Timeline of United States history (1930–1949)
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This section of the timeline of United States history concerns events from 1930 to 1949.See Richard B. Morris, ''Encyclopedia of American History'' (Harper and Brothers, 1953 and later editions)
online
/ref>


1930s


Presidency of Herbert C. Hoover

*1930 – The
Great Depression in the United States In the United States, the Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 and then spread worldwide. The nadir came in 1931–1933, and recovery came in 1940. The stock market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high un ...
continues to worsen, reaching a nadir in early 1933. *1930 – The
Motion Picture Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
becomes set of industry censorship guidelines governing production of the vast majority of United States motion pictures released by major studios; is effective for 38 years *1930 –
Frozen vegetables Frozen vegetables are vegetables that have had their temperature reduced and maintained to below their freezing point for the purpose of storage and transportation (often for far longer than their natural shelf life would permit) until they are re ...
, packaged by
Clarence Birdseye Clarence Birdseye (December 9, 1886 – October 7, 1956) was an American inventor, entrepreneur, and naturalist, considered the founder of the modern frozen food industry. He founded the frozen food company Birds Eye. Among his inventions during h ...
, become the first frozen food to go on sale *1930 – The Democrats take Congress in the Midterms. Will keep it until 1946. *1930 - Hawley-Smoot Tariff *1930 - Clyde Tombaugh discovered
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...
*1930 - Sinclair Lewis is the first American to win
Nobel Prize for Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...
*1931 –
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
opens in New York. *1931 – Japanese invasion of Manchuria, start of World War II in the Pacific. *1931 – The
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...
opens to the public in New York City. *1931 - “
The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...
” becomes official U.S. national anthem *1931 - Hoover vetoes Veteran Bonus *1931 -
Pearl Buck Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 – March 6, 1973) was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for ''The Good Earth'' a bestselling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. In 1938, Buck ...
publishes '' The Good Earth'' making heroes of the Chinese peasants *1932 – Stimson Doctrine opposes Japanese expansion into Manchuria *1932 – Norris-La Guardia Act strengthens labor unions *1932 - Baby son of
Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
was kidnapped and found dead *1932 –
Bonus Army The Bonus Army was a group of 43,000 demonstrators – 17,000 veterans of U.S. involvement in World War I, their families, and affiliated groups – who gathered in Washington, D.C., in mid-1932 to demand early cash redemption of their servic ...
marches on DC; repressed by President Hoover *1932 –
Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was a government corporation administered by the United States Federal Government between 1932 and 1957 that provided financial support to state and local governments and made loans to banks, railroads, mortgag ...
finances relief *1932 –
U.S. presidential election, 1932 The 1932 United States presidential election was the 37th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 1932. The election took place against the backdrop of the Great Depression. Incumbent Republican President Herbert Hoover w ...
:
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
elected president,
John N. Garner John Nance Garner III (November 22, 1868 – November 7, 1967), known among his contemporaries as "Cactus Jack", was an American History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician and lawyer from History of Texas, Texas who ...
elected vice president *1933 – Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak killed during a failed assassination attempt on President-elect Roosevelt by Giuseppe Zangara; the intended target was not wounded. *1933 - Over 12 million or 25% of Americans were unemployed *1933 – 20th Amendment, establishing the beginning and ending of the terms of the elected federal offices.


Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt

*March 4, 1933 – Roosevelt becomes the 32nd president. He is the last president to be inaugurated on March 4. It also began his "
Hundred Days The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration ...
". Garner becomes the 32nd vice president. He is the last vice president to be inaugurated on March 4. *1933 – President Roosevelt establishes the
New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
, a response to the Great Depression, and focusing on what historians call the "3 Rs": relief, recovery and reform *1933 - Emergency Banking Act *1933 – Sweeping new programs proposed under President Roosevelt take effect: the Agricultural Adjustment Act,
Civil Works Administration The Civil Works Administration (CWA) was a short-lived job creation program established by the New Deal during the Great Depression in the United States to rapidly create mostly manual-labor jobs for millions of unemployed workers. The jobs were ...
,
Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...
, Farm Credit Administration the Home Owners Loan Corporation, the
Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...
, the
Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recove ...
, the National Industrial Recovery Act *1933 -
San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Franc ...
founded *1933 –
Frances Perkins Frances Perkins (born Fannie Coralie Perkins; April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965) was an American workers-rights advocate who served as the 4th United States secretary of labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position. A member of th ...
appointed United States Secretary of Labor *1933 – 21st Amendment, ending
Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
*1933 - United States government recognizes the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
*1934 – Glass–Steagall Act *1934 –
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
established *1934 – Dust Bowl begins, causing major ecological and agricultural damage to the Great Plains states; severe drought, heat waves and other factors were contributors. *1934 – Federal Housing Administration *1934 –
Johnson Act The Johnson Act of 1934 (Foreign Securities Act, ch. 112, , , 1934-04-13) prohibited foreign nations in debt from marketing their bond issues in the United States. The law was enacted on April 13, 1934, and although it was impacted by the Brett ...
*1934 -
Indian Reorganization Act The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934, or the Wheeler–Howard Act, was U.S. federal legislation that dealt with the status of American Indians in the United States. It was the centerpiece of what has been often called the "Indian ...
*1934 – Philippine Commonwealth established *1934 –
Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act The Reciprocal Tariff Act (enacted June 12, 1934, ch. 474, , ) provided for the negotiation of tariff agreements between the United States and separate nations, particularly Latin American countries. The Act served as an institutional reform inte ...
*1934 – Tydings–McDuffie Act *1934 –
John Dillinger John Herbert Dillinger (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He led the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprisoned several times and ...
killed *1934 –
Indian Reorganization Act The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934, or the Wheeler–Howard Act, was U.S. federal legislation that dealt with the status of American Indians in the United States. It was the centerpiece of what has been often called the "Indian ...
*1934 – Share the Wealth society founded by Huey Long *1934 - The first federal prisoners arrived at Alcatraz *1935 –
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
*1935 – The
F.B.I. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
is established with
J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation  ...
as its first director. *1935 – Neutrality Act *1935 – Motor Carrier Act *1935 –
Social Security Act The Social Security Act of 1935 is a law enacted by the 74th United States Congress and signed into law by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The law created the Social Security program as well as insurance against unemployment. The law was pa ...
*1935 – ''
Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States ''A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States'', 295 U.S. 495 (1935), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that invalidated regulations of the poultry industry according to the nondelegation doctrine and as an invalid use ...
'' *1935 –
National Labor Relations Act The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, also known as the Wagner Act, is a foundational statute of United States labor law that guarantees the right of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, and ...
*1935 – Huey Long assassinated *1935 –
Congress of Industrial Organizations The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...
formed *1935 –
Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...
founded *1935 – Revenue Act of 1935 *1935 - '' Middletown'' is published *1936 – Robinson-Patman Act *1936 -
Hoover Dam Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on Se ...
*1936 – ''
Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' magazine publishes first issue *1936 – ''
United States v. Butler ''United States v. Butler'', 297 U.S. 1 (1936), is a U.S. Supreme Court case that held that the U.S. Congress has not only the power to lay taxes to the level necessary to carry out its other powers enumerated in Article I of the U.S. Constituti ...
'', which ruled that the processing taxes instituted under the 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act were unconstitutional *1936 –
Second London Naval Treaty The Second London Naval Treaty was an international treaty signed as a result of the Second London Naval Disarmament Conference held in London, the United Kingdom. The conference started on 9 December 1935 and the treaty was signed by the parti ...
*1936 -
Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...
won 4 gold medals at the Olympics in Berlin, Germany *1936 – U.S. presidential election, 1936:
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
reelected president,
John N. Garner John Nance Garner III (November 22, 1868 – November 7, 1967), known among his contemporaries as "Cactus Jack", was an American History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician and lawyer from History of Texas, Texas who ...
reelected vice president *1936 -
1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak On April 5–6, 1936, an outbreak of at least 12 tornadoes struck the Southeastern United States. Approximately 454 people were killed by these tornadoes—419 by two tornadoes alone. This outbreak is the second deadliest ever recorded in US hist ...
*1936 -
Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...
and
Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the las ...
named to baseball's Hall of Fame *1937 – ''
Look To look is to use sight to perceive an object. Look or The Look may refer to: Businesses and products * Look (modeling agency), an Israeli modeling agency * ''Look'' (American magazine), a defunct general-interest magazine * ''Look'' (UK ma ...
'' magazine publishes first issue *1937 – Neutrality Acts *January 20, 1937 – President Roosevelt and Vice President Garner begin second terms. *1937 – ''Hindenburg'' disaster, killing 35 people and marking an end to airship travel *1937 – ''Panay'' incident, a Japanese attack on the United States Navy gunboat while anchored in the Yangtze River outside of
Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
*1937 –
Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...
completed in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
*1938 – Wheeler-Lea Act *1938 –
Fair Labor Standards Act The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) is a United States labor law that creates the right to a minimum wage, and "time-and-a-half" overtime pay when people work over forty hours a week. It also prohibits employment of minors in "oppres ...
*1938 -
Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' — a ...
’s play ''
Our Town ''Our Town'' is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 throug ...
'' wins
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
*1938 - The comic book superhero
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
debuts in '' Action Comics'' #1 (June 1938) *1938 –
Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
' '' The War of the Worlds'' broadcast *1939 –
Hatch Act The Hatch Act of 1939, An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities, is a United States federal law. Its main provision prohibits civil service employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the president and vice pre ...
, aimed at corrupt political practices and prevented federal civil servants from campaigning *1939 – Nazi Germany invades Poland; World War II begins *1939 – Cash and carry proposed to replace the Neutrality Acts *1939 – President Roosevelt, appearing at the opening of the
1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...
, becomes the first president to give a speech that is broadcast on television. Semi-regular broadcasts air during the next two years


1940s

*1940 – Selective Service Act, establishing the first peacetime draft in U.S. history *1940 – Alien Registration (Smith) Act *1940 –
Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...
becomes the first car maker to offer a fully
automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving c ...
*1940 –
Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...
,
Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...
and Woody Woodpecker make their cartoon debuts *1940 – ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' magazine publishes its first music popularity chart, the predecessor to today's
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
*1940 –
U.S. presidential election, 1940 The 1940 United States presidential election was the 39th quadrennial United States presidential election, presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 5, 1940. Incumbent Democratic Party (United States), Democratic President of the U ...
:
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
is reelected president to a record third term,
Henry A. Wallace Henry Agard Wallace (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was an American politician, journalist, farmer, and businessman who served as the 33rd vice president of the United States, the 11th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and the 10th U.S. S ...
is elected vice president *1940 -
Color television Color television or Colour television is a television transmission technology that includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improves on the monochrome or black-and-white t ...
is demonstrated by the Columbia Broadcasting System *1941 – Regular commercial television broadcasting begins; CBS and NBC television networks launched. *January 20, 1941 – President Roosevelt begins third term; Wallace becomes the 33rd vice president *1941 –
Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...
, which supplies the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, France and other Allied nations with vast amounts of war material during World War II *1941 –
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
*1941 –
Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
; U.S. enters World War II by declaring war on Japan the next day on December 8; and three days later against Germany and Italy. *1941 –
Atlantic Charter The Atlantic Charter was a statement issued on 14 August 1941 that set out American and British goals for the world after the end of World War II. The joint statement, later dubbed the Atlantic Charter, outlined the aims of the United States and ...
, drafted by the UK and U.S., to serve as the blueprint for the postwar world after World War II *1942 –
Japanese American internment Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
, German American Internment, and
Italian American Internment The internment of Italian Americans refers to the government's internment of Italian nationals in the United States during World War II. As was customary after Italy and the US were at war, they were classified as "enemy aliens" and some were d ...
begin, per executive order by President Roosevelt; the order also authorizes the seizure of their property. *1942–1945 – Automobile production in the United States for private consumers halted. *1942 – ''
Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
'' released *1942 -
Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
and
gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...
are
rationed Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...
*1942 –
Office of Price Administration The Office of Price Administration (OPA) was established within the Office for Emergency Management of the United States government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. The functions of the OPA were originally to control money (price contr ...
*1942 – Cocoanut Grove fire kills 492 people, leads to vast reforms in fire codes and safety standards *1942 – Congress of Racial Equality *1942 – Revenue Act of 1942 *1942 – Doolittle Raid *1942 –
Battle of the Coral Sea The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the batt ...
*1942 –
Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under Adm ...
*1942 –
Guadalcanal Campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in th ...
*1942 –
Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...
*1942 – U.S.-controlled
Commonwealth of the Philippines The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 ...
conquered by Japanese forces *1943 –
Office of Price Administration The Office of Price Administration (OPA) was established within the Office for Emergency Management of the United States government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. The functions of the OPA were originally to control money (price contr ...
established *1943 – Oklahoma! the first
musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
written by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II opens on Broadway *1943 –
Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
race riot This is a list of ethnic riots by country, and includes riots based on ethnic, sectarian, xenophobic, and racial conflict. Some of these riots can also be classified as pogroms. Africa Americas United States Nativist period: 1700s ...
s *1943 – Allied invasion of Sicily *1943 – Allied invasion of Italy *1943 –
Cairo Conference The Cairo Conference (codenamed Sextant) also known as the First Cairo Conference, was one of the 14 summit meetings during World War II that occurred on November 22–26, 1943. The Conference was held in Cairo, Egypt, between the United Kingdo ...
*1943 – Casablanca Conference *1943 –
Tehran Conference The Tehran Conference (codenamed Eureka) was a strategy meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from 28 November to 1 December 1943, after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. It was held in the Soviet Union's embassy i ...
(meeting between the leaders of USSR, UK, and US to discuss D-day) *1944 –
Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...
*1944 –
Dumbarton Oaks Conference The Dumbarton Oaks Conference, or, more formally, the Washington Conversations on International Peace and Security Organization, was an international conference at which proposals for the establishment of a "general international organization", w ...
*1944 –
G.I. Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...
*1944 –
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
(also known as
Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...
) *1944 – Bretton Woods Conference *1944 – Battle of Peleliu *1944 – Battle of Leyte *1944 –
Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...
*1944 –
U.S. presidential election, 1944 The 1944 United States presidential election was the 40th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 7, 1944. The election took place during World War II. Incumbent Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Re ...
:
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
reelection for a fourth term, becomes the only U.S. president elected four times.
Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
is elected vice president *January 20, 1945 – President Roosevelt begins fourth term; Truman becomes the 34th vice president *1945 –
Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...
*1945 –
Battle of Iwo Jima The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJ ...
*1945 –
Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...
*1945 – Nationwide
labor strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the I ...
s due to
inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
; OPA disbanded


Presidency of Harry S. Truman

*April 12, 1945 – President Roosevelt dies, Vice President Truman becomes the 33rd president *May 7, 1945 – Germany surrenders,
end of World War II in Europe The final battle of the European Theatre of World War II continued after the definitive overall surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies, signed by Field marshal Wilhelm Keitel on 8 May 1945 in Karlshorst, Berlin. After German dictator Adolf H ...
*1945 – ''
Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...
'' opens on Broadway *1945 –
Potsdam Conference The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris Pe ...
*1945 -
Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...
’s play '' The Glass Menagerie'' opens in New York *August 6 and 9, 1945 –
Atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
s dropped on
Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...
and Nagasaki, Nagasaki, Nagasaki. *August 14, 1945 – Victory over Japan Day, Japan surrenders, ending World War II. *1945 – United Nations Conference on International Organization; United Nations established *1945 – United Nations Charter signed in San Francisco, establishing the United Nations; it replaces the League of Nations *1945–1949 – Nuremberg Trials and Subsequent Nuremberg Trials *1946 – Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech *1946 – Benjamin Spock's ''The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care'' published *1946 – Employment Act *1946 – United States Atomic Energy Act of 1946 *1946 – President's Committee on Civil Rights *1946 – Philippines regain independence from the U.S. *1946 – Republicans take control of Congress for the first time in 16 years. *1947 – Presidential Succession Act *1947 – Taft Hartley Act *1947 – Roswell UFO incident, U.F.O. crash at Roswell, New Mexico *1947 – National Security Act of 1947 *1947 – General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade *1947 – The Marshall Plan *1947 – Polaroid camera invented *1947 – Truman Doctrine establishes "the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures" *1947 – Federal Employee Loyalty Program *1947 – Jackie Robinson breaks color barrier in baseball *1947 – Studebaker becomes the first automobile manufacturer to introduce a "post-war" model; most automakers wait until 1948 or 1949 *1947 – Jackson Pollock begins painting his most famous series of paintings called the ''drip'' paintings in East Hampton (village), New York, Easthampton, New York *1947 – First broadcast of ''Meet the Press'' *1947 - World Series is broadcast live on television for the first time *1948 – ''Texaco Star Theater, The Texaco Star Theater'', starring Milton Berle, becomes the first major successful U.S. television program; ''The Ed Sullivan Show, The Toast of the Town'' also debuts *1948 – Berlin Blockade *1948 – U.S. presidential election, 1948:
Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
is elected president for a full term, Alben W. Barkley is elected vice president *1948 – Truman desegregates armed forces *1948 – Selective Service Act of 1948: Passed after first such act expired *1948 – Organization of American States: Alliance of North America and South America *1948 – Alger Hiss Case *January 20, 1949 – President Truman begins full term, Barkley becomes the 35th vice president *1949 – North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formed *1949 - The first mammal, a rhesus monkey named Albert II (monkey), Albert II, is launched into space in a suborbital flight *1949 – In China, Communist Party of China, Communists under Mao Zedong force Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang, KMT government to retreat to Taiwan *1949 – Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb *1949 – United States Department of War, Department of War becomes the Department of the Army and becomes subordinate to the new United States Department of Defense, Department of Defense *1949 – Germany divided into East Germany, East and West Germany, West *1949 – Truman attempts to continue FDR's legacy with his Fair Deal, but most acts don't pass


See also

* Causes of the Great Depression * Timeline of modern American conservatism * History of the United States (1918–1945) * History of the United States (1945–1964)


References

* Kutler, Stanley L., ed. ''Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century'' (4 vol, 1996) * Morris, Richard, ed. ''Encyclopedia of American History'' (7th ed. 1996
online
* Schlesinger Jr., Arthur M. ''The Almanac of American History'' (1983) {{DEFAULTSORT:Timeline Of United States History (1930-1949) Timelines of United States history by period, 1930 1930s in the United States, * 1940s in the United States, *