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Timeline 1900-2021, part 5: 1940-1949
Firestorm after bombing of Hiroshima, 1945. J. Howard Miller, "We Can Do It!", 1943 (created for Westinghouse Electric to boost morale of female workers). TV from ca. 1946-1947. Images: Wikipedia

Timeline 1900-2021, part 5: 1940-1949

Fifth of 12 posts with an illustrated decade-by-decade timeline for the years 1900 to 2021. For more on the timeline and a link to the book on Amazon, see here. This post is available as a video at https://youtu.be/KhViOqkzKL8.

1940-1949

This post is a teaser, not the full text for 1940-1949.

Among the events of this decade:

  • 1945, April: Germany is defeated, ending WW2 in Europe. August: US drops atomic bombs on Japan, ending WW2 in Asia. Military and civilian casualties worldwide run to at least 50 million, incl. deaths by war-related famine and disease. American deaths in battle and from other causes: more than 400,000.
  • Women work outside the home in record numbers during the war.
  • 1945 First flu vaccine.
  • 1946 Winston Churchill describes Eastern Europe as being behind an “iron curtain”.
Firestorm after bombing of Hiroshima, 1945. J. Howard Miller, “We Can Do It!”, 1943 (created for Westinghouse Electric to boost morale of female workers). TV from ca. 1946-1947. Images: Wikipedia
  • 1947 First flight exceeding speed of sound (in level flight): Chuck Yeager in the Bell X-1.
  • After WW2, the US begins an economic boom that lasts until the 1970s. Having suffered no bombing or invasion, the US has the world’s most powerful navy and air force, the largest manufacturing capacity, and the greatest wealth on earth.
  • Popular books: Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead, 1943. George Orwell, 1984,1949. Benjamin Spock, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Rearing (influenced by Freud and Dewey).
  • Architecture: Levittown, NY (begun 1947) and Levittown, PA (begun 1951) are the first mass-produced suburban communities. Their tract homes incorporate many ideas from Frank Lloyd Wright, incl. natural lighting, open floor plans, merging of exterior and interior spaces, and modern kitchens. The two Levittowns become the model for housing developments in suburbia.
Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1949. Tract housing in Levittown, PA. Casablanca, 1942. Photos: Wikipedia
  • Movies: Casablanca, 1942. Gaslight, 1944. It’s a Wonderful Life,1946. TV: Howdy Doody, Ed Sullivan Show, Lone Ranger.
  • Music: Glenn Miller, “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” 1941: first song to receive a gold record (1.2 million copies sold). Improved recording equipment leads to the rise of “crooners” such as Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra (one of the earliest teen idols).
Howdy Doody. Glenn Miller and His Orchestera, ca. 1940-1941. Frank Sinatra, ca. 1943. Photos: Wikipedia

Feedback I’d appreciate from you on the PDF of 1940-1949

  • Have I listed all the most significant events for this decade? Space is limited and there’s room for disagreement, but do tell me if you think anything important is missing. In case you want to add events important to you, I’ve allowed some blank space on every set of facing pages.
  • I have not read all the books I mention nor listened to all the musical styles. Are any of the facts or descriptions wrong? Corrections welcome.
  • I’d like to include major events in areas such as education, psychology, Supreme Court decisions, and sports. If you can boil down those or similar fields to a half-dozen significant events from 1900 to 2021, send them to me and I’ll try to work them in.
  • Of course, point out typos, bad grammar, messy syntax, and so on.

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