1940s

  • Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister

    In May 1940, he became Prime Minister, replacing Neville Chamberlain. Churchill formed a national government and oversaw British involvement in the Allied war effort against the Axis powers, resulting in victory in 1945. After the Conservatives' defeat in the 1945 general election, he became Leader of the Opposition.
  • Olympics cancelled

    The 1940 Winter Olympics, which would have been officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games and as Sapporo 1940 (札幌1940), were to have been celebrated from 3 to 12 February 1940 in Sapporo, Japan, but the games were eventually cancelled due to the onset of of the war.
  • Significant Drop in the Stock Market

    When Hitler invaded France in May 1940, the market got hammered. Over an eight-day period, it fell 23%.
  • I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire

    The Ink Spots released their hit song "I Don't Want to Set The World on Fire"
  • First Jet Engine flight

    In Great Britain, a Royal Air Force officer, Frank Whittle, invented the gas-turbine engine that would power the first British jet, the Gloster E. 28/39, which made its first flight on May 15, 1941.
  • Jeep was Invented

  • Mount Rushmore was "completed"

    The carving of Mount Rushmore began in 1927 and was finished in 1941 by a team of more than 400 men.
  • The Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor

    The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from influencing the war that the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia, against Britain and the Netherlands, as well as the U.S. in the Philippines.
  • War with Japan

    The Japanese attack on the US naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, led President Franklin Roosevelt to declare war on Japan.
  • US Joins WWII

    Nazi Germany declared war on the United States, and America entered World War II against the Axis powers.
  • The 1942 Revenue Act

    The Revenue act imposed the highest income taxation rates in American history. The highest earners paid a 91-percent tax on some of their income. Companies paid up to 40 percent of their gross profits in corporation taxes. And though it was meant as a temporary wartime arrangement, payroll deduction became routine after the war.
  • Tax Payment Act of 1943

    During World War II, Congress introduced payroll withholding and quarterly tax payments with the vote of the Current Tax Payment Act of 1943 : In their History of the U.S. Tax System, the U.S. Department of Treasury describes tax withholding.
  • Ballpoint pens are sold

    When it first hit the market in 1946, a ballpoint pen sold for around $10, roughly equivalent to $100 today. Competition brought that price steadily down, but Bich's design drove it into the ground. When the Bic Cristal hit American markets in 1959, the price was down to 19 cents a pen.
  • The G.I. Bill

    The G.I. Bill is signed by President Roosevelt, providing financial aid to Wold War II veterans.
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt Renominated

    President Franklin D. Roosevelt is renominated for a fourth term at the 1944 Democratic National Convention. Missouri Senator Harry Truman is selected to be the vice presidential nominee
  • Bretton Woods Conference

    Delegates to the conference agreed to establish the International Monetary Fund and what became the World Bank Group.
  • U.S Drops atomic bombs on Japan

    During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against Japan in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
  • Harry S. Truman becomes president of the USA

    Harry S. Truman was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A lifetime member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a US Senator from the State of Missouri from 1935 to 1945.
  • Franklin D Roosevelt dies

    He was elected more than two presidential terms. He died in office of a cerebral hemorrhage shortly before WWII ended.
  • Harry S. Truman Enters Office

    Harry S. Truman served as the 33rd president of the United States from April 12, 1945, to January 20, 1953.
  • Germans surrender

    The German Instrument of Surrender was the legal instrument that established the armistice ending WWII in Europe. It was signed by representatives of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the Allied Expeditionary Force and Soviet High Command on May 7 and formally ratified on May 8, 1945. The date is known in the West as Victory in Europe Day.
  • United Nations was founded

    The UN was founded in 1945 after WWII to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions.
  • Slinky toys are sold

    These were a huge hit and became widespread.
  • The first computer is built

    ENIAC was the world's first general-purpose electronic, digital computer and is probably the most famous of the ones included in this article. It weighed 27 tons. Among other things, ENIAC was used for calculations to create the hydrogen bomb.
  • Poloroid Camaras are Invented

    The instant camera is a type of camera with self-developing film. The best known are those formerly made by Polaroid Corporation.
    The invention of modern instant cameras is generally credited to American scientist Edwin Land, who unveiled the first commercial instant camera, the Land Camera, in 1947, 10 years after founding Polaroid Corporation.