At A Glance

4 January 1940 at a glance

Day of the week
4 January 1940 was a Thursday.
Top Film of 1940
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1940 was Pinocchio.
Bestselling Novel of 1940
“How Green Was My Valley” by Richard Llewellyn was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1940.
Star sign
The star sign for 4 January is Capricorn.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 4 January 1940 fell in the Year of the Rabbit.
Birthstone
The birthstone for January is Garnet.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 4 January 1940 was Waning Crescent.

On this day: 4 January

  • 1944 World War II: Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins.
  • 1948 Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom, becoming an independent republic.
  • 1951 Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time.
  • 1956 The Greek National Radical Union is formed by Konstantinos Karamanlis.
  • 1958 Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, falls to Earth from orbit.

Famous people born on January 4

  • Derrick Henry, American football player (born 1994)
  • Charles Melton, American actor (born 1991)
  • Victor Wembanyama, French basketball player (born 2004)
  • Dafne Keen, British-Spanish actress (born 2005)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1940 in the United States

A selection from Wikipedia's '1940 in the United States'. Not a complete list.

  • February 7 – RKO release Walt Disney's second full-length animated film, Pinocchio.
  • February 10 – Tom and Jerry make their debut in Puss Gets the Boot.
  • May 15 – The very first McDonald's restaurant opens in San Bernardino, California.

Life in the US in 1940

President

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Gas (per gallon)

$0.18

Loaf of Bread

$0.08

Average House

$2,938

Weekly Wage

$25

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1940s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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