Editing 1940 (section)

==Events==
Below, the events of [[World War II]] have the "WWII" prefix.

===January===
{{Main|January 1940}}
[[File:Tolvajärven taistelijoita.jpg|thumb|Finnish soldiers in the [[Winter War]]]]
*[[January 4]] – WWII: [[Luftwaffe]] Chief and [[Generalfeldmarschall]] [[Hermann Göring]] assumes control of most war industries in [[Nazi Germany|Germany]], in his capacity as Plenipotentiary for the Four Year Plan.
*[[January 6]] – WWII: [[Winter War]] – General [[Semyon Timoshenko]] takes command of all [[Soviet]] forces.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Krebs |first1=Albin |title=Marshal Semyon Timoshenko, Soviet War Hero, Dead at 75 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/04/02/archives/marshal-semyon-timoshenko-soviet-war-hero-dead-at-75-rose-in-army.html?smid=url-share |access-date=24 December 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2 April 1970 |page=39 |language=English}}</ref>
*[[January 7]] – WWII: [[Winter War]]: [[Battle of Raate Road]] – Outnumbered Finnish troops decisively defeat Soviet forces.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jussila |first=Osmo |title=From Grand Duchy to a modern state: a political history of Finland since 1809 |publisher=Hurst & Company Distributed in North America by Southern Illinois University Press |location=London; Carbondale, IL |year=1999 |isbn=9781850655282 |page=184}}</ref>
*[[January 8]] – WWII:
**[[Winter War]]: [[Battle of Suomussalmi]] – Finnish forces destroy the [[44th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|Soviet 44th Rifle Division]].
**Food [[rationing in the United Kingdom]] begins; it will remain in force until [[1954]].
*[[January 9]] – WWII: British submarine {{HMS|Starfish|19S|6}} is sunk in the [[Heligoland Bight]].
*[[January 10]] – WWII: [[Mechelen incident]] – A German plane carrying secret plans for the invasion of Western Europe makes a forced landing in Belgium, leading to mobilization of defense forces in the [[Low Countries]].
*[[January 19]] – [[The Three Stooges]]' ''[[You Nazty Spy!]]'', the first Hollywood anti-Nazi comedy film, is released.
*[[January 27]] – WWII: A peace resolution introduced in the [[Parliament of South Africa]] is defeated 81–59.
*[[January 29]] – Three gasoline-powered trains carrying factory workers crash and explode while approaching [[Ajikawaguchi Station]], [[Yumesaki Line]] (Nishinari Line), [[Osaka]], Japan, killing at least 181 people and injuring at least 92.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=The China Weekly Review |title=Report |volume=90-91 |page=363}}</ref>

===February===
{{Main|February 1940}}
*[[February 2]]–[[February 11|11]] – Scheduled dates for the [[1940 Winter Olympics]] in [[Garmisch-Partenkirchen]], Germany, cancelled in November 1939 due to WWII (originally allocated to [[Sapporo]], Japan). 
*[[February 1]] – WWII: [[Winter War]] – Soviet forces launch a major assault on Finnish troops occupying the [[Karelian Isthmus]].
*[[February 2]] – [[Vsevolod Meyerhold]] is executed in the Soviet Union on charges of treason and espionage. He is cleared of all charges fifteen years later, in the first waves of [[de-Stalinization]].
*[[February 15]] – [[Paul Creston]]'s [[Saxophone Sonata (Creston)|Saxophone Sonata]] was officially premiered at the [[Carnegie Chamber Hall]] by saxophonist [[Cecil Leeson]], who had commissioned it, and the composer.<ref>{{cite thesis|last=Morris|first=Willie |title=The Development of the Saxophone Compositions of Paul Creston |year=1996 |degree=DMA |institution=University of Missouri–Kansas City |oclc=35239809|pages=116–117}}</ref>
*[[February 16]] – WWII: [[Altmark incident|''Altmark'' incident]] –  British destroyer {{HMS|Cossack|F03|6}} pursues [[German tanker Altmark|German tanker ''Altmark'']] into the [[Country neutrality (international relations)|neutral waters]] of [[Jøssingfjord]] in southwestern [[Norway]] and frees the 290 British seamen held aboard.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Altmark Affair |author=Willi Frischaur & Robert Jackson |year=1955 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers (United States)|Macmillan]] |location=New York, NY |page=246}}</ref>
*[[February 22]] – In [[Tibet (1912–1951)|Tibet]], province of [[Amdo|Ando]], 4-year-old [[Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama|Tenzin Gyatso]] is proclaimed the ''[[tulku]]'' ([[reincarnation|rebirth]]) of the 13th [[Dalai Lama]].
*[[February 27]] – The [[radioactive]] [[isotope]] [[carbon-14]] is discovered by [[Martin Kamen]] and [[Sam Ruben]] at the [[University of California, Berkeley]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kamen|first=Martin D.|year=1963|title=Early History of Carbon-14|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=140|issue=3567|pages=584–590|doi=10.1126/science.140.3567.584|jstor=1710512|pmid=17737092|bibcode=1963Sci...140..584K }}</ref>
*February – The last mounted charge by a British cavalry regiment is made when the [[Royal Scots Greys]] are called to quell Arab rioters in [[Mandatory Palestine]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Charles|last=Grant|title=Royal Scots Greys|location=Reading|publisher=Osprey|year=1972|isbn=0850450594|page=33}}</ref>

===March===
{{Main|March 1940}}
*[[March 5]] – [[Katyn massacre]]: Members of the Soviet Politburo ([[Joseph Stalin]], [[Vyacheslav Molotov]], [[Lazar Kaganovich]], [[Mikhail Kalinin]], [[Kliment Voroshilov]] and [[Lavrentiy Beria]]) sign an order, prepared by Beria, for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs.
*[[March 11]] – [[Ed Ricketts]], [[John Steinbeck]] and six others leave [[Monterey, California]], United States, for the [[Gulf of California]], on a marine invertebrate collecting expedition.
*[[March 12]] – [[Moscow Peace Treaty]]: The [[Soviet Union]] and Finland sign a peace treaty in Moscow, ending the [[Winter War]]; Finns, along with the world at large, are shocked by the harsh terms.
*[[March 13]] – Indian nationalist [[Udham Singh]] assassinates Sir [[Michael O'Dwyer]] (in revenge for the [[1919]] [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre]]) at [[Caxton Hall]] in [[London]], for which he is hanged on 31 July at [[HM Prison Pentonville]].
*[[March 18]] – WWII: [[Axis powers]] –  [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Benito Mussolini]] meet at [[Brenner Pass]] in the [[Alps]]. After being informed by Hitler that the Germans are ready to attack in the west, Mussolini agrees to bring Italy into the war in due course.<ref>{{cite book |last=Burgwyn |first=H |title=Italian foreign policy in the interwar period, 1918-1940 |publisher=Praeger |location=Westport, Conn |year=1997 |isbn=9780275948771 |page=211}}</ref>
*[[March 21]] – [[Édouard Daladier]] resigns as Prime Minister of France; [[Paul Reynaud]] succeeds him.
*[[March 23]] – [[Pakistan Movement]]: The [[Lahore Resolution]], calling for greater autonomy for what will become [[Pakistan]] in [[British India]], is drawn up by the [[All-India Muslim League]] during a three-day general session at [[Iqbal Park]], [[Lahore]].
*[[March 30]] – WWII: Former [[Kuomintang]] member and Chinese foreign minister, [[Wang Jingwei]], announces the creation of the [[Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China]] in [[Nanjing]].
*[[March 31]] – WWII: [[Commerce raiding]] {{Ship|German auxiliary cruiser|Atlantis}} leaves the [[Wadden Sea]] for what will become the longest warship cruise of the war (622 days without in-port replenishment or repair).<ref>{{cite book |author=Muggenthaler, August Karl |title=German Raiders of WWII |publisher=Prentice-Hall |year=1977 |isbn=978-0-13-354027-7 |page=14}}</ref>

===April===
{{Main|April 1940}}
*[[April 3]] – WWII: [[Operation Weserübung]] –  German ships set out for the [[Norwegian Campaign#German invasion|invasion of Norway]].
*[[April 4]] – [[Neville Chamberlain]], [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|UK Prime Minister]], in what proves to be a tragic misjudgment, declares in a major public speech that [[Hitler]] has "missed the bus".
*[[April 7]] – [[Booker T. Washington]] becomes the first [[African American]] to be depicted on a United States [[postage stamp]].
*[[April 8]] – WWII: [[Operation Wilfred]]: The British fleet lays [[naval mine]]s off the coast of neutral Norway.
*[[April 9]] – WWII: Germany invades the [[Country neutrality (international relations)|neutral countries]] of Denmark and Norway in [[Operation Weserübung]], opening the [[Norwegian Campaign]]. The British [[Royal Navy]] attempts to attack elements of the German fleet off Norway. [[Vidkun Quisling]] proclaims a new collaborationist [[Quisling regime|regime]] in Norway. The [[German invasion of Denmark (1940)|German invasion of Denmark]] lasts for about six hours, before that country capitulates.
*[[April 10]] – WWII: [[Battles of Narvik#First naval Battle of Narvik|First naval Battle of Narvik]] – The British [[Royal Navy]] attacks the German fleet in the [[Ofotfjord]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The German fleet at war, 1939–1945 |last=O'Hara |first=Vincent P. |year=2004 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, MD |isbn=978-1-59114-651-3 |page=32}}</ref> At [[Bergen]], [[German cruiser Königsberg|German cruiser ''Königsberg'']] is sunk by British [[Fleet Air Arm]] [[Blackburn Skua]] [[dive bomber]]s, flying from [[RNAS Hatston]] in [[Orkney]].
*[[April 12]]
**The [[Faroe Islands]] are [[British occupation of the Faroe Islands|occupied by British troops]], following the German invasion of Denmark. This action is taken to avert a possible German occupation of the islands, with serious consequences for the course of the [[Battle of the Atlantic]].
**Opening day at [[Jamaica Race Course]] features the use of [[parimutuel betting]] equipment, a departure from [[bookmaking]] heretofore used exclusively throughout New York. Other tracks in the state follow suit later in 1940.
*[[April 13]]
**WWII: [[Battles of Narvik#Second naval Battle of Narvik|Second naval Battle of Narvik]] – The British [[Royal Navy]] sinks all 8 defending German destroyers in the [[Ofotfjord]].
**The [[New York Rangers]] win the [[1940 Stanley Cup Finals]] in [[ice hockey]]. It will be another [[Curse of 1940|54 years]] before their [[1994 Stanley Cup Finals|next win]] in [[1994]].
*[[April 14]] – WWII: [[Norwegian Campaign]] – The first British ground forces land in Norway, at [[Namsos (town)|Namsos]] and [[Harstad (town)|Harstad]].
*[[April 16]] – In American baseball, the [[Cleveland Indians]], behind [[Bob Feller]]'s [[Opening Day]] [[no-hitter]], defeat the [[Chicago White Sox]], 1–0.
*[[April 23]] – The [[Rhythm Club fire]] at a dance hall in [[Natchez, Mississippi]], United States, kills 198 people.
*[[April 27]] – [[Mandatory Palestine national football team|Mandatory Palestine]] and [[Lebanon national football team|Lebanon]] play an [[1940 Mandatory Palestine v Lebanon football match|association football friendly]]; it is Lebanon's first official match, and Mandatory Palestine's last before they become Israel in 1948.

===May===
{{Main|May 1940}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-055-1592-05A, Frankreich, französische Kriegsgefangene.jpg|thumb|French prisoners of war being marched away from the front, May 1940]]
*[[May 10]] – WWII:
**The [[Battle of France]] begins.
**German forces invade the [[Low Countries]]:
***The [[Battle of the Netherlands]] begins.
***The [[Battle of Belgium]] begins.
***The [[German occupation of Luxembourg during World War II|Invasion of Luxembourg]] begins.
**The British [[invasion of Iceland]] begins.
**With the resignation of [[Neville Chamberlain]], [[Winston Churchill]] becomes [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]].
*[[May 13]] – WWII:
**[[Winston Churchill]], in his first address as Prime Minister, tells the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom]], "I have nothing to offer you but [[blood, toil, tears and sweat]]."
**German armies open a {{convert|60|mi|km|adj=on}} wide breach in the [[Maginot Line]] at [[Sedan, France]].
*[[May 13]]–[[May 14|14]] – Queen [[Wilhelmina of the Netherlands]] and her government are evacuated to London, using the British destroyer {{HMS|Hereward|H93|6}}.
*[[May 14]] – WWII:
**[[Rotterdam]] is subjected to savage terror bombing by the [[Luftwaffe]]; 980 are killed, and 20,000 buildings destroyed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/04/first-official-list-of-victims-of-rotterdam-bombing-published-after-82-years/ |title=First official list of victims of Rotterdam bombing published after 82 years |work=DutchNews.nl |date=12 April 2022 |access-date=12 April 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412132124/https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/04/first-official-list-of-victims-of-rotterdam-bombing-published-after-82-years/ |archive-date=April 12, 2022}}</ref> General [[Henri Winkelman]] announces the surrender of the [[Royal Netherlands Army|Dutch army]] (outside [[Zeeland]]) to German forces.
**Recruitment begins in Britain for a volunteer home defence force: the [[Local Defence Volunteers]], later known as the Home Guard.
*[[May 15]]
**WWII: The [[Royal Netherlands Army|Dutch Army]] formally signs a surrender document.
**Women's [[stocking]]s made of [[nylon]] are first placed on sale across the United States. Almost five million pairs are bought on this day.<ref>{{cite web |title=the history of nylon |url=http://www.caimateriali.org/index.php?id=32 |first=L. |last=Trossarelli |publisher=Club Alpino Italiano, Centro Studi Materiali e Tecniche |year=2010 |access-date=2012-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425044410/http://www.caimateriali.org/index.php?id=32 |archive-date=April 25, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[May 16]] – President of the United States [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], addressing a joint session of the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]], asks for an extraordinary credit of approximately $900,000,000 to finance construction of at least 50,000 airplanes per year.
*[[May 17]] – WWII:
**[[Brussels]] falls to German forces; the Belgian government flees to [[Ostend]].
**[[Zeeland]] is overrun by German forces, ending the [[Battle of the Netherlands]] and beginning full [[German occupation of the Netherlands]] ([[Noord-Beveland]] surrenders on May 18, and the remaining Dutch troops are withdrawn from [[Zeelandic Flanders]] on May 19).
*[[May 18]] – Marshal [[Philippe Pétain]] is named vice-premier of France.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Selected Who's who in Vichy, France, June 1940-August 1944 |publisher=United States. Office of Strategic Services. Research and Analysis Branch |year=1944 |page=303}}</ref>
*[[May 19]] – General [[Maxime Weygand]] replaces [[Maurice Gamelin]] as commander-in-chief of all French forces.
*[[May 20]]
**WWII: German forces ([[2nd Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)|2nd ''Panzer'' Division]]), under General [[Rudolf Veiel]], reach [[Noyelles-sur-Mer|Noyelles]] on the [[English Channel]].
**[[The Holocaust]]: The [[Nazi concentration camp]] and [[extermination camp]] [[Auschwitz-Birkenau]], the largest of the German concentration camps, opens in [[Occupation of Poland (1939–45)|occupied Poland]], near the town of [[Oświęcim]]. From now on until January [[1945]], around 1.1&nbsp;million people will be killed here.
*[[May 22]] – WWII: The [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] passes the [[Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1940]], giving the government full control over all persons and property.
*[[May 24]] – WWII:
**The [[Anglo-French Supreme War Council]] decides to withdraw all forces under its control from Norway.
**Hitler issues ''Der Halte Befehl'', a stop order preventing his [[Panzer division]]s advancing on Dunkirk.
*[[May 25]] – The [[Crypt of Civilization]] time capsule at [[Oglethorpe University]], [[Brookhaven, Georgia]] in the United States, is sealed shut, with a projected opening date of 8113 [[Common Era|CE]].
*[[May 26]][[File:Dunkirk 26-29 May 1940 H1628.jpg|thumb|210px|British troops [[Dunkirk evacuation|evacuated from Dunkirk]] arrive at [[Dover]], May 1940]]
**WWII: The [[Dunkirk evacuation]] of the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] from France begins.
**The first free flight of [[Igor Sikorsky]]'s [[Vought-Sikorsky VS-300]] helicopter is made in the United States.
*[[May 27]] – WWII: [[Le Paradis massacre]]: 97 retreating British soldiers of the [[Royal Norfolk Regiment]] are executed by German troops of [[3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf|3rd SS Panzer Division ''Totenkopf'']] after surrendering in France.
*[[May 28]] – WWII:
**King [[Leopold III of Belgium]] orders the Belgian forces to cease fighting, ending the 18-day [[Battle of Belgium]]. Leaders of the Belgian government on French territory declare Leopold deposed.
**[[Battles of Narvik#Land battle|Land battle of Narvik]]: German forces retire, giving the Allies their first victory on land in the war; however, the British have already decided to evacuate [[Narvik]].
**[[Winston Churchill]] warns the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom]] to "prepare itself for hard and heavy tidings."
**The [[Wormhoudt massacre]] (or Wormhout massacre) takes place with the mass murder of 80 British and French POWs by Waffen-SS soldiers from the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler during the Battle of France.
*[[May 29]] – The Vought XF4U-1, prototype of the [[F4U Corsair]] U.S. fighter later used in WWII, makes its first flight.

===June===
{{Main|June 1940}}
*[[June 1]] – WWII: Rear Admiral Sir [[Frederic Wake-Walker|W. Frederic Wake-Walker]]'s flagship, the [[destroyer]] [[HMS Keith|''Keith'']], is sunk by [[Junkers Ju 87|Stuka]]s at Dunkirk.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-14B-HMS_Keith.htm |title=HMS Keith, destroyer |website=www.naval-history.net}}</ref>
*[[June 3]]
**WWII: [[Paris]] is bombed by the [[Luftwaffe]] for the first time.
**[[The Holocaust]]: [[Franz Rademacher]] proposes the [[Madagascar Plan]].
**The [[Weather Bureau]] is transferred to the [[United States Department of Commerce]].
*[[June 4]] – WWII:
**The [[Dunkirk evacuation]] ends: The British and French navies, together with large numbers of civilian vessels from various nations, complete evacuating 300,000 troops from [[Dunkirk]], France to England.
**[[Winston Churchill]] tells the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom]], "We shall not flag or fail. [[We shall fight on the beaches]]... on the landing grounds... in the fields and the streets.... We shall never surrender."
*[[June 7]] – King [[Haakon VII of Norway]] and his government are evacuated from [[Tromsø (city)|Tromsø]] to London, on [[HMS Devonshire (39)|HMS ''Devonshire'']].<ref name=Borgersrud>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Lars |last=Borgersrud |author-link=Lars Borgersrud |encyclopedia=[[Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-1945]] |title=Nøytralitetsvakt |editor=[[Hans Fredrik Dahl|Dahl, Hans Fredrik]] |editor2=[[Guri Hjeltnes|Hjeltnes, Guri]] |editor3=[[Berit Nøkleby|Nøkleby, Berit]] |editor4=[[Nils Johan Ringdal|Ringdal, Nils Johan]] |editor5=[[Øystein Sørensen|Sørensen, Øystein]] |url=http://www.nb.no/utlevering/nb/d2e8afecb1aba47bf48bb3cd246dd070#&struct=DIV314 |access-date=2012-06-29 |year=1995 |publisher=Cappelen |location=Oslo |isbn=978-82-02-14138-7 |page=313 |language=no}}</ref>
*[[June 10]] – WWII:
**Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom.
**U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] denounces Italy's actions with his "Stab in the Back" speech during the graduation ceremonies of the [[University of Virginia]].<ref>[ftp://ebstorage2.mcpa.virginia.edu/library/nara/fdr/audiovisual/speeches/fdr_1940_0610.mp3 "Stab in the Back"]{{dead link|date=January 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>
**Canada declares war on Italy.
**The [[Norwegian Army]] surrenders to [[German forces]].
**The [[French government]] flees to [[Tours]].
*[[June 11]] – WWII: The [[Western Desert Campaign]] opens, with British forces crossing the [[Frontier Wire (Libya)|Frontier Wire]] into [[Italian Libya]].
*[[June 12]] – WWII: 13,000 British and French troops surrender to [[Major-General]] [[Erwin Rommel]]'s 7th Panzer Division, at [[Saint-Valery-en-Caux]].
*[[June 13]] – WWII: Paris is declared an [[open city]].
*[[June 14]] – WWII:
**The French government flees to [[Bordeaux]], and Paris falls under German occupation.
**U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] signs the Naval Expansion Act into law, which aims to increase the [[United States Navy]]'s tonnage by 11%.
**A group of 728 Polish political prisoners from [[Tarnów]] become the first residents of the [[Auschwitz concentration camp]].
**[[Soviet ultimatum to Lithuania]]: The Soviet Union demands that its [[Red Army]] be allowed to enter Lithuania and form a pro-Soviet puppet "[[People's Government of Lithuania]]".
*[[June 15]] – WWII:
**[[Occupation of the Baltic states]]: The Soviet Union occupies [[Lithuania]].
**[[Verdun]] falls to German forces.
*[[June 16]]
**The [[Churchill war ministry]] in the United Kingdom offers a [[Franco-British Union]] (inspired by [[Jean Monnet]]) to [[Paul Reynaud]], [[Prime Minister of France]], in the hope of preventing France from agreeing to an [[Second Armistice at Compiègne|armistice with Germany]], but Reynaud resigns when his own cabinet refuses to accept it.
**The [[Sturgis Motorcycle Rally]] is held for the first time, in [[Sturgis, South Dakota]].
*[[June 17]] – WWII:[[File:The Sinking of the Cunard Liner Ss Lancastria Off St Nazaire HU3325.jpg|thumb|''[[RMS Lancastria |Lancastria]]'' sinking off Saint-Nazaire as seen from a rescue ship]]
**[[Philippe Pétain]] becomes [[Prime Minister of France]], and immediately asks Germany for peace terms.
**[[Occupation of the Baltic states]]: The Soviet Union occupies [[Estonia]] and [[Latvia]].
**[[Operation Aerial]] begins: [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] troops start to evacuate France, following Germany's takeover of Paris and most of the nation.
**{{RMS|Lancastria}}, serving as a [[troopship]], is bombed and sunk by [[Luftwaffe]] [[Junkers Ju 88]] aircraft, while evacuating British troops and nationals from [[Saint-Nazaire]] in France, with the loss of at least 4,000 lives, the largest single UK loss in any World War II event, immediate news of which is suppressed in the British press.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/07/26/archives/lancastrias-end-told-by-survivors-italian-and-nazi-planes-said-to.html |title=Lancastria's end told by survivors; Italian and Nazi Planes Said to Have Shot at Swimmers and Fired Oily Waters; Many Caught Below Deck; Rescue Craft Reported Set Ablaze; Victims Include Women and Children |work=The New York Times|date=July 26, 1940 |access-date=May 22, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hooton |first=E. R. |title=Luftwaffe at War: Blitzkrieg in the West |publisher=Chevron/Ian Allan |year=2007 |location=London |page=88 |isbn=978-1-85780-272-6}}</ref> Destroyer {{HMS|Beagle|H30}} rescues around 600.
*[[June 18]] – WWII:
**[[Winston Churchill]] tells the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom]]: "The [[Battle of France]] is over. The [[Battle of Britain]] is about to begin... if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, [[This was their finest hour]]."
**[[Appeal of 18 June]]: General [[Charles de Gaulle]], ''de facto'' leader of the [[Free French Forces]], makes his first broadcast appeal over [[Radio Londres]] from London, rallying the [[French Resistance]], calling on all French people to continue the fight against [[Nazi Germany]]: "France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war."
*[[June 20]] – WWII: [[Evacuation of civilians from the Channel Islands in 1940|Evacuation of civilians from the Channel Islands]] to England begins.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mawson |first1=Gillian |title=Guernsey Evacuees: The Forgotten Evacuees of the Second World War |date=2012 |publisher=History Press |isbn=9780752470191}}</ref>
*[[June 21]] – WWII: The unsuccessful [[Italian invasion of France]] begins with an offensive in the Alps.
*[[June 22]]
**WWII: [[Second Armistice at Compiègne]]: The [[French Third Republic]] and [[Nazi Germany]] sign an [[armistice]], ending the [[Battle of France]] in the [[Forest of Compiègne]], in the same [[Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits]] railroad car used by Marshal [[Ferdinand Foch]] to conclude the [[Armistice with Germany]] in [[1918]]. This divides France into a ''[[Zone occupée]]'' in the north and west, under the [[Military Administration in France (Nazi Germany)]], and a southern ''[[Zone libre]]'', [[Vichy France]].
**[[Albert Einstein]] gives a public address in the "I'm An American" series, on becoming an American citizen.
*[[June 23]] – WWII: German leader [[Adolf Hitler]] surveys newly defeated Paris, in now-occupied France.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hitler Picture: Hitler in Paris |url=http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/blhitler38.htm |website=20th Century History |publisher=About.com |access-date=2013-03-25 |archive-date=October 5, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005022240/http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/blhitler38.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[June 24]]
**WWII: [[Vichy France]] signs armistice terms with Italy.
**WWII: [[Operation Fish]] – British Royal Navy cruiser {{HMS|Emerald|D66|6}} sails from [[Greenock]] (Scotland) in convoy for [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]] (arriving July 1), carrying a large part of the [[gold reserves of the United Kingdom]] and [[Security (finance)|securities]] for safe keeping in [[Canada]].<ref name=Draper>{{cite book |last=Draper |first=Alfred |title=Operation Fish: The Fight to Save the Gold of Britain, France and Norway from the Nazis |year=1979 |publisher=General Publishing |location=Don Mills |isbn=9780773600683}}</ref>
**United States politics: The [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] begins its [[1940 Republican National Convention|national convention]] in [[Philadelphia]], and nominates [[Wendell Willkie]] as its candidate for president.
*[[June 25]] – WWII: After the defeat of [[Armistice with France (Second Compiègne)|France]], Hitler plans for an invasion of Switzerland, known as [[Operation Tannenbaum]].
*[[June 26]] – [[Soviet calendar]]: The Soviet Union reverts to a seven-day week for all purposes.
*[[June 28]]
**General [[Charles de Gaulle]] is officially recognized by Britain as the "Leader of all [[Free French]]men, wherever they may be."
**[[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]] [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina|cedes Bessarabia and northern Bukovina]] to the Soviet Union, after an ultimatum.
*[[June 30]]
**WWII: German forces land in [[Guernsey]], marking the start of the 5-year [[Occupation of the Channel Islands]].
**[[Federal government of the United States]] reorganisation:
***The [[Civil Aeronautics Administration (United States)|Civil Aeronautics Administration]] is placed under the [[Department of Commerce]].
***The U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]] is placed under the [[Federal Security Agency]].
***The [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] is placed under the [[Department of the Interior]].

===July===
{{Main|July 1940}}
*[[July 1]] – The [[Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940)|first Tacoma Narrows Bridge]] opens for business, built with an {{convert|8|ft|m|adj=on}} girder and {{convert|190|ft|m}} above the water, as the third-longest [[suspension bridge]] in the world.
*[[July 2]] – WWII: British-owned {{SS|Arandora Star}}, carrying [[Civilian Internee|civilian internees]] and [[POW]]s of Italian and German origin from [[Liverpool]] to Canada, is [[torpedo]]ed and sunk by {{GS|U-47|1938|6}} off northwest Ireland, with the loss of around 865 lives.
*[[July 3]] – WWII: [[Attack on Mers-el-Kébir]]: British naval units sink or seize ships of the French fleet anchored in the [[Algeria]]n ports of [[Mers-el-Kebir]] and [[Oran]], to prevent them from falling into German hands. The following day, [[Vichy France]] breaks off diplomatic relations with Britain.
*[[July 5]] – WWII: [[Operation Fish]] – A British convoy including [[MS Batory|HMS ''Batory'']] sails from [[Greenock]] (Scotland) for [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]], carrying [[gold bar]] and other valuables worth $1.7&nbsp;billion for safe keeping in [[Canada]],<ref name=Draper/> the largest movement of wealth in history.<ref>{{cite book |last=Breuer |first=William B. |author-link=William Breuer |title=Top Secret Tales of World War II |year=2008 |publisher=Book Sales |isbn=9780785819516 |page=62}}</ref>
*[[July 6]]
**[[Story Bridge]] opens in [[Brisbane]].
**WWII: British submarine {{HMS|Shark|54S|6}} is sunk.
*[[July 10]] – WWII: The [[Battle of Britain]] air offensive of the German ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' against the British [[RAF Fighter Command]] begins.
*[[July 11]] – WWII:
**British destroyer {{HMS|Escort|H66|6}} is torpedoed and sunk by an Italian submarine.
**[[Vichy France]] begins with a constitutional law which only [[The Eighty (Vichy France)|eighty members of the parliament]] vote against. [[Philippe Pétain]] becomes [[Prime Minister of France]].
*[[July 14]] – WWII: [[Winston Churchill]], in a worldwide broadcast, proclaims the intention of Great Britain to fight alone against Germany whatever the outcome: "We shall seek no terms. We shall tolerate no parley. We may show mercy. We shall ask none."
*[[July 15]] – U.S. politics: The [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] begins its national convention in Chicago, and nominates [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] for an unprecedented third term as president.
*[[July 19]] – WWII:
**[[Battle of Cape Spada]]: {{HMAS|Sydney|D48|6}} and five destroyers sink the [[Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni|Italian cruiser ''Bartolomeo Colleoni'']].2
**[[Adolf Hitler]] makes a peace appeal ("appeal to reason") to Britain, in an address to the [[Reichstag (Weimar Republic)|Reichstag]]. BBC German-language broadcaster [[Sefton Delmer]] unofficially rejects it at once<ref>{{cite book |first=Sefton |last=Delmer |title=Black Boomerang}}</ref> and [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Halifax]], the British foreign minister, flatly rejects peace terms in a broadcast reply on [[July 22]].
*[[July 20]]–[[August 4]] – Scheduled dates for the [[1940 Summer Olympics]] in [[Helsinki]], Finland, cancelled in November 1939 due to WWII (originally allocated to [[Tokyo]], Japan). 
*[[July 21]]
**After rigged parliamentary elections in the three occupied countries on [[July 14]]–[[July 15|15]], the parliaments proclaim the [[Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic|Estonian]], [[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic|Latvian]] and [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic]]s.
**The [[Mitsubishi A6M Zero]] fighter aircraft enters service, so named as 1940 roughly corresponds to the year 2600 on the Japanese Imperial calendar.
*[[July 23]] – [[Welles Declaration]]: United States [[Under Secretary of State]] [[Sumner Welles]] announces that the U.S. will not accord [[diplomatic recognition]] to the [[Soviet Union]]'s [[occupation of the Baltic states]].
*[[July 25]] – General [[Henri Guisan]] addresses the officer corps of the [[Swiss army]] at [[Rütli]], resolving to resist any invasion of the country.
*[[July 27]]
**Eleven British nationals, including Melville James Cox, are arrested on suspicion of spying for military intelligence by the [[secret police]] in [[Japan]]. Cox commits suicide in [[Tokyo]] on July 29, according to a report by the Japanese Foreign Ministry.<ref>{{cite news |title=Arrested Britons Charged With Espionage |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/page/straitstimes19400730-1.1.16 |access-date=13 December 2024 |work=[[The Straits Times]] |date=30 July 1940 |page=16}}</ref>
**[[Bugs Bunny]] makes his debut in the [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]-nominated cartoon short, ''[[A Wild Hare]]''. However, it is not until 1941 that his name is adopted.

===August===
{{Main|August 1940}}
[[File:Soldiers of the Lithuanian People's Army carrying the Soviet propaganda posters in 1940.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of the [[Lithuanian People's Army]] carrying the [[Propaganda in the Soviet Union|Soviet propaganda]] posters, August 1940]]
*[[August 1]] – WWII: British submarine {{HMS|Spearfish|69S|6}} is sunk in the English Channel, by what is much later discovered to be a mine.
*[[August 3]] – The [[Lithuanian SSR]] is annexed into the [[Soviet Union]], followed by the [[Latvian SSR]] on [[August 5]] and the [[Estonian SSR]] [[August 6]], just seven weeks after their occupation. Ethnic Germans will be deported to Germany.
*[[August 3]]–[[August 19|19]] – WWII: The [[Italian conquest of British Somaliland]] is completed.
*[[August 4]] – U.S. Gen. [[John J. Pershing]], in a nationwide radio broadcast, urges all-out aid to Britain in order to defend the Americas, while [[Charles Lindbergh]] speaks to an [[isolationist]] rally at [[Soldier Field]] in Chicago.
*[[August 8]] – WWII: German general [[Wilhelm Keitel]] signs the ''[[Aufbau Ost (1940)|Aufbau Ost]]'' directive, which eventually leads to the invasion of the [[Soviet Union]].
*[[August 10]] – WWII: British armed merchant cruiser {{HMS|Transylvania|F56|6}} is torpedoed off [[Malin Head]], Ireland, by [[German submarine U-56 (1938)|German submarine ''U-56'']].
*[[August 13]] – WWII: ''Luftwaffe'' ''[[Adlertag]]'' ("Eagle Day") strike on southern England occurs, starting the rapid escalation of the [[Battle of Britain]].
*[[August 15]] – Italy, without having declared war on Greece, sinks the Greek boat ''Elli'' (Έλλη).
*[[August 18]]
**WWII: "[[The Hardest Day]]" in the [[Battle of Britain]]: Both sides lose more aircraft combined on this day than at any other point during the campaign, without the ''Luftwaffe'' achieving dominance over RAF Fighter Command.
**[[Edward VIII|The Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor]], is installed as [[Governor of the Bahamas]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bloch |first=Michael |year=1982 |title=The Duke of Windsor's War |location=London |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |isbn=978-0-297-77947-6}}</ref>
*[[August 20]]
**WWII: [[Winston Churchill]] pays tribute in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom]] to the [[Royal Air Force]] fighter pilots: "Never in the field of human conflict was [[so much owed by so many to so few]]."<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Air University Review |title=The Scorpion |author=Jay Miller |volume=31 |issue=5 |year=1980 |page=45}}</ref>
**[[Leon Trotsky]] is attacked with an [[ice axe]] in his Mexico home by [[NKVD]] agent [[Ramón Mercader]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/05/25/archives/trotsky-injured-in-attack-on-home-leon-trotsky-and-home-in-mexico.html |title=Trotsky Injured in Attack on Home; Leon Trotsky and Home in Mexico Where He Was Attacked |date=25 May 1940 |newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=23 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723214548/https://www.nytimes.com/1940/05/25/archives/trotsky-injured-in-attack-on-home-leon-trotsky-and-home-in-mexico.html |archive-date=23 July 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[August 24]] – [[Howard Florey]] and a team including [[Ernst Chain]] and [[Norman Heatley]] at the [[Sir William Dunn School of Pathology]], [[University of Oxford]], publish their laboratory results showing the ''[[in vivo]]'' bactericidal action of [[penicillin]]. They have also purified the drug.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Drews |first=Jürgen |s2cid=1827304 |date=March 2000 |title=Drug Discovery: a Historical Perspective |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=287 |issue=5460 |pages=1960–4 |doi=10.1126/science.287.5460.1960 |pmid=10720314 |bibcode=2000Sci...287.1960D}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Patrick |last=Robertson |title=The Shell Book of Firsts |location=London |publisher=Ebury Press |year=1974 |page=124}}</ref>
*[[August 25]] – WWII: The first [[Bombing of Berlin in World War II|Bombing of Berlin]] is carried out, by the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Royal Air Force]].
*[[August 26]] – WWII: [[Chad]] is the first French colony to proclaim its support for the Allies.
*[[August 30]] – [[Second Vienna Award]]: Germany and Italy compel Romania to cede half of [[Transylvania]] to Hungary.
*[[August 31]]
**WWII: [[Texel Disaster]]: Two British Royal Navy [[destroyer]]s are sunk by running into a [[Naval mine|mine]]field off the coast of the occupied Netherlands with the loss of around 400 men, 300 of them dead.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hayward |first=James |title=The Bodies on the Beach: Sealion, Shingle Street and the burning sea myth of 1940 |publisher=CD41 |location=Dereham, Norfolk |year=2001 |isbn=0-9540549-0-3}}</ref>
**British film stars [[Laurence Olivier]] and [[Vivien Leigh]] are married at the [[San Ysidro Ranch]] in [[California]].<ref name="ww2 database">{{cite web |url=http://ww2db.com/event/timeline/1940/ |title=1940 |website=World War II Database |access-date=2015-12-11}}</ref>

===September===
{{Main|September 1940}}
[[File:The Home Front in Britain during the Second World War HU44272.jpg|thumb|right|London Underground during [[the Blitz]], 1940]]
*[[September]] – The [[45th Infantry Division (United States)|U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division]] (previously a National Guard Division in [[Arizona]], [[Colorado]], [[New Mexico]], and [[Oklahoma]]), is activated and ordered into federal service for one year, to engage in a training program in [[Ft. Sill]] and [[Louisiana]], prior to serving in WWII.
*[[September 2]] – WWII: The [[Destroyers for Bases Agreement]] between the United States and Great Britain is announced, to the effect that 50 U.S. destroyers needed for escort work will be transferred to Great Britain. In return, the United States gains 99-year leases on British bases in the North Atlantic, [[West Indies]] and [[Bermuda]].<ref name=McKinstry>{{cite book |authorlink=Leo McKinstry |first=Leo |last=McKinstry |title=Operation Sealion |location=London |publisher=John Murray |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-84854-698-1}}</ref>
*[[September 4]] – WWII: [[Adolf Hitler]]'s ''Winterhilfe'' speech at the [[Berlin Sportpalast]] declares that [[Nazi Germany]] will make retaliatory night air raids on British cities and threatens invasion.<ref name=McKinstry/>
*[[September 5]] – WWII: [[Commerce raiding]] [[German auxiliary cruiser Komet|German auxiliary cruiser ''Komet'']] enters the Pacific Ocean via the [[Bering Strait]], after crossing the Arctic Ocean from the [[North Sea]], with the help of Soviet icebreakers ''Lenin'', ''Stalin'' and ''Kaganovich''.<ref>{{cite book |author=Muggenthaler, August Karl |title=German Raiders of WWII |publisher=Prentice-Hall |year=1977 |isbn=978-0-13-354027-7 |page=58}}</ref>
*[[September 6]] – King [[Carol II]] of Romania abdicates and is succeeded by his son [[Michael I of Romania|Michael]].
*[[September 7]]
**The [[President of Paraguay]], [[José Félix Estigarribia]], dies in a plane crash.
**[[Treaty of Craiova]]: [[Romania]] loses [[Southern Dobruja]] to [[Bulgaria]].
**WWII: [[The Blitz]] – [[Nazi Germany]] begins to rain bombs on London (the first of 57 consecutive nights of [[strategic bombing]]).
*[[September 9]]–[[September 16|16]] – WWII: The [[Italian invasion of Egypt]] commences from Libya, progressing only as far as [[Sidi Barrani]].
*[[September 9]]
**[[Treznea massacre]]: The Hungarian Army, supported by [[Hungarians in Romania|local Hungarians]], kill 93 [[Romanians|Romanian]] civilians in [[Treznea, Sălaj]], a village in [[Northern Transylvania]], as part of attempts at [[ethnic cleansing]].
**[[George Stibitz]] first demonstrates the remote operation of a computer, in the United States.
*[[September 12]]
**In [[Lascaux]], France, 17,000-year-old [[cave painting]]s are discovered by a group of young Frenchmen hiking through Southern France. The paintings depict animals, and date to the [[Stone Age]].
**The Hercules Munitions Plant in [[Succasunna-Kenvil, New Jersey]] explodes, killing 55 people.
*[[September 14]] – [[Ip massacre]]: The Hungarian Army, supported by [[Hungarians in Romania|local Hungarians]], kill 158 [[Romanians|Romanian]] civilians in [[Ip, Sălaj]], a village in [[Northern Transylvania]], as part of attempts at [[ethnic cleansing]].
*[[September 16]] – WWII: The [[Selective Training and Service Act of 1940]] is signed into law by [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], creating the first peacetime draft in U.S. history.
*[[September 17]] – WWII:
**Hitler postpones [[Operation Sea Lion]] (''Unternehmen Seelöwe''), the planned German invasion of Britain, indefinitely.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ww2timelines.com/1940/september/09171940.htm |title=Events occurring on Tuesday, September 17, 1940 |year=2011 |website=WW2 Timelines |access-date=2015-12-11 |archive-date=September 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920211409/http://ww2timelines.com/1940/september/09171940.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
**British planes from [[HMS Illustrious (87)|HMS ''Illustrious'']], backed by battleship [[HMS Valiant (1914)|HMS ''Valiant'']], attack the port of [[Benghazi]] in Libya. Four Italian ships are sunk in the harbour.
*[[September 17]]–[[September 18|18]] – WWII: {{SS|City of Benares}} is [[torpedo]]ed by {{GS|U-48|1939|6}} in the Atlantic, with the loss of 248 of the 406 on board, including child evacuees bound for Canada. This results in cancellation of the British [[Children's Overseas Reception Board]]'s plan to relocate children overseas.
*[[September 20]]–[[September 22|22]] – WWII: [[Convoy HX 72]], a North Atlantic convoy of 43 ships, is attacked by a German U-boat group ([[Wolfpack (naval tactic)|''wolfpack'']]), eleven ships of 73 tons are sunk, seven during the second night of the attack by the [[German submarine U-100 (1940)|''U-100'']] under the command of [[Joachim Schepke]].
*[[September 21]] – [[1940 Australian federal election]]: [[Robert Menzies]]' [[United Australia Party|UAP]]/[[National Party of Australia|Country]] [[Coalition (Australia)|Coalition]] [[Menzies Government (1939-41)|Government]] is re-elected as a [[minority government]], narrowly defeating the [[Australian Labor Party|Labor Party]] led by [[John Curtin]]. It is the last federal election to result in a minority government until [[2010 Australian federal election|2010]].
*[[September 22]] – [[French Indochina in World War II]]: Japan and the colonial Vichy government of [[French Indochina]] sign an agreement permitting certain numbers of Japanese troops into the country (with rights for three airfields) to blockade China. There immediately follows a [[Japanese invasion of French Indochina]], in which a group of Japanese officers take [[Đồng Đăng]] and [[Lạng Sơn Province|Lam Sơn]], with 40 Franco-Vietnamese troops killed and around 1,000 deserting. Fighting dies down on September 26.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hata|first=Ikuhiko|author-link=Ikuhiko Hata|chapter=The Army's Move into Northern Indochina|title=The Fateful Choice: Japan's Advance into Southeast Asia, 1939–1941|editor-first=James W.|editor-last=Morley|location=New York|year=1980|pages=155–163|publisher=Columbia University Press}}</ref>
*[[September 23]]–[[September 25|25]] – WWII: [[Battle of Dakar]] – Naval forces of [[Free France]] and Britain fail to take the port of [[Dakar]] in [[French West Africa]] from [[Vichy France]].
*[[September 25]] – [[Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany]]: German ''[[Reichskommissar]]'' [[Josef Terboven]] appoints a provisional council of state from the pro-Nazi [[Nasjonal Samling]] party, under [[Vidkun Quisling]], as a puppet government for Norway.
*[[September 26]] – The U.S. government places an [[embargo]] on the exportation of scrap iron and steel to any country outside the Western Hemisphere excluding Britain, effective October 16.<ref>{{cite news|title=Scrap Ban Backed by Steel Trade|newspaper=The New York Times|date=27 September 1940|page=4}}</ref>
*[[September 27]] – WWII: Germany, Italy and Japan sign the [[Tripartite Pact]].
*[[September 30]] (night to [[October 1]]) – [[Arson]]ists from the [[Hitler Youth]] destroy the [[Synagogue du Quai Kléber|Great Synagogue of Strasbourg]].

===October===
{{Main|October 1940}}
[[File:British Columbia Regiment 1940.jpg|thumb|190px|''[[Wait for Me, Daddy]]'', a photo taken by [[Claude P. Dettloff]] of the [[The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) (RCAC)|British Columbia Regiment]] marching in [[New Westminster]], October 1940]] 
*[[October 1]] – The first section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the United States' first long-distance [[controlled-access highway]], is opened.
*[[October 11]] – Portuguese-born performer [[Carmen Miranda]] makes her American film debut in ''[[Down Argentine Way]]'', one of the first films produced to promote the [[Good Neighbor policy]].
*[[October 14]] – WWII: At least 66 people are killed when a [[Luftwaffe]] bomb penetrates [[Balham station]] on the [[London Underground]] which is in use as an [[air-raid shelter]] during [[The Blitz]] on England.
*[[October 15]] – [[Charlie Chaplin]]'s ''[[The Great Dictator]]'', a satirical anti-fascist comedy film, premieres in New York City. Written, directed, produced by and starring Chaplin as his first true sound film, it is a critical and commercial success and goes on to become Chaplin's most financially successful work. Filming began in September 1939.
*[[October 16]]
**The draft registration of approximately 16&nbsp;million men begins in the United States.
**Nazi Governor-General [[Hans Frank]] establishes the [[Warsaw Ghetto]].
*[[October 18]]–[[October 19|19]] – WWII: Thirty-two ships are sunk from [[Convoy SC 7]] and [[Convoy HX 79]] by the most effective "[[Wolfpack (naval tactic)|wolfpack]]" of the war, including [[Otto Kretschmer]], [[Günther Prien]] and [[Joachim Schepke]].
*[[October 26]]–[[October 28|28]] – WWII: {{RMS|Empress of Britain|1930|6}}, serving as a [[troopship]] under the British flag, is bombed, torpedoed and sunk off the [[Donegal (town)|Donegal]] coast, with the loss of 45 lives. At 42,348 [[Gross register tonnage|GRT]], she is the war's largest merchant ship loss.
*[[October 28]] – WWII: [[Greco-Italian War]] begins when Italian troops invade Greece, meeting strong resistance from Greek troops and civilians. This action signals the start of the [[Balkan Campaign (World War II)|Balkan Campaign]].
*[[October 29]] – The [[Selective Service System]] lottery is held in Washington, D.C..

===November===
{{Main|November 1940}}
*[[November]] – In [[Cambodia]], the [[Khmer Issarak]] is formed to overthrow the [[French Army]] within the country.
*[[November 2]]–[[November 8|8]] – WWII: [[Greco-Italian War]] – [[Battle of Elaia–Kalamas]] in [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]]: Outnumbered [[Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg)|Greek]] forces repel the [[Royal Italian Army during World War II|Italian Army]].
*[[November 2]] – [[German submarine U-69 (1940)|German submarine ''U-69'']] is commissioned, the first [[German Type VII submarine#Type VIIC|Type VIIC]] [[U-boat]] of [[Nazi Germany]]'s ''[[Kriegsmarine]]'', which will become its most numerous class, with 568 commissioned during the War.
*[[November 5]]
**[[1940 United States presidential election]]: [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] incumbent [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] decisively defeats [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] challenger [[Wendell Willkie]], and becomes the United States' first and only third-term president.
**WWII: Allied [[Convoy HX 84]] is attacked by [[German cruiser Admiral Scheer|German cruiser ''Admiral Scheer'']] in the North Atlantic; the sacrifice of escorting British [[armed merchant cruiser]] {{HMS|Jervis Bay|F40|6}} under Capt. [[Edward Fegen]] and {{SS|Beaverford}} enables a majority of the ships (including tanker {{MV|San Demetrio}}) to escape.
*[[November 6]] – [[Agatha Christie]]'s mystery novel ''[[And Then There Were None]]'' is published in book form, in the United States.
*[[November 7]] – In [[Tacoma, Washington]], the {{convert|600|ft|m|adj=on}}-long center span of the [[Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940)|Tacoma Narrows Bridge]] (known as Galloping Gertie) collapses.
*[[November 8]] – WWII: {{MS|City of Rayville}} is sunk by a naval mine off [[Cape Otway]], Australia (the first [[United States Merchant Marine]] loss of the war).
*[[November 9]] – [[Joaquín Rodrigo]]'s ''[[Concierto de Aranjuez]]'' for classical guitar and orchestra premieres in [[Barcelona]], Spain.
*[[November 10]] – [[1940 Vrancea earthquake]]: An earthquake in [[Romania]] kills 1,000.
*[[November 11]]
**WWII: The British [[Royal Navy]] launches the first [[aircraft carrier]] strike in history, on the Italian [[battleship]] fleet anchored at [[Battle of Taranto|Taranto]] Naval Base.
**WWII: {{Ship|German auxiliary cruiser|Atlantis}} captures [[Classified information|top secret]] British mail intended for the [[British Far East Command]] from the {{SS|Automedon}}, and sends it to Japan.
**[[Armistice Day Blizzard]]: An unexpected blizzard kills 144 in the [[Midwestern United States]].
*[[November 13]] – The [[The Walt Disney Company|Walt Disney]] animated film ''[[Fantasia (1940 film)|Fantasia]]'', the first commercial film shown in [[stereophonic sound]], has its world premiere at the [[Broadway Theatre (53rd Street)|Broadway Theatre]] in New York City. It is the first box office failure for Disney, though it recoups its cost years later and becomes one of the most highly regarded of Disney's films.
*[[November 14]] – WWII: [[Coventry Blitz]] – The city centre of [[Coventry]], England is destroyed by 500 [[Luftwaffe]] bombers; 150,000 [[Incendiary device|fire bombs]], 503 tons of high explosives and 130 parachute mines level 60,000 of the city's 75,000 buildings; 568 people are killed. The city's cathedral is gutted.
*[[November 15]] – [[Abbott and Costello]] make their film debut, in ''[[One Night in the Tropics]]''.
*[[November 16]]
**WWII: In response to Germany levelling [[Coventry]] 2 days before, the [[Royal Air Force]] begins to bomb [[Hamburg]] (by war's end, 50,000 Hamburg residents will have died from [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] attacks).
**An unexploded [[pipe bomb]] is found in the [[Consolidated Edison]] office building (only in 1957 later is the culprit, former employee [[George Metesky]], apprehended).
**The [[Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers]] is founded.
*[[November 17]] – The [[Tartu Art Museum]] is established in [[Tartu]], [[Estonia]].<ref>[https://agenda.ge/en/news/2016/689 Estonia's famous "leaning house" displays Georgian artists' work] – Agenda.ge</ref>
*[[November 18]] – WWII: German leader [[Adolf Hitler]] and Italian Foreign Minister [[Galeazzo Ciano]] meet to discuss [[Benito Mussolini]]'s disastrous invasion of Greece.
*[[November 20]]–[[November 24|24]] – WWII: [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Hungary]], [[Romania]] and [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|Slovakia]] join the [[Axis powers]].
*[[November 25]]
**[[Patria disaster|''Patria'' disaster]]: As British authorities attempt to deport [[Jewish refugees]] (originating from [[German-occupied Europe]]) from [[Mandatory Palestine]] to [[Mauritius]], aboard the requisitioned emigrant liner {{SS|Patria|1913|6}} at [[Haifa]], the Jewish paramilitary organization [[Haganah]] sinks the ship with a bomb, killing around 250 refugees and crew.
**The [[de Havilland Mosquito]] and [[Martin B-26 Marauder]] military aircraft both make their first flights.
**[[Woody Woodpecker]] makes his debut in the animated short, ''[[Knock Knock (1940 film)|Knock Knock]]''. It is not until 1941 that his current name is adopted.
*[[November 26]]–[[November 27|27]] – [[Jilava Massacre]]: In [[Romania]], coup leader General [[Ion Antonescu]]'s [[Iron Guard]] arrests and executes over 60 of exiled King [[Carol II of Romania]]'s aides, starting at a penitentiary near [[Bucharest]]. Among the dead is former minister and acclaimed historian [[Nicolae Iorga]].
*[[November 27]] – WWII: [[Battle of Cape Spartivento]]: The British [[Royal Navy]] and Italian {{Lang|it|[[Regia Marina]]|italic=no}} battle to a draw.
*[[November 30]] – The [[Battle of South Guangxi]] ([[Second Sino-Japanese War]]) concludes after a year with the Japanese retiring having attained their strategic objectives; however, the [[Central Hubei Operation]] concludes after five days leaving many Japanese dead.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hsu Long-hsuen|first=Chang Ming-kai|title=History of The Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945)|translator=Wen Ha-hsiung|publisher=Chung Wu Publishing|year=1972|edition=2nd|location=Taipei|pages=311–18, 325–27}}</ref>

===December===
{{Main|December 1940}}
*[[December]] – [[Timely Comics]]' [[Captain America|Captain America Comics]] #1 (cover dated March 1941), [[first appearance]] of [[Captain America]] and [[Bucky Barnes|Bucky]], hits newsstands in the United States.
*[[December 1]] – [[Manuel Ávila Camacho]] takes office as [[President of Mexico]].
*[[December 6]] – British submarine {{HMS|Regulus|N88|6}} is sunk near [[Taranto]].
*[[December 8]] – The [[Chicago Bears]], in what will become the most one-sided victory in [[National Football League]] history, defeat the [[Washington Redskins]] 73–0 in the 1940 NFL Championship Game.
*[[December 9]] – WWII: [[Operation Compass]] – British forces in North Africa begin their first major offensive, with an attack on Italian forces at [[Sidi Barrani]], [[Egypt]].
*[[December 12]] and [[December 15]] – WWII: [[Sheffield Blitz]] ("Operation Crucible") – The [[Yorkshire]] steelmaking city of [[Sheffield]] in England is badly damaged by German air-raids.
*[[December 14]] – WWII:
**British destroyers {{HMS|Hereward|H93|6}} and {{HMS|Hyperion|H97|6}} sink an Italian submarine off [[Bardia]].
**Royal Navy [[Fairey Swordfish]] based on [[Malta]] bomb [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]].
**[[Plutonium]] is first synthesized in the laboratory, by a team led by [[Glenn T. Seaborg]] and [[Edwin McMillan]], at the [[University of California, Berkeley]].
*[[December 16]] – WWII: [[Operation Abigail Rachel]] – The [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] bombs [[Mannheim]].
*[[December 17]] – President Roosevelt, at his regular press conference, first sets forth the outline of his plan to send aid to Great Britain, which will become known as [[Lend-Lease]].
*[[December 23]] – WWII: [[Winston Churchill]], in a broadcast address to the people of Italy, blames [[Benito Mussolini]] for leading his nation to war against the British, contrary to Italy's historic friendship with them: "One man has arrayed the trustees and inheritors of ancient Rome upon the side of the ferocious pagan barbarians."
*[[December 24]] – [[Mahatma Gandhi]], Indian spiritual non-violence leader, writes his second letter to [[Adolf Hitler]], addressing him as "My friend", and requesting him to stop the war Germany had begun.
*[[December 25]] – The German cruiser ''[[German cruiser Admiral Hipper|Admiral Hipper]]'' attacks a British shipping convoy (WS 5A) en route to [[Sierra Leone]] 700 miles (1,100&nbsp;km) west of [[Cape Finisterre]] in [[Spain]]. ''Admiral Hipper'' sinks one ship but has to withdraw with engine trouble.
*[[December 27]] – WWII: German auxiliary cruiser ''[[German auxiliary cruiser Komet|Komet]]'' shells and heavily damages the phosphate production facilities on the Pacific island of [[Nauru]] (under Australian protection at this time) while flying the Japanese flag. The bombardment lasts an hour and causes the loss of 13,000 tons of oil.
*[[December 29]]
**[[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], in a [[fireside chat]] to the nation, declares that the United States must become "the great arsenal of democracy."
**WWII: "[[Second Great Fire of London]]" – The [[Luftwaffe]] carries out a massive incendiary bombing raid, starting 1,500 fires. Many famous buildings, including the [[Guildhall, London|Guildhall]] and Trinity House, are either damaged or destroyed.

===Date unknown===
*[[Ansul Fire School]] is founded in [[Marinette, Wisconsin]].<ref>{{cite web |title=ANSUL Fire School |url=https://www.onlinetechxchange.com/courses/portable-fire-extinguishers/americas/ansul-fire-school |website=onlinetechxchange.com |publisher=Johnson Controls |access-date=27 June 2023}}</ref>
*In Korea, the ''[[Hunminjeongeum]]'' ([[1446]]) is discovered, explaining the basis of the [[Hangul]] alphabet.
*[[Walter Knott]] begins construction of a California [[ghost town]] replica, which soon evolves into [[Knott's Berry Farm]].