1940s

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The 1940s decade (the forties) ran from January 1, 1940 to December 31, 1949. The Second World War took place in the first half of the decade, which had a profound effect on most countries and people in Europe, Asia and elsewhere. The consequences of the war lingered well into the second half of the decade, with a war weary Europe divided between the jostling spheres of influence of the West and the Soviet Union. To some degree internal and external tensions in the post-war era were managed by new institutions, including the United Nations, the welfare state and the Bretton Woods system. However the conditions of the post-war world encouraged decolonialisation and emergence of new states and governments, with China, India, Pakistan, Israel, Vietnam and others declaring independence, rarely without bloodshed. The decade also saw the early beginnings of new technologies (including computers, nuclear power and jet propulsion), often first developed in tandem with the war effort, and later adapted and improved upon in the post-war era.

Significant events

Atomic bombing of Imperial Japan

• Germany invades Denmark, Norway, Benelux, and France from 1940-1941
• Germany loses the Battle of Britain 1940
• Germany attacks the Soviet Union (June 22, 1941)
• The United States enter 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 landing of Allied forces on the beaches of Normandy France (June 6, 1944)
• Yalta Conference, wartime meeting from 4 February 1945 to 11 February 1945 among the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union—President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Premier Josef Stalin, respectively—for the purpose of discussing Europe's postwar reorganization, intended to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe.
• Germany surrenders May 7, 1945
• Establishment of the United Nations Charter (June 26, 1945) effective (October 24, 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
• Establishment of the State of Israel May 14, 1948
• Establishment of the defense alliance NATO April 4, 1949.

World leaders

Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union during the 1940s

• Prime Minister Clement Attlee (United Kingdom)
• Prime Minister David Ben Gurion (Israel)
• Prime Minister Winston Churchill (United Kingdom)
• Prime Minister John Curtin (Australia)
• Head of state Francisco Franco (Spain)
• Emperor Hirohito (Japan)
• Chancellor Adolf Hitler (Germany)
• President İsmet İnönü (Turkey)
• Governor-General Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Pakistan)
• Chairman Chiang Kai-shek (Nationalist China) (Taiwan)
• Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (Canada)
• Prime Minister and President Hồ Chí Minh (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) (North Vietnam)
• Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (Italy)
• Prime-Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (India)
• President Juan Perón (Argentina)
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt (United States)
• General Aung San (Burma)
• General Secretary Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)
• President Harry S. Truman (United States)
• President Getúlio Vargas (Brazil)
• Chairman Mao Zedong (China)

Military leaders

General Eisenhower speaks with troops prior to D-Day

• General Charles de Gaulle (France)
• General Dwight D. Eisenhower (United States)
• General George Marshall (United States)
• General Douglas MacArthur (United States)
• General Omar Bradley (United States)
• General George S. Patton (United States)
• General Hideki Tōjō (Japan)
• General Kuniaki Koiso (Japan)
• Field Marshall Hajime Sugiyama (Japan)
• Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery (United Kingdom)
• Field Marshal Georgy Zhukov (Soviet Union)
• Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (Germany)
• Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz (United States)
• Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King (United States)
• Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (Japan)
• Fleet Admiral Osami Nagano (Japan)

Technical innovations

• Ballistic missiles
• Computers
• Jet aircraft
• Nuclear weapons

Entertainment

Entertainers

Musicians

Marian Anderson The Andrews Sisters Louis Armstrong Gene Autry Pearl Bailey Benny Carter Charlie Barnet Count Basie Irving Berlin Mills Brothers Les Brown Sammy Cahn Cab Calloway Nat King Cole Perry Como Bing Crosby Jimmy Dorsey Tommy Dorsey Billy Eckstine Duke Ellington Ella Fitzgerald Ira Gershwin Dizzy Gillespie Benny Goodman Dick Haymes Billie Holiday Lena Horne Betty Hutton Mahalia Jackson

American entertainer Henry Fonda in the 1941 film The Lady Eve Olivia de Havilland in the 1942 film In This Our Life American jazz and pop musician Peggy Lee in the 1943 film Stage Door Canteen Harry James Al Jolson Danny Kaye Sammy Kaye Gene Krupa Mario Lanza Peggy Lee Johnny Mercer Glenn Miller Charles Mingus Vaughn Monroe Charlie Parker Édith Piaf Cole Porter Bud Powell Max Roach Richard Rodgers Paul Robeson Artie Shaw Dinah Shore Frank Sinatra Kate Smith Ink Spots Billy Strayhorn Ernest Tubb Sarah Vaughan Hank Williams Bob Wills Teddy Wilson

Sports

During the 1940s Sporting events were disrupted and changed by the events that engaged and shaped the entire world. During World War II in the United States Heavyweight Boxing Champion Joe Louis and numerous stars and performers from American baseball and other sports served in the armed forces until the end of the war. Among the well known baseball players who served during World War II were Joe Dimaggio, Bob Feller, Hank Greenberg, and Ted Williams. They like many others sacrificed their personal and valuable career time for the benefit and well being of the rest of society.

Boxing

World War II recruiting poster featuring Louis

• Buddy Baer
• Ezzard Charles
• Billy Conn
• Rocky Graziano
• Joe Louis
• Sugar Ray Robinson
• Max Schmelling
• Jersey Joe Walcott
• Tony Zale

Baseball

Ted Williams being sworn into the military on May 22, 1942.

• Bill Dickey
• Joe Dimaggio
• Bob Feller
• Josh Gibson
• Hank Greenberg
• Monte Irvin
• Buck Leonard
• Johnny Mize
• Stan Musial
• Satchel Paige
• Branch Rickey
• Jackie Robinson
• Ted Williams

Activists and religious leaders

• Mohandas Gandhi
• Billy Graham