istoryworld
All Events
Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman is rejected by numerous publishers before becoming, decades later, his best-known novel
British actors Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier marry
The Limes is damaged by enemy bombing. Its exterior is subsequently restored to its original appearance, with its interior rebuilt for commercial use
Winston Churchill gives Harold Macmillan his first ministerial appointment, in the Department of Supply
Roger Schutz establishes an ecumenical religious order at Taiz&eachute; in France
Radar masts along the coasts of Britain give early warning of German air attacks
John Ford directs Henry Fonda in the film of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath
Charlie Chaplin ridicules Hitler in The Great Dictator, the first film in which he speaks coherent dialogue
An assassin sent by Stalin kills the exiled Trotsky in his home in Mexico City
Schoolboys, out hunting, discover paintings in a cave at Lascaux after their dog falls into a hole
Civilian heroism is rewarded in Britain with a new medal, the George Cross
Working as an official war artist, Henry Moore creates an iconic series of drawings of Londoners sleeping at night in underground stations
US author Carson McCullers publishes her first novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
Lord Craigavon (previously James Craig) dies in office after nineteen years as northern Ireland's prime minister
After his London studio is bombed, Henry Moore moves to Much Hadham, where he works and lives for the rest of his life
In To the Finland Station Edmund Wilson discusses the development of socialism and revolution, culminating in Lenin and Trotsky
US choreographer Agnes de Mille creates Black Ritual for American Ballet Theatre
William Joyce, broadcasting in English from Germany, becomes notorious in Britain as Lord Haw-Haw
The ration book is introduced in Britain, at first just for bacon, butter and sugar, but soon also for meat, eggs, tea, milk, cheese, jam, and clothing
303 captured merchant seamen are rescued in a daring British raid on the German supply ship Altmark, in use as a floating prison in a Norwegian fjord
The Treaty of Moscow ends the war between the USSR and Finland, after 200,000 Soviet deaths in the three months of hostilities
More than 4000 Polish officers are massacred at Katyń on Stalin's orders
Inactivity during the Phoney War prompts Neville Chamberlain to assure the House of Commons that Hitler has 'missed the bus'
German ships and marines occupy the harbours of neutral Denmark and Norway
The German invasion of Norway includes the world's first airborne assault, with troops arriving by plane to attack the airports of Oslo and Stavanger
