1940

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 - Edouard 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 Weserubung. 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 - Mikhail Boulgakov, Russian writer (b. 1891)
March 16 - Selma Lagerlof, 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 Kubelik, Czech violinist (b. 1880)
December 19 - Kyosti Kallio, President of Finland (b. 1873)
December 21 - F. Scott Fitzgerald, American writer (b. 1896)
December 25 - Agnes Ayres, American actress (b. 1898)