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January 4 - World War II: Axis powers - Hermann Goering assumes control of all war industries in Germany.

January 7 - World War II: Winter War - General Semyon Timoshenko takes command of all Russian forces.

January 8 - World War II: Winter War - Russian 44th Assault Division destroyed by Finnish forces in Battle of Suomussalmi

January 25 - Canada - Parliament dissolved and election called for March 26.

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February 1 - World War II: Winter War - Russian forces launch major assault on Finnish troops on the Karelian Isthmus.

February 7 - RKO releases Walt Disney's second full-length animated film, Pinocchio.

February 16 - World War II - British destroyer Cossack pursues German freighter Altmark into Jossingfjord in southwestern Norway, resulting in freedom for 290 British sailors and seamen held as prisoners.

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March 2 - Elmer Fudd makes his debut in the short Elmer's Candid Camera.

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, signed an order, prepared by Beria, for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs. The action is known as the Katyn massacre.

March 12 - Soviet Union and Finland sign a peace treaty in Moscow ending the Winter War. Finns, along with the world at large, were 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.

March 23 - The Pakistan Resolution is rallied by the All-India Muslim League, Muslims from every corner of India meet up around Iqbal Park, Lahore, now in modern-day Pakistan.

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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 12 - The Faroe Islands were occupied by British troops following the invasion of Denmark by Nazi Germany. This action was taken to avert a possible German occupation of the islands, which would have had very grave consequences for the course of the Battle of the Atlantic.

April 15 - Opening day at Jamaica Racetrack features the use of pari-mutuel betting equipment, a departure from bookmaking heretofore used exclusively throughout New York state. Other NY tracks follow suit later in 1940.

April 23 - Rhythm Night Club burns in Natchez, Mississippi - 198 dead

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May 10 - World War II: Battle of France begin - German forces invaded France and Low Countries.

May 10 - World War II: Iceland invaded by the United Kingdom.

May 10 - With the resignation of Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

May 13 - Winston Churchill, in his first address as Prime Minister, tells the House of Commons, "I have nothing to offer you but blood, toil, tears, and sweat."

May 13 - World War II: German armies open 60-mile wide

May 14 - Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and her government flee to London; Rotterdam subjected to savage terror bombing by the Luftwaffe - 980 killed, 20,000 buildings destroyed.

May 14 - World War II: Recruitment begins in Britain for a home defense force - the Local Defence Volunteers, later known as the Home Guard.

May 15 - World War II: Dutch army surrenders.

May 16 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, addressing a joint session of Congress, asks for an extraordinary credit of approximately $900 million to finance construction of at least 50,000 airplanes per year.

May 17 - Brussels falls to German forces; Belgian government flees to Ostend.

May 18 - Marshal Henri Petain named vice-premier of France.

May 19 - General Maxime Weygand replaces Maurice Gamelin as commander-in-chief of all French forces.

May 20 - World War II: German forces, under General Erwin Rommel, reach the English Channel. Holocaust: concentration and death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau opens in Poland.

May 22 - World War II - British Parliament passes Emergency Powers Act giving the government full control over all persons and property.

May 26 - World War II: Dunkirk evacuation of British Expeditionary Force starts.

May 28 - World War II: Belgium army surrenders.

May 28 - Winston Churchill warns the House of Commons to, "... prepare itself for hard and heavy tidings."

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June 4 - World War II: Dunkirk evacuation ends - British forces complete evacuating 300,000 troops from Dunkirk in France.

June 9 - World War II: The British Commandos are created.

June 10 - World War II: Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom.

June 10 - World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounces Italy's actions with ftp://webstorage2.mcpa.virginia.edu/library/nara/fdr/audiovisual/speeches/fdr_1940_0610.mp3 "Stab in the Back" speech from the graduation ceremonies of the University of Virginia.

June 10 - World War II: Canada declares war on Italy.

June 10 - World War II: Norway surrenders to German forces.

June 10 - World War II: French government flees to Tours.

June 12 - World War II: 13,000 British and French troops surrender to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel at St. Valery-en-Caux.

June 13 - World War II: Paris is declared an open city.

June 14 - World War II: French government flees to Bordeaux.

June 14 - World War II: Paris falls under German occupation.

June 14 - World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Naval Expansion Act into law which aims to increase the United States Navy's tonnage by 11 %.

June 14 - Holocaust: A group of 728 Polish political prisoners from Tarnów become the first residents of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

June 15 - World War II: Verdun falls to German forces.

June 17 - Philippe Petain becomes Prime Minister of France and immediately asks Germany for peace terms.

June 17 - The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania fall under the occupation of the Soviet Union.

June 17 - World War II: Operation Ariel begins - Allied troops start to evacuate France, following Germany's takeover of Paris and most of the nation.

June 17 - World War II: Luftwaffe Junkers 88 bomber sinks British ship RMS Lancastria, that was evacuating troops from near Saint-Nazaire, France. Death toll is over 2500. Wartime censorship prevents the story going public.

June 18 - Winston Churchill speaks to the House of Commons: "... the Battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin."

June 18 - General Charles DeGaulle broadcasts from London, calling on all French people to continue the fight against Nazi Germany: "France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war."

June 21 - World War II: France and Germany sign armistice at Compiegne in the same wagon-lit railroad car used by Marshal Ferdinand Foch to accept the surrender of Germany in 1918.

June 23 - World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler surveys newly defeated Paris in now occupied France.*

June 24 - U.S. politics: Republican Party begins its national convention in Philadelphia and nominates Wendell Willkie as its candidate for president

June 24 - World War II: France signs armistice terms with Italy.

June 28 - General Charles DeGaulle is officially recognized by Britain as "Leader of all Free Frenchmen, wherever they may be".

June 30 - World War II: German forces land in Guernsey marking the start of the 5-year Occupation of the Channel Islands

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July 10 - World War II: Vichy France begins with a constitutional law where only 80 members of the parliament voted against. July 15 - U.S. politics: Democratic Party begins its national convention in Chicago and nominates Franklin D. Roosevelt for an unprecedented third term as president July 19 - World War II: Adolf Hitler makes peace appeal to Britain in an address to the Reichstag. Lord Halifax, British foreign minister, flatly rejects peace terms in a broadcast reply on July 22. July 27 - Bugs Bunny makes his debut in the cartoon A Wild Hare.

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August 3 - Soviet Union annexes Lithuania.

August 4 - 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.

August 5 - Soviet Union annexes Latvia.

August 6 - Soviet Union annexes Estonia.

August 20 - Winston Churchill pays tribute in the House of Commons to the Royal Air Force: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

August 20 - Leon Trotsky assassinated in Mexico by Ramón Mercader, a Soviet agent, with an ice axe

August 26 - Chad is the first French colony to proclaim its support for the Allies.

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September - U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division (previously a National Guard Division in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma), activated and ordered into federal service for one year to engage in a training program in Ft. Sill and Louisiana prior to serving in World War II. September 2 - World War II: Agreement between America and Great Britain announced. Fifty U.S. destroyers needed for escort work transferred to Great Britain. In return, America gains 99-year leases on British bases in the North Atlantic, West Indies and Bermuda. September 7 - Treaty of Craiova: Romania loses Southern Dobrudja to Bulgaria. September 7 - World War II: The Blitz - Nazi Germany begins to rain bombs on London. This will be the first of 57 consecutive nights of strategic bombing. September 12 - French children discover Lascaux caves. September 12 - The Hercules Munitions Plant in Kenvil, New Jersey explodes, killing 55 people. September 16 - World War II: Selective Service Act signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt, creating the first peacetime draft in U.S. history. September 27 - World War II: Germany, Italy and Japan sign Tripartite Pact.

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October 1 - Original section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike opens between Carlisle and Irwin.

October 9 - World War II: Battle of Britain - During a nighttime air raid by the German Luftwaffe, St. Paul's Cathedral is pierced by a bomb; musician John Lennon is born during an air-raid in Liverpool, England.

October 15 - First release of The Great Dictator, directed by Charlie Chaplin who is cast as fascist dictator Adenoid Hynkel, clearly modeled on Führer Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany.

October 16 - World War II: Draft registration of approximately 16 million men begins in the United States.

October 28 - World War II: Italy invades Greece.

October 29 - World War II: Selective Service System lottery held in Washington, D.C..

October 31 - World War II: Battle of Britain ends - The United Kingdom prevents Germany from invading Britain.

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November 5 - U.S. presidential election, 1940: Democrat incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Republican challenger Wendell Willkie and becomes the United States' first third-term president.

November 7 - In Washington, the middle section of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapses in a windstorm, a mere four months after the bridge's completion (it opened to traffic on July 1, 1940 as the third-longest suspension bridge in the world).

November 9 - Premiere of Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez in Barcelona, Spain.

November 11 - World War II: Battle of Taranto - The Royal Navy launches the first aircraft carrier strike in history, on the Italian fleet at Taranto.

November 11 - World War II: The German Hilfskreuzer (cruiser) Atlantis captures top secret British mail, and sends it to Japan

November 11 - Armistice Day Blizzard: An unexpected blizzard kills 144 in U.S. Midwest.

November 13 - Walt Disney's Fantasia (film) is released. It is the first box office failure for Disney, though it will eventually recoup its cost years later, and become one of the most highly regarded of Disney's films.

November 14 - World War II: In England, the city of Coventry is destroyed by 500 German Luftwaffe bombers (150,000 fire bombs, 503 tons of high explosives, 130 parachute mines leveled 60,000 of the city's 75,000 buildings; 568 people were killed).

November 16 - World War II: In response to Germany leveling Coventry two days before, the Royal Air Force begins to bomb Hamburg (by war's end, 50,000 Hamburg residents died from Allied attacks).

November 16 - Unexploded pipe bomb founded in Consolidated Edison office building (only years later the culprit, George Metesky, is apprehended

November 18 - World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous invasion of Greece.

November 20 - World War II: Hungary, Romania and Slovakia join the Axis Powers.

November 27 - In Romania, coup leader General Ion Antonescu's Iron Guard arrests and executes over 60 of exiled king Carol II of Romania's aides. Among the dead is former minister and acclaimed historian Nicolae Iorga.

November 27 - World War II: Royal Navy and Regia Marina fight the Battle of Cape Spartivento.

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December 12 & December 15 - World War II: The "Sheffield Blitz". The City of Sheffield is badly damaged by German air-raids.

December 26 - The film version of The Philadelphia Story, starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart and Ruth Hussey, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

December 29 - Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a fireside chat to the nation, declares that the United States must become, "... the great arsenal of democracy."

December 30 - California's first modern freeway, the future California State Route 110, is opened to traffic in Pasadena, California, as the Arroyo Seco Parkway. It is now called the Pasadena Freeway.

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Guilin, China, acquires current name.

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.

Tibet, province of Amdo: five-year-old Tenzin Gyatso was proclaimed the tulku (rebirth) of the thirteenth Dalai Lama.

Korea The Hunmin Jeong-eum Haerye (1446) was discovered, explaining the basis of Hangul.

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Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)

World War II (1939 - 1945).

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January 1 - Frank Langella, American actor

January 4 - Brian David Josephson, Welsh physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

January 4 - Gao Xingjian, Chinese-born writer, Nobel Prize laureate

January 6 - Penny Lernoux, American journalist and author (d. 1989)

January 14 - Julian Bond, American civil rights activist

January 20 - Carol Heiss, American figure skater

January 22 - John Hurt, English actor

January 27 - James Cromwell, American actor

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February 2 - David Jason, English actor

February 3 - Fran Tarkenton, American football player

February 4 - George Romero, American film writer, producer, and director

February 5 - H.R. Giger, Swiss artist

February 6 - Tom Brokaw, American television news reporter

February 6 - Jimmy Tarbuck, English comedian

February 8 - Ted Koppel, American journalist

February 8 - Joe South, American singer and songwriter

February 9 - J. M. Coetzee, South African writer, Nobel Prize laureate

February 12 - Richard Lynch, American actor

February 19 - Smokey Robinson, American musician

February 20 - Jimmy Greaves, English footballer

February 21 - James Wong, Hong Kong composer (d. 2004)

February 23 - Peter Fonda, American actor

February 24 - Denis Law, Scottish footballer

February 25 - Ron Santo, baseball player

February 28 - Mario Andretti, American race car driver

February 29 - Edward Frederic Benson, American writer

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March 3 - Germán Castro Caycedo, Colombian writer and journalist

March 6 - Willie Stargell, baseball player (d. 2001)

March 7 - Rudi Dutschke, German student leader (d. 1979)

March 9 - Raúl Juliá, Puerto Rican actor (d. 1994)

March 10 - Chuck Norris, American actor and martial artist

March 12 - Al Jarreau, American singer

March 15 - Phil Lesh, American musician (Grateful Dead)

March 16 - Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian writer and film director

March 17 - Mark White, Governor of Texas

March 22 - Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian actor (d. 1996)

March 25 - Anita Bryant, American entertainer

March 26 - James Caan, American actor

March 26 - Spiridon Louis, Greek runner

March 27 - Cale Yarborough, American race car driver

March 29 - Ray Davis, American musician (P-Funk)

March 30 - Astrud Gilberto, Brazilian-born singer

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April 1 - Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmentalist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

April 2 - Penelope Keith, English actress

April 12 - Herbie Hancock, American musician

April 16 - Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

April 18 - Joseph L. Goldstein, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

April 20 - George Takei, American actor

April 25 - Al Pacino, American actor

April 26 - Giorgio Moroder, Italian film composer

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May 1 - Elsa Peretti, Italian jewelry designer

May 8 - Angela Carter, English author and editor

May 8 - Ricky Nelson, American singer (d. 1985)

May 9 - James L. Brooks, American film producer and writer

May 11 - Juan Downey, Chilean-born video artist (d. 1993)

May 17 - Alan Kay, American computer scientist

May 20 - Stan Mikita, Slovakian-born hockey player

May 20 - Sadaharu Oh, Japanese baseball player

May 22 - Bernard Shaw, American journalist and television news reporter

May 24 - Joseph Brodsky, Russian-born poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)

May 29 - Farooq Leghari, President of Pakistan

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June - Carole Ann Ford, British actress

June 1 - René Auberjonois, American actor

June 2 - King Constantine II of Greece

June 16 - Neil Goldschmidt, Governor of Oregon

June 17 - George Akerlof, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate

June 20 - John Mahoney, English-born actor

June 21 - Mariette Hartley, American actress

June 22 - Esther Rantzen, British broadcaster

June 23 - Adam Faith, English singer and actor (d. 2003)

June 23 - Lord Irvine of Lairg, Lord Chancellor of England

June 23 - Wilma Rudolph, American athelete (d. 1994)

June 25 - A.J. Quinnell, English writer (d. 2005)

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July 3 - César Tovar, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (d. 1994)

July 7 - Ringo Starr, English drummer (The Beatles)

July 10 - Gene Alley, baseball player

July 10 - Helen Donath, American soprano

July 13 - Patrick Stewart, English actor

July 18 - Joe Torre, baseball player and manager

July 22 - Alex Trebek, Canadian game show host

July 24 - Stanley Hauerwas, American theologian

July 26 - Mary Jo Kopechne, American aide to Robert F. Kennedy (d. 1969)

July 27 - Bharati Mukherjee, Indian-born novelist

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August 3 - Martin Sheen, American actor

August 7 - Jean-Luc Dehaene, Prime Minister of Belgium

August 9 - Beverlee McKinsey, American actress

August 10 - Bobby Hatfield, American singer (Righteous Brothers) (d. 2003)

August 20 - Rubén Hinojosa, American politician

August 25 - José Van Dam, Belgian bass-baritone

August 28 - Tom Baker, American actor (d. 1982)

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September 5 - Raquel Welch, American actress

September 10 - David Mann, American artist (d. 2004)

September 12 - Mickey Lolich, baseball player

September 13 - Óscar Arias, Costa Rican politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

September 14 - Larry Brown, American basketball coach

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October 9 - John Lennon, English musician and singer (The Beatles) (d. 1980)

October 13 - Pharoah Sanders, American saxophonist

October 14 - Cliff Richard, English singer

October 15 - Peter Doherty, Australian immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

October 19 - Michael Gambon, Irish actor

October 20 - Robert Pinsky, Poet Laureate of the United States

October 21 - Manfred Mann, South African musician

October 23 - Pelé, Brazilian footballer

October 25 - Bobby Knight, American basketball coach

October 27 - John Gotti, American gangster (d. 2002)

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November 1 - Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, Chief Justice of India

November 15 - Sam Waterston, American actor

November 21 - Richard Marcinko, U.S. Navy SEAL team member and author

November 25 - Joe Gibbs, American football coach

November 27 - Bruce Lee, American martial artist and actor (d. 1973)

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December 1 - Richard Pryor, American actor and comedian (d. 2005)

December 4 - Gary Gilmore, American murderer

December 4 - John Cale, Welsh musician (The Velvet Underground)

December 5 - Peter Pohl, Swedish writer

December 12 - Sharad Pawar, Indian politician

December 12 - Dionne Warwick, American singer

December 21 - Frank Zappa, American musician, composer, and satirist (d. 1993)

December 22 - Noel Jones, British Ambassador to Kazakhstan (d. 1995)

December 25 - Pete Brown, English poet and lyricist

December 26 - Edward C. Prescott, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate

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Seamus Deane, Irish poet and novelist

John Hagee American televangelist

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January 4 - Flora Finch, English-born actress and comedian (b. 1869)

January 18 - Kazimierz Tetmajer, Polish poet and writer (b. 1865)

January 27 - Isaac Babel, Ukrainian writer (b. 1894)

Fusajiro Yamauchi, Japanese computer game executive

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February 11 - John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Governor General of Canada (b. 1875)

February 26 - Michael Hainisch, second President of Austria (b. 1858)

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March 5 - Cai Yuanpei, Chinese educator (b. 1868)

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)

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April 26 - Carl Bosch, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)

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May 14 - Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-born anarchist (b. 1869)

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 film director (b. 1873)

May 28 - Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse (b. 1868)

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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)

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July 4 - Robert Pershing Wadlow, tallest man in the world (infection) (b. 1918)

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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 21 - Hermann Obrecht, Swiss Federal Councillor (b. 1882)

August 22 - Mary Vaux Walcott, American artist and naturalist (b. 1860)

August 30 - J.J. Thomson, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856)

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September 5 - Charles de Broqueville, Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1860)

September 27 - Julius Wagner-Jauregg, Austrian neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1857)

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October 5 - Ballington Booth, American co-founder of Volunteers of America (b. 1857)

October 9 - Wilfred Grenfell, English medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador (b. 1865)

October 10 - Berton Churchill, Canadian actor (b. 1876)

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November 9 - Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1869)

November 17 - Eric Gill, British sculptor and writer (b. 1882)

November 17 - Raymond Pearl, American biologist (b. 1879)

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December 5 - Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist (b. 1880)

December 6 - Aloisia Veit, mentally insane cousin of Adolf Hitler (b.1891)

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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Alfred S. Alschuler, American architect (b. 1876)

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Physics - not awarded

Chemistry - not awarded

Physiology or Medicine - not awarded

Literature - not awarded

Peace - not awarded

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List of ship launches in 1940

List of ship commissionings in 1940

List of ship decommissionings in 1940

List of shipwrecks in 1940