1939: The Wizard of Oz premieres
1940: Leon Trotsky assassinated in Mexico
1941: Production starts on the Willys MB
1942: 'Quit India' resolution is passed by the All India Congress Committee
1943: John F. Kennedy's Motor Torpedo Boat rammed by destroyer
1944: Polish resistance begin the Warsaw Uprising
1945: Enola Gay drops an atomic bomb 'Little Boy', on Hiroshima, Japan
1946: U.S. Atomic Energy Commission transfers control to civilian use
1947: Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki reaches Tuamotu Islands
1948: Alger Hiss that he is a Soviet spy
1949: Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb
1950: Paul Robeson fails to persuade officials to reinstate his passport
1951: The Catcher in the Rye published by J.D. Salinger
1952: Composer John Cage's composition 4'33" is first performed
1953: Operation Big Switch repatriates Korean War prisoners
1954: James Cameron director born. Films include The Terminator, Avatar, The Abyss, Aliens & Titanic
1955: The first edition of the Guinness Book of Records, edited by the McWhirter twins is published
1956: The Communist Party of Germany (KPD) is declared illegal
1957: Juan Manuel Fangio, driving for Maserati, wins his 5th world drivers championship
1958: Madonna Louise Ciccone is born. She will become best-selling female recording artist of all time
1959: The Mini, designed by Sir Alec Issigonis is launched, by the British Motor Corporation
1960: Joseph Kittinger jumps from a balloon over New Mexico at an altitude of about 102,800 feet
1961: Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov becomes second human to orbit the Earth
1962: Film legend Marilyn Monroe found dead from overdose of sleeping pills & chloral hydrate
1963: Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his "I Have A Dream" speech to over 250,000 people