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Joe DiMaggio and the New York Yankees go to the World Series five times in the 1940s, winning four of them.
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Television is becoming widespread (in black and white format) and becomes the most popular means of advertising.
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Rocky Marciano defeats Jersey Joe Walcott, becoming the world Heavyweight champion.
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Roy Campanella, an African-American baseball catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, receives the National League's Most Valuable Player award for the second time
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"Rock Around the Clock" is a hit single released by Bill Haley & His Comets in May, spurring worldwide interest in rock and roll music.
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Albert Einstein dies on April 18 at the age of 76.
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Alabama is the site of the Montgomery Bus Boycott which ultimately led to the removal of the last race laws in the USA. Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr figure prominently.
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California baseball begins as the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants move to California and become the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. They are the first major league
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Hula hoops reach 100 million in sales as the latest toy fad.
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John F. Kennedy beats Richard Nixon in the November 8 general election.
