1940s TIMELINE
1940
John Steinbeck wins Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath
Congress passes a peacetime Selective Service Act, requiring all men between 18 and 65 to register with the draft
Rebecca wins Best Picture of the Year
Ginger Rogers wins Best Actress Oscar for Kitty Foyle
James Stewart wins Best Actor Oscar for The Philadelphia Story
U.S. military spending reaches $1.8 billion
In the presidential election, Franklin D. Roosevelt (F.D.R.) breaks precedent by seeking and winning a third term
1941
President Roosevelt proclaims an “unlimited national emergency” when Germany sinks U.S. ships
First aerosol is available in the U.S.
Coca-Cola Company first uses “Coke” trademark
Congress passes the Lend-Lease Act
Ted Williams ends the year’s baseball season with a batting average over 0.400
F.D.R. defines the Four Freedoms
How Green Was My Valley wins Best Picture of the Year
Joan Fontaine wins Best Actress Oscar for Suspicion
Gary Cooper wins Best Actor Oscar for Sergeant York
M&Ms candies are introduced
Pearl Harbor is attacked by the Japanese
The U.S goes to war
Garbage disposals introduced
The Jeep is invented for U.S. military use
F.D.R. signs bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day
“Cold wave” method is developed for women’s hair
U.S. Senator Gerald P. Nye (N. Dakota) accuses Hollywood of “swarming with British actors” and containing “a fear of Hitler”
1942
Battle of Midway
Stage Door Canteen opens in New York, offering servicemen entertainment, food, and dancing
Kellogg’s Raisin Bran is a new product
Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” becomes a no. 1 hit
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is canceled during World War II
Bataan Death March
Tokyo is bombed by U.S.
Dannon yogurt is introduced
Battle of the Coral Sea
Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) established
Yank, an army weekly magazine for the troops, publishes its first issue
Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES), a women’s branch of the Navy, established
Battle of Guadalcanal
First war loan drive
By executive order, President Roosevelt confines 110,00 Japanese Americans in relocation camps during the war
On a squash court, the first controlled nuclear chain reaction is achieved
Rationing of gasoline, coffee, etc. begins
Battle of Stalingrad
Maine shipyards begin building Liberty Ships to haul supplies and troops to Europe
Allied invasion of North Africa
Mrs. Miniver wins Best Picture of the Year
Greer Garson wins Best Actress Oscar for Mrs. Miniver
James Cagney wins Best Actor Oscar for Yankee Doodle Dandy
Carole Lombard dies in an air crash while on a war bonds tour
1943
Shoe rationing begins
Allied forces invade Italy
Casablanca wins Best Picture of the Year
Jennifer Jones wins Best Actress Oscar for The Song of Bernadette
Paul Lukas wins Best Actor Oscar for Watch on the Rhine
Meat and cheese rationing begins
Chutes and Ladders game is introduced
ABC (American Broadcasting Corporation) television network created
Microbiologist Selman A. Waksman discovers streptomycin
Norman Rockwell illustrates “Rosie the Riveter” cover for The Saturday Evening Post
Combat boots are introduced for U.S. troops
Jefferson Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.
U.S. factories produced 84,400 planes for the war effort
1944
The Big Week, the largest air battle of the war, begins
D-Day invasion of Normandy
U.S. GNP reaches $211.4 billion
Battle of the Bulge
Meat rationing ends in the U.S.
Band leader Glenn Miller disappears at sea while flying to Paris
Smokey Bear is created as part of a campaign to prevent forest fires
Battle of the Philippine Sea
G.I. Bill of Rights signed by President Roosevelt
U.S forces enter Germany in September
Battle of Leyte Gulf
F.D.R. elected to a fourth term as President
Bing Crosby’s song, “Swinging on a Star” from Going My Way wins an Oscar
Going My Way wins Best Picture of the year
Ingrid Bergman wins Best Actress Oscar for Gaslight
Bing Crosby wins Best Actor Oscar of the year for Going My Way
1945
Ernie Pyle, America’s best-loved war correspondent, and columnist for Stars and Stripes, dies
A new toy, the Slinky, is introduced
President Roosevelt dies
Tupperware launched
Shoe rationing ends
Constant Comment Tea is introduced
V-E Day: Germany surrenders to the Allies
Atomic bomb dropped over Japan
V-J Day: Japan surrenders to the Allies
Welch’s Junior Mints candy introduced
The Lost Weekend wins Best Picture of the Year
Joan Crawford wins Best Actress Oscar for Mildred Pierce
Ray Milland wins Best Actor Oscar for The Lost Weekend
Penicillin is commercially available
Yalta conference
Iwo Jima
Michigan becomes first state to fluoridate its drinking water
Ballpoint pen is a new product
Harry S. Truman becomes President
Microwave oven invented
1946
ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), the world’s first digital computer, is unveiled
Baby Boom
Penicillin-flavored ice cream introduced
Frank Sinatra creates his first studio album
It’s a Wonderful Life is released
Joseph T. O’Callaghan becomes the first chaplain to receive the Medal of Honor
President Truman issues proclamation officially ending hostilities of World War II
Instant mashed potatoes born
United Nations headquarters established in New York City
Tide detergent available
U.S. grants independence to Philippine Islands
First new car models produced since 1942
The Best Years of Our Lives wins Best Picture of the Year
Olivia de Havilland wins Best Actress Oscar for To Each His Own
Fredric March wins Best Actor Oscar for The Best Years of Our Lives
World Health Organization created
1947
First Little League World Series is played
Truman Doctrine is issued
“New Look” arrives—more fabric introduces longer skirts and waistlines in the fashion world
The “Hollywood Blacklist” is compiled, placing on it the names of those in Hollywood suspected of Communist sympathies
Gentleman’s Agreement wins Best Picture of the Year
Loretta Young wins Best Actress Oscar for The Farmer’s Daughter
Ronald Colman wins Best Actor Oscar for A Double Life
Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound
Food rationing ends in the U.S.
1948
Berlin airlift begins
Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade is televised on a national network for the first time
NASCAR incorporated
Hiss Trial begins
Hamlet wins Best Picture of the Year
Jane Wyman wins Best Actress Oscar for Johnny Belinda
Laurence Olivier wins Best Actor Oscar for Hamlet
1949
Joe DiMaggio (Yankees) signs the major league’s first $100,000 annual contract
Television boom begins
George Orwell publishes his novel, 1984
New comedy team, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, makes their debut
National Basketball Association (NBA) created
Hopalong Cassidy, TV’s first Western, airs
Truman recognizes the Republic of Korea
Tokyo Rose is sentenced to ten years in prison
North Atlantic Treaty signed by twelve nations
All the King’s Men wins Best Picture of the Year
Olivia de Havilland wins Best Actress Oscar for The Heiress
Broderick Crawford wins Best Actor Oscar for All the King’s Men
Photograph credits- GRAPES OF WRATH: dailytrojan.com; PHILADELPHIA STORY: themoviedb.org; COCA COLA: advertisingcliche.blogspot.com; WILLIAMS: Wikipedia; M&MS CANDY: huffingtonpost.com; JEEP: ww2db; MIDWAY: spokesman.com/united states navy; ROOSEVELT: whitehouse.gov; LIBERTY SHIP: ww2-weapons.com; ABC BROADCASTING: ABC archives; WAKSMAN: courses.lumenlearning.com; BATTLE OF THE BULGE: leaheyandchasewwii.weebly.com; GOING MY WAY: imdb.com; PYLE: penncapital-star.com; TRUMAN: whitehouse.gov; ENIAC: public domain; TIDE: listia; MARCH: lars134.tumblr.com; LITTLE LEAGUE: public domain; MEAT RATIONING: sarahsundin.com; BERLIN AIRLIFT: public domain; HISS TRIAL: famous-trials.com; BASKETBALL: newmarketnhhistoricalsociety.org; HOPPY: mycomicshop.