Title: 1940 Content: == 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) == Movies released == * Pinocchio == Hit songs == * "When You Wish Upon A Star" – by Neil Washington and Leigh Harline, from the movie Pinocchio, won the Academy Award for the best song.