1940s

## 1940

* January 9 – J. C. W. Beckham died, aged 70.
* January 25 – Cal Turner, Jr. born.
* February 2 – Odell Brown born.
* February 24 – Jimmy Ellis born.
* April 12 – Dale Roberts born.
* April 24 – Sue Grafton born.
* May 6 – Robert Michael Morris born.
* July 28 – Red Ehret died, aged 71.
* October 21 – Julie Parrish born.
* October 26 – Darel Carrier born.
* November 17 – John McCloskey died, aged 78.

## 1941

* January 31 – Ron Thompson born.
* February 8 – Martin Huston born.
* February 20 – Lorimer Johnston died, aged 82.
* February 26 – Paul Levy born.
* March 1 – Ruby Laffoon died, aged 72.
* March 5 – Phil Roof born.
* March 13 – Elizabeth Madox Roberts died, aged 59.
* March 16 – Chuck Woolery born.
* May 14 – Wallace A. Bandy died, aged 60.
* June 10 – Herschel Mayall died, aged 77.
* June 23 – Ben Mitchell Williamson died, aged 76.
* June 29 – Laura Clay died, aged 92.
* July 9 – Scotty Baesler born.
* July 21 – Rex De Rosselli died, aged 63.
* July 29 – C. B. Embry born.
* August 21 – Jackie DeShannon born.
* September 17 – Parker Beam born.
* October 5 – Louis Brandeis died, aged 84.
* November 27 – Rudy Schwenck died, aged 57.
* December 2 – Carl Nett born.

## 1942

* January 17 – Muhammad Ali born.
* February 10 – Alice Hegan Rice died, aged 72.
* February 20 – Mitch McConnell born.
* February 27 – Robert H. Grubbs born.
* April 24 – Jack Blackburn died, aged 59.
* May 2 – Henry Eckert Youtsey died, aged 68.
* May 20 – John D. Craddock died, aged 60.
* June 26 – Nathaniel Fish McClure died, aged 76.
* August 23 – Lee Roy Reams born.
* October 6 – E. Belle Mitchell died, aged 93.
* November 13 – Jeremy Jackson born.
* November 24 – Alicia Austin born.

## 1943

* January 23 – Cale Young Rice died, aged 70.
* February 3 – David E. Meyer born.
* February 28 – Tommy Kron born.
* May 13 – Alanna Heiss born.
* May 25 – Ed Whitfield born.
* May 31 – Lonnie Burr born.
* July 26 – Esther Walker died, aged 48.
* August 11 – Clem Haskins born.
* September 7 – Gerry Bussell born.
* September 11 – Adamae Vaughn died, aged 37.
* November 5 – Sam Shepard born.
* December 23 – Merrell Fankhauser born.
* December 27 – Lawrence Chenault died, aged 66.

## 1944

* January 17 – Denny Doyle born.
* February 27 – Hank Davis born.
* March 11 – Irvin S. Cobb died, aged 67.
* March 19 – Graham Watkins born.
* April 19 – Anna Mac Clarke died, aged 24.
* May 10 – Tom Hammond born.
* May 13 – Abby Scott Baker died, aged 72.
* May 23 – John C. Squires died, aged 19.
* May 28 – Gary Stewart born.
* June 17 – Isaac Weldon born.
* June 25 – Harold G. Epperson died, aged 20.
* July 22 – Leonard F. Mason died, aged 24.
* October 9 – Wade Houston born.

## 1945

* January 3 – Edgar Cayce died, aged 67.
* January 30 – Michael Dorris born.
* March 13 – Morris E. Crain died, aged 20.
* April 1 – Isaac Wolfe Bernheim died, aged 96.
* May 26 – Carroll Gibson born.
* June 18 – Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. died, aged 58.
* September 24 – Jim Webb born.
* October 20 – Billy Lane Lauffer born.
* December 5 – Ella Broadus Robertson died, aged 73.
* December 22 – Diane Sawyer born.

## 1946

* January 11 – Naomi Judd born.
* March 6 – Lulu Vere Childers died, aged 76.
* March 14 – Wes Unseld born.
* March 22 – Rudy Rucker born.
* May 2 – Simon Flexner died, aged 83.
* May 3 – Joey Pendleton born.
* May 5 – Jim Kelly born.
* May 25 – Patty Hill died, aged 78.
* June 26 – Alma Bridwell White died, aged 84.
* August 11 – John Conlee born.
* November 28 – J. A. "Bud" Hillerich died, aged 80.
* November 30 – James J. Gaffney died, aged 83.
* December 12 – Nannie Kelly Wright died, aged 90.

## 1947

* January 16 – Fate Marable died, aged 56.
* January 23 – Gatewood Galbraith born.
* February 5 – Darrell Waltrip born.
* February 8 – J. Richard Gott born.
* April 4 – Larry Belcher born.
* April 11 – Katherine Walsh born.
* May 16 – Bob Edwards born.
* May 26 – Jim Rose born.
* July 4 – Ann Layman Chancellor born.
* July 31 – Harry B. Hawes died, aged 77.
* August 28 – Charles Clinton Fleek born.
* September 13 – Vernie McGaha born.
* September 20 – Jude Deveraux born.
* September 21 – Marsha Norman born.
* October 9 – William E. McAnulty, Jr. born.
* October 22 – William Girdler born.
* November 1 – Clarence Glover born.
* November 3 – Bob Arnzen born.
* November 4 – John Yarmuth born.
* December 27 – Jim Beam died, aged 83.

## 1948

* January 7 – Thomas Mantell died, aged 25.
* January 7 – The Mantell UFO Incident occurred.
* January 22 – Anne Northup born.
* April 2 – Jim McDaniels born.
* July 15 – Artimus Pyle born.
* July 30 – Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge died, aged 82.
* August 14 – Terry Adams born.
* August 15 – Katherine G. Langley died, aged 60.
* August 28 – Vonda N. McIntyre born.
* September 28 – Linda H. Belcher born.
* October 24 – John Thoney died, aged 68.
* October 28 – Telma Hopkins born.
* October 31 – Mary Nolan died, aged 45.
* November 3 – David P. Nash born.

## 1949

* March 14 – Joseph Seamon Cotter, Sr. died, aged 88.
* March 18 – Rudy Sommers died, aged 62.
* April 22 – Charles Middleton died, aged 74.
* May 4 – Laura duPont born.
* June 7 – Hi Bell died, aged 51.
* June 15 – Jim Varney born.
* August 17 – Bub Asman born.
* August 21 – Malachi Thompson born.
* October 2 – Richard Hell born.
* November 23 – Gayl Jones born.
* December 23 – Adrian Belew born.