1940s

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s
Years: 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1 Events and trends
2 People

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Events and trends

The 1940s were seen as a transition period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s, which also leads the period to be divided in two halves:

The first half of the decade was dominated by World War II, the widest and most destructive armed conflict in history. So consequential was this event and its brutal aftermath that it laid the foundation for other major world events and trends for decades to follow.

The second half period marked the beginning of the East-West conflict and the Cold War, together with major social upheaval caused by the destruction of the war, the large number of refugees, and soldiers returning home and demanding government recognition for their sacrifice.

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Technology

First nuclear bomb that dramatically altered international relationships
First cruise missile, the V1 flying bomb and the first ballistic missile, the V-2 rocket
First transistor
Colossus, the world's first totally electronic computer. See History of computing hardware
First supersonic flight by Chuck Yeager on October 14, 1947
ENIAC invented

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Science

Quantum electrodynamics developed by Feynman, Dyson, Schwinger, and Tomonaga
Mathematics: game theory, cryptology
TRIZ

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War, peace and politics

World War II ends in 1945
The shoah (Holocaust)
United Nations established in 1945
Beginning of the Cold War
Independence for some former colonies
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The Irish Free State becomes a republic in 1948
NATO founded in 1949
The Chinese Civil War ends in victory for the Communists
Informbiro period in Yugoslavia begins
Indian independence and Independence of Pakistan
US Air Force civilian auxiliary the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) formed

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Economics

The Marshall Plan is implemented by the United States, giving billions of dollars in aid to reconstruct the war-devastated economies of Europe
International Monetary Fund
World Bank

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