1940 Newspapers

Wondering what happened in 1940 that made newspaper headlines? Find out what happened in 1940 that captured the attention of the nation through our collection of historic newspapers. At Historic Newspapers we have the largest collection of original newspapers from the nation’s longest running and most trusted newspapers including The Guardian, The Times and The Telegraph.
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1940 Newspaper Headlines

What were the most significant events in 1940 that took over our national newspaper headlines? 1940 news headlines are filled with stories of war and destruction as Europe was in the grips of the most deadly and destructive war that the world has ever seen: World War II.

It was during this year that Germany invaded Denmark, Norway, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. It was also the year Germany began its terrible bombing crusade over London in what would become known as The Blitz, as they attempted to weaken the British Air Force. Roosevelt was elected for a third term of presidency and Walt Disney’s second feature length film “Pinocchio” premiered in New York City. Find out more about this exciting year in history with an original newspaper which was printed at the time.

8th January 1940
Food rationing begins in Great Britain as a result of the Second World War.

18th March 1940
Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.

7th April 1940
Booker T. Washington – an educator, author and leading figure in African-American communities – becomes the first black man to be depicted on an American postage stamp.

10th May 1940
Neville Chamberlain resigns as Prime Minster and Winston Churchill replaces him.

4th June 1940
British forces successfully complete the evacuation of 300,000 troops from Dunkirk in France.

4th June 1940
Winston Churchill tells the British House of Commons, “We shall not flag or fail. We shall fight on the beaches… on the landing grounds… in the fields and the streets… We shall never surrender.”

10th June 1940
Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom.

14th June 1940
Paris falls under German occupation.

10th July 1940
The Battle of Britain begins. The German Air Force attempt to gain air superiority, but the Royal Air Force stand firm. This is the Nazi Germans’ first defeat in the Second World War and thus a turning point of the war.

20th August 1940
Winston Churchill pays tribute to the Royal Air Force in the House of Commons: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

7th September 1940
Nazi Germany begins to rain bombs on London in the first of fifty-seven consecutive nights of strategic bombing, known as the Blitz.

9th November 1940
Neville Chamberlain, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1869) dies.

11th November 1940
Battle of Taranto: The Royal Navy launches the first all-aircraft carrier strike in history, on the Italian fleet at Taranto.

14th November 1940
Coventry is destroyed by five-hundred German Air Force bombers using a total of 150,000 fire bombs, 503 tons of high explosives, and 130 parachute mines. 568 people are killed.

12th December 1940
The City of Sheffield is badly damaged by German air-raids.

21st December 1940
F. Scott Fitzgerald, American writer (b. 1896) dies from a second heart-attack.

29th December 1940
The second Great Fire of London: The Luftwaffe carry out a massive incendiary bombing raid, starting 1,500 fires. Many famous buildings, including the Guildhall and Trinity House, are either damaged or destroyed.

More from this Decade
1941 Newspapers
1942 Newspapers
1943 Newspapers
1944 Newspaper
1945 Newspaper
1946 Newspaper
1947 Newspaper
1948 Newspapers
1949 Newspaper

For a full review of the year, you can read our detailed 1970 timeline. Some key events from this year include the Concorde’s first supersonic flight, Britain’s most iconic rock band The Beatles split, and the largest rock festival of all time took place on The Isle of Wight, which attracted a crowd of 600,000 people and acts such as Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and The Doors. It was also a tragic year, with Jimi Hendrix’s death shocking the world. Hendrix died in London after overdosing.A terrible monsoon hit Vietnam, which killed almost 300 and left 200,000 homeless. It was also a year of wonderment and discovery, when the USSR’s “Venera 7” completed the first successful landing on Venus.

An authentic 1970 newspaper is a wonderful keepsake gift idea to remember all the fascinating events that took place as the world entered into a new decade.

3rd January 1970

The Beatles give their final studio performance.

14th February 1970

The
iconic live album “The Who: Live at Leeds” is recorded.

12th March 1970

Teenagers
in the United Kingdom vote for the first time, in a by-election in Bridgwater.

21st March 1970

“All
Kinds of Everything”, sung by Dana, wins the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest for
Ireland.

25th March 1970

The Concorde makes its first supersonic flight.

10th April 1970

Paul McCartney announces that the Beatles have disbanded and talks about the
impending release of his first solo album.

16th April 1970

The National Westminster Bank begins trading in the United Kingdom. It had been
established in 1968 following the merger of the National Provincial Bank and
the Bank of Westminster.
18th June 1970
The Conservative Party wins the 1970 general election and Edward Heath becomes
Prime Minister.

21st June 1970

Brazil defeats Italy 4-1 to win the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

26-30th August 1970

The Isle of Wight Festival takes place on East Afton Farm off the coast of England.
600,000 people attend the event, making it the largest rock festival of all
time. Artists include Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Doors, Chicago, Richie Havens,
John Sebastian, Joan Baez, Ten Years After, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and
Jethro Tull.

18th September 1970

Jimi Hendrix dies by choking on his own vomit, after falling unconscious due to a
barbiturate overdose. He is in London at the time.

30th October 1970

The worst monsoon to hit Vietnam in six years causes large floods, killing 293
people and leaving 200,000 homeless. The terrible weather virtually halts the
Vietnam War.

4th November 1970

Social workers in Los Angeles take custody of “Genie”, a thirteen-year-old girl who
had been kept in solitary confinement since her birth.

15th December 1970

The USSR’s “Venera 7” becomes the first spacecraft to land successfully on Venus
and transmit data back to Earth.

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insights from our archivist
These aren’t replicas. They’re the actual newspapers that sat on newsstands up to 125 years ago. The one you buy could be the last copy in existence.
Prices can vary for several reasons, like popularity of a specific day, whether the paper is local or national, the paper’s age, and the number of copies left.
Missing papers give us a window into history. If a paper isn’t available for the date you’re after, it could be because that newspaper was on strike during the period.