1939: World War II begins
1940: Cave paintings in Lascaux, France discovered
1941: A decree signed by Reinhard Heydrich requires Jews aged 6 or over to wear the Star of David with 'Jew' inscribed
1942: The Battle of Milne Bay begins
1943: Italy invaded Allied forces & swiftly surrenders
1944: The British 11th Armoured Division liberates Antwerp in Belgium
1945: Japan's surrender accepted by General MacArthur
1946: Cathay Pacific founded in Hong Kong
1947: A moth causes a malfunction in a Harvard Mark II electromechanical computer. Logged as 'First actual case of bug being found.'
1948: Kim Il-sung declares Democratic People's Republic of Korea
1949: Due to public pressure Iva Toguri D'Aquino is tried & found guilty of broadcasting for Japan as 'Tokyo Rose' during the war
1950: After a single outing in 1941, radio game show 'Truth or Consequences' hosted by Ralph Edwards premieres on television
1951: Science fiction film 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' premieres
1952: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) opens first station in Montreal, Quebec
1953: Future US President John F Kennedy marries Jacqueline Lee Bouvier
1954: The last new episode of The Lone Ranger radio program is broadcast
1955: James Dean dies when his Porsche 550 Spyder has a head-on crash with another car on Route 466
1956: Bell X-2, nicknamed 'Starbuster', first manned aircraft to reach Mach 3, pilot 'Mel' Apt is killed
1957: 101st Airborne Division escort African-American students ar Little Rock Central High
1958: Jack Kilby demonstrates first working microchip, it will revolutionize world of electronics
1959: Luna 2 first spacecraft to reach surface of the Moon (it crash lands)
1960: Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) wins light-heavyweight boxing gold medal at 1960 Olympic Games
1961: U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld dies in air crash
1962: Sonny Liston knocks out Floyd Patterson in first round becoming World Heavyweight Champion
1963: U.S. Senate ratifies Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty between Soviet Union, United Kingdom & U.S.