1940

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1910s 1920s 1930s – 1940s – 1950s 1960s 1970s
Years:	1937 1938 1939 – 1940 – 1941 1942 1943

1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1940th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 940th year of the 2nd millennium, the 40th year of the 20th century, and the 1st year of the 1940s decade.

Events

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 himself, signed execution order prepared by Beria & Stalin. Over 25700 Polish intelligentsia, including over 22000 Polish POW, known also as Katyn massacre were slaughtered.
March 12 – Soviet Union and Finland sign a peace treaty in Moscow ending the Winter War. Finns, and the World opinion, 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.
April 4 – Prime minister of Greece, Aleksandros Korizis, shoots himself – initial official explanation is "heart attack"
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 23 – Rhythm Night Club burns in Natchez, Mississippi – 198 dead.
May 4 – Nazi Germany opens Auschwitz concentration camp
May 10 - World War II: Germany invades the Netherlands and Belgium.
May 10 - Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
May 10 - World War II: British troops land on Iceland.
June 4 - World War II: British troops are evacuated from Dunkirk.
August 20 - Leon Trotsky is wounded with an ice pick, dying the next day.
November 5 - Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected to a record third term as President of the United States.
December 30 – California opens the first freeway.

Births

January 2 - Jim Bakker, American televangelist
January 4 - Gao Xingjian, Chinese-born French writer
January 21 - Jack Nicklaus, American golfer
January 22 - John Hurt, British actor
January 24 - Joachim Gauck, President of Germany
January 28 - Carlos Slim, Mexican businessman
February 2 - David Jason, British actor
February 6 - Tom Brokaw, American television journalist
February 7 - Tony Tan Keng Yam, President of Singapore
February 9 - J. M. Coetzee, South African writer
February 10 - Kenny Rankin, pop and jazz singer and songwriter
February 17 - Gene Pitney, American singer (d. 2006)
February 19 - Smokey Robinson, American singer
February 19 - Saparmurat Niyazov, President of Turkmenistan (d. 2006)
February 20 - Jimmy Greaves, English footballer
February 23 – Peter Fonda, American actor (d. 2019)
February 27 - Bill Hunter, Australian actor (d. 2011)
February 28 - Mario Andretti, Italian-born racing driver
March 2 - Billy McNeill, Scottish footballer
March 7 - Rudi Dutschke, German student leader (d. 1979)
March 10 - Chuck Norris, American actor
March 12 - Al Jarreau, American musician
March 16 - Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian movie director
March 24 – Bob Mackie, clothing designer
March 26 - Nancy Pelosi, American politician
March 26 - James Caan, American actor
March 28 - Luis Cubilla, Uruguayan footballer (d. 2013)
April 1 - Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmental and political activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner (d. 2011)
April 12 - Herbie Hancock, American musician
April 15 - Jeffrey Archer, British politician and writer
April 16 – Margrethe II of Denmark, Queen of Denmark
April 18 - Joseph L. Goldstein, American biochemist and geneticist
April 20 - James Gammon, American actor (d. 2010)
April 25 – Al Pacino, American actor
April 26 - Giorgio Moroder, Italian composer
May 4 - Sean Barrett, English actor
May 8 - Peter Benchley, American writer (d. 2006)
May 8 - Toni Tennille, American singer (Captain & Tennille)
May 9 - James L. Brooks, American producer and writer
May 20 – Stan Mikita, Retired Slovakian-Canadian professional ice hockey player
May 20 - Sadaharu Oh, Japanese baseball player
May 21 - Tony Sheridan, English musician (d. 2013)
May 24 - Joseph Brodsky, Russian writer (d. 1996)
May 26 - Levon Helm, American musician and actor (The Band) (d. 2012)
May 28 - Maeve Binchy, Irish writer (d. 2012)
May 29 - Farooq Leghari, President of Pakistan (d. 2010)
June 7 – Tom Jones, Welsh singer
June 8 - Nancy Sinatra, American singer
June 23 - Adam Faith, British singer (d. 2003)
June 28 - Muhammad Yunus, Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize winner
July 2 - Kenneth Clarke, British politician
July 3 – Jerzy Buzek, Polish politician
July 3 - Fontella Bass, American singer (d. 2012)
July 7 – Ringo Starr, British musician, actor (The Beatles)
July 13 - Patrick Stewart, British actor
July 15 - Robert Winstone, British scientist
July 27 - Pina Bausch, German choreographer (d. 2009)
August 3 - Martin Sheen, American actor
August 16 - Bruce Beresford, Australian director
August 26 - Don LaFontaine, American actor (d. 2008)
September 5 - Raquel Welch, American actress
September 7 - Abdurrahman Wahid, President of Indonesia (d. 2009)
September 20 - Taro Aso, former Prime Minister of Japan
September 21 - Rick May, Canadian-American voice actor (d. 2020)
September 29 – John Miszuk, retired Polish professional ice hockey player
October 9 – John Lennon, British musician (The Beatles) (died 1980)
October 14 - Cliff Richard, British singer (Cliff Richard And The Shadows)
October 19 - Michael Gambon, British actor
October 21 - Manfred Mann, musician (Manfred Mann)
October 23 - Pele, Brazilian footballer
November 5 - Anthony Rolfe Johnson, British tenor (d. 2010)
November 10 - Screaming Lord Sutch, British musician and politician (d. 1999)
November 15 - Sam Waterston, American actor
November 18 - Qaboos, Sultan of Oman (d. 2020)
November 21 - Doctor John, American musician
November 22 – Terry Gilliam, American-born British animator, movie maker
November 27 - Bruce Lee, American actor and martial artist (d. 1973)
November 29 - Denny Doherty, Canadian singer and musician (The Mamas & the Papas) (d. 2007)
December 1 – Richard Pryor, American actor and comedian (d. 2005)
December 12 – Dionne Warwick, American singer
December 18 - Bram Morrison, Canadian singer and musician (Sharon, Lois & Bram)
December 21 - Frank Zappa, American musician (d. 1993)
December 28 - Don Francisco, Chilean television host

Deaths

January 4 – Flora Finch, English-born actress and comedienne (b. 1869)
January 18 – Kazimierz Tetmajer, Polish poet and writer (b. 1865)
January 27 – Isaac Babel, Ukrainian writer (b. 1894)
February 11 – John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Governor General of Canada (b. 1875)
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)
April 26 – Carl Bosch, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
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 movie director (b. 1873)
May 28 – Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse (b. 1868)
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)
July 15 – Robert Pershing Wadlow, tallest man in the world (infection) (b. 1918)
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 22 – Mary Vaux Walcott, American artist and naturalist (b. 1860)
August 30 – J.J. Thomson, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856)
October 10 – Berton Churchill, Canadian actor (b. 1876)
November 9 – Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1869)
December 5 – Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist (b. 1880)
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)