At A Glance

8 January 1940 at a glance

Day of the week
8 January 1940 was a Monday.
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 8 January is Capricorn.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 8 January 1940 fell in the Year of the Rabbit.
Birthstone
The birthstone for January is Garnet.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 8 January 1940 was Waning Crescent.

On this day: 8 January

  • 1933 Anarchist insurrection of January 1933 breaks out in Barcelona, Spain.
  • 1936 Kashf-e hijab decree is made and immediately enforced by Reza Shah, Iran's head of state, banning the wearing of Islamic veils in public.
  • 1940 World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.
  • 1945 World War II: Philippine Commonwealth troops under the Philippine Commonwealth Army units enter the province of Ilocos Sur in Northern Luzon and attack invading Japanese Imperial forces.
  • 1946 Andrei Zhdanov, Chairman of the Finnish Allied Commission, submits to the Finnish War Criminal Court an interrogation report by General Erich Buschenhagen, a German prisoner of war, on the contacts between Finnish and German military personnel before the Continuation War and a copy of Hitler's Barbarossa plan.

Famous people born on January 8

  • Elvis Presley, American singer, guitarist, and actor (1935–1977)
  • David Bowie, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (1947–2016)
  • Stephen Hawking, English physicist and author (1942–2018)
  • Damiano David, Italian singer-songwriter (born 1999)

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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