Explore 1392 historical events from 1940–1949.
Michael Graham Vickers is an English musician who came to prominence as the guitarist, flautist, and saxophonist with the 1960s band Manfred Mann.
Mike Vickers, English guitarist, saxophonist, and songwriter
James Richard Gammon was an American actor, known for playing grizzled "good ol' boy" types in numerous films and television series. Gammon portrayed Lou Brown, the manager of fict…
James Gammon, American actor (died 2010)
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and air…
World War II: The Dunkirk evacuation ends: the British Armed Forces completes evacuation of 338,000 troops from Dunkirk
Joseph Leonard Goldstein ForMemRS is an American biochemist. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1985, along with fellow University of Texas Southwestern resea…
Joseph L
Jacques Joseph Caron is a Canadian former ice hockey player and coach. He played 72 games in the National Hockey League with the Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, and Vancouver C…
Jacques Caron, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
Souleymane Cissé was a Malian film director, regarded as one of the first generation of African filmmakers. He was called "Africa's greatest living filmmaker" while his film Yeelen…
Souleymane Cissé, Malian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2025)
Michael Joseph Copps is a former commissioner of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an independent agency of the United States government. He was sworn in on May 31,…
Michael Copps, American academic and politician
Dale & Grace was an American singing duo consisting of Dale Houston and Grace Broussard. They had two Billboard chart hits. The first was the No. 1 gold record "I'm Leaving It Up t…
Dale Houston, American singer-songwriter (died 2007)
Michael "Lufa" Kadosh was an Israeli footballer who also worked as the manager of Hapoel Jerusalem. He died on 29 April 2014 from cancer at the age of 74.
Michael Kadosh, Israeli footballer and manager (died 2014)
Sue Taylor Grafton was an American author of detective novels. She is best known as the author of the "alphabet series" featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone in the fictio…
Sue Grafton, American author (died 2017)
Giovanni Giorgio Moroder is an Italian composer and record producer. Dubbed the "Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering Euro disco and electronic dance music. His wo…
Giorgio Moroder, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
Clifford H. Watson was an English professional rugby league footballer who played as a prop in the 1960s and 1970s. He played for the St Helens in the Rugby Football League Champio…
Cliff Watson, English rugby league player (died 2018)
Adrian Tan Cheng Bock is a Singaporean former politician and physician who has served as the secretary-general of the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) between 2019 and 2021 and chair…
Tan Cheng Bock, Singaporean doctor and politician
Alfredo James Pacino is an American actor. Known for his intense performances on stage and screen, Pacino is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. His career s…
Al Pacino, American actor and director
George Rufus Adams was an American jazz musician who played tenor saxophone, flute and bass clarinet. He is best known for his work with Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Roy Haynes and i…
George Adams, American musician (died 1992)
Peter Arthur Diamond is an American economist known for his analysis of U.S. Social Security policy and his work as an advisor to the Advisory Council on Social Security in the lat…
Peter Diamond, American economist
Jeroen Godfried Marie Brouwers was a Dutch writer.
Jeroen Brouwers, Dutch journalist and writer (died 2022)
Michael Arthur Cleary AO is an Australian former rugby union and rugby league footballer of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and a politician. He represented Australia in both rugby cod…
Michael Cleary, Australian rugby player and politician
Ülo Õun was an Estonian sculptor whose career began in the late 1960s and came to prominence in the 1970s. Õun mainly worked as a portrait and figural sculptor and was known for hi…
Ülo Õun, Estonian sculptor (died 1988)
Gerald Tommaso DeLouise, known professionally as Burt Young, was an American actor. He played Rocky Balboa's brother-in-law and best friend Paulie Pennino in the Rocky film series,…
Burt Young, American actor and painter (died 2023)
David Hamilton Koch was an American businessman, political activist, philanthropist, and chemical engineer. In 1970, he joined the family business: Koch Industries, the second-larg…
David Koch, American engineer, businessman, and philanthropist (died 2019)
Clemens Westerhof is a Dutch football manager, who has worked in various football positions on the African continent since 1989.
Clemens Westerhof, Dutch footballer and manager
Robert Brian "Robin" Cook is an American physician and novelist who writes largely about medicine and topics affecting public health.
Robin Cook, American physician and author
Lance Henriksen is an American actor. He is known for his roles in various science fiction, action and horror genre productions, including Bishop in the Alien film franchise and Fr…
Lance Henriksen, American actor