1940 in the United States

Events from the year 1940 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal Government

* President: Franklin D. Roosevelt ( D-New York)
* Vice President: John Nance Garner ( D-Texas)
* Chief Justice: Charles Evans Hughes (New York)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: William B. Bankhead ( D-Alabama) (until September 15), Sam Rayburn ( D-Texas) (starting September 16)
* Senate Majority Leader: Alben W. Barkley ( D-Kentucky)
* Congress: 76th

Events

January–March

* February 7 – RKO release Walt Disney's second full-length animated film, ''Pinocchio''.
* February 9 – Mae West and W. C. Fields join comedic forces for ''My Little Chickadee'' with tremendous success. The film becomes one of the highest-grossing of the year.
* February 10 – Tom and Jerry make their debut in '' Puss Gets the Boot''.
* February 27 – Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14.
* February 29 – The 12th Academy Awards, hosted by Bob Hope, are presented at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, with Victor Fleming's ''Gone with the Wind'' winning eight awards out of thirteen nominations, including Outstanding Production and Best Director for Fleming.
* March – ''Truth or Consequences'' debuts on ''NBC'' Radio.
* March 2 – Cartoon character Elmer Fudd makes his debut in the animated short ''Elmer's Candid Camera''.
*March 4 – Kings Canyon National Park is established in California.

April–June

* April – Dick Grayson (AKA as Robin, the Boy Wonder) first appears with Batman.
* April 1 (April Fools' Day) – Census date for the 16th U.S. Census.
* April 3 – Isle Royale National Park is established in Michigan.
* April 7 – Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.
* April 12 – Opening day at Jamaica Racetrack features the use of pari-mutuel betting equipment, a departure from bookmaking heretofore used exclusively throughout New York state. Other NY tracks follow suit later in 1940.
* April 13 – New York Rangers win their Third Stanley Cup in ice hockey (and last until 1994) by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4 games to 2.
* April 21 – '' Take It or Leave It'' makes it debut on CBS Radio, with Bob Hawk as host.
* April 23 – Rhythm Club fire: A fire at the Rhythm Night Club in Natchez, Mississippi kills 209.
* May 15
** The very first McDonald's restaurant opens in San Bernardino, California.
** Women's stockings made of nylon are first placed on sale across the U.S. Almost five million pairs are bought on this day.
* May 16 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, addressing a joint session of Congress, asks for an extraordinary credit of approximately $900 million to finance construction of at least 50,000 airplanes per year.
* May 18 – The 6.9 El Centro earthquake affects California's Imperial Valley with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''), causing nine deaths and twenty injuries. Financial losses are around $6 million. Significant damage also occurs in Mexicali, Mexico.
* May 25 – The Crypt of Civilization at Oglethorpe University is sealed.
* May 29 – The Vought XF4U-1, prototype of the F4U Corsair U.S. fighter later used in WWII, makes its first flight.
* June 10 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounces Italy's actions with his tp://webstorage2.mcpa.virginia.edu/library/nara/fdr/audiovisual/speeches/fdr_1940_0610.mp3 "Stab in the Back"speech during the graduation ceremonies of the University of Virginia.
* June 14 – 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%.
* June 16 – The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is held for the first time in Sturgis, South Dakota.
* June 22 – The first Dairy Queen opens in Edina, Minnesota.
* June 24 – U.S. politics: The Republican Party begins its national convention in Philadelphia and nominates Wendell Willkie as its candidate for president.

July–September

* July 1 – The doomed first Tacoma Narrows Bridge opens for business, built with an girder and above the water, as the third longest suspension bridge in the world.
* July 15 – U.S. politics: The Democratic Party begins its national convention in Chicago and nominates Franklin D. Roosevelt for an unprecedented third term as president.
* July 20 – The Arroyo Seco Parkway, one of the first freeways built in the U.S., opens to traffic, connecting downtown Los Angeles with Pasadena, California.
* July 27 – Bugs Bunny makes his debut in the Oscar-nominated cartoon short, ''A Wild Hare''.
* August 4 – 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.
*September – The 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 1 year, to engage in a training program in Ft. Sill and Louisiana, prior to serving in World War II.
* September 2 – WWII: An agreement between America 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, America gains 99-year leases on British bases in the North Atlantic, West Indies and Bermuda.
* September 12 – The Hercules Munitions Plant in Succasunna-Kenvil, New Jersey explodes, killing 55 people.
* 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 26 – WWII: The United States imposes a total embargo on all scrap metal shipments to Japan.

October–December

* October 1 – The first section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the country's first long-distance controlled-access highway, is opened between Irwin and Carlisle.
* October 8 – The Cincinnati Reds defeat the Detroit Tigers, 4 games to 3, to win their 2nd World Series Title in baseball.
* October 16 – The draft registration of approximately 16 million men begins in the United States.
* October 29 – The Selective Service System lottery is held in Washington, D.C.
* November 5 – U.S. presidential election, 1940: Democratic incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Republican challenger Wendell Willkie and becomes the nation's first and only third-term president.
* November 7 – In Tacoma, Washington, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (nicknamed the "Galloping Gertie") collapses in a wind storm, causing the center span of the bridge to sway. When it collapses, a design of the center span falls 190 feet above the water, killing Tubby, a black male cocker spaniel dog.
* November 11 – Armistice Day Blizzard: An unexpected blizzard kills 144 in the Midwest.
* November 12 – Case of ''Hansberry v. Lee'', , decided, allowing a racially restrictive covenant to be lifted.
* November 13 – Walt Disney's third feature film, ''Fantasia'', is released. 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 16 – An unexploded pipe bomb is found in the Consolidated Edison office building (only years later is the culprit, George Metesky, apprehended).
* 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 17 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt, at his regular press conference, first sets forth the outline of his plan to send aid to Great Britain that will become known as Lend-Lease.
* December 20 – 1940 New Hampshire earthquakes: A 5.3 earthquake shakes New England with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (''Very strong''). This first event in a doublet earthquake is followed four days later by a 5.6 shock, but total damage from the events is light.
* December 21 – Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald (author of ''The Great Gatsby'') dies of a heart attack aged 44 in the apartment of Hollywood gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, leaving his novel ''The Last Tycoon'' unfinished.
* December 29 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a fireside chat to the nation, declares that the United States must become "the great Arsenal of Democracy."
* December 30 – California's first modern freeway, the future State Route 110, opens to traffic in Pasadena, California, as the Arroyo Seco Parkway (later the Pasadena Freeway).

Undated

* Berk Trade and Business School is founded in New York City.
* Walter Knott begins construction of a California ghost town replica at Knott's Berry Farm.

Births

January

* January 2 – Jim Bakker, televangelist, sometime husband of Tammy Faye
* January 4 – Helmut Jahn, German-American architect (d. 2021)
* January 6 – Penny Lernoux, journalist and author (d. 1989)
* January 13 – Edmund White, author
* January 14 – Julian Bond, African-American civil rights activist (d. 2015 in the United States, 2015)
* January 15 – Arlie Russell Hochschild, professor emireta of sociology
* January 20 – Carol Heiss, figure skater
* January 21
** Jeremy Jacobs, businessman
** Jack Nicklaus, golfer
* January 23 – Jimmy Castor, African-American funk, R&B and soul saxophonist (d. 2012 in the United States, 2012)
* January 27 – James Cromwell, actor
* January 28 – Al Strobel, actor (d. 2022 in the United States, 2022)
* January 29 – Katharine Ross, actress
* January 31 – Stuart Margolin, actor

February

* February 2 – Odell Brown, jazz organist (d. 2011 in the United States, 2011)
* February 3 – Fran Tarkenton, American football player
* February 4 – George A. Romero, film writer and director (d. 2017 in the United States, 2017)
* February 6 – Tom Brokaw, television news reporter
* February 8
** Ted Koppel, journalist
** Richard Lynch, actor (d. 2012 in the United States, 2012)
** Joe South, country singer-songwriter
** Donald W. Stewart, politician
* February 12 – Hank Brown, politician
* February 14 – James Maynard (entrepreneur), James Maynard, businessman, co-founded Golden Corral
* February 15 – John Hadl, American football player and coach
* February 17
** Chris Newman (sound engineer), Chris Newman, sound mixer, director
** Gene Pitney, American pop singer (d. 2006)
* February 19 – Smokey Robinson, African-American musician
* February 21 – John Lewis, African-American politician, civil rights leader (d. 2020 in the United States, 2020)
* February 22 – Billy Name, born William G. Linich, photographer and Andy Warhol, Warhol archivist
* February 23 – Peter Fonda, actor (d. 2019 in the United States, 2019)
* February 24
** Pete Duel, actor (d. 1971 in the United States, 1971)
** Jimmy Ellis (boxer), Jimmy Ellis, African-American professional boxer (d. 2014 in the United States, 2014)
* February 25 – Ron Santo, baseball player (d. 2010 in the United States, 2010)
* February 27 – Howard Hesseman, actor (d. 2022 in the United States, 2022)
* February 28
** Mario Andretti, race car driver
** Joe South, singer-songwriter (d. 2012 in the United States, 2012)

March

* March 6 – Willie Stargell, African American baseball player (d. 2001)
* March 7 – Daniel J. Travanti, American actor
* March 10
** Chuck Norris, American actor and martial artist
** Dean Torrence, American singer
* March 12 – Al Jarreau, African-American singer (d. 2017)
* March 13 – Candi Staton, American singer
* March 15 – Phil Lesh, American rock guitarist (Grateful Dead)
* March 17 – Mark White (Texas politician), Mark White, American politician (d. 2017)
* March 18 – Mark Medoff, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 2019)
* March 20 – Mary Ellen Mark, American photographer (d. 2015)
* March 21 – Solomon Burke, African-American singer, songwriter (d. 2010)
* March 22 – Garland Boyette, American football player (d. 2022)
* March 25 – Anita Bryant, American entertainer
* March 26
** James Caan, American actor (d. 2022)
** Nancy Pelosi, American politician
* March 27 – Austin Pendleton, American actor, playwright, theatre director and instructor
* March 29
** Thomas Cahill, American scholar and writer (d. 2022)
** Ray Davis (musician), Ray Davis, American bass musician (P-Funk) (d. 2005)
* March 31
** Barney Frank, American politician
** Patrick Leahy, American politician

April

* April 8 – John Havlicek, American basketball player (d. 2019 in the United States, 2019)
* April 12
** John Hagee, American televangelist
** Herbie Hancock, African-American pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, composer and actor
* April 15
** Willie Davis (baseball), Willie Davis, American baseball player (d. 2010 in the United States, 2010)
** Robert Walker (actor, born 1940), Robert Walker, American actor (d. 2019 in the United States, 2019)
* April 17 – Chuck Menville, American animator, writer (d. 1992)
* April 18 – Joseph L. Goldstein, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* April 20 – James Gammon, actor (d. 2010)
* April 24
** Sue Grafton, detective novelist (d. 2017 in the United States, 2017)
** Robert Knight (musician), Robert Knight, American singer (d. 2017)
** Michael Parks, American actor, singer (d. 2017)
* April 25 – Al Pacino, American actor and film director
* April 30
** Robert Jervis, American political scientist (d. 2021)
** Burt Young, American actor, author and painter

May

* May 1 – Allan M. Siegal, American newspaper editor and journalist (d. 2022)
* May 3 – David Koch, American billionaire businessman, philanthropist and political activist (d. 2019)
* May 5
** Lance Henriksen, American actor
** Lucy Simon, American composer (d. 2022)
* May 7 – Kim Chernin, American feminist writer and poet (d. 2020)
* May 8
** Peter Benchley, American author (''Jaws (novel), Jaws'') (d. 2006)
** Emilio Delgado, American actor (''Sesame Street''), singer and activist (d. 2022)
** Ricky Nelson, American singer (d. 1985)
** Toni Tennille, American pop singer
* May 9 – James L. Brooks, American film producer, writer
* May 10 – Wayne A. Downing, American U.S. general (d. 2007)
* May 15
** Lainie Kazan, American actress and singer
** Don Nelson, American basketball player and coach
* May 17 – Alan Kay, computer scientist
* May 18 – Lenny Lipton, inventor (d. 2022)
* May 20 – Shorty Long, African-American soul music singer, songwriter, musician and record producer (''Here Comes the Judge (Shorty Long song), Here Comes The Judge'') (d. 1969)
* May 22 – Bernard Shaw (journalist), Bernard Shaw, African-American journalist and television news reporter (d. 2022)

June

* June 1
** René Auberjonois, actor (d. 2019 in the United States, 2019)
** Wayne Kemp, country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015 in the United States, 2015)
** Kip Thorne, theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate
* June 3 – Connie Saylor, race car driver (d. 1993 in the United States, 1993)
* June 7
** Samuel Little, serial killer (d. 2020 in the United States, 2020)
** Evi Nemeth, author and engineer (d. 2013 in the United States, 2013)
* June 8
** Arthur Elgort, photographer
** Nancy Sinatra, singer
** Jim Wickwire, lawyer and mountaineer
* June 9 – Roger J. Phillips, geophysicist (d. 2020)
* June 11 – Wayne Kemp, country music singer (d. 2015)
* June 13 – Bobby Freeman, singer, songwriter (d. 2017)
* June 14 – Jack Bannon, actor (d. 2017 in the United States, 2017)
* June 16
** Neil Goldschmidt, politician
** Thea White, actress (d. 2021)
* June 19 – Shirley Muldowney, race car driver
* June 21 – Mariette Hartley, actress
* June 23 – Wilma Rudolph, track & field athlete and 3-time Olympic winner (d. 1994 in the United States, 1994)
* June 24 – Hope Cooke, socialite, Queen Consort of Sikkim
* June 26 – Lucinda Childs, actress, postmodern dancer and choreographer

July

* July 2 – Joshua Bryant, American actor, director, author and speaker
* July 3
** Fontella Bass, African-American soul singer ("Rescue Me (Fontella Bass song), Rescue Me") (d. 2012)
** Lance Larson, American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, world record-holder in four events
** Chuck Sieminski, American football player (d. 2020)
** Lamar Alexander, American politician
* July 4 – Gene McDowell, American college football coach
* July 6 – Jeannie Seely, American singer, songwriter
* July 7 – Madeline Davis, American LGBT activist and historian (d. 2021)
* July 10
** Gene Alley, American baseball player
** Jim Cadile, American professional football offensive guard
** Helen Donath, American soprano
** Julie Payne (actress, born 1940), Julie Payne, American actress (d. 2019)
* July 13 – Paul Prudhomme, Louisiana Creole cuisine American chef (d. 2015)
* July 15 – Johnny Seay, American country music singer (d. 2016)
* July 16 – Tom Metcalf, American baseball pitcher
* July 17 – Verne Lundquist, American sportscaster
* July 18
** James Brolin, American actor, director
** Joe Torre, American baseball player, manager
* July 21 – Jim Clyburn, African-American politician
* July 23 – Don Imus, American radio personality (d. 2019 in the United States, 2019)
* July 24
** Stanley Hauerwas, American theologian
** Dan Hedaya, American actor
* July 26
** Dobie Gray, African-American singer-songwriter (''Drift Away'') (d. 2011)
** Mary Jo Kopechne, American aide to Ted Kennedy (d. 1969)
* July 27 – Gary Kurtz, American filmmaker (d. 2018)
* July 28 – Philip Proctor, American actor
* July 29 – Bernard Lafayette, African-American civil rights activist

August

* August 3 – Martin Sheen, actor
* August 7 – Thomas Barlow (Kentucky politician), Thomas Barlow, politician (d. 2017)
* August 10 – Bobby Hatfield, singer (''The Righteous Brothers'') (d. 2003)
* August 13 – Tony Cloninger, baseball player (d. 2018)
* August 14 – Galen Hall, American football coach
* August 19 – Jill St. John, actress
* August 20 – Rubén Hinojosa, politician
* August 22 – Bill McCartney, American football player and coach, founded Promise Keepers
* August 23 – Thomas A. Steitz, biochemist (d. 2018)
* August 27 – Fernest Arceneaux, Zydeco accordionist (d. 2008 in the United States, 2008)
* August 28 – William Cohen, politician
* August 29
** James Brady, politician, White House Press Secretary#List of press secretaries, 17th White House Press Secretary (d. 2014 in the United States, 2014)
** Bennie Maupin, musician
** Johnny Paris, musician (''Johnny and the Hurricanes'') (d. 2006)
* August 31 – Wilton Felder, African American jazz saxophonist (d. 2015 in the United States, 2015)

September

* September 3 – Joseph C. Strasser, American admiral (d. 2019 in the United States, 2019)
* September 5 – Raquel Welch, American actress
* September 10 – David Mann (artist), David Mann, American artist (d. 2004 in the United States, 2004
* September 11
** Brian De Palma, film director
** Thomas K. McCraw, historian and author (d. 2012 in the United States, 2012)
** Theodore Olson, lawyer and politician, United States Solicitor General
** Robert Palmer (computer businessman), Robert Palmer, businessman, co-founded Mostek
* September 12
** Linda Gray, American model and screen actress
** Skip Hinnant, American film actor and comedian
** Mickey Lolich, American baseball player
** Stephen J. Solarz, American academic and politician (d. 2010 in the United States, 2010)
* September 14 – Larry Brown (basketball), Larry Brown, American basketball player and coach
* September 15 – Merlin Olsen, American football player, announcer and actor (d. 2010 in the United States, 2010)
* September 18 – Frankie Avalon, American pop singer and actor
* September 22 – Mike Schuler, American basketball coach (d. 2022 in the United States, 2022)

October

* October 1 – Richard Corben, American illustrator and comic book artist (died 2020 in the United States, 2020)
* October 3 – Alan O'Day, American singer, songwriter (died 2013 in the United States, 2013)
* October 6 – Wyche Fowler, American politician
* October 7 – Bruce Vento, American educator and politician (died 2000 in the United States, 2000)
* October 9 – Gordon J. Humphrey, American politician
* October 13 – Pharoah Sanders, American saxophonist
* October 16 – Barry Corbin, American actor
* October 20 – Robert Pinsky, American poet, essayist, literary critic and translator
* October 25 – Bob Knight, American basketball player and coach
* October 27 – John Gotti, American gangster (d. 2002)
* October 29 – Connie Mack III, American politician

November

* November 11 – Barbara Boxer, American politician
* November 12 – Donald Wuerl, American archbishop
* November 15 – Sam Waterston, American actor
* November 21 – Richard Marcinko, U.S. Navy SEAL team member, author
* November 22 – Terry Gilliam, American-born British screenwriter, director and animator
* November 23
** Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., American domestic terrorist (d. 2021)
** Rockin' Robin Roberts, American rock and roll singer (d. 1967)
* November 25
** Joe Gibbs, American football coach and NASCAR Xfinity Series team owner
** Percy Sledge, African-American singer (d. 2015)
* November 27 – Bruce Lee, Chinese-American martial artist, actor (d. 1973)
* November 29 – Chuck Mangione, American flugelhorn player

December

* December 1 – Richard Pryor, African-American actor, comedian (d. 2005 in the United States, 2005)
* December 4
** Freddy Cannon, American singer
** Gary Gilmore, American murderer (d. 1977 in the United States, 1977)
* December 11
** David Gates, American singer-songwriter
** Donna Mills, American actress
* December 12
** Shirley Englehorn, American golfer (d. 2022 in the United States, 2022)
** Dionne Warwick, African-American singer and actress
* December 19 – Phil Ochs, American singer and songwriter (d. 1976 in the United States, 1976)
* December 21
** Kelly Cherry, American poet and author
** Frank Zappa, American musician, songwriter, composer, guitarist, record producer, actor and filmmaker (d. 1993 in the United States, 1993)
* December 23 – Jorma Kaukonen, American musician (''Jefferson Airplane'')
*December 24
** Janet Carroll, American actress, singer (d. 2012)
** Anthony Fauci, American Immunologist
* December 26 – Edward C. Prescott, American economist, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Nobel Prize laureate
* December 29 – Fred Hansen, American Olympic athlete
* December 31 – Tim Considine, American actor (d. 2022 in the United States, 2022)

Deaths

January–June

* January 4 – Flora Finch, silent film actress and comedian (born 1869 in the United Kingdom)
* January 19 – William Borah, U.S. Senator from Idaho from 1907 to 1940 (born 1865 in the United States, 1865)
* January 20 – Omar Bundy, U.S. Army General (born 1861 in the United States, 1861)
* January – Matilda McCrear, last survivor of the transatlantic slave trade in the U.S. (born c. 1857 in Yorubaland)
* February 1 – Philip Francis Nowlan, science fiction writer, creator of Buck Rogers (born 1888 in the United States, 1888)
* February 4 – Samuel M. Vauclain, steam locomotive engineer (born 1856 in the United States, 1856)
* February 9 – William Dodd (ambassador), William Edward Dodd, diplomat and historian (born 1869 in the United States, 1869)
* February 11 – Ellen Day Hale, painter and printmaker (born 1855 in the United States, 1855)
* March 4 – Hamlin Garland, writer (born 1860 in the United States, 1860)
* March 7 – Edwin Markham, poet (born 1852 in the United States, 1852)
* March 11 – John Monk Saunders, screenwriter (born 1897 in the United States, 1897)
* March 27 – Madeleine Astor, Madeleine Talmage (Force) Astor Dick Fiermonte, socialite, survivor of the Sinking of the Titanic, sinking of the ''Titanic'', widow of John Jacob Astor IV (born 1893 in the United States, 1893)
* April 8 – David C. Shanks, army officer (born 1861 in the United States, 1861)
* April 29 – Edgar Buckingham, physicist and soil scientist (born 1867 in the United States, 1867)
* May 28 – Walter Connolly, film character actor (born 1887)
* May 29 – Mary Anderson (actress, born 1859), Mary Anderson, stage actress (born 1859 in the United States, 1859)
* June 7
** James Hall (actor), James Hall, film actor (born 1900 in the United States, 1900)
** Hugh Rodman, U.S. Navy admiral (born 1859 in the United States, 1859)
* June 11 – Alfred S. Alschuler, Chicago architect (born 1876 in the United States, 1876)
* June 13 – George Fitzmaurice, film director (born 1885 in France)
* June 14 – Henry W. Antheil Jr., diplomat, killed in shootdown of airplane ''Kaleva (airplane), Kaleva'' (born 1912 in the United States, 1912)
* June 20 – Charley Chase, comedian (born 1893 in the United States, 1893)
* June 21 – John T. Thompson, U.S. Army officer, inventor of the Thompson submachine gun (born 1860 in the United States, 1860)

July–December

* July 1 – Ben Turpin, comic silent film actor (born 1869 in the United States, 1869)
* July 15 – Robert Wadlow, tallest man ever (born 1918 in the United States, 1918)
* July 30 – Spencer S. Wood, U.S. Navy rear admiral (born 1861 in the United States, 1861)
* August 5 – Frederick Cook, explorer (born 1865 in the United States, 1865)
* August 8 – Johnny Dodds, jazz clarinetist (born 1892 in the United States, 1892)
* August 18 – Walter Chrysler, automobile pioneer (born 1875 in the United States, 1875)
* August 21 – Ernest Thayer, writer, comic poet (born 1863 in the United States, 1863)
* August 22 – Mary Vaux Walcott, botanical artist (born 1860 in the United States, 1860)
* August 28 – William Bowie (engineer), William Bowie, geodetic engineer (born 1872 in the United States, 1872)
* August 31 – Ernest Lundeen, lawyer and politician (born 1878 in the United States, 1878)
* September 1 – Lillian Wald, nurse and humanitarian (born 1867 in the United States, 1867)
* September 2 – Eddie Collins (actor), Eddie Collins, vaudeville-veteran comic (born 1883 in the United States, 1883)
* September 6 – Leonor F. Loree, civil engineer and railroad executive (born 1858 in the United States, 1858)
* September 23 – Hale Holden, president of Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (born 1869 in the United States, 1869)
* September 25 – Marguerite Clark, stage and silent film actress (born 1883 in the United States, 1883)
* September 28 – Earl Hurd, animator, film director and comics artist (born 1880 in the United States, 1880)
* October 5 – Ballington Booth, co-founder of Volunteers of America (born 1857 in the United States, 1857)
* October 11 – Charles Stanton Ogle, actor (born 1865 in the United States, 1865)
* October 12 – Tom Mix, Western film actor (born 1880 in the United States, 1880)
* October 17 – George Davis (baseball), George Davis, baseball player (born 1870 in the United States, 1870)
* November 5 – Otto Plath, entomologist, father of poet Sylvia Plath (born 1885 in Germany)
* November 9 – John Henry Kirby, Texas legislator and businessman (born 1860 in the United States, 1860)
* November 17
** Ralph Barnes (journalist), Ralph W. Barnes, journalist (born 1899 in the United States, 1899)
** Raymond Pearl, biologist (born 1879 in the United States, 1879)
* November 18 – Sylvia Ashton, silent film actress (born 1880 in the United States, 1880)
* December 10 – William V. Mong, film actor, screenwriter and director (born 1875 in the United States, 1875)
* December 15 – Billy Hamilton (baseball, born 1866), Billy Hamilton, baseball player (born 1866 in the United States, 1866)
* December 21 – F. Scott Fitzgerald, fiction writer (born 1896 in the United States, 1896)
* December 22 – Nathanael West, fiction writer, in automobile accident (born 1903 in the United States, 1903)
* December 23 – Eddie August Schneider, aviator, in airplane crash (born 1911 in the United States, 1911)
* December 25 – Agnes Ayres, silent film actress (born 1891 in the United States, 1891)
* December 26 – Daniel Frohman, theater producer (born 1851 in the United States, 1851)
* December 27 – Ella Rhoads Higginson, poet (born 1862 in the United States, 1862)
* December 30 – C. Harold Wills, automobile engineer and businessman (born 1878 in the United States, 1878)
* December 31 – Roberta Lawson, Indigenous American (Lenape) activist and musician (born 1878 in the United States, 1878)

See also

* List of American films of 1940
* Timeline of United States history (1930–1949)

References

Further reading

* Bloch, Leon Bryce and Lamar Middleton, ed. ''The World Over in 1940'' (1941) detailed coverage of world event
online free
914pp

External links

*

{{Year in North America, 1940

1940 in the United States,
1940s in the United States
1940 by country, United States
1940 in North America, United States
Years of the 20th century in the United States