Born in 1940
Turns 86 in 2026
Gifts for someone born in 1940
1940 Front PageTheir name. The news from their year.Unframed from £21.50Add their name
Their birth chartThe sky as astrology reads it, cast for one birth.Unframed from £21.50
The Years We Were BornThe whole family, together in years.Unframed from £21.50
Our Story timelineTheir life, told in your words.Unframed from £21.50
Front Page: United Kingdom edition. The year is filled in; add their name in the editor. “Your name” is a placeholder. Light news is selected. A new keepsake, not an original newspaper.
BACK TO 1940 · United Kingdom
A little history to go with their gift.
Walt Disney’s Fantasia brought animation together with orchestral music, Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben identified carbon-14 at Berkeley, and the Cincinnati Reds won a seven-game World Series. The year combined experiments in film and science with a close American baseball contest.
What happened in 1940?
Fantasia Joined Animation And Orchestra
Walt Disney’s Fantasia brought animated sequences together with orchestral music. Its New York opening on November 13 introduced an ambitious experiment in sound and animation.
American Film Institute Catalog · Library of Congress, Molto Animato! Music and Animation
A New Form Of Carbon Was Identified
The discovery gave researchers a radioactive form of carbon that could trace chemical and biological processes.
University of California, Berkeley, College of Chemistry · Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Cincinnati Won A Seven-Game Series
The Cincinnati Reds won the 1940 World Series, defeating the Detroit Tigers four games to three. Game 7 ended 2–1 on October 8.
Major League Baseball, Cincinnati Reds · Sports Reference, Baseball-Reference.com
The Grapes Of Wrath Won The Pulitzer
The Pulitzer jury recognized John Steinbeck’s novel in 1940. The award added a major book prize to a story already read across the country.
The Pulitzer Prizes · The Steinbeck Institute, Stanford University
Firsts and new ideas
Oxford Team Publishes Penicillin Results
A research team at Oxford reported methods for producing and purifying penicillin, along with laboratory results on its antibacterial effect. The paper described protection in experimentally infected animals.
The Lancet / Elsevier · Clinical Microbiology Reviews, American Society for Microbiology
Bletchley Started Using The Victory Bombe
The first British Bombe, named Victory, began work at Bletchley Park in March 1940.
The National Museum of Computing · U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
Number ones and music in 1940
Chart positions belong to the country and chart named in each record.
A band gives a junction its swing
Tuxedo Junction became one of Glenn Miller Orchestra Top Ten hits in 1940 after its Bluebird release.
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution · Glenn Miller Orchestra / Glenn Miller Productions
Miller records The Nearness of You
Glenn Miller and his Orchestra recorded The Nearness of You in 1940, with Ray Eberle singing. The session took place in New York.
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution · Dennis M. Spragg, Glenn Miller Archives researcher
Prices and everyday money in 1940
United Kingdom figures in the money of the time. Units and sources matter: these are not today's prices.
| Item or measure | Then | Unit and source |
|---|---|---|
| Average weekly earnings per person in the United Kingdom (Bank of England series) | £2 15s 10d per week | GBP per week Bank of England (series republished by Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED) |
| sugar (annual average) | 5d | equivalent 1 lb (calculated from ONS per kg) Office for National Statistics |
| flour (annual average) | 4d | equivalent 2 lb (calculated from ONS per 1.5 kg) Office for National Statistics |
| bread (annual average) | 2d | equivalent 1 lb (calculated from ONS 800 g source measure; not historical loaf size) Office for National Statistics |
Planning the birthday
Someone born in 1940 turns 86 in 2026. Before their birthday they are one year younger. Choose the birth year for the print; add the full date in the editor if you know it.
See milestone birthdays this year