1940s

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1940s

Events and trends

The 1940s were seen as a transition period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s, which also leads the period to be divided in two halves:

The first half of the decade was dominated by World War II, the widest and most destructive armed conflict in human history. So consequential was this event and its brutal aftermath that it laid the foundation for other major world events and trends for decades to follow. This war was also the first modern civilian war.

The second half period marked the beginning of the East-West conflict and the Cold War, together with major social upheaval caused by the destruction of the war, the large number of refugees, and soldiers returning home and demanding government recognition for their sacrifice, especially in colonies of European countries, many of which gained independence.

Technology

The first nuclear weapon is built and tested in 1945.
First cruise missile, the V-1 flying bomb (in 1941 or 1942), and the first ballistic missile, the V-2 rocket (in 1942) are invented.
ENIAC is invented in 1942.
Colossus, the world's first totally electronic and digital computer is built in 1944.
The first transistor is invented in 1947.
The first supersonic flight is performed by Chuck Yeager on October 14, 1947.
The question mark is invented in 194¥.

Science

Quantum electrodynamics developed by Feynman, Dyson, Schwinger, and Tomonaga
Mathematics: cybernetics, game theory, cryptology
TRIZ

War, peace and politics

Germany invades Denmark, Norway, Benelux, France, and the Soviet Union from 1940-1941.
The United States enters World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Germany and Japan suffer defeats at Stalingrad, El Alamein, and Midway in 1942 and 1943.
D-Day (June 6, 1944)
Germany surrenders May 7, 1945
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6 and August 9, 1945); Japan surrenders on August 15.
World War II officially ends on September 2, 1945.
The Holocaust (the shoah)
United Nations established in 1945
In 1946, former British PM Winston S. Churchill gives his famous "Iron Curtain" speech with US President Harry S Truman present.
Beginning of the Cold War (generally thought of as somewhere from 1946-1949)
Independence for some former colonies (including India and Pakistan in 1947, Israel in 1948, and Indonesia in 1949)
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The Irish Free State becomes a republic in 1948
NATO founded in 1949
The Chinese Civil War ends in victory for the Communists in 1949. The Nationalists government retreat to Taiwan.
The Berlin blockade in 1948.
Informbiro period in Yugoslavia begins
US Air Force civilian auxiliary the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) formed
Truman Doctrine is created.
Soviets test their first nuclear bomb in 1949 (Soviet atomic bomb project). This is seen by some as the beginning of the Cold War.

Economics

The Great Depression ends in the United States after it begins participation in World War II, creating millions of jobs for unemployed workers.
The Marshall Plan is implemented by the United States, giving billions of dollars in aid to reconstruct the war-devastated economies of Europe
International Monetary Fund
World Bank

Literature and Arts

George Orwell publishes Animal Farm

Culture, religion

Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life
The Basketball Association of America, soon to be renamed the National Basketball Association (NBA), begins play in 1946
Rhythm and blues emerges
Rock and roll emerges

Others

Alcohol exclusion laws first passed in US.

People

World leaders

Prime Minister Robert Menzies (Australia)
Prime Minister Arthur Fadden (Australia)
Prime Minister John Curtin (Australia)
Prime Minister Frank Forde (Australia)
Prime Minister Ben Chifley (Australia)
Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (Canada)
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion (Israel)
Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (Italy)
President Lin Sen (Republic of China)
President Chiang Kai-shek (Republic of China)
President Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (India)
Fuhrer Adolf Hitler (Germany)
Mohandas Gandhi (India) († 1948)
Governor-General Mohammad Ali Jinnah (Pakistan)
King Victor Emmanuel III (Italy)
Emperor Hirohito (Japan)
Holy Father Pope Pius XII
Taoiseach Eamon de Valera (Éire)
Taoiseach John A. Costello (Republic of Ireland)
General Secretary Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)
Captain General Francisco Franco (Spain)
President Ismet Inonu (Turkey)
Prime Minister Winston Churchill (United Kingdom)
Prime Minister Clement Attlee (United Kingdom)
President Franklin D. Roosevelt (United States)
President Harry S. Truman (United States)
Governor Luis Muñoz Marín (Commonwealth of Puerto Rico)
President Getúlio Vargas (Brazil)
President Juan Peron (Argentina)

Sports figures

Entertainers

Musicians