If you were born in 1940, you were one of 2,360,399 babies who were born in the U.S. that year. 1940 was the beginning of the Cold War; babies born in that year were called war babies.  In 1940 the life expectancy was 68.2 for females and 60.8 for males. America was still struggling to emerge from a depression that had already stretched to a full decade.  You were born into a home where the approximate income was $1,900.00.  The average cost of a house in 1940 was $6,550.00.   Following are some interesting facts about your birth year.
 

    In The Year 1940

• Population in 1940 - 132,122,000

• Unemployment in 1940 - 8,120,000

• National Debt $43 Billion

• Average Annual Income Salary $1,900.00

• Minimum Wage $.30 per hour

• Number of babies born in 1940 - 2,360,399

• Infant Death Rate 47 for every 1000 babies born  

Major World Events in 1940

• Germany invades Norway and Denmark

• Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister

• Germans attack Belgium, Holland, and France

• British Army withdraws from France (Dunkirk)

• Italy declares war on Britain and France

• France surrenders to Germany

• Battle of Britain (Royal Air Force defeats German Luftwaffe)

• USSR takes control of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

• Italy launches invasion of Greece from Albania

• Germany bombs Britain day and night (the "blitz")

• Hitler invades Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, France

• Mussolini invades Greece

• Joseph Stalin orders exiled Communist leader Leon Trotsky murdered in Mexico

• Trotsky is assassinated in Mexico

• Finland signs U.S.S.R. peace treaty

• Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki cancelled due to World War II

U.S. Events in 1940

• FDR is elected to a third term

• The Lend-Lease Act passes, allowing the United States to help Britain fight World War Two

• The first Social Security benefit checks are paid out (Jan 30)

• Supreme Court decides blacks do have a right to vote

• Selective Service Act signed

• Philip Murray replaces John L. Lewis as CIO president

• Ford Motor Strike

• The Pennsylvania Turnpike opens. It is the first multilane U.S. superhighway

• The first Los Angeles freeway opens (the Pasadena Freeway)
   

Cost of Living in 1940

Popular Movies in 1940

Academy Awards

 1.  The Philadelphia Story

 2.  The Grapes of Wrath

 3.  Rebecca

 4.  His Girl Friday

 5.  Fantasia

 6.  Pinocchio

 7.  The Great Dictator

 8.  The Westerner

 9.  The Thief of Baghdad

10. The Road to Singapore

• Best Picture: "Rebecca"

• Best Director: John Ford ... "The Grapes of Wrath"

• Best Actor: James Stewart ... "The Philadelphia Story"

• Best Actress: Ginger Rogers ... "Kitty Foyle"

Actors Born in 1940

 Well Known People Born in 1940

• Al Pacino

• Tom Brokaw

• Chuck Norris

• Ted Koppel

• James Caan

• Richard Pryor

• Martin Sheen

• John Lennon

• Sam Waterston

• Jack Nicklaus

• Patrick Stewart

• Nancy Sinatra