1940: When We Were Kids

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	1940 A Brief History of the events that shaped 1940.

January
5th	FM radio is demonstrated to the FCC in the USA for the first time.
6th	Mass execution of Poles, by Nazis in the Poznan, Warthegau.
8th	Rationing begins in Britain.
19th	TV Actor Mike Reid was born in Hackney, London
22nd	Actor John Hurt born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire
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February
2nd	Frank Sinatra debuts with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra.
6th	Comedian Jimmy Tarbuck born in Liverpool
20th	Footballer Jimmy Greaves born in Poplar, London
29th	For her role as "Mammy" in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award (Best Supporting Actress).
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March
12th	Finland signs a peace treaty with Soviets.
16th	Germans bomb Scapa Flow naval base near Scotland.
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April
9th	Nazis invade Denmark and Norway.
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May
10th	Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister.
10th	Nazis invade France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands
15th	Holland surrenders to the Nazis.
26th	Evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk begins.
28th	Belgium surrenders to the Nazis.
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June
3rd	Germans bomb Paris
3rd	The Dunkirk Rescue Missions are Completed.
10th	Norway surrenders to the Nazis
10th	Italy declares war on Britain and France.
14th	German forces enter Paris
16th	Marshal Pétain becomes French Prime Minister.
18th	Soviets begin occupation of the Baltic States.
18th	Hitler and Mussolini meet in Munich.
22nd	France signs an armistice with the Nazis.
23rd	Adolf Hitler takes a tour of occupied Paris.
28th	Britain recognizes General Charles de Gaulle as the Free French leader.
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July
1st	German U-boats attack merchant ships in the Atlantic.
5th	French Vichy government breaks off relations with Britain.
10th	The German Air Force, the Luftwaffe launches The Battle of Britain
23rd	Soviets take Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
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August
3rd	Italians begin occupation of British Somaliland in East Africa.
13th	German bombing offensive against airfields and factories in England.
15th	Air battles and daylight raids over Britain.
17th	Hitler declares a blockade of the British Isles.
20th	Ramon Mercader assassinates exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky in Mexico City with an ice-pick. Trotsky dies the next day.
23rd	First German air raids on Central London.
25th	First British air raid on Berlin.
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September
3rd	Hitler plans Operation Sealion (the invasion of Britain).
7th	London is blitzed by German bombing campaigns.
13th	Italians invade Egypt.
15th	Massive German air raids on London, Southampton, Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester.
16th	United States military conscription bill passed.
27th	Tripartite (Axis) Pact signed by Germany, Italy and Japan.
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October
7th	German troops enter Romania.
12th	Germans postpone Operation Sealion until Spring of 1941.
28th	Itlay invades Greece and Albania.
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November
5th	US President Roosevelt re-elected for a record third term in office.
10th	A torpedo bomber raid cripples the Italian fleet at Taranto, Italy.
15th	Coventry is virtually destroyed in German bombing campaign.
20th	Hungary joins the Axis Powers.
22nd	Greeks defeat the Italian 9th Army.
23rd	Romania joins the Axis Powers.
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December
9th	British begin a western desert offensive in North Africa against the Italians.
29th	Massive German air raid on London.
30th	California opens its first freeway the Arroyo Seco Parkway.
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