1940:
  • Moments in cartoon history...
    * Tom & Jerry debuts (though nameless until the following year) in "Puss Gets the Boot"
    * Disney releases Pinocchio and Fantasia
    * Elmer Fudd debuts ("Elmer's Candid Camera")
    * Bugs Bunny debuts ("A Wild Hare")
    * In Japan, only one anime film is released; キンタロー体育日記 ("Kintaro's P.E. Diary")

  • Brisbane's Story Bridge opens

  • The British begin bombing Germany in May. In September, the Germans return in kind; both countries are now blitzing the crap out of each other

  • Moments in comic book history...
    * Captain America Comics #1 (cover date March 1941) hits newstands
    * Robin debuts as Batman's sidekick
    * The Spectre debuts
    * DC's Captain Marvel debuts
    * The first superhero team up occurs, known as the Justice Society of America
    * Many manga artists were placed under strict control of the Japanese Imperial government. Those who weren't outright banned from working were recruited to draw manga that promoted government/military propaganda, such as a giant robot trashing New York

  • Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, born Lhamo Dondrub, is declared to be the fourteenth regeneration of the Dalai Lama