Explore 5072 historical events from 1940–1949.
Newton Booth Tarkington was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his novels The Magnificent Ambersons (1918) and Alice Adams (1921). He is one of only four novelists t…
Booth Tarkington, American novelist and dramatist (born 1869)
Jacob Christian Hansen-Ellehammer was a Danish inventor and aviation pioneer. He obtained a total of 59 Danish patents and worked with many different things, including amusement ma…
Jacob Ellehammer, Danish pilot and engineer (born 1871)
Carter Glass was an American newspaper publisher and Democratic politician from Lynchburg, Virginia. He represented Virginia in both houses of Congress and served as the United Sta…
Carter Glass, American publisher and politician, 47th United States Secretary of the Treasury (born 1858)
Martin Gottfried Weiss, alternatively spelled Weiß, but best known as The Demon of Dachau was the commandant of the Dachau concentration camp in 1945 at the time of his arrest. He …
Martin Gottfried Weiss, German SS officer (born 1905)
Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin was a Soviet politician and Russian Old Bolshevik revolutionary who served as the nominal head of state of the Soviet Union from 1919 until his resignatio…
Mikhail Kalinin, Russian civil servant and politician (born 1875)
Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into…
Gerhart Hauptmann, German novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1862)
Médéric Martin was a Canadian politician and long-time Mayor of Montreal.
Médéric Martin, Canadian politician, mayor of Montreal (born 1869)
John Logie Baird was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer and innovator who demonstrated the world's first mechanical television system on 26 January 1926. He went on to invent…
John Logie Baird, Scottish-English physicist and engineer (born 1888)
Louis Alexander Slotin was a Canadian physicist and chemist who took part in the Manhattan Project. Born and raised in the North End of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Slotin earned both his B…
Louis Slotin, Canadian physicist and chemist (born 1910)
Ion Antonescu was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II. Havin…
Ion Antonescu, Romanian marshal and politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Romania (born 1882)
John Arthur Johnson, nicknamed the "Galveston Giant", was an American boxer who, at the height of the Jim Crow era, became the first black world heavyweight boxing champion (1908–1…
Jack Johnson, American boxer (born 1878)
Jorge Ubico Castañeda, nicknamed Number Five or also Central America's Napoleon, was a Guatemalan military officer, politician, and dictator who served as the president of Guatemal…
Jorge Ubico, 21st President of Guatemala (born 1878)
William Gordon Brewster was an Irish illustrator and editorial cartoonist.
Gordon Brewster, Irish cartoonist (b 1889)
Louise Whitfield Carnegie was an American philanthropist. She was the wife of Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
Louise Whitfield Carnegie, American philanthropist (born 1857)
Otto Max Koegel was a Nazi officer who served as a commander at Lichtenburg, Ravensbrück, Majdanek and Flossenbürg concentration camps. In 1946 he was arrested for his role in The …
Max Kögel, German SS officer (born 1895)
Yōsuke Matsuoka was a Japanese diplomat and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Empire of Japan during the early stages of World War II. He is best known for his defiant speech at…
Yōsuke Matsuoka, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1880)
Eugene "Taffy" O'Callaghan was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a forward for Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, Fulham and Wales during the 1920s and 1930s.
Taffy O'Callaghan, Welsh footballer and coach (born 1906)
Ray Stannard Baker was an American journalist, historian, biographer, and writer.
Ray Stannard Baker, American journalist and author (born 1870)
Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his ph…
Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer and curator (born 1864)
William Charles "Razor" Smith was a Surrey slow bowler. Nicknamed "Razor" because of his extreme thinness, Smith was a frail man and prone to serious injury; he could rarely get th…
Razor Smith, English cricketer and coach (born 1877)
Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović was a Yugoslav Serb general during World War II. He was the leader of the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army (Chetniks), a royalist and nationali…
Draža Mihailović, Serbian and Yugoslav general (born 1893)
Wanda Hazel Gág was an American artist, author, translator, and illustrator. She is best known for writing and illustrating the children's book Millions of Cats, the oldest America…
Wanda Gág, American author and illustrator (born 1893)
Horace Pippin was an American painter who painted a range of themes, including scenes inspired by his service in World War I, landscapes, portraits, and biblical subjects. Some of …
Horace Pippin, American painter (born 1888)
Florence Ada Fuller was a South African-born Australian artist. Originally from Port Elizabeth, Fuller migrated as a child to Melbourne with her family. There she trained with her …
Florence Fuller, South African-born Australian artist (born 1867)