-
The population in the U.S is 132,164,569 in 1940 that means the population increased by 7.3% since 1930.
-
President Franklin D. Roosevelt continues his dominancewith a 449 to 82 Electoral College victory over Republican candidate Wendell Wilkie. Roosevelt becomes the first man to hold office for three terms.
-
The attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, commences at 7:55 a.m. when Japanese fighter planes launch a surprise attack on United States soil, which took the greatest amount of U.S. naval life in history with 1,177 sailor and marines perishing in the attack.
-
The first nuclear chain reaction is produced at the University of Chicago in the Manhattan Project creating fission of the Uranium U-235
-
The United States encounters its first major defeat in the European theater of World War II at the Battle for Kasserine Pass in Tunisia.
-
President Harry S. Truman gives the go-ahead for the use of the atomic bomb with the bombing of Hiroshima. the second bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan
-
Jackie Robinson breaks Major League Baseball's barrier against colored players when he debuts at first base for Branch Rickey's Brooklyn Dodgers.
-
The Brinks robbery in Boston occurs when eleven masked bandits steal $2.8 million from an armored car outside their express office.
-
The Cold War continues in earnest when President Dwight D. Eisenhower approves a top secret document stating that the U.S. nuclear arsenal must be expanded to combat the communist threat around the world.
-
The first color televisions go on sale.