1940 - 1949

A year-by-year chronology of the 1940s.

Anne Frank and her family went into hiding on July 6, 1942, which was ten days before than they had planned.

On August 6, 1945, the United States used its massive, secret weapon against Hiroshima, Japan. This atomic bomb, the equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT, flattened the city, killing tens of thousands of civilians. While Japan was still trying to comprehend this devastation three days later, the United States struck again, this time, on Nagasaki.

The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, located in London, England, are two museums that are both housed in what used to be a secret underground shelter during World War II.

In 1948, incumbant President Harry S. Truman was not expected to win the election against Thomas E. Dewey. Read about the campaign and the election.

Fala, a cute, black Scottish terrier, was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's constant companion in the last years of his life. Learn more about Fala, including how he became FDR's pet and what happened to Fala once President Roosevelt died.

On August 20, 1940, Ramon Mercader slammed a mountaineering ice pick into Leon Trotsky's skull. The following day, Trotsky died of his injuries.

At 9:49 a.m. on Saturday, July 28, 1945, a B-25 bomber crashed into the Empire State Building. Find out why the bomber crashed and what happened to the Empire State Building.

The first Slinky toys were sold in 1945 at Gimbel's Department Store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And since then, stairs have never been left alone.

On March 5, 1946, Winston Churchill spoke at a small college in Fulton, Missouri. This speech, commonly called the Iron Curtain speech, described the split of Europe into democratic and Communist spheres.

Dr. Benjamin Spock first had his revolutionary book about how to raise children published on July 14, 1946. The book, The Common Book of Baby and Child Care, has become one of the best-selling non-fiction books of all time. Find out more about Dr. Spock and the book that made him famous.

Read the full transcript of Prime Minister Winston Churchill's call-to-arm speech, Blood, Sweat, and Tears, given in the House of Commons on May 13, 1940.

On the morning after the 1948 presidential election, the Chicago Daily Tribune's headline read, DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN. However, it was actually Truman who had won the election. How could the headline be so very wrong?

On April 9, 1942, the Battle of Bataan ended with the surrender of 72,000 American and Filipino soldiers to the Japanese. The attempt to transfer these POWs resulted in the bloody Bataan Death March. Learn more about the Bataan Death March.