1940 – 1950s

Events in the 1940s 110

• 1849 – 1944 Bertha Benz The investor who was not allowed to be one Bertha Ringer put her dowry into Carl Benz's failing workshop in 1870, while still unmarried and therefore still legally able to invest. On marrying him in 1872 she lost that standing under the law of Baden, and continued funding him anyway. She wound ignition coils, argued down the doubters, and in August 1888 took the Patent-Motorwagen and her two sons on an unauthorised hundred-kilometre drive that invented the brake lining, exposed the need for a lower gear, and turned an unsellable curiosity into a product. She was ninety-five when she died, and still driving into old age.
• 1858 – 1947 British Raj Direct British Crown rule over India For nearly a century the British Crown ruled India directly, building railways and a unified administration while extracting wealth and provoking famines and unrest. The Raj also forged the conditions for a mass independence movement that would ultimately end colonial rule.
• 1863 – 1944 Edvard Munch Expressionism · Norway Edvard Munch (December 12, 1863 – January 23, 1944) was a Norwegian Expressionist painter whose The Scream is one of the most iconic images in Western art. His emotionally raw work was a major influence on German Expressionism.
• 1864 – 1949 Richard Strauss Late Romantic & modern composer German composer known for his tone poems — Also sprach Zarathustra, Till Eulenspiegel — and operas Salome, Der Rosenkavalier and Elektra.
• 1866 – 1946 H. G. Wells English science fiction writer Wells pioneered science fiction with works like The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds.
• 1866 – 1944 Wassily Kandinsky Abstract Art · Russia Wassily Kandinsky (December 16, 1866 – December 13, 1944) was a Russian painter widely credited with creating the first purely abstract works. He believed colour and form could express spiritual and emotional states independent of subject matter.
• 1869 – 1948 Gandhi Non-violent resistance Mahatma Gandhi led India's independence movement through non-violent civil disobedience. His philosophy inspired civil rights movements worldwide.
• 1869 – 1948 Mahatma Gandhi Leader of non-violent independence struggle Mohandas K. Gandhi led India's independence movement through the philosophy of satyagraha — non-violent civil disobedience — mobilising millions in campaigns such as the 1930 Salt March. Revered as the father of the nation, he was assassinated in 1948, months after independence.
• 1872 – 1944 Piet Mondrian De Stijl · Netherlands Piet Mondrian (March 7, 1872 – February 1, 1944) was a Dutch painter who reduced painting to horizontal and vertical lines and primary colours. His De Stijl aesthetic influenced architecture, design and typography throughout the 20th century.
• 1873 – 1943 Sergei Rachmaninoff Late Romantic pianist & composer Russian composer and pianist known for his Piano Concerto No. 2, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Vocalise. One of the last great Romantic composers.
• 1878 – 1949 Bill Robinson (1878-1949) American tap dancer known as Bojangles, famous for his stair dance and his films with Shirley Temple.
• 1881 – 1945 Béla Bartók Hungarian modernist composer Hungarian composer and ethnomusicologist who fused folk music with modernism in his string quartets, Concerto for Orchestra and piano works.
• 1882 – 1941 Virginia Woolf English modernist writer Woolf pioneered stream-of-consciousness writing and explored identity and time in modernist literature.
• 1882 – 1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt 32nd President — New Deal, WWII, four terms Franklin D. Roosevelt (Jan 30, 1882 – Apr 12, 1945) was the 32nd President 1933-1945, the only president elected four times. He led the US through the Great Depression (New Deal) and World War II, dying in office months before VE Day.
• 1889 – 1945 Hitler Nazi Germany dictator Adolf Hitler led Nazi Germany, instigating World War II and the Holocaust, resulting in the deaths of six million Jews and millions of others.
• 1889 – 1944 Thomas Midgley Jr Two solutions, two disasters Thomas Midgley solved two real engineering problems brilliantly. Engine knock was limiting compression ratios, so he found tetraethyl lead. Refrigerators were poisoning families with ammonia and methyl chloride, so he found Freon. Both worked perfectly, and between them they put lead into the bloodstream of most of the twentieth century and opened a hole in the ozone layer. The historian J. R. McNeill wrote that he had more impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in the planet's history. He held over a hundred patents and won every major prize American chemistry could give him.
• 1896 – 1940 F. Scott Fitzgerald American novelist Fitzgerald captured the Jazz Age in The Great Gatsby, exploring wealth, illusion, and disillusionment.
• 1933 – 1945 Adolf Hitler Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler established a totalitarian dictatorship, initiated World War II, and orchestrated the Holocaust.
• 1933 – 1945 F.D. Roosevelt presidency 32nd President — 1933 to 1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt served as the 32nd President from March 4, 1933 until his death on April 12, 1945. He implemented the New Deal to combat the Great Depression and led the Allied powers through most of World War II.
• 1937 – 1945 Second Sino-Japanese War Japan invades China — the Nanjing Massacre and 15 million dead Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China in July 1937. The Nanjing Massacre (December 1937) saw Japanese forces kill an estimated 200,000–300,000 civilians and prisoners of war. The war merged with World War II in 1941 and ended with Japan's surrender in 1945. An estimated 15 million Chinese died. The war accelerated the Chinese Communist Party's rise to power.
• 1939 – 1945 Manhattan Project Atomic bomb developed The secret US-led Manhattan Project developed the world's first nuclear weapons, tested at Trinity in New Mexico in July 1945.
• 1939 – 1945 World War II Deadliest conflict ever The deadliest conflict in human history, killing an estimated 70–85 million people and reshaping the entire global political order.
• 1939 – 1945 World War II under George VI Britain during World War II King George VI became a symbol of British resistance during the war.
• 1940 "Nickel Nickel" jingle First advertising jingle on radio — 1940 In 1940 Pepsi introduced the "Nickel Nickel" jingle sung by the Tune Twisters — widely considered the first advertising jingle ever broadcast on national radio. The catchy song emphasised the value of getting 12 ounces of Pepsi for just five cents and became a pop culture phenomenon.
• 1940 McDonald’s founded McDonald’s founded Richard and Maurice McDonald opened a drive-in barbecue restaurant in San Bernardino in 1940, then in 1948 stripped it back to a nine-item menu built around speed. Ray Kroc began franchising it in 1955 and bought the brothers out in 1961. The Speedee Service System became the template for fast food worldwide.
• 1940 – 1945 German occupation of the Netherlands World War II occupation Nazi Germany occupied the Netherlands during World War II while Queen Wilhelmina led the government-in-exile.
• 1940 Battle of Britain RAF defeats Luftwaffe in first major air battle The Battle of Britain was fought from July to October 1940 as the Luftwaffe attempted to destroy the RAF and gain air superiority for a planned invasion of Britain. The RAF prevailed, forcing Hitler to postpone Operation Sea Lion.
• 1940 – 2023 Raquel Welch American Actress & Icon American actress and cultural icon who rose to international fame in the 1960s. Born Jo Raquel Tejada to a Bolivian father and American mother, she became one of the defining sex symbols of her era following her appearance in One Million Years B.C. (1966). She won a Golden Globe for The Three Musketeers and had a career spanning over fifty years.
• 1940 – 1941 The Blitz London bombed for 57 consecutive nights Germany began the Blitz on September 7, 1940, bombing London and other British cities. London was bombed for 57 consecutive nights. Over 43,000 civilians were killed but British morale held firm.
• 1940 – 1980 John Lennon Singer-songwriter, Beatle English musician, co-founder of the Beatles and co-writer of most of their songs. Solo career with Plastic Ono Band and Imagine. Murdered in New York in 1980.
• 1940 – 2023 Michael Gambon Irish-English Actor Irish-English actor who enjoyed a six-decade career spanning theatre, film and television. Knighted in 1998 for services to drama, he won three Olivier Awards, four BAFTAs and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He is best known internationally for playing Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Potter films.
• 1940 – 1973 Bruce Lee Martial artist, actor and philosopher — born San Francisco 1940 Bruce Lee (Lee Jun-fan) was born on November 27, 1940 in San Francisco. He became the most influential martial artist of the 20th century, transforming how Asian people were portrayed in film and inspiring generations worldwide. He died on July 20, 1973, aged 32.
• 1941 Mount Rushmore completed Mount Rushmore completed Carving at Mount Rushmore stopped on 31 October 1941, fourteen years after Gutzon Borglum began work on the granite face in the Black Hills. The original plan to carve the presidents to the waist was abandoned when funding ran out and Borglum died. The Lakota regard the mountain as stolen sacred land under the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty.
• 1941 – present Jan Jansen Dutch shoe designer Jan Jansen (1941-2026) was one of the best-known Dutch shoe designers, famous for over 4,000 designs across more than six decades — from the iconic Woody clog and the bamboo-heeled Bamboo shoe to his pioneering "floating heel" constructions.
• 1941 – present Bob Dylan Singer-songwriter, Nobel laureate American singer-songwriter who brought poetry and protest into popular music, from Blowin' in the Wind to Like a Rolling Stone. Nobel Prize in Literature 2016.
• 1941 – 2021 Charlie Watts The Rolling Stones' drummer for 58 years Charlie Watts (June 2, 1941 – August 24, 2021) was the drummer and a co-founder of the Rolling Stones. Known for his understated jazz-influenced style, he was the heartbeat of the band for 58 years. He died peacefully in London on August 24, 2021, aged 80.
• 1941 Germany invades Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa — largest land invasion in history Germany launched Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941, invading the Soviet Union with 3.8 million troops — the largest military operation in history. Hitler expected a quick victory but the campaign became a prolonged war of attrition.
• 1941 – present Peter Cullen Canadian Voice Actor Canadian voice actor who became one of the most iconic performers in animation history. Over a career spanning six decades and more than 200 roles, he created the voice of Optimus Prime in the Transformers franchise, the gloomy donkey Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh, and the terrifying clicking sounds of the Predator. He based Optimus Prime's heroic baritone on his brother Larry, a Vietnam veteran, following Larry's advice to 'be strong enough to be gentle'. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 2023.
• 1941 Hank Marvin born Newcastle upon Tyne Brian Robson Rankin — later known as Hank Marvin — was born on 28 October 1941 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He would become the band's iconic lead guitarist, instantly recognisable by his Fender Stratocaster and horn-rimmed glasses.
• 1941 Bruce Welch born Bognor Regis Bruce Cripps — later Bruce Welch — was born on 2 November 1941 in Bognor Regis, Sussex, England. He would become the band's rhythm guitarist and, alongside Marvin, its longest-serving core member.
• 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor Japan brings USA into the war Japan launched a surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, killing 2,403 Americans and destroying 19 ships. President Roosevelt called it "a date which will live in infamy".
• 1942 – present Carole King Singer-songwriter American songwriter who with Gerry Goffin wrote hits for the Shirelles, Little Eva and Aretha Franklin, then made Tapestry, one of the best-selling albums ever.
• 1942 – present Paul McCartney Singer, songwriter, bassist English musician and co-writer with John Lennon of most Beatles songs. Later led Wings and became one of the most successful songwriters in history.
• 1942 – 1943 Battle of Stalingrad Turning point on the Eastern Front The Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942 - February 1943) was the largest and bloodiest battle in history, with nearly 2 million casualties. The German 6th Army was encircled and destroyed, marking the turning point of the war in the East.
• 1943 – 1945 Coca-Cola supplied to WWII troops 64 bottling plants built near front lines Robert Woodruff pledged that every US soldier would get a Coca-Cola for 5 cents wherever they were in the world, regardless of cost to the company. The US government supported this as a morale booster, and 64 bottling plants were built near the front lines, introducing Coke to the world.
• 1943 – present IKEA IKEA — founded in 1943 by 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad in Älmhult, Sweden — is the world's largest furniture retailer and one of the most recognised brands on earth. From a mail-order business selling pens and picture frames, IKEA invented flat-pack furniture, the destination retail experience and the idea that well-designed, functional furniture should be affordable for everyone. IKEA's stores are visited by over 800 million people annually. Its Swedish meatballs are more famous than most restaurants. Its flat-pack Allen key is a universal cultural reference. Kamprad built an empire worth over $50 billion from the forests of Småland — and remained famously frugal until his death in 2018.
• 1943 Pentagon completed Pentagon completed The Pentagon was completed on 15 January 1943 after sixteen months of building, consolidating the War Department's scattered offices into one five-sided structure across the Potomac from Washington. It remains among the largest office buildings in the world, with roughly 26,000 staff. It was struck by a hijacked airliner on 11 September 2001.
• 1943 – 2001 George Harrison Guitarist, singer-songwriter Lead guitarist of the Beatles, who brought Indian music to the West and made All Things Must Pass and the first charity rock concert.
• 1943 Tony Meehan born Hampstead, London Daniel "Tony" Meehan was born on 2 March 1943 in Hampstead, London. He would become the original drummer of The Shadows, the youngest member of the founding lineup.
• 1943 – present Joni Mitchell Singer-songwriter, painter Canadian musician and painter — Both Sides, Now, Big Yellow Taxi, Blue — one of the most influential songwriters of the 20th century.
• 1943 – present Michael Byrne British Character Actor English character actor whose seven-decade career encompassed the National Theatre, over 170 film and television roles, and some of cinema's most memorable villains. He played a ruthless Nazi in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the elderly dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, and a rapist soldier in Braveheart. He worked alongside Laurence Olivier and Maggie Smith at the National Theatre and appeared in a string of major war films including The Eagle Has Landed, A Bridge Too Far and Force 10 from Navarone.
• 1943 – 1971 Jim Morrison American singer, songwriter & poet James Douglas "Jim" Morrison (1943-1971) was the lead singer and lyricist of The Doors, celebrated for his baritone voice, poetic lyrics and theatrical, unpredictable stage presence. Known as "The Lizard King", he became one of the defining and most controversial icons of 1960s counterculture before his death in Paris at the age of 27.
• 1944 Avery — DNA carries genetic information The molecule of heredity identified In 1944, Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty demonstrated that DNA (not protein, as widely assumed) is the molecule that carries genetic information between generations. This was the most important biological discovery before the double helix structure, and directly motivated Watson and Crick's X-ray crystallography work.
• 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement Bretton Woods Agreement Delegates from forty-four nations met at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in July 1944 and agreed a postwar monetary order of currencies pegged to a gold-convertible dollar. The conference created the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The system held until Nixon ended dollar convertibility in 1971.
• 1944 – present Fighter Jets From the Me 262 to sixth-generation stealth From the first Messerschmitt Me 262s over Germany in 1944 to stealth fighters and sixth-generation programmes — eight decades of jet fighters, generation by generation.
• 1944 – 2023 Jerry Springer American TV Host & Politician British-born American television host, lawyer and politician. Born in a London Underground station during the Blitz, he emigrated to the United States as a child. He served as Mayor of Cincinnati before becoming host of The Jerry Springer Show, a ratings phenomenon that ran for 27 years and became a defining artefact of 1990s American pop culture.
• 1944 D-Day Normandy landings On June 6, 1944, over 156,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy — the largest seaborne invasion in history.
• 1944 – present Phillip Allen Sharp American Molecular Biologist American geneticist and molecular biologist who co-discovered RNA splicing, fundamentally changing the understanding of how genes work. He shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Richard J. Roberts for demonstrating that genes in higher organisms are not continuous stretches of DNA but are interrupted by non-coding sequences called introns. Raised on a farm in rural Kentucky, he paid for college by raising cattle and growing tobacco before becoming one of the most influential figures in modern biology. He co-founded two pioneering biotechnology companies — Biogen (1978) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (2002) — and has spent his career at MIT, where his doctoral students have included fellow Nobel laureate Andrew Fire.
• 1945 United Nations founded United Nations founded The United Nations was established to maintain international peace and security, replacing the failed League of Nations.
• 1945 – present John Tavener British spiritual minimalist British composer known for his deeply spiritual works including Song for Athene, performed at Princess Diana's funeral.
• 1945 – present Eric Clapton English rock & blues guitarist Eric Clapton (born 1945) is one of the most influential guitarists in rock history — nicknamed "Slowhand" — known for his work with The Yardbirds, Cream and Derek and the Dominos, and for solo classics including "Layla", "Wonderful Tonight" and "Tears in Heaven". Three-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and eighteen-time Grammy winner.
• 1945 – 1953 Truman presidency 33rd President — 1945 to 1953 Harry S. Truman assumed the presidency on April 12, 1945 after FDR's death. He authorised the atomic bombs on Japan, launched the Marshall Plan, established NATO, and recognised Israel in 1948.
• 1945 Hitler commits suicide In his Berlin bunker as Soviets close in Adolf Hitler shot himself in his Führerbunker in Berlin on April 30, 1945, as Soviet forces fought less than 500 metres away. Eva Braun, whom he had married the previous day, took cyanide simultaneously.
• 1945 – present Bob Seger Singer-songwriter Detroit rock singer — Night Moves, Turn the Page, Old Time Rock and Roll, Against the Wind.
• 1945 VE Day — Victory in Europe Germany surrenders unconditionally Germany signed its unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945 — Victory in Europe Day. Massive celebrations erupted across Allied nations. The war in Europe was over after nearly six years and an estimated 70-85 million deaths.
• 1945 Hiroshima Atomic bomb dropped On August 6, 1945, the US dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing 80,000 instantly. By year's end, 140,000 had died.
• 1945 VJ Day — Japan surrenders Emperor Hirohito announces defeat Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's unconditional surrender in a radio broadcast on August 15, 1945 — the first time most Japanese had heard his voice. The formal surrender was signed on September 2 aboard USS Missouri.
• 1945 – present Van Morrison Singer-songwriter Belfast-born singer who mixed soul, jazz, blues and Irish folk into a style of his own, from Gloria and Brown Eyed Girl to Astral Weeks and Moondance.
• 1945 – present Neil Young Singer-songwriter, guitarist Canadian musician who moved between gentle folk and roaring guitar rock — Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Crazy Horse and a long solo career.
• 1946 – 2025 David Lynch -- filmmaker, painter, surrealist David Keith Lynch (20 January 1946 - 15 January 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician and actor whose surrealist vision of America made him one of the most influential directors in the history of cinema. In a career spanning more than fifty years he directed only ten feature films, but among them were works -- Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive -- widely regarded as masterpieces. He co-created Twin Peaks with Mark Frost, transforming American television. His distinctive style gave rise to the adjective 'Lynchian', denoting a quality of uncanny menace beneath surfaces of normality. He received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, the Palme d''Or at Cannes, and an Honorary Academy Award in 2019. A lifelong smoker, he died of cardiac arrest caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, five days before his 79th birthday.
• 1946 ENIAC unveiled ENIAC unveiled ENIAC was unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania on 15 February 1946, a 27-tonne machine of some 18,000 vacuum tubes built to compute artillery firing tables. It was programmed by physically rewiring it, work done largely by six women mathematicians whose contribution went unacknowledged for decades. It was the first general-purpose electronic computer.
• 1946 Name chosen from a hat Staff at Madison Square Garden draw names from a hat; "Knickerbockers" — after Father Knickerbocker, symbol of old New York — is the overwhelming choice.
• 1946 – present Sony Sony Corporation — founded in 1946 in a bombed-out department store in Tokyo by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita — transformed from a small radio repair shop into one of the most admired consumer electronics companies in the world. Sony pioneered the transistor radio, the Trinitron television, the Walkman, the CD, the PlayStation and the Blu-ray disc. At its peak in the 1980s it was the most innovative consumer electronics company on earth. Its decline in the 2000s — blindsided by the iPod, the smartphone and the rise of Korean manufacturers — is one of the great corporate cautionary tales. Its reinvention through gaming, music, film and imaging sensors is one of the great comebacks.
• 1946 Australian Open 1946 — return from war Men: John Bromwich · Women: Nancye Wynne Bolton First Australian Open after World War II.
• 1946 – 2026 Dolly Parton Queen of Country American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman and philanthropist widely known as the Queen of Country. Born the fourth of twelve children in a one-room cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, she rose from poverty to become one of the most beloved figures in American life. Over a career spanning six decades, she wrote over 3,000 songs, sold more than 100 million records, won eleven Grammy Awards and was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Beyond music, she created the Dollywood theme park, founded the Imagination Library — which has provided nearly 308 million free books to children worldwide — and helped fund the development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
• 1946 – present Shahrnush Parsipur Iranian Novelist Iranian novelist, short-story writer and translator whose magical realist fiction about women's lives under patriarchal oppression made her one of the most important and persecuted writers in modern Persian literature. Imprisoned four times under both the Shah and the Islamic Republic for her writing and political dissent, she lived the last 32 years of her life in exile in California. Her most celebrated work, Women Without Men (1990), was banned in Iran, adapted into a Venice Film Festival award-winning film, and longlisted for the International Booker Prize in the year of her death.
• 1946 – present Al Green Soul singer, pastor American soul singer of the Memphis Hi Records sound — Let's Stay Together, Tired of Being Alone — who became a pastor.
• 1946 – 2026 Tim Curry English Actor & Singer English actor, singer and voice actor whose powerful baritone voice, expressive eyes and fearless performances made him one of the most distinctive screen presences of his generation. He originated the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show on stage in 1973 and reprised it in the 1975 film, which became one of the most enduring cult phenomena in cinema history. Over a career spanning five decades, he received three Tony Award nominations, a Daytime Emmy Award, and created an extraordinary gallery of eccentrics and villains including Pennywise the Clown, Darkness, Wadsworth the butler, Long John Silver and Nigel Thornberry.
• 1946 – present Ursula Hegi German-American Novelist German-born American novelist whose work explored silence, guilt and identity in Nazi-era and postwar Germany. Born in Dusseldorf just over a year after the war ended, she grew up surrounded by the physical evidence of destruction but in a society that refused to speak about what had happened. She immigrated to the United States at 18 and drew on her conflicted heritage to write novels including the bestselling Stones from the River, centred on Trudi Montag, a dwarf navigating life in a small German town during the rise of the Third Reich.
• 1946 French Open 1946 — return from war Men: Marcel Bernard · Women: Margaret Osborne First French Open after World War II.
• 1946 Franchise founded Ned Irish founds the Knickerbockers as a charter member of the new Basketball Association of America at the Commodore Hotel meeting in New York.
• 1946 – present New York Knicks NBA franchise, 1946–present The New York Knickerbockers — one of the NBA's original franchises, founded in 1946. Three NBA championships (1970, 1973, 2026), decades of heartbreak in between, and a 53-year wait finally ended by Jalen Brunson and a new championship core.
• 1946 – present Donald Trump 45th & 47th President — twice impeached Donald Trump (born Jun 14, 1946) was the 45th President 2017-2021 and 47th President from 2025. He was impeached twice, the first president to be impeached twice. He returned to win the 2024 election.
• 1946 Wimbledon 1946 — return from war Men: Yvon Petra · Women: Pauline Betz First Wimbledon after World War II. Yvon Petra, a Frenchman who survived the war, won the men's title.
• 1946 First-ever BAA game, a win The Knicks defeat the Toronto Huskies on the road, playing in the first game in BAA (later NBA) history.
• 1947 Indian independence Partition of India India gained independence from Britain in 1947, simultaneously partitioned into India and Pakistan, causing massive displacement and violence.
• 1947 Joe Lapchick becomes head coach The successful St. John's coach takes over, ushering in a decade of consistent playoff contention.
• 1947 – present Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 Soviet swept-wing jet fighter The Soviet swept-wing fighter that stunned UN pilots over Korea. Powered by a copy of the British Rolls-Royce Nene engine, it became one of the most-produced jet aircraft ever built — and North Korea still reportedly flies it as a trainer.
• 1947 – 1994 North American F-86 Sabre The MiG-15's great rival The first American swept-wing fighter and the MiG-15's great rival over Korea's MiG Alley. Built under licence in Canada, Australia, Italy and Japan.
• 1947 Transistor invented Transistor invented Bell Labs scientists invented the transistor, the fundamental building block of all modern electronics.
• 1947 – present Elton John English singer, pianist & composer Sir Elton John (born 1947) is an English singer, pianist and composer — one of the best-selling music artists of all time with over 300 million records sold, nine US and UK #1 singles, and decades of collaboration with lyricist Bernie Taupin. An EGOT winner, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and one of the first major male pop stars to come out as gay.
• 1947 – present Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Basketball player, activist, author, b. 1947 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (b. Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr., 1947) — the NBA all-time leading scorer for 39 years (38,387 points), six NBA championships, a record six MVP awards, three consecutive NCAA titles at UCLA, and a second life as a bestselling author, activist and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.
• 1947 – present Carlos Santana Mexican-American guitarist and pioneer of Latin rock Carlos Santana is a Mexican-American guitarist whose fusion of rock, blues, jazz, and Afro-Latin rhythms made him one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century. Rising to fame after a legendary performance at Woodstock in 1969, he has released more than twenty studio albums with his band Santana, earning ten Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards. His 1999 album Supernatural triggered one of the most successful comebacks in music history, tying the record for most Grammy wins in a single night. Santana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and continues to perform and record into his seventies.
• 1947 – present Stephen King American novelist King is a prolific horror writer known for novels exploring fear, trauma, and supernatural forces.
• 1948 Gandhi assassinated Gandhi assassinated Mohandas Gandhi was shot dead in New Delhi on 30 January 1948 by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist who blamed him for conceding too much to Pakistan during partition. He was on his way to evening prayers. His campaigns of non-violent resistance shaped movements from the American civil rights struggle to anti-apartheid activism.
• 1948 Israel founded State declared, May The State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948, fulfilling the Zionist dream and immediately triggering the first Arab–Israeli War.
• 1948 – 2025 Ozzy Osbourne -- the Prince of Darkness John Michael 'Ozzy' Osbourne (3 December 1948 - 22 July 2025) was an English singer, songwriter and media personality who co-founded Black Sabbath and helped create heavy metal music. His wailing vocals on songs like Paranoid, Iron Man and War Pigs defined the genre, while his solo career produced further classics including Crazy Train and Mr. Crowley. His drug-fuelled exploits, outrageous stage antics and later reinvention as a reality television star made him one of the most recognisable figures in popular culture. He sold over 100 million albums worldwide. Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, he performed a final reunion show with Black Sabbath in Birmingham on 5 July 2025 and died seventeen days later, aged 76.
• 1948 – present James Taylor Singer-songwriter American singer-songwriter — Fire and Rain, Carolina in My Mind, You've Got a Friend — signed by the Beatles' Apple Records.
• 1948 – present George R. R. Martin American novelist Martin wrote A Song of Ice and Fire, a major modern fantasy series known for political complexity.
• 1948 – present Jackson Browne Singer-songwriter American singer-songwriter of the Los Angeles 1970s scene — Doctor My Eyes, Late for the Sky, Running on Empty — and a long-time activist.
• 1949 – 1950 Knickerbockers shortened to "Knicks" To avoid confusion with baseball's New York Giants, who shared the "Knickerbockers" nickname, the team officially shortens its name before the 1949-50 season.
• 1949 Knicks join the NBA The BAA merges with the National Basketball League to form the NBA; the Knicks become charter members of the new league.
• 1949 NATO founded NATO founded The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was established as a collective defence alliance among Western nations.
• 1949 – present Haruki Murakami Japanese novelist Japanese novelist, short-story writer, essayist and translator whose deeply imaginative novels blend surrealism, loneliness and modern life with jazz, cats and parallel worlds. Born in Kyoto and raised in Kobe, he ran a jazz bar with his wife before an epiphany at a baseball game led him to write his first novel. Norwegian Wood (1987) made him one of the best-selling authors in Japanese history. His works have been translated into over 50 languages, selling millions of copies worldwide. A perennial Nobel Prize candidate, he has received the Franz Kafka Prize, the Jerusalem Prize, the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature, and the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award.
• 1949 – 2011 Gil Scott-Heron American poet, musician & author Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011) was an American poet, musician and author whose spoken-word recordings — above all "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" — made him one of the most influential forefathers of hip-hop and a defining voice of Black political consciousness in American music.
• 1949 – present Billy Joel Singer-songwriter, pianist American singer-songwriter — Piano Man, Just the Way You Are, Uptown Girl — one of the best-selling solo artists in history.
• 1949 – present Frank Beard ZZ Top Drummer American drummer and co-founding member of ZZ Top, the Texas blues-rock band that became one of the best-selling groups in rock history. Ironically the only member of the famously bearded band without a long beard, Beard anchored ZZ Top's sound for 57 years with a precise, tireless backbeat that drove hits from La Grange to Sharp Dressed Man. The band's 1983 album Eliminator sold over 10 million copies and was certified Diamond. ZZ Top were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
• 1949 – present J. K. Rowling British author Rowling created the Harry Potter series, one of the most influential fantasy franchises in modern literature.
• 1949 – present Bruce Springsteen Singer-songwriter, The Boss American rock singer-songwriter from New Jersey whose songs about working-class life made him one of the best-selling artists of all time.
• 1949 People's Republic of China founded Mao Zedong proclaims the PRC — 1 October 1949 On 1 October 1949, Mao Zedong stood at Tiananmen Gate in Beijing and proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China. The Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan. The Communist victory ended decades of civil war and foreign invasion, beginning a new era of Chinese history under single-party rule that continues to the present day.