1940

Kerry won the All Ireland Senior Football Championship
Limerick won the All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Famous Irish people born that year include:

Maeve Binchy (Writer)

Also, born that year were:

Angela Carter (Novelist)
Barbara Boxer (American Politician)
Bobby Knight (American Basketball Coach)
Chuck Norris (Actor)
Cliff Richard (Singer)
David Jason (Del in Only Fools and Horses)
Jack Nicklaus (US Golfer)
John Lennon (Beatles)
Martin Sheen (Actor)
Mario Andretti (Athlete)
Patricia Schroeder (US Congresswoman)

Inventions in 1940 included

Colour TV

Famous Irish movies included

The Fighting 69th
Little Nellie Kelly
Three Cheers for the Irish

Also that year

Word War II
Germany and Italy agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
Germany invades Denmark and Norway
German forces invade France and Luxembourg Belgium and Netherlands
Germany bombs Paris killing mostly civilians, including school children.
Britain Creates The Home Guard to act as the first line of defence in case of invasion
Dunkirk nine days evacuation in May of British Expeditionary Force
Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom.
The Lascaux prehistoric cave paintings are discovered in France
Axis Powers win The Battle Of France and Take control of France.
Following the German invasion and occupation of France, Britain opened fire on the French fleet killing 1,200 French sailors The battle of Britain begins with the German Luftwaffe attempting gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF),
Winston Churchill makes a number of speeches after becoming Prime Minister that inspire the British People “We Shall Fight Them On The Beaches…..”, and on August 20th “Never in the field of human conflict was so much…”
The Queen Mary, The Mauritania and The Queen Elizabeth Ocean Liners are put into service as troop carriers.
The bombing of cities in England including Coventry and London leads to the bombing of Hamburg and other cities in Germany
Germany starts it’s Blitz on London on September 7th with 300 German bombers in the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing
Selective Training and Service Act signed into law as first peacetime military draft in United States history
Other
Franklin D. Roosevelt wins the election and becomes the United States’ first third-term president.
Selective Training and Service Act signed into law as first peacetime military draft in United States history
40-hour working week goes into effect
The Narrows Suspension Bridge Collapses at Tacoma, Washington
Armistice Day Blizzard kills 154 in Midwest
In the UK Churchill was appointed Prime Minister and formed an all-party government
Race Riots in Chicago, Harlem, Los Angeles and Detroit
Leon Trotsky the Russian revolutionary is assassinated in Mexico
In the US Life magazine costs 10 cents
In the US Nylon Stockings go on sale
In the UK RMS Queen Elizabeth – entered service
Popular Films
Walt Disney’s animated film Pinocchio is released together with Fantasia
The Great Dictator, starring Charlie Chaplin