1940

1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year beginning on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar.

A 1940 calendar according to the Gregorian calendar, taking into account the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280.

Events

January

• 1 January:
  • In Germany, Hermann Goering, in addition to his responsibilities with the Luftwaffe, receives the Directorate of the General Council of War Economy, a newly created body for the prolongation of the war. This will be a new factor that will affect the development and attention of the Luftwaffe, at a crucial moment of the contest.
  • In the framework of the Second World War, in Europe the period known as the Foreign War is at its most representative moment (Phoney War, Sitting War or Drôle de Guerre). Allies and Germans remain within their borders without confrontation. The French attribute the lack of action of the Germans to their Maginot Line, considered inexcusable by the fortress of their facilities. Despite some preparations for a possible gas attack, the first rations and other preparations, life in the belligerent countries is almost the normality of the time of peace.
  • In the United Kingdom enlistment extends to all males between 20 and 27 years.
• January 3: the failed uncoordinated attempts of the Soviet troops to break the block that the Finnish attackers had mounted on the two ends of the road that had plunged the Soviets into desperation.
• 3-21 January a large amount of ammunition is accumulated around the square and Soviet artillery positions are created.
• January 4: In Germany, Hermann Goering takes over the war industry.
• 5 January:
  • The U.S. Federal Communications Commission shows FM radio for the first time.
  • Hore-Belisha resigns as Secretary of State for War. He replaces Oliver Stanley.
  • The final attack against the Soviet forces begins, however the bulk of them could repel the attackers, who suffered heavy casualties.
• January 6: In the Winter War General Semion Timoshenko assumes command of the Russian army.
• 7 January:
  • Murder of the Argentine gaucho and bandit Mate Cosido, at the hands of the police.
  • In Spain, the Spanish priest Rafael Villoslada Peula founded the Professional Schools of the Sagrada Familia.
• 8 January:
  • Near Suomussalmi (Finland), in the framework of the Winter War, the Finnish army destroys the 44th Soviet Division and captures 1000 Soviet soldiers, the few survivors retreat; at 8:00 in the morning the battle of Suomussalmi ends.
  • In the United Kingdom, butter, sugar and bacon begin to grow.
  • In the North Sea, the German bombers sink three merchant ships.
• 9 January: the Germans sink the British submarine Starfish.
• 10 January:
  • In Turkey there is a violent earthquake.
  • Near the ancient city of Vucht, now called Maasmechelen (Belgium) crashes a German liaison plane Messerschmitt Bf 108 (Incident Mechelen) with high-secret documents referring to the Fall Gelb (“yellow house”) detailing the future German attack on Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and northern France.
• 12 January:
  • The first contingent of Australian troops arrives in Suez.
  • All over Europe increases the cold. In some places you reach 50 °C below zero.
• January 15: On the roads of the United Kingdom, since drivers were ordered not to use their lights (not to attract the enemy), approximately two people have accidentally died.
• January 16: British submarines Seahorse, Undine and Starfish They are sunk upon entering Cape Heligoland.
• January 18: Denmark, Norway and Sweden confirm their neutrality in World War II.
• 20 January:
  • In London, Winston Churchill invites neutral countries to join allies.
  • The British admiral announces the sinking of the German ship Greenville. Eight people have died and 73 others have disappeared.
• January 22: opposite the coasts of Wick (Scotland) the German submarine U-22 torpedoes the British destroyer Exmouth. The whole crew's gone.
• January 25: Parliament is dissolved in Canada.
• January 26: In Brisbane, Australia, the hottest day in the history of that city is recorded to date: 43.2 °C.
• 29 January: the Finns receive a letter from Moscow, where the Soviet government declares that it does not oppose signing a treaty to conclude the war.
• January 30: Sir John Simon informs that food subsidies are numbered at 1 million pounds a week.

February

• 1 February:
  • Soviet troops trigger a surprise offensive against Finland in the Summa region.
  • The Soviet offensive restarted, this time with 600 000 soldiers rested or brought from other places. On this occasion the support of artillery is overwhelming and exaggerated, although it achieved the desired effect. The Finnish bunkers are destroyed one by one, the fire of contraband is not possible because their cannons do not have enough scope, the Soviets launch the 13th attack. Army with 9 infantry divisions, 1 brigade and 2 chariot battalions and 7.o Army with 12 infantry divisions, 5 brigades and 2 chariot battalions.
  • Belgian artists René Magritte and Raoul Ubac launch the magazine Collective invention.
  • The Soviets surpass the tired Finnish defenders. At the beginning of March the Mannerheim line will finally be broken, leaving the field free to the Soviet occupation.
• 1-2 February: Balkan States hold a conference on peace in Belgrade.
• February 5: Mahatma Gandhi meets with the viceroy of India.
• February 6: The Franco-British War Council agrees to the landing of Narvik (Norway), support for Finland and the occupation of the Gallivare (Sweden) iron mine.
• 7 February:
  • In England, the Government executes two IRA militants.
  • In the United States, RKO releases the second cartoon feature: Pinocchio (from Walt Disney).
• 11 February:
  • In Spain the Council of State is re-established.
  • Germany and the Soviet Union signed a treaty on the delivery of raw materials and industrial products.
• 13 February:
  • The Finnish chancellor travels to Sweden to request immediate help, but the Swedes reject it.
  • Rebeca premiere, Alfred Hitchcock's first American film in Santa Barbara.
• 14 February:
  • Germany states that all British flag merchants are military targets.
  • The United Kingdom weaponizes its merchants who transit the North Sea.
• February 15: In Germany, General Wehrmacht officials protest against the behaviour of the SS in Poland.
• 16 February: the British destroyer Cossak attacks the support vessel Altmark, support of the Graf Spee during the Battle of the Rio de la Plata and rescues 129 British prisoners.
• 17 February:
  • There is a meeting which Manstein, the Commander of Colonel General Walther von Brauchitsch, Chief of General Staff Franz Halder and Adolf Hitler, attends, in which Manstein presents his Plan and there is a determination to execute it.
  • The Finns retire to the middle defense line.
• 22 February: In Tibet, the new Dalái Lama, Tenzing Gyatso, is enthroned.
• 27 February:
  • The Finns have seen their forces decimated and withdraw from this line to the last one near Viipuri, the Soviets reach it by 2 March, and on 4 March establish a bridge head in Vilajoki.
  • In Berkeley, United States, Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discovered carbon-14.

March

• 1 March:
  • In France, Catalan President Lluís Companys organizes the National Council of Catalonia.
  • In the palace of Chaillot (Paris), the Independents Hall is opened.
  • In Madrid the Bolsa is reopened. IGBM is created.
  • The Spanish government dictates the law for the repression of masonry, communism and other movements "that sow ideas against religion, the homeland and social harmony".
  • Adolf Hitler orders Operation Weserubung (invasion of Norway and Denmark).
  • The Germans declare that the U-Boote They have sunk 750,000 tm of British ships.
• March 2: Elmer Fudd debuts in the short film Elmer’s candid camera.
• 3 March:
  • The Red Army occupies Vyborg (Finland).
  • Finland states that it will agree to sign peace if it is allowed to preserve Viipuri and Sortavala. Gets a negative answer.
  • In Sweden a time bomb destroys the offices of the communist newspaper Norrskenflamman. Five dead.
• March 5: Soviet politician Viacheslav Mólotov signs an execution order (prepared by Lavrenti Beria) for 25 700 members of Polish intelligence, including 14 700 prisoners of war. This would later be known as the Katyn massacre, which was emphatically but absurdly denied by the Soviet Union.
• 8 March:
  • Talks begin in Moscow, the Russians want Hanko for 30 years, the cession of the whole Isthmus of Carelia and the shores of Lake Ladoga in return, will retire from Petsamo.
  • A Finnish delegation travels to Moscow to draft the peace treaty, which was finally signed on 13 March of the same year. At 11 a.m. that day the war ended.
• March 12: Peace between Finland, Winter War and Russia is signed in Moscow.
• 13 March:
  • Ends the Finnish-Soviet War. Finland loses 10% of its territory.
  • The Russians reach the suburbs of Viipuri, the Finns retire and try to establish a line between Vilajoki in the Gulf of Finland and the Saimma and Ladoga lakes, to this date they are unreserved and totally exhausted.
  • The agreement is signed after things are totally lost to the Finns.
  • In Finland it is forced to sign the Moscow Peace Treaty in which the provinces of Viipuri and Salla, the territory of Lapland, as well as other concessions. The Finnish flags are placed halfway.
• 15 March: the Franco-British preparations to support Finland through the north of Scandinavia (the Allied Campaign in Norway) are prevented by the armistice of 15 March.
• 17 March: Fritz Todt is appointed as Minister of Ammunition and Armaments.
• March 19: in Hörnum, Germany, the British RAF bombs German facilities.
• 20 March:
  • In France the Government of Édouard Daladier falls. Take Paul Reynaud.
  • England and France offer help (100 000 British and 35 000 French). This day they send 15,000 soldiers, the rest will come later. The Allies require two conditions to send aid: Finland must formally request aid, Norway and Sweden must allow the passage of British and French troops to the north of their territories. Finland never responded to this offer, as the Finnish leaders realized that aid would never come in time to save their country.
• March 27: In Auschwitz (Poland) Heinrich Himmler, the German head of the SS, orders the construction of the concentration camp.
• 31 March: the auxiliary cruise Atlantis command of Captain Bernhard Rogge departs from German coastal waters. After several months it accumulates a total of 93 803 tons of sinned enemy ships and it receives the Iron Cross on 7 December 1940.

April

• April 1st: in the Monastery of El Escorial (Madrid), General Franco presides over the symbolic inauguration of the monument to the fallen (Valle de los Caídos).
• 2 April: published Poet in New York by Federico García Lorca (already four years ago).
• 7 April:
  • In Burbank (California), the American shipper Jacqueline Cochran bats the record speed in closed circuit, with an average of 521,428 km/h.
  • It fails a British attempt to close the Danube in its passage through the Iron Doors.
• 9 April: Germany invades Denmark and Norway.

May

• May 8: In Costa Rica, President Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia
• 10 May:
  • Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
  • In the UK, Winston Churchill begins his first term.
• 11 May: Britain was the first belligerent to carry out massive bombings against a civilian population: the city of München Gladbach.
• 13 May:
  • Germany invades France by crossing its armies the Mosa River.
  • In London, Winston Churchill, in his first speech as prime minister, says to the House of Commons: "I have nothing to offer you more than blood, effort, tears and sweat" (I have nothing to offer you.blood, toil, tears, and sweat).
• 14 May:
  • The Dutch city of Rotterdam is bombed by the Luftwaffe, the German Nazi Air Force.
  • The Netherlands surrenders to Germany.
• May 15: in San Bernardino County (California) the McDonald's restaurant chain is founded.
• 17 May: Nazi troops enter Brussels.
• May 18: an earthquake of 6.9 shakes the south of the state of California leaving 9 dead.
• May 24: A violent earthquake of 8.4 shakes the cities of Lima and Callao and much of the Peruvian territory.
• May 27: British troops are evacuated from Dunkirk to the German advance.

June

• 1 June:
  • Keep the German attack on Dunkerque.
  • General Lord Gort, commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, returns from Flanders with evacuated troops.
  • La Luftwaffe attacks the industrial centers in the Rhone Valley, from Lyon to Marseille.
  • In Norway, the British evacuate the Bodo area, 190 km southwest of Narvik.
  • Unemployment in the United Kingdom declined in May to 92 000 people, totaling 881 000 unemployed. In one year the unemployment has been reduced by 611 000 people.
  • In the UK, all signals that could favor the launch of enemy paratroopers are removed.
  • The British Admiralty announced the loss of six destroyers and another 24 small ships from the British Royal Navy, ensuring that 222 ships from the British fleet and 665 boats had participated in the operation, sinking a total of 226 because of the German attacks.
  • Paris is bombarded by 300 German planes. An estimated 900 civilian casualties.
  • In the United Kingdom, all foreigners and persons without nationality are prohibited from leaving their homes between 22:30 and 6:00 h.
  • In the United Kingdom, the Government closes the holiday camps that are ten miles (16 km) from the east and south-west coasts of England and the Wright Islands.
• June 3: the evacuation of Dunkirk is completed. They have managed to escape 224 686 British and 141,445 French and Belgian.
• 4 June:
  • Ends Dunkerque's ally evacuation.
  • Winston Churchill speaks in the House of Commons, "We will fight on the beaches, in the fields, in the streets and in the hills, we will never surrender."
  • In Germany, the French planes attack Munich and Frankfurt the Meno as reprisal for the bombing of Paris.
• 5 June:
  • At 160 km from Paris the Battle of France begins with a German offensive in the Somne, along a 190 km front that strikes the left wing of the French army.
  • The commander of the national defense Ironside announces the creation of the Ironsides, small groups of armed men, of great mobility for the defense against paratroopers.
• 6 June:
  • The German tanks in groups in 200 to 300 units pass through the French lines in two sectors on the Somne front.
  • Strong losses occur in Amiens and Petonne.
  • Air strikes take place in many areas of the east coast of England.
  • In France, De Gaulle is appointed Assistant Secretary of Defense.
  • The production of hundreds of home items is prohibited in the United Kingdom.
  • In the United Kingdom, the Government orders that all Germans and Austrians living in the country deliver their radio equipment.
• 7 June:
  • On the Bresles front (100 km north of Paris) allied troops retreat.
  • The French bombard Berlin.
• 10 June: Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom.
• 11 June:
  • Australia, New Zealand and South Africa declare war on Italy.
  • In Italy, the British RAF bombs Turin and the airways and oil deposits of the Italian colonies of East Africa and Libya.
  • The Italians bomb Malta.
  • Paris prepares for siege while Luftwaffe attacks the city.
  • In the port of Trondheim (Norway), the RAF attacks the German ships.
  • Anderson landlords are ordered to have them regulated and ready for immediate use.
• 12 June:
  • The Germans cross the Marne River, consolidating their bridge head south of the Seine and claiming to have taken Reims.
  • Most of the 51st Mountain Division has been dispersed and then captured by Erwin Rommel in St.Valery in Caux.
  • The RAF bombs Turin and Genoa and ends in Tobruk (Libya).
  • In the south of Crete, the Italian submarine Bagnolini sinks to the British cruise HMS Calypso.
• 13 June:
  • The Germans advance over Paris.
  • General Weygand declares Paris an open city.
  • In front of the coast of Ireland, the U-25 submarine torpedoes the merchant cruise Scotsoun. Six crew members die.
  • In the Gulf of Tarento, the Italian destroyer Strale goes into the submarine HMS Odin.
• 14 June:
  • The Germans enter Paris.
  • The city of El Havre is taken by German General Erwin Rommel.
  • The French government moves to Bordeaux.
  • The Francoist Army occupies the International City of Tangier.
  • Soviet ultimatum to Lithuania.
• 15 June:
  • The Germans take Verdun and cross the Rhine River towards France, at the height of Strasbourg. Maxime Weygand refuses to surrender to the French army.
  • June 15: U.S. President Roosevelt assures Paul Reynaud that he will double aid.
  • June 15: Russians enter Lithuania.
  • A new German-Russian border agreement is announced.
  • The Germans open the Auschwitz concentration camp which, according to official version, will be occupied by 100,000 forced workers of the IG Farben factory.
• 16 June:
  • Francisco Franco sends a letter to Hitler where he proposes the conditions of entry of Spain in the war, which were not accepted.
  • Paul Reynaud submits his resignation to the Government and suggests—followed by the presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies—to entrust the presidency of the Council to the Marshal of the Pétain field, which would be approved by the President of the Republic Albert Lebrun.
  • The French front is broken.
  • The Germans have broken the French lines from Champagne to Dihon and announce that the Maginot line has been passed.
  • Field Marshal Petain forms a government with Maxime Weygand as Minister of National Defense.
  • In front of the coasts of Syracuse (Sicilia), four Italian torpedo spears sink into the British submarine HMS Grampus.
• 17 June:
  • Soviet troops occupy Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
  • With the advice of General Maxime Weygand, Chief of Staff, Pétain announced his intention to request the armistice.
  • St. Nazaire (northwest of France) the Germans bomb and sink the British transatlantic RMS Lancastria. More than 4000 people die. War censorship prevents this story from being known.
  • Winston Churchill addresses his people, through the radio, ensuring that the British will fight to defend their islands until the ghost of Hitler fades.
  • Unemployment in the United Kingdom declined by 11,000 people during the month of May, the current number of unemployed is 767,000.
• 18 June:
  • The French army undertakes a general retreat.
  • Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet in Munich to discuss the French request for peace.
  • From England, De Gaulle radios: “France has lost a battle but has not lost the war”.
  • Winston Churchill goes to the House of Commons: “Let us behave so that in the future we can say: “That was the most glorious hour of them.”
  • The German planes attack the Thames estuary and the east coast.
• 19 June:
  • The Germans arrive at the Loire River, advance over Lyon and occupy Strasbourg. Erwin Rommel takes Cherbourg. They advance south towards the lower Loire and Rochefort. Take Saumur and Tours.
  • The British Ministry of Information sends to all homeowners the pamphlet “If the invasion comes”, while a large number of German bombers attack the country.
  • The Jockey Club announces that there will be no more races to new notice.
• 20 June:
  • French envoys cross the German lines to collect the conditions of the armistice.
  • The Germans take the port of Brest in Brittany.
  • RAF bombs Ruan's airfield.
  • In London, the two British parliament chambers meet in secret session to discuss the National Defense.
  • To the west of Altham at the Accrington limit, six bombs of high explosive power. Three dead. A destroyed house, three damaged. Firebombs fired on Clayton-le-Moors, England.
• June 21: Adolf Hitler lets the French representatives know their conditions in the same railway car in which the Germans signed surrender in 1918.
• 22 June:
  • France surrenders to Germany (Armist of 22 June 1940).
  • The Armistice will be signed in Rethondes, after having been approved by the Council of Ministers and by the President of the Republic.
  • The French representatives signed the armistice in Compiègne, then flying to Rome to negotiate with Benito Mussolini.
  • The Germans cross the Loire River with great push.
  • Italians bomb Alexandria (Egypt).
  • It is completed in the evacuation plan of the London County Board, 100,000 children will be evacuated west of the country and Wales.
• 23 June:
  • The advances of the Germans to the west coast of France continue.
  • Pierre Laval is appointed Deputy Prime Minister.
  • Charles De Gaulle, degraded by Maxime Weygand, announced the formation of the French National Committee in London to continue the struggle.
  • The British perform their first command attack in France, in Le Touquet.
• 24 June:
  • The French sign in harmony with Italy near Rome.
  • China protests against France for the closure of the Indo-Chinese border.
  • The Japanese demand the closure of the Burma road, controlled by the British and used to send supplies to the Chinese troops.
• 25 June:
  • The ceasefire will have effect from 1:35 h in the morning.
  • Winston Churchill claims that France is not free of obligations.
  • First morning air alarm in London.
• 26 June:
  • The German blockade of food and war materials on Britain extends to France.
  • De Gaulle forms the Legion of French Volunteers in London.
• 27 June:
  • The Germans arrive at the Franco-Spanish border.
  • The French chief commander in Syria accepts the conditions of the armistice.
  • Japanese troops occupy part of the Hong Kong peninsula.
• 28 June:
  • The British government recognizes De Gaulle as the leader of the free French.
  • The islands of the La Mancha Canal are demilitarized and partially evacuated.
  • German planes bomb the Isle of Jersey.
• 29 June: in the city of Vichy (an area not occupied by the German army) the French Government is installed.
• 30 June:
  • The Germans occupy Guernsey.
  • The last defenders of the Maginot Line surrender.
  • The Hong Kong general government orders the evacuation of women and children to the Philippines, while the Japanese block the colony.

July

• 1 July: the 5th Soviet Machining Corps is formed.
• 5 July:
  • Britain and the French Vichy Regime break diplomatic relations.
  • The end of the school year 1939 - 1940 of the SEP in Mexico is finished.
• 7 July:
  • The elections of Mexico were held in whose presidential candidate Manuel Ávila Camacho.
  • Born in England Ringo Starr, former The Beatles
• July 10: the Battle of England begins.
• July 15: the sixth Soviet Machining Corps is formed.
• 18 July: General Franco officially claims Gibraltar.

August

• 2 August: in Japan, an earthquake of 7.5 causes a destructive tsunami with waves of up to 2 meters that left 10 dead and 20 wounded.
• August 20: In Coyoacán, Mexico, Stalinist agent Ramón Mercader murders Leon Trotski.
• August 25th the 4th Mechanized Corps, consisting of 797 Soviet tanks.
• August 26: in Costa Rica, the University of Costa Rica was founded.

September

• September 21: Explode the Pinar del Antequera dust, causing more than 100 deaths south of Valladolid.
• September 28: in Lomas de Zamora (Buenos Aires) the stadium of the Club Atlético Los Andes is officially enabled.

October

• 4 October: in Brénnero, Italy, in the framework of the Second World War, are Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
• October 15: Francisco Franco orders to shoot Lluís Companys, president of the Generality of Catalonia.
• October 23: Francisco Franco and Adolf Hitler hold an interview in Hendaya because of Spain's participation in World War II
• 27 October: Germany, Italy and Japan sign the Tripartite Covenant.
• October 28: Greece enters World War II: Greco-Italian War.
• October 31: Charlie Chaplin, British actor and writer, releases the film The Great Dictator

November

• 5 November: Presidential elections of the United States of 1940. Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt breaks the tradition of the two maximum mandates and is re-elected for a third party by comfortably beating Republican Wendell Wilkie with an advantage of 449 electoral votes for Roosevelt and 82 for Wilkie.
• 7 November: In the United States, after resisting several minutes of wind storm, the Tacoma bridge collapses and the middle section falls, there were no victims except for a spainel cocker that was trapped in a car.
• 15 November: In the northeastern Venezuelan state of Monagas (Venezuela) the current population of Punta de Mata, capital of the municipality Ezequiel Zamora is founded.
• 16 November: In Germany, Adolf Hitler created the 2nd Panzer Group.
• 26 November: in Jilava prison – a village 10 km south of Bucharest (Romania) – members of the anti-Semitic Iron Guard, in revenge for the previous murder of their leaders in 1938, kill 64 prisoners. (Judge of Jilava).

December

• 1 December: in Mexico, Manuel Ávila Camacho took office as president as his fifty-second president for the presidential term 1940-1946.
• December 20 and 24: two 5.6 earthquakes shake the state of New Hampshire.

Births

January

• January 4th: Helmut Jahn, German architect.
• January 4: Gao Xingjian, Chinese writer, Nobel Prize in Literature in 2000.
• January 4th: Brian David Josephson, British physicist.
• January 5: Enrique Rocha, Mexican actor (f. 2021).
• January 9: Ruth Dreifuss, Swiss economist.
• January 9: Ernesto El Flaco Suárez, actor and theatre director.
• January 14: Georgie Dann, Spanish naturalized French singer (f. 2021).
• January 16: Roberto Roena, bongocero and dancer of Puerto Rican salsa (f. 2021).
• January 17: Tabaré Vázquez, president of Uruguay.
• January 18: Iva Zanicchi, TV host and Italian singer.
• January 21: Eduardo Barcesat, an Argentine human rights defender.
• January 21: Lindomar Castilho, Brazilian singer.
• January 21, Jack Nicklaus, American golfer.
• January 22: John Hurt, British actor (f. 2017).
• January 24: Joachim Gauck, German president.
• January 28: Carlos Slim, Mexican businessman and the richest person in the world in 2010 and 2011.

February

• February 1st: Héctor Silva, Uruguayan footballer (f.2015).
• February 4: George A. Romero, American filmmaker (f. 2017).
• February 9: John Maxwell Coetzee, South African writer, Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.
• February 9: Enrique Olivera, Argentine politician (f. 2014).
• February 9: María Teresa Uribe, a Colombian sociologist (f. 2019).
• February 12: Richard Lynch, American actor (f. 2012).
• February 17: Vicente Fernández, Mexican singer, actor and businessman. (f.2021).
• February 19: Smokey Robinson, American singer.
• February 19: Saparmurat Niyazov, President of Turkmenistan (f. 2006).
• February 20: Jimmy Greaves, British footballer.
• February 20: Raquel Ércole, Colombian actress (f. 2021).
• February 23: Peter Fonda, American actor (f. 2019).
• February 24: Denis Law, Scottish footballer.
• February 29: Felipe Vallese, leader of the Peronist Youth (f. 1962).

March

• 2 March: Juan Luis Galiardo, Spanish actor. (f. 2012).
• March 3: Germán Castro Caycedo, journalist and Colombian writer (f. 2021).
• 7 March: Rudi Dutschke, German activist (f. 1979).
• March 7: Franky Linero, Colombian actor (f. 2007).
• March 7: Jaime Santos, Colombian actor and humorist (f. 2019).
• March 8: Johnny Ventura, Dominican singer (f. 2021).
• 9 March: Raúl Juliá, Puerto Rican actor (f. 1994).
• March 10: Chuck Norris, American actor.
• March 11: Alberto Cortez, Argentine singer (f. 2019).
• March 12: Al Jarreau, American musician (f. 2017).
• 17 March: María José Alfonso, Spanish actress.
• March 21: Rafael Lorente Mourelle, Uruguayan architect.
• March 26: James Caan, American actor.
• March 26: Nancy Pelosi, American politics.
• March 28: Luis Cubilla, Uruguayan footballer (f. 2013).
• March 29: Astrud Gilberto, Brazilian singer of bossa nova and samba.
• March 30: Marina Marín, Mexican actress.

April

• April 1st: Graciela Paraskevaídis, composer, musicologist and Argentine nationalized Uruguayan teacher (f. 2017).
• 1 April: Wangari Maathai, Kenyan activist, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize (f. 2011).
• April 6: Homero Aridjis, journalist, writer and Mexican poet.
• April 6: Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Mexican actor (f. 2011).
• April 6: Chicho Sánchez Ferlosio, Spanish singer (f. 2003).
• April 6: Andres Pajares, actor, director, screenwriter and humorist.
• April 10: Carlos Manuel Varela, theatre director, playwright, cultural manager and Uruguayan professor (f. 2015).
• April 11: Héctor Mora, a Colombian journalist (f. 2017).
• April 12: Herbie Hancock, American musician.
• 13 April: J. M. G. Le Clézio, French writer, 2008 nobel literature award.
• April 13: José Nápoles, Mexican nationalized Cuban boxer (f. 2019).
• April 15: Jeffrey Archer, a British politician and writer.
• 16 April: Margaret II of Denmark, Queen of Denmark.
• April 16: Federico Prieto Celi, journalist, essayist and Peruvian political scientist.
• April 16: Iván Marino Ospina, politician and Colombian guerrilla (f. 1985).
• 17 April: Siegfried Jerusalem, German tenor.
• April 19: José Luis Gómez, Spanish actor.
• April 20: Alberto Vázquez, Mexican singer and actor.
• April 20: Pilar Miró, director of film, theatre and Spanish television (f. 1997).
• April 23: Dietrich Schwanitz, German writer (f. 2004).
• April 25: Al Pacino, American actor.
• April 26: Giorgio Moroder, Italian musician and producer.
• April 28: Raúl Parentella, pianist, violinist, arranger and Argentine composer.

May

• 2 May: Raúl Padilla "Chóforo", Mexican actor and comedian (f. 2013).
• May 4th: Robin Cook, American writer.
• May 5: Michael Lindsay-Hogg, filmmaker and documentaryist.
• May 7: Angela Carter, a British journalist and novelist (f. 1992).
• May 8: Peter Benchley, American writer (f. 2006).
• May 8: Irwin Cotler, politician, Minister of Justice and Canadian lawyer.
• May 8: Ricky Nelson, singer, guitarist and American actor (f. 1985).
• May 9: James L. Brooks, American writer and producer.
• May 18: Salvo Basile, italo-colombian actor.
• May 21: Tony Sheridan, British musician, singer and composer (f. 2013).
• 22 May: Carlos Galván, bandoneonist, director of orchestra and Argentine composer of tango (f. 2014).
• May 24: José Joe Baxter, Argentine guerrilla (f. 1973).
• May 24: Joseph Brodsky, Russian poet, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1987 (f. 1996).
• May 24: Christoph Wolff, German musicologist.
• May 25: Nobuyoshi Araki, Japanese photographer.
• May 31: Alfonso Guerra González, Spanish politician.

June

• June 1: Rene Auberjonois, American actor (f. 2019).
• June 7: Tom Jones, British singer.
• June 8: Nancy Sandra Sinatra Barbato, "Cantante y Actriz"; daughter of the singer Frank Sinatra.
• June 18: Miguel Herrero and Rodríguez de Miñón, politician and Spanish jurist.
• 22 June: Abbás Kiarostamí, Iranian filmmaker (f. 2016).
• June 23: Stuart Sutcliffe, British bassist, from The Beatles band (f. 1962).
• June 25: Claudia Lapacó, an Argentine actress.
• June 25: Ramón Buenaventura, Spanish writer.
• June 30: Víctor Erice, Spanish filmmaker.

July

• July 3: César Tovar, Venezuelan baseball player (f. 1994).
• July 4: Miguel Ángel Estrella, pianist and Argentine human rights activist (f. 2022).
• July 4th: Karolyn Grimes, American actress.
• July 7: Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey), British drummer, The Beatles band.
• July 13: Patrick Stewart, British actor.
• July 19: Vicky Carr, Mexican American singer and actress.
• July 21: Alcy Cheuiche, Brazilian writer.
• July 22: Thomas Martin, a British counter- bassist of American origin.
• July 23: Jesús Munárriz, Spanish poet and editor.
• July 25: Sergio Faraco, Brazilian writer and translator.
• July 29: Fabio Poveda Márquez, a Colombian journalist (f. 1998).

August

• 4 August: Coriún Aharonián, composer and Uruguayan musicologist.
• August 4th: Larry Knechtel, American Rock Player and Guitarist (f. 2009).
• August 7: Jean-Luc Dehaene, Belgian politician (f. 2014).
• August 8: Adolfo Pacheco, Colombian singer of vallenata music (f. 2023).
• August 14: Lila Morillo, Venezuelan singer and actress.
• August 14: Ricardo Sánchez Candelas, writer, politician and Spanish engineer.
• 14 August: Gabriel Cisneros, Spanish politician (f. 2007).
• August 15: Dora Barrancos, sociologist, historian and feminist of Argentina.
• August 15: Gudrun Ensslin, a German terrorist, founder of the Red Army Faction (f. 1977).
• August 15: Fernando Robles, Mexican actor of Portuguese origin.
• August 16: Helios Fernández, actor colombo-español (f. 2004).
• August 23: Carmen de la Maza, Spanish actress.

September

• September 3: Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan writer.(f. 2017).
• September 3: Felipe Pirela, Venezuelan singer (f. 1972).
• September 5: Raquel Welch, American actress, singer and model.
• September 7: Giuseppe Giacomini, Italian tenor.
• September 8: Elly de Waard, Dutch poet.
• September 10: Dacia González, Mexican actress.
• September 13: Óscar Arias Sánchez, president of Costa Rica between 1986 and 1990, and since 2006, Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.
• September 14: Larry Brown, American basketball coach.
• 14 September: María Teresa Forero, university professor, writer, translator and Argentine playwright.
• 14 September: Ramon del Hoyo López, Spanish bishop.
• September 19: Eduardo Mateo, a Uruguayan musician and composer (f. 1990).
• September 22: Teresa Mendizábal, Basque scientist.
• September 23: Mohammad Reza Shayarián, singer of traditional Persian music and Iranian musician.
• September 23: Michel Temer, Brazilian politician.
• September 25: Hugo Blanco, musician, musical producer and Venezuelan composer (f. 2015).
• September 27: Fatima Mernissi, Moroccan feminist writer and sociologist
• September 29: Nicola Di Bari, Italian musician and composer.

October

• October 3: Nacha Guevara, actress, singer, dancer and Argentine theatre director..
• October 4: Silvio Marzolini, footballer and Argentine coach. (f. 2020).
• October 9: John Lennon, British rock musician, co-founder of the group The Beatles (f. 1980).
• October 10: Alberto Zumarán, Uruguayan politician.
• October 14: Cliff Richard, British singer.
• October 14: Carlos Bonavides, Mexican actor.
• October 16: Nils Burwitz, German sculptor.
• October 16: Barry Corbin, American actor.
• October 16: Dave DeBusschere, American basketball player.

Michael Gambon

• October 19: Michael Gambon, Irish actor.
• October 23: Pelé, Brazilian footballer (f. 2022).
• October 26: José María Arancedo, Argentine bishop, president of the Episcopal Conference.
• October 26: Ernesto Cisneros, Mexican footballer.
• October 27: John Gotti, American gangster of Italian descent.
• October 29: Jose Manuel Cervino, Spanish actor.
• October 31: Jorge Schussheim, singer, author and Argentine humorist.

November

• November 3: Nacha Guevara, actress, singer, dancer and Argentine theatre director..
• 4 November: Manuel Ojeda, Mexican actor (f. 2022).
• 5 November: Elke Sommer, German actress.
• 10 November: Pierre Bameul, French writer.
• 10 November: Joan Borràs, Spanish actor.
• November 10: "Screaming Lord" Sutch (David Sutch), British singer and politician (f. 1999).
• November 15: Roberto Cavalli, Italian fashion designer.
• November 15: Sam Waterston, American actor.
• 16 November: Jorge Roldán, footballer and Guatemalan coach.
• November 20: Wendy Doniger, American indologue.
• November 27: Bruce Lee, American film actor and martial artist (f. 1973).
• 29 November: Arturo Zambo Cavero, Peruvian singer of Creole music (f. 2009).
• November 29: Chuck Mangione, American trumpeter and composer.
• November 30: Makio Inoue, Japanese seiyū.

December

• December 1st: Minori Matsushima, Japanese seiyū.
• 1 December: Richard Pryor, American actor and comedian (f. 2005).
• December 5: Quince Duncan, a Costa Rican African Caribbean writer.
• December 11: Manuel Martín Ferrand, Spanish journalist.
• December 11: David Gates, American musician, of the Bread band.
• December 12: Dionne Warwick, American singer.
• December 12: Evelyn Solares, Mexican bent actress.
• December 14: Paco Camino, Spanish bullfighter.
• December 17: Edika, Egyptian-French hysterist.
• December 17: Alicia Muñoz, writer, screenwriter and Argentine playwright.
• December 17: María Elena Velasco, Mexican actress (f. 2015).
• December 21st: Frank Zappa, American rock musician (f. 1993).
• December 28: Mario Kreutzberger, Chilean TV presenter.
• December 29: Alfonso Lizarazo, Colombian television presenter.

Unknown dates

• Joaquín Marta Sosa, Venezuelan poet, journalist and essayist.

Deaths

• January 4: Manuel González García, Spanish prelate (n. 1877).
• January 21: Einar Benediktsson, Icelandic poet, lawyer and businessman (n. 1864).
• February 8: Antonio Escobar, a Spanish military officer (n. 1879).
• February 18: Mauricio López-Roberts, a Spanish diplomat and writer (n. 1873).
• February 27: Peter Behrens, German architect (n. 1868).
• March 2: Ricardo Miró, Panamanian writer and poet.
• March 16: Selma Lagerlöf, a Swedish writer, a nobel literature award in 1909 (n. 1858).
• March 29: Angela Graupera, writer and Spanish war correspondent (n. 1876).
• April 26: Carl Bosch, German chemist and industrialist, nobel chemistry award in 1931 (n. 1874).
• May 20: Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish writer, nobel Prize for Literature in 1916 (n. 1859).
• May 25: Corisco, Brazilian Cangaceiro (n. 1907).
• June 4: Enrique Mosconi, Argentine military (n. 1877).
• June 9: Armando Searchini, Spanish poet.
• June 16: Ray Strachey, essayist, biologist and British suffrageist (n. 1887).
• June 17th: Arthur Harden, British biochemical, nobel chemistry award in 1929 (n. 1865).
• June 20: Jehan Alain, French organist and composer (n. 1911).
• June 29: Paul Klee, Swiss painter (n. 1879).
• July 15: Robert Pershing Wadlow, the highest man in the news (n. 1918).
• August 20: Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary (n. 1879).
• August 22: Oliver Joseph Lodge, British physicist and writer (n. 1851).
• August 24: Paul Nipkow, German engineer (n. 1860).
• August 30: Joseph John Thomson, British physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics (n. 1856).
• September 27: Julius Wagner-Jauregg, Austrian doctor, nobel medical prize in 1927 (n. 1857).
• September 27: Walter Benjamin, German philosopher and writer (n. 1892).
• September 27: Julián Besteiro, a Spanish professor and politician (n. 1870).
• October 5: Silvestre Revols, Mexican composer (n. 1899).
• October 6: Adolfo Lutz, a Brazilian physician and scientist.
• October 15: Lluis Companys i Jover, president of the Catalan generality (n. 1882).
• October 16: José Bernardino Ortega, an Argentine politician (n. 1860).
• October 28: Práxedis W. Caballero, Mexican military (n. 1885).
• 4 November: Manuel Azaña, Spanish politician, president of the Second Republic between 1936 and 1939 (n. 1880).
• 9 November: Julián Zugazagoitia, Spanish writer and politician (n. 1899).
• 12 November: Alejandro García Caturla, Cuban composer (n. 1906).
• December 20: Sarita Colonia, young Peruvian (n. 1914).
• December 21: F. Scott Fitzgerald, American writer (n. 1896).

Date unknown

• Liber Arce, Uruguayan activist, first student killed by police forces in Uruguay (f. 1968).

Art and literature

• Ernest Hemingway: Who's the bell ringing for?
• Enrique Jardiel Poncela: Eloísa is under an almond tree.
• Maria Teresa Budge: Our shadows.
• Adolfo Bioy Casares: The invention of Morel.
• Agatha Christie: A sad cypress, Death visits the dentist.
• Graham Greene: Power and glory.

Science and technology

• Spanish engineer Manuel Arias-Paz (1901-1965) publishes the Car manual (called “the Bible of mechanics”).

Sports

• January 4th (Thursday). Brazil Tour (1939-1940) Flamengo: 0 San Lorenzo: 1.
• January 12 (Friday): Brazil Tour (1939-1940) Brazil Combined: 1 Argentine Combined: 6.
• January 14 (domingo): San Lorenzo intervened in a lightning championship Aranha Cup together with the Clubs Flamengo, Botafogo and Vasco da Gama of Brazil and Independent of Argentina.
• January 18 (Thursday): Flamengo Lightning Championship: 2 San Lorenzo: 4
• Uruguayan Football Championship: National is dedicated champion for the fifteenth time.
• 1 August the Albacete Balompié was founded
• First Chilean division: Universidad de Chile holds champion for the first time.
• The Logroñés Sports Club is founded.
• World War forces to suspend the celebration of the 1940 Helsinki Olympics.
• It is founded Sociedad Deportiva Argentina, a professional football team from the city of Quito in Ecuador that by 1955 would change its name for the Sports Society Quito.

Cinema

• There's the detail. by Juan Bustillo Oro (Mexico). Considered the masterpiece of the comic actor Cantinflas.
• Arise, my love (Arise, my LoveMitchell Leisen.
• The bazaar of surprises (The Shop Around the CornerErnst Lubitsch.
• Comrade X (Comrade X- King Vidor.
• Camino de Santa Fe (Santa Fe TrailMichael Curtiz.
• The letter (The LetterWilliam Wyler's.
• Special Envoy (Foreign CorrespondentAlfred Hitchcock.
• mirage of love (Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a WomanSam Wood.
• Fantasy by James Algar and Samuel Armstrong (13 November).
• The stranger (The WesternerWilliam Wyler's.
• The Great Dictator (The Great DictatorCharles Chaplin.
• The falcon of the sea (The Sea HawkMichael Curtiz.
• The Marx Brothers in the West (Go WestEdward Buzzell.
• Philadelfia Stories (The Philadelphia StoryGeorge Cukor, with Cary Grant, James Stewart, Katharine Hepburn.
• Intrepid men (The Long Voyage Home- John Ford.
• The thief of Baghdad (The Thief of Baghdad), by Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, Tim Whelan, Alexander Korda, Zoltan Korda and William Cameron Menzies.
• New moon (His Girl FridayHoward Hawks.
• The evil one.José López Rubio.
• MarianelaBenito Perojo.
• My favorite woman (My Favorite WifeGarson Kanin.
• The blind passion (They Drive by NightRaoul Walsh.
• Step to the Northwest (Nortwest Passage- King Vidor.
• Pinocchio (PinocchioHamilton Luske and Ben Sharpsteen.
• Canadian Mounted Police (Northwest Mounted PoliceCecil B. DeMille.
• Rebecca (RebeccaAlfred Hitchcock.
• They knew what they wanted. (They Knew what they WantedGarson Kanin.
• The sign of the Fox (The Mark of ZorroRouben Mamoulian.
• No news in the Alcazar (L’Assedio dell’Alcazar) of Augusto Genina.
• Symphony of life (Our TownSam Wood.
• Susana and God (Susan and GodGeorge Cukor.
• Night train to Munich (Night Train to MunichCarol Reed.
• United for fortune (Lucky PartnersLewis Milestone.
• The Revenge of Frank James (The Return of Frank JamesFritz Lang.
• The grapes of wrath (The Grapes of Wrath- John Ford.

Music

• Joaquín Rodrigo: Aranjuez Concert.
• On January 26, singer Frank Sinatra made his first public debut with the song "Stardust" along with "Tommy Dorsey Band" at the "Coronado Theatre in Rockford, Illinois".
• In April, singer Frank Sinatra achieved his first vocal success with the song "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" with "Tommy Dorsey Band".

Nobel laureates

Due to the outbreak of World War II, the Nobel Prizes are not awarded this year.

• Physics: 1/3 for the Main Fund and 2/3 for the Special Fund of this section of the award.
• Chemistry: 1/3 for the Main Fund and 2/3 for the Special Fund of this section of the award.
• Medicine: 1/3 for the Main Fund and 2/3 for the Special Fund of this section of the award.
• Literature: 1/3 for the Main Fund and 2/3 for the Special Fund of this section of the award.
• Peace: 1/3 for the Main Fund and 2/3 for the Special Fund of this section of the award.