1939: Amelia Earhart is officially declared dead
1940: Food rationing begins in Great Britain
1941: Australian & British capture Tobruk
1942: Carole Lombard dies in a plane crash aged 33
1943: The Pentagon is dedicated in Arlington
1944: After 2 years the Siege of Leningrad is lifted
1945: Soviets arrest diplomat Raoul Wallenberg as a suspected spy
1946: U.N. General Assembly meet for the first time
1947: Elizabeth Short ('Black Dahlia') is found murdered
1948: Mahatma Gandhi assassinated by Nathuram Godse
1949: Businessman Ben Pon imports first VW Type 1 to America
1950: Armed robbers steal over $2.5m from the Brink's HQ
1951: Ilse Koch sentenced to life imprisonment
1952: Vincent Massey is sworn in as 18th Governor General of Canada
1953: The Robertson Panel meets to discuss UFO sightings
1954: Marilyn Monroe elopes with baseball legend Joe DiMaggio
1955: USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea
1956: Heartbreak Hotel is released as a single, it will Elvis Presley's first chart topper
1957: Hamilton Watch Company introduces the world's first electric watch, the Hamilton Electric 500
1958: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg & Netherlands sign the Treaty of Rome
1959: Alaska, officially proclaimed the 49th state of the U.S.A.
1960: Piccard & Walsh aboard Trieste descend into the Mariana Trench reaching lowest spot on Earth
1961: John F. Kennedy succeeds Dwight Eisenhower as the 35th President of the U.S.A.
1962: United States Navy SEALs are activated. Team 1 in the Pacific Fleet & Team 2 in the Atlantic Fleet
1963: The steam locomotive Flying Scotsman (British Railways No. 60103) makes last scheduled run