1939: Cardinal Pacelli succeeds Pope Pius XI as the 260th pope, & serves as Pope Pius XII
1940: Hitler & Mussolini agree an alliance against France & Britain
1941: Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Bill to supply materials to Allies
1942: Belzec first Nazi German extermination camp created in Poland
1943: Construction begins on the first electronic programmable computer, the Mark I Colossus, at Bletchley Park England
1944: 76 POWs escape from Stalag Luft III by tunnel they name 'Harry'
1945: Anne Frank dies of typhus in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
1946: Agreement recognizing Vietnam as autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation & French Union signed by Ho Chi Minh
1947: Carrie Chapman Catt dies in New Rochelle, New York. She was one of the most prominent female leaders of her time
1948: Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is founded in the Fontana/San Bernardino area in the U.S. other clubs also form
1949: Joe Louis, World Heavyweight Champion announces retirement
1950: VW introduce a van named 'Type 2', their second car model, the first being the 'Type 1' Beetle
1951: Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'The King and I' starts a 3 year run on Broadway
1952: Wernher von Braun publishes the first of his series of articles titled 'Man Will Conquer Space Soon!'
1953: Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke & dies after a dinner with ministers
1954: Castle Bravo, a hydrogen bomb test, is conducted on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean
1955: The Blackboard Jungle premieres, featuring Rock Around the Clock, by Bill Haley & His Comets
1956: My Fair Lady, starring Rex Harrison & Julie Andrews, begins a record breaking run on Broadway
1957: Elvis Presley buys Graceland on 3734 Bellevue Boulevard (Highway 51 South) for $100,000.
1958: Vanguard 1 first solar powered satellite is launched. It functioned until 1964
1959: Barbie manufactured by Mattel goes on sale. Creator Ruth Handler names her after daughter Barbara
1960: Alberto Korda takes iconic photograph of Che Guevara, which he titles 'Guerrillero Heroico'
1961: President Kennedy establishes the volunteer Peace Corps with the aim to promote world peace
1962: Wilt Chamberlain scores 100 points in a single basketball game for Philadelphia Warriors
1963: Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" staring Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren & Jessica Tandy is released