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The Year Was 1940
With the rearming of US forces the Great Depression was finally beginning to ease , and Americans were earning more and
buying more so being able to buy goods and further fueling the economy . But outside of America things were not good as
Germany invaded France which meant between Germany and Italy most of Western Europe was controlled by them except for
England. In the US the feel good feeling of leaving the depression behind fueled the making of some great movies including
"Gone With the Wind" and the "Great Dictator" , and Jazz sounds were the popular music of the day from the likes of
Benny Goodman and Count Basie amongst others. The Nylon stockings invented the previous year were all the rage with women,
FDR was elected for a third term but Americans were starting to believe they should help Britain in it's fight for survival with
Germany and the first peacetime draft occurred in September 1940 which had ominous overtones for the future. Britain was
being bombed incessantly and many believed it may only be time before America would be involved.
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What Things Cost in 1940:
- Car: $800
- Gasoline: 19 cents/gal
- House: $6,550
- Bread: 8 cents/loaf
- Milk: 49 cents/gal
- Postage Stamp: 3 cents
- Stock Market: 131
- Average Annual Salary: $1,900
- Federal spending: $9.47 billion
- Federal debt: $50.7 billion
- Unemployment: 14.6%
Major Events 1940
- CBS demonstrates color television in New York. WNBT, the first regularly operating television station,
debuts in New York with an estimated 10,000 viewers.
- It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman! The radio show debuts.
- The first Bugs Bunny cartoon
- 120,000 census enumerators complete the 1940 census of the U.S. population
- The ship Queen Elizabeth quietly completes her maiden voyage arriving in NY
- Winston Churchill delivers first speech as Prime Minister of England
- German troops marched through Paris
- First military draft number was drawn, initiating selective service
- Roosevelt re-elected for historic third term
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Sports 1940
- World Series: Cincinnati d. Detroit (4-3)
- Stanley Cup: NY Rangers d. Toronto (4-2)
- Kentucky Derby Champion: Gallahadion
- NCAA Basketball Championship: Indiana d. KS
- NCAA Football Champions: Minnesota (8-0-0)
Popular Movies 1940
- The Grapes of Wrath
- Gulliver's Travels
- Hollywood Cavalcade
Popular Music 1940
- Glenn Miller—In the Mood, Careless, Pennsylvania 6-5000
- Frank Sinatra—I'll Never Smile Again
- Bing Crosby—Only Forever
- The Ink Spots—When The Swallows Come Back to Capistrano
- The Andrews Sisters—Ferryboat Serenade
- Vaughn Monroe—There I Go
- Tommy Dorsey—All the Things You Are
- Benny Goodman—Seven Come Eleven
Born This Year 1940
- John Lennon, Mario Andretti, Frankie Avalon,
- Peter Fonda, John Gotti, Tom Jones, Ted Koppel,
- Bruce Lee, Jack Nicklaus, Chuck Norris,
- Al Pacino, Nancy Pelosi, Ringo Starr,
- Smokey Robinson, Martin Sheen, Nancy Sinatra,
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(c) Copyright 2006-11 Wales Lincoln Alumni Association - All rights Reserved
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