World Events · 1940
The Darkest Hour and Total War
In 1940, World War II expanded drastically across Europe as Nazi forces swept through France, prompting the desperate evacuation at Dunkirk and the fierce aerial Battle of Britain. Meanwhile, global politics shifted rapidly as America re-elected FDR and nations prepared for an escalating global conflict.
- May–June 1940 | France
Operation Dynamo at Dunkirk
Over 330,000 Allied soldiers were rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk by a hastily assembled fleet of military and civilian vessels.
- June 22, 1940 | France
The Fall of France
France signed an armistice with Nazi Germany, leading to the occupation of northern France and the establishment of the Vichy regime.
- July–October 1940 | United Kingdom
The Battle of Britain
The Royal Air Force defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe, preventing a cross-Channel invasion.
- August 21, 1940 | Mexico
Assassination of Leon Trotsky
Exiled Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky was fatally wounded with an ice axe in Mexico City by NKVD agent Ramón Mercader.
- September 12, 1940 | France
Discovery of Lascaux Cave Paintings
Four teenagers discovered Paleolithic cave paintings estimated to be 17,000 years old near Montignac, France.
- September 27, 1940 | Germany
The Tripartite Pact
Germany, Italy, and Japan signed an alliance in Berlin, establishing the Axis Powers of World War II.
- November 5, 1940 | United States
FDR Wins Historic Third Term
Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Republican Wendell Willkie, becoming the first and only U.S. president elected to a third term.
- November 7, 1940 | Washington, USA
Collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Aeroelastic flutter caused Washington's newly built suspension bridge, nicknamed 'Gallopin' Gertie,' to dramatically twist and collapse.
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