – U.S. Gen. John J. Pershing, in a nationwide radio broadcast, urges all-out aid to Britain in order to defend the Americas, while Charles Lindbergh speaks to an isolationist rally at Soldier Field in Chicago.source
August 18 – WWII: "The Hardest Day" in the Battle of Britain: Both sides lose more aircraft combined on this day than at any other point during the campaign, without the Luftwaffe achieving dominance over RAF Fighter Command.source
August 25 – WWII: The first Bombing of Berlin is carried out, by the British Royal Air Force.source
September 7 – WWII: The Blitz – Nazi Germany begins to rain bombs on London (the first of 57 consecutive nights of strategic bombing).source
September 22–26 – Japanese invasion of French IndochinaJapan source
September – The U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division (previously a National Guard Division in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma), is activated and ordered into federal service for one year, to engage in a training program in Ft. Sill and Louisiana, prior to serving in WWII.source
28 October – Italy declares war on Greece, starting the Greco-Italian War, a theater of World War II.Italy source
November 2–8 – WWII: Greco-Italian War – Battle of Elaia–Kalamas in Epirus: Outnumbered Greek forces repel the Italian Army.source
November 12 – WWII: The Battle of Gabon, begun on October 27, concludes with Free French Forces taking control of the colony of Gabon and the remainder of French Equatorial Africa from the Vichy regime.source
November 20–24 – WWII: Hungary, Romania and Slovakia join the Axis powers.source
November 26–27 – Jilava Massacre: In Romania, coup leader General Ion Antonescu's Iron Guard arrests and executes over 60 of exiled King Carol II of Romania's aides, starting at a penitentiary near Bucharest. Among the dead is former minister and acclaimed historian Nicolae Iorga.source
November 27 – WWII: Battle of Cape Spartivento: The British Royal Navy and Italian Regia Marina battle to a draw.source
December 9 – WWII: Operation Compass – British forces in North Africa begin their first major offensive, with an attack on Italian forces at Sidi Barrani, Egypt.source
Juan Tonazzi is appointed minister of War. He rearranges the top military personnel, promoting supporters of Agustín Pedro JustoArgentina source

Exploration & Expansion

16 February – Altmark incident: Royal Navy destroyer HMS Cossack pursues German tanker Altmark into the neutral waters of the Jøssingfjorden in southwestern Norway and frees the 290 British seamen held aboard.United Kingdom source
March 11 – Ed Ricketts, John Steinbeck and six others leave Monterey, California, United States, for the Gulf of California, on a marine invertebrate collecting expedition.source
March 31 – WWII: Commerce raiding German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis leaves the Wadden Sea for what will become the longest warship cruise of the war (622 days without in-port replenishment or repair).source
April – Initiation of regular transit of German troops through Sweden to and from NorwaySweden source
7 June – Norwegian Campaign: The Norwegian royal family and the Norwegian Government was evacuated from Tromsø aboard the British cruiser HMS Devonshire which later on arrived safely in London where Haakon VII and his cabinet set up a Norwegian government in exile.Norway source
June 24 – WWII: Operation Fish – British Royal Navy cruiser HMS Emerald sails from Greenock (Scotland) in convoy for Halifax, Nova Scotia (arriving July 1), carrying a large part of the gold reserves of the United Kingdom and securities for safe keeping in Canada.source
24 June–1 July – World War II: Operation Fish – Royal Navy cruiser HMS Emerald sailed from Greenock in convoy to Halifax, Nova Scotia, carrying a large part of the gold reserves of the United Kingdom and securities for safe keeping in Canada. Another convoy set sail on 5 July from the Clyde, including HMS Batory, carrying cargo worth $1.7 billion, the largest movement of wealth in history.Scotland source
July 5 – WWII: Operation Fish – A British convoy including HMS Batory sails from Greenock (Scotland) for Halifax, Nova Scotia, carrying gold bar and other valuables worth $1.7 billion for safe keeping in Canada, the largest movement of wealth in history.source
12 July: Pan American Airways flying boat service from Hawaii to Auckland via Canton Island (not Kingman Reef) commences.New Zealand source
12 September – Lascaux: 17,000-year-old cave paintings are discovered by a group of young Frenchmen hiking through Southern France. The paintings depict animals and date to the Stone Age.France source
October 1 – The first section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the country's first long-distance controlled-access highway, is opened between Irwin and Carlisle.United States source
2 December – Transvaal: Germiston to Jupiter, 2 mi 68 ch.South Africa source

Religion & Belief

18 January – Explosion at Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills (five killed).United Kingdom source
February 22 – In Tibet, province of Ando, 4-year-old Tenzin Gyatso is proclaimed the tulku (rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama.source
16 March – Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian writer and film directorItaly source
September 25 – Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany: German Reichskommissar Josef Terboven appoints a provisional council of state from the pro-Nazi Nasjonal Samling party, under Vidkun Quisling, as a puppet government for Norway.source
28 September – Vidkun Quisling becomes head of the German-appointed provisional councillors of state in Norway.Norway source
23 October – Fouad Twal, the Roman Catholic archbishop and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since June 2008Mandatory Palestine source
27 December – John McQuaid was consecrated as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland, an office he held for more than thirty years.Ireland source
The Mission sui juris of Portuguese Guinea was separated from the Catholic diocese of Santiago de Cabo VerdeCape Verde source
Publication of The Golden Treasury of Scottish Poetry edited by Hugh MacDiarmid.Scotland source
John Cowper Powys - Owen Glendower (U.S. publication)Wales source

Economy & Finance

June 3 – The Weather Bureau is transferred to the United States Department of Commerce.source
June 17 – WWII: Assets of all foreign nationals from France and Monaco are frozen.United States source
29 June – Turco German trade agreementTurkey source
1 August – Erling Falk, businessman and politician (born 1887)Norway source
August 7: Unemployment insurance is introducedCanada source
September 26 – The U.S. government places an embargo on the exportation of scrap iron and steel to any country outside the Western Hemisphere excluding Britain, effective October 16.source
19 November – The Central Legislative Assembly rejects the Finance Bill.India source
22 November – Single overarching trade union established.Belgium source
The Congress discusses a proposal for economic reactivation made by minister Federico PinedoArgentina source
Increase since 31 December 1939: -8000 (−0.49%).New Zealand source

Technology & Infrastructure

12 January – Transvaal: Crown to Langlaagte, 3 mi 18 ch.South Africa source
April 12 – Opening day at Jamaica Race Course features the use of parimutuel betting equipment, a departure from bookmaking heretofore used exclusively throughout New York. Other tracks in the state follow suit later in 1940.source
May 15 – Women's stockings made of nylon are first placed on sale across the United States. Almost five million pairs are bought on this day.source
May 16 – President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt, addressing a joint session of the U.S. Congress, asks for an extraordinary credit of approximately $900,000,000 to finance construction of at least 50,000 airplanes per year.source
May 25 – The Crypt of Civilization time capsule at Oglethorpe University, Brookhaven, Georgia in the United States, is sealed shut, with a projected opening date of 8113 CE.source
May 26 – The first free flight of Igor Sikorsky's Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 helicopter is made in the United States.source
May 29 – The Vought XF4U-1, prototype of the F4U Corsair U.S. fighter later used in WWII, makes its first flight.source
June 16 – The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is held for the first time, in Sturgis, South Dakota.source
June 18 – Appeal of 18 June: General Charles de Gaulle, de facto leader of the Free French Forces, makes his first broadcast appeal over Radio Londres from London, rallying the French Resistance, calling on all French people to continue the fight against Nazi Germany: "France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war."source
June 30 – The Civil Aeronautics Administration is placed under the Department of Commerce.source
July 1 – The first Tacoma Narrows Bridge opens for business, built with an 8 ft girder and 190 ft above the water, as the third-longest suspension bridge in the world.source
July 21 – The Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter aircraft enters service, so named as 1940 roughly corresponds to the year 2600 on the Japanese Imperial calendar.source
12 August – Thorvald Astrup, architect (born 1876)Norway source
Construction of the first airplane made in Argentina, a curtiss 75Argentina source
September 9 – George Stibitz first demonstrates the remote operation of a computer, in the United States.source
22 September – The first flight of Heinkel He 280 occurs.Germany source
October 1 – The first section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the United States' first long-distance controlled-access highway, is opened.source
October 16 – The draft registration of approximately 16 million men begins in the United States.source
18 October – Uzi Even, Israeli scientist and politician, first openly gay member of the KnessetMandatory Palestine source
26 October – Double-decker buses replace the last cable trams in Melbourne.Australia source
November 2 – German submarine U-69 is commissioned, the first Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, which will become its most numerous class, with 568 commissioned during the War.source
November 7 – In Tacoma, Washington, the 600 ft-long center span of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (known as Galloping Gertie) collapses.source
November 25 – The de Havilland Mosquito and Martin B-26 Marauder military aircraft both make their first flights.source
December 17 – President Roosevelt, at his regular press conference, first sets forth the outline of his plan to send aid to Great Britain, which will become known as Lend-Lease.source
December – Timely Comics' Captain America Comics #1 (cover dated March 1941), first appearance of Captain America and Bucky, hits newsstands in the United States.source
Walter Knott begins construction of a California ghost town replica, which soon evolves into Knott's Berry Farm.source
The Icefields Parkway in the Canadian Rockies is completed.Canada source
Ballymena, Cushendall and Red Bay Railway (part of Belfast and Northern Counties Railway) ceases operations.Northern Ireland source

Science & Discovery

February 7 – RKO release Walt Disney's second full-length animated film, Pinocchio.United States source
17 February – Waldemar Christofer Brøgger, geologist and mineralogist (born 1851)Norway source
February 27 – The radioactive isotope carbon-14 is discovered by Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben at the University of California, Berkeley.source
November 11 – WWII: German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis captures top secret British mail intended for the British Far East Command from the SS Automedon, and sends it to Japan.source
18 November – Haim Harari, Israeli theoretical physicist; President of the Weizmann Institute of ScienceMandatory Palestine source
December 14 – Plutonium is first synthesized in the laboratory, by a team led by Glenn T. Seaborg and Edwin McMillan, at the University of California, Berkeley.source
In Korea, the Hunminjeongeum (1446) is discovered, explaining the basis of the Hangul alphabet.source
Wilbur Franks invents the g-suit at the University of TorontoCanada source
In 1940, German optometrist Heinrich Wöhlk invented plastic Contact lenses.Germany source
New Zealand Trotting Cup – MarleneNew Zealand source
Portuguese Mathematical Society foundedPortugal source
Grace Williams - Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes (score dated 9 February)Wales source

Health & Medicine

January 8 – Food rationing in the United Kingdom begins; it will remain in force until 1954.source
18 January – Law of national prevention (Milli Korunma Kanunu) a law which authorizes the government to control the economy to overcome the war time hardshipsTurkey source
January 29 – According to Japanese government official confirmed report, a three-passenger locomotive commuter train derail and caught fire nearby Ajikawaguchi Station, Osaka, resulting to 189 person (181 were instantly, 8 were hospital) were death and 69 persons injures.Japan source
February 9 – Mae West and W. C. Fields join comedic forces for My Little Chickadee with tremendous success. The film becomes one of the highest-grossing of the year.United States source
1 June – Sale of the neutralist Derry Journal in Northern Ireland is prohibited for four days.Northern Ireland source
June 14 – A group of 728 Polish political prisoners from Tarnów become the first residents of the Auschwitz concentration camp.source
June 30 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is placed under the Federal Security Agency.source
President Ortiz takes leave from work because of diabetesArgentina source
16 August – The Communist Party of Norway is banned in German-occupied Norway.Norway source
August 24 – Howard Florey and a team including Ernst Chain and Norman Heatley at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, publish their laboratory results showing the in vivo bactericidal action of penicillin. They have also purified the drug.source
10 October – Jews banned from public office by decree of the occupying forces.Belgium source
Estimated population as of 31 December: 1,633,600.New Zealand source

Crime & Justice

2 January – The Royal Ulster Constabulary finds 2½ tons of the ammunition stolen in last year's Irish Republican Army Dublin Christmas Raid inside County Armagh.Northern Ireland source
July 27 – Eleven British nationals, including Melville James Cox, are arrested on suspicion of spying for military intelligence by the secret police in Japan. Cox commits suicide in Tokyo on July 29, according to a report by the Japanese Foreign Ministry.source
August 5: Camillien Houde, the mayor of Montreal, is arrested for sedition due to his anti-conscription rhetoricCanada source
August 20 – Leon Trotsky is attacked with an ice axe in his Mexico home by NKVD agent Ramón Mercader.source
September 12 – In Lascaux, France, 17,000-year-old cave paintings are discovered by a group of young Frenchmen hiking through Southern France. The paintings depict animals, and date to the Stone Age.source
October 9 – The Lead Singer of The Beatles, John Lennon was born.source
October 16 – Nazi Governor-General Hans Frank establishes the Warsaw Ghetto.source
November 16 – An unexploded pipe bomb is found in the Consolidated Edison office building (only in 1957 later is the culprit, former employee George Metesky, apprehended).source
25 November – Martial law in the European part of TurkeyTurkey source
Max Meldrum wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Dr J Forbes McKenzieAustralia source
Argila, directed by Humberto MauroBrazil source
Re-entry of Gandhiji in political scene with organisation of individual satyagraha (chose 1500 members) to speak and protest against army entry, against working in ammunition factories etc. to withdraw world war 2 support. First such satyagrahi to be arrested was Vinoba Bhave.India source
Laila Shawa, Palestinian Arab artistMandatory Palestine source
The Chatham Cup is won by Waterside who beat Mosgiel 6–2 in the final.New Zealand source

Disasters & Accidents

January 9 – WWII: British submarine HMS Starfish is sunk in the Heligoland Bight.source
10 January – Mechelen incident: German military plane crashes near Maasmechelen.Belgium source
January 15 – A large fire destroys much of Shizuoka city center.Japan source
January 29 – Three gasoline-powered trains carrying factory workers crash and explode while approaching Ajikawaguchi Station, Yumesaki Line (Nishinari Line), Osaka, Japan, killing at least 181 people and injuring at least 92.source
16 February – Altmark Incident: The British destroyer HMS Cossack intercepts the German transport Altmark in Norwegian waters, recovering 299 British prisoners of war.Norway source
April 4 – Neville Chamberlain, UK Prime Minister, in what proves to be a tragic misjudgment, declares in a major public speech that Hitler has "missed the bus".source
April 13 – WWII: Second naval Battle of Narvik – The British Royal Navy sinks all 8 defending German destroyers in the Ofotfjord.source
April 23 – The Rhythm Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, United States, kills 198 people.source
June 1 – WWII: Rear Admiral Sir W. Frederic Wake-Walker's flagship, the destroyer Keith, is sunk by Stukas at Dunkirk.source
June 7 – King Haakon VII of Norway and his government are evacuated from Tromsø to London, on HMS Devonshire.source
June 17 – RMS Lancastria, serving as a troopship, is bombed and sunk by Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 aircraft, while evacuating British troops and nationals from Saint-Nazaire in France, with the loss of at least 4,000 lives, the largest single UK loss in any World War II event, immediate news of which is suppressed in the British press. Destroyer HMS Beagle rescues around 600.source
17 June – A Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 bomber sinks the British ship RMS Lancastria, which was evacuating troops from near Saint-Nazaire, France, killing some 5,800 men. (Wartime censorship prevents the story from becoming public.)Germany source
June 25 – HMCS Fraser sinks in a collision in the Gironde estuary in France. 45 sailors die.Canada source
July 2 – WWII: British-owned SS Arandora Star, carrying civilian internees and POWs of Italian and German origin from Liverpool to Canada, is torpedoed and sunk by GS U-47 off northwest Ireland, with the loss of around 865 lives.source
July 19 – Battle of Cape Spada: HMAS Sydney and five destroyers sink the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni.2source
13 August – An RAAF Lockheed Hudson crashes near Canberra, killing three members of Cabinet and the Chief of the General Staff.Australia source
August 31 – WWII: Texel Disaster: Two British Royal Navy destroyers are sunk by running into a minefield off the coast of the occupied Netherlands with the loss of around 400 men, 300 of them dead.source
September 12 – The Hercules Munitions Plant in Succasunna-Kenvil, New Jersey explodes, killing 55 people.source
September 17–18 – WWII: SS City of Benares is torpedoed by GS U-48 in the Atlantic, with the loss of 248 of the 406 on board, including child evacuees bound for Canada. This results in cancellation of the British Children's Overseas Reception Board's plan to relocate children overseas.source
September 20–22 – WWII: Convoy HX 72, a North Atlantic convoy of 43 ships, is attacked by a German U-boat group (wolfpack), eleven ships of 73 tons are sunk, seven during the second night of the attack by the U-100 under the command of Joachim Schepke.source
September 30 (night to October 1) – Arsonists from the Hitler Youth destroy the Great Synagogue of Strasbourg.source
October 18–19 – WWII: Thirty-two ships are sunk from Convoy SC 7 and Convoy HX 79 by the most effective "wolfpack" of the war, including Otto Kretschmer, Günther Prien and Joachim Schepke.source
October 26–28 – WWII: RMS Empress of Britain, serving as a troopship under the British flag, is bombed, torpedoed and sunk off the Donegal coast, with the loss of 45 lives. At 42,348 GRT, she is the war's largest merchant ship loss.source
November 8 – WWII: MS City of Rayville is sunk by a naval mine off Cape Otway, Australia (the first United States Merchant Marine loss of the war).source
November 25 – Patria disaster: As British authorities attempt to deport Jewish refugees (originating from German-occupied Europe) from Mandatory Palestine to Mauritius, aboard the requisitioned emigrant liner SS Patria at Haifa, the Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah sinks the ship with a bomb, killing around 250 refugees and crew.source
December 6 – British submarine HMS Regulus is sunk near Taranto.source
12 December – The MV Salvador carrying some 327 Bulgarian Jewish refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe to Palestine, is wrecked in a violent storm in the Sea of Marmora, near Istanbul; 204 passengers including 66 children are drowned.Mandatory Palestine source
December 14 – British destroyers HMS Hereward and HMS Hyperion sink an Italian submarine off Bardia.source
December 25 – The German cruiser Admiral Hipper attacks a British shipping convoy (WS 5A) en route to Sierra Leone 700 miles (1,100 km) west of Cape Finisterre in Spain. Admiral Hipper sinks one ship but has to withdraw with engine trouble.source
December 29 – WWII: "Second Great Fire of London" – The Luftwaffe carries out a massive incendiary bombing raid, starting 1,500 fires. Many famous buildings, including the Guildhall and Trinity House, are either damaged or destroyed.source
Ansul Fire School is founded in Marinette, Wisconsin.source
German surface raiders operated in New Zealand waters in 1940 and 1941, sinking four ships.New Zealand source

Climate & Environment

21 January - Lowest ever temperature recorded in Wales, −23.3 °C (−9.9 °F) at Rhayader.Wales source
3 March – Flooding of Poulaphouca Reservoir was begun by damming the River Liffey at Poulaphouca as part of the Electricity Supply Board project to build Ireland's second hydroelectricity generating station, together with an improved water supply for Dublin.Ireland source
May 18 – The 6.9 Mw El Centro earthquake affects California's Imperial Valley with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), causing nine deaths and twenty injuries. Financial losses are around $6 million. Significant damage also occurs in Mexicali, Mexico.United States source
date unknown - The minority Baenan language becomes extinct.Brazil source
June 30 – The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is placed under the Department of the Interior.source
November 10 – 1940 Vrancea earthquake: An earthquake in Romania kills 1,000.source
November 10 – 1940 Vrancea earthquakeRomania source
20 December – Earthquake in the East AnatoliaTurkey source
December 20 – 1940 New Hampshire earthquakes: A 5.3 Mw earthquake shakes New England with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). This first event in a doublet earthquake is followed four days later by a 5.6 Mw shock, but total damage from the events is light.United States source
26–30 January – Severe ice storm across the UK.United Kingdom source

Culture & Society

February 2–11 – Scheduled dates for the 1940 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, cancelled in November 1939 due to WWII (originally allocated to Sapporo, Japan).source
February 7 – Walt Disney animated feature film Pinocchio premiere.source
February 15 – Paul Creston's Saxophone Sonata is officially premiered at the Carnegie Chamber Hall by saxophonist Cecil Leeson, who had commissioned it from the composer.source
March 23 – Pakistan Movement: The Lahore Resolution, calling for greater autonomy for what will become Pakistan in British India, is drawn up by the All-India Muslim League during a three-day general session at Iqbal Park, Lahore.source
April 7 – Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.source
April 13 – The New York Rangers win the 1940 Stanley Cup Final in ice hockey. It will be another 54 years before their next win in 1994.source
17 April – The law of Village InstitutesTurkey source
June 24 – United States politics: The Republican Party begins its national convention in Philadelphia, and nominates Wendell Willkie as its candidate for president.source
June 26 – Soviet calendar: The Soviet Union reverts to a seven-day week for all purposes.source
June 28 – The Smith Act (Alien Registration Act) is signed into United States law, setting criminal penalties for advocating overthrow of the government by force or violence, and requiring all aliens in the U.S. to register with the federal government.source
July 20–August 4 – Scheduled dates for the 1940 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, cancelled in November 1939 due to WWII (originally allocated to Tokyo, Japan).source
26 July – Revolutionary Left Party (PIR) is founded in Oruro.Bolivia source
July 27 – Bugs Bunny makes his debut in the Oscar-nominated cartoon short, A Wild Hare. However, it is not until 1941 that his name is adopted.source
20 August – The Deportes Luis Matte Larraín football club is founded.Chile source
24 August – Yaron London, Israeli media personality, journalist, actor and songwriterMandatory Palestine source
30 August – España F.C., a Salvadoran football club, was established.El Salvador source
August 31 – British film stars Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh are married at the San Ysidro Ranch in California.source
October 11 – Portuguese-born performer Carmen Miranda makes her American film debut in Down Argentine Way, one of the first films produced to promote the Good Neighbor policy.source
October 15 – Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator, a satirical anti-fascist comedy film, premieres in New York City. Written, directed, produced by and starring Chaplin as his first true sound film, it is a critical and commercial success and goes on to become Chaplin's most financially successful work. Filming began in September 1939.source
October 29 – The Selective Service System lottery is held in Washington, D.C..source
November 6 – Agatha Christie's mystery novel And Then There Were None is published in book form, in the United States.source
November 9 – Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez for classical guitar and orchestra premieres in Barcelona, Spain.source
November 9 – Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez premieres in Barcelona, Spain.Spain source
November 10 – The 2600th Anniversary Celebrations of the Japanese Empiresource
November 13 – The Walt Disney animated film Fantasia, the first commercial film shown in stereophonic sound, has its world premiere at the Broadway Theatre in New York City. It is the first box office failure for Disney, though it recoups its cost years later and becomes one of the most highly regarded of Disney's films.source
November 15 – Abbott and Costello make their film debut, in One Night in the Tropics.source
November 16 – The Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers is founded.source
November 17 – The Tartu Art Museum is established in Tartu, Estonia.source
November 25 – Woody Woodpecker makes his debut in the animated short, Knock Knock. It is not until 1941 that his current name is adopted.source
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 1940 NFL Championship Game.source
Throughout the entire year - Celebration of year 2600 in Japanese imperial yearJapan source
Louis MacNeice publishes his poetry collection The Last Ditch (including "The Coming of War" sequence).Northern Ireland source

Births

January 21 – Jack Nicklaus, American golfersource
5 February – Andy Tyrie, loyalist paramilitary.Northern Ireland source
February 21 – John Lewis, African-American politician, civil rights activist (died 2020)source
February 28 – Mario Andretti, Italian-born American racing driversource
March 26 – Nancy Pelosi, American politician; Speaker and Minority Leader (alternately) of the United States House of Representativessource
March 31 – Patrick Leahy, American politiciansource
30 April – Ülo Õun, sculptor (died 1988)Estonia source
June 2 – Constantine II of Greece (died 2023)source
24 June – Su Yu-chang, martial artist, scholar and practitioner of traditional Chinese medicineTaiwan source
July 6 – Nursultan Nazarbayev, 1st President of Kazakhstansource
July 7 – Sir Ringo Starr, English musician, singer, songwriter and actor (The Beatles)source
July 22 – Alex Trebek, Canadian game show host (Jeopardy!) (died 2020)source
October 9 – John Lennon, English musician, singer-songwriter (The Beatles) (died 1980)source
October 23 – Pelé, Brazilian footballer (died 2022)source
October 25 – Bob Knight, American basketball player and coach (died 2023)source
November 27 – Bruce Lee, Chinese-American martial artist, actor (died 1973)source
December 21 – Frank Zappa, American musician, composer and satirist (died 1993)source

Deaths

February – Zheng Pingru, Chinese spy (executed) (born 1918)source
19 March – Besim Ömer Akalın (born in 1862), MD and politicianTurkey source
May 7 – George Lansbury, British Labour politician (born 1859)source
May 14 – Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-born anarchist (born 1869)source
May 14 – Rotterdam is subjected to savage terror bombing by the Luftwaffe; 980 are killed, and 20,000 buildings destroyed. General Henri Winkelman announces the surrender of the Dutch army (outside Zeeland) to German forces.source
May 27 – WWII: Le Paradis massacre: 97 retreating British soldiers of the Royal Norfolk Regiment are executed by German troops of 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf after surrendering in France.source
June 10 – Marcus Garvey, Jamaican-born publisher, entrepreneur and black nationalist (born 1887)source
June 21 – Smedley Butler, U.S. general (born 1881)source
17 July – Faisal Husseini, Palestinian Arab politician and senior member of PLO (died 2001)Mandatory Palestine source
August 21 – Leon Trotsky, Russian communist revolutionary (assassinated) (born 1879)source
August 21 — Leon Trotsky, politician and political theorist (born 1879)Soviet Union source
September 26 – Walter Benjamin, German philosopher and cultural critic, suicide (born 1892)source
October 14 – WWII: At least 66 people are killed when a Luftwaffe bomb penetrates Balham station on the London Underground which is in use as an air-raid shelter during The Blitz on England.source
November 9 – Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1869)source
November 14 – WWII: Coventry Blitz – The city centre of Coventry, England is destroyed by 500 Luftwaffe bombers; 150,000 fire bombs, 503 tons of high explosives and 130 parachute mines level 60,000 of the city's 75,000 buildings; 568 people are killed. The city's cathedral is gutted.source
24 November – James Craig, the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, dies suddenly. He was the longest continually serving prime minister in Europe.Northern Ireland source
November 27 – Nicolae Iorga, Romanian historian and politician, 34th Prime Minister of Romania (assassinated) (born 1871)source
December 21 – F. Scott Fitzgerald, American writer (born 1896)source