Entertainment
Books
1938
T. Wilder - "Our Town"1939
K.Blixen - "Out of Africa"
1940MoviesS. Asch -"The Nazarene"1941
L/ Bromfield - "Night in Bombay"
N. Federova - "The Family"
J.F. Kennedy Jr. - "Why England Slept"
R. Llewellyn - "How Green Was My Valley"
C. McCullers - "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter"
C. Morley - "Kitty Foyle"
J. Steinbeck - "Grapes of Wrath"
J. Struther - "Mrs. Miniver"
F. van Wyck Mason -"Stars on the Sea"B. Brecht - "Mother Courage and her Children"1942
M. E. Chase - "Windswept"
A. J . Cronin- "The Keys of the Kingdom"
E. Ferber - "Saratoga Trunk"
R. Heinlein -"Methuselah's Children"
E. Hemingway - "For Whom The Bell Tolls"
J. Hilton - "Random Harvest"
E. Knight - "This Above All"
J. P. Marquan - "H. M. Pulham, Esquire"
K. Roberts - "Oliver Wiswell"
I.S. Rorick - "Mr. and Mrs. Cugat"
M. Steen - "The Sun Is My Undoing"A. Camus - "The Stranger"19431944
L. Smith - "Strange Fruit"1945S. Bellow - "The Dangling Man"
Cather, W" "The Best Years"1946
Lindgren, A.: "Pippi Longstocking"
Orwell, G.: "Animal Farm"
Popper, K.: "The Open Society and its Enemies"1947
Frank, A. - "The Diary of Anne Frank"1948Jackson, S. "The Lottery"19491950
1951
1938
The Adventures of Robin Hood - Errol Flynn's definitive portrayal of the hero of Sherwood Forest.
1939MusicElizabeth The Queen - Michael Curtis historical drama focused on Elizabath I and her lover, the Earl of Essex starring Bette Davis, Alan Hale, Errol Flynn and Olivia de HavilandGone with Wind - David O. Selznick defined the first blockbuster movie by produce this 4-hour color depiction of life in Civil War Georgia.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - Jimmy Stewart's defining performance as an idealistic young politician.
Stagecoach - A breakout film for John Ford and new actor John Wayne, who becomes master of the Western genre.
The Wizard of Oz - The fanciful musical that became MGM's holiday standard
Wuthering Heights - A powerful adaptation of the Bronte novel starring Lawrence Olivier and Merle Oberon.
1940Buck Rogers - Buster Crabbe as the Futuristic super-hero of 25th centuryFantastia - Disney's animated masterpiece
Foreign Correspondent - An early spy thriller by Alfred Hitchcock.
The Grapes of Wrath - John Ford's adaption of the Steinbeck novel in which an family strives to make it to California and escape the poverty of "Dustbowl" Oklahoma.
The Great Dictator - Charlie Chaplin's spoof of the Axis powers.
Knute Rockne: All-American - A sentimental biography of famed Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne with Ronald Reagan as the doomed football star George Gipp. (Go Out there and win one for the Gipper).
The Philadelphia Story - The Best Picture of 1940, the romantic comedy stars Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart
Rebecca - A gothic mystery, this film was David Selznik's follow-up to Gone with the Wind and Alfred Hitchcock's first American film.
The Mummy's Hand - A sequel to the classic The Mummy directed by William Christy Cabanne
The Sea Hawk - Errol Flynn as a pirate who, upon learning of Spanish plans to invade England, races back to save queen and country.
1941Citizen Kane - Widely held to be one of the finest films in history, Orson Welles personal project defined the beginning of modern movie-makingHow Green Was My Valley - John Ford's adaptation of Richard Llewellyn's novel about the breakdown of a close-knit family of Welsh miners.
Moon Over Miami - Musical starring Betty Grable and Don Ameche in which Midwestern sisters head to Florida to hunt husbands.
The Maltese Falcon - Humphrey Bogart's historical portrayal of Sam Spade, Ace Detective with memorable performances by Peter Lorre and Sid Greenberg.
The Wolf Man - Classic werewolf movie with Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr.
1942Casablanca - With Humphrey Bogart as night-club owner Rick Blaine in Morocco, this film is likely the classic romance/drama film in history.Escape from Crime - A minor film with Richard Travis and Julie Bishop featuring the story of a journalist who inadvertantly catches a bank thief on film.
Talk of the Town - Cary Grant on a comedic drama about a falsely accused anarchist.
The Mummy's Tomb - Lon Chaney in a the tale of an Egyptian mummy who wakes up in Boston none to thrilled with the change of scenery.
To Be Or Not To Be - A dark comedy in which an acting troop trapped in Poland becomes involved in the war effort. Released after the death of star Carole Lombard.
1943The Ox-Bow Incident - A 20th Century Fox western featuring Henry Fonda as a cowboy caught up in a lynch mob over a rancher's murder.1944To Have and Have Not - The film that first combined Bogart and Becall and led to their marriage in 1945. Bogart is cast an irascible ex-patriate American in the Caribbean and Becall as his love interest. (You know how to whistle don't you, Steve?)19451946
The Best Years of Our Lives - Sam Goldwyn's sole Oscar for Best Picture, this film captures the difficulties faced by war veterans returning home from the field.The Big Sleep - Bogart and Becall combine again in a movie adapted from Raymond Chandler's detective novel of the same name.
It's a Wonderful Life - Jimmy Stewart's Christmas Classic as George Bailey, who learns the true joy of life.
My Darling Clementine - John Ford's classic re-telling of the gunfight at the OK Corral.
19471948
Treasure of Sierra Madre - A Bogart Classic with Bogey as the bad guy.
1949
1950
All About Eve - Bette Davis' signature role as actress undone by her own fan. Nominated for 14 Academy Awards, won 6.Sunset Blvd - William Holden and Gloria Swanson in a love story of an fading Silent film actress' and her unfaithful lover.
1951The African Queen - Classic Pairing of Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn as an irascible sailor and prudish spinster.
1938
"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" - Ella Fitzgerald"When the Saints Go Marchin' In" - Louis Armstrong
1939Hearth & Home1940
"Pennsylvania 6-500" - Glenn Miller1941"Southland Shuffle" - Charley Barnet and his Orchestra
"I'll Never Smile Again" - Frank Sinatra
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" - The Andrews Sisters1942"Green Eyes" - Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra
"One O' Clock Jump" - Count Basie and his Orchestra1943"Charleston Alley" - Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra
- Glenn Miller is killed in a plane disappearance over the English Channel
- The American Federation of Musicians go on strike, claiming that phonograph recordings were a threat to the livelihood of performance musicians.
1944
1945
- "Move On Up A Little Higher" - Mahalia Jackson19461947
- The American music industry is dominated by several major labels (Columbia, Victor, Decca, Capitol, MGM, and Mercury Records) but post-war teen-agers rejected traditional music giving rise to independent record labels and the rise of Rock-N-Roll.19481949
-"The Fat Man" - Fats Domino, arguably the first rock-n-roll song
1950- "Rollin' Stone" - Muddy Waters1951- RCA Victor announced the production of the LP (long playing) record
- The profusion of African-American blues singers and the expansion of radio genre fuels the need of new types of music, including Rock-n'Roll, Rythym-n-Blues and what would eventually become Soul.
1938Medicine- 40-Hour work weeks are established in the United States1939- With the invention of nylon, development of synthetic fabrics begin in earnest, making household goods that are cheaper and easier to care for. The driving force of these innovations is the loss of the silk trade due to the war in the Pacific and Japanese aggression.
- With the passage of the Minimum Wage- Fair Standards Act of 1938, workers are guaranteed better compensation. Minimum Wage is set at 25 cents an hour.
- The ballpoint pen is invented by Hungarian journalist Ladislo Biro.
- Nylon stockings are first made available to the public1940- The minimum wage is increased to 30 cents an hour.
- The US population is 132 million as determined by the U.S. Census1941- The life expectancy of the average American is 64 years (49 in 1900, 76 in 2000)
- Average salary is $1,250/year.
- 55% of homes have indoor plumbing
- The U.S. has 6% unemployment.
- McDonald's opens in San Bernandino, California.
- Pepsi-Cola makes advertising history with "Nickel, nickel" the first radio jingle broadcast over network radio
- The FCC clears the way for regular commerical television broadcasts. W2XBS, predescessor of NBC, and WCBW, predescessor of CBS, becoem commercial stations and begin local broadcasts. At the end of 1941, these are the two major station in America.1942- The AFL and CIO make no-strike pledge for the duration of the war.
- The garbage disposal is invented by G.E.
- A record number of Americans visit America's National Parks, over 21 million. During the war, visitation fell to less than 7 million but returned to normal in the late 1940's.
- M&M's and Dannon Yogurt first appear on the market. Toll House cookies are introduced as part of a Nestle's ad campaign and the chocolate chip cookie becomes the most popular cookie in America.
- The Coca-Cola trademarks the name "Coke" for use in advertising their product.
1943
- Automobile and radio manufacturing are halted to spare resources for the war effort.- Sugar, coffee and gasoline rationing begins
- Fashions become very stripped-down as rationing limits the yardage available for clothing manufacture. Women's fashions are especially discipline and become more like men's clothes with short jackets and knee-length skirts. Natural fibers (i.e. wool) were markedly reduce and synthetic fabrics were more common. As synthetic fabrics were still very primitive, they had a tendency to shrink and were not very warm.
- La Choy canned Chinese foods first appear on store shelves.
- The total number of commercial television stations is three.
- A more women enter the workforce, diaper delivery services which picked up dirty diapers and returned clean and folded ones exploded. Disposable diapers were invented in 1950.
- The Birth Control Federation of America changes it's name to Planned Parenthood and continued it's mission of family planning, mainly in the form of fitting women with diaphragms and providing them with contraceptive jellies.
- The Metropolitan-Life Insurance Company devises first set of ideal weights.
- Rationing Increases - 3 pairs of leather shoes become the limit annually and Tuesday and Friday are designated as meatless days to save food for the war effort. Pre-sliced bread is banned to spare metal parts used by bakery. Cheese and canned food are also rationed1944- Because of rationing, America's dietary habits change. Since ground beef is rationed less heavily that steak, meat loaf becomes a staple in the cuisine of the average American.
- Number of Television stations = 4, Two in New York, one in Chicago and one is Los Angeles.
- In an effort to limit wartime inflation, President Roosevelt freezes salaries, wages and prices.
- Income tax deduction from paychecks begin.
- Race riots occur in many large Northern cities when the labor population is swollen by southern African-Americans.
- Silly Putty is invented.
- Deep Dish Pizza is invented by Pizzeria Uno in Chicago
- Nearly every able single female in the United States is employed.
1945
- The minimum wage rises to 40 cents an hour.- Washington D.C. begins broadcasting station on WTTG.
- The African-American Magazine Ebony debuts and sells out 25,00 copies of it's first run.
- 5,000 American Homes have television sets
1946- Nine television broadcasters are registed in the United States.1947- Teflon (non-stick surface) housewares first appear.
- Maxwell House Coffee, Ragu Spaghetti Sauce and Minute Maid frozen orange juice first appear.
- The detergent, Tide, is introduced.
- With the return home of the veterans and the post-war prosperity, the American birth rate rises by 20% in one year, defined as the "Baby Boom".
- With his book, "Baby and Child Care", Dr. Benjamin Spock revolutionized the way Americans looked at parenting. Most parents prior to Spock had adopted a sterner, disciplinarian approach to child-rearing.
- The bikini swim-suit, named for the island chain where the Atom bomb was tested, is introduced. Hawaiian flowered shirts become popular for men.
- William Levitt, father of modern surburbia, opened Levittown, his first major community on Long Island. Costing a whopping $8,000, Levitt's homes made affordable, cozy neighborhoods available to returning GIs and the future parents of the baby boomers.1948- The number of television broadcasters is 16.
- Tupperware, a plastic resealable container, is invented.
- The first microwave oven, the Radarange, is released. It requires extensive plumbing to maintain internal temperature control, is the size of a refrigerator and costs nearly $3000. Early sales are poor. The microwave revolution would not catch on for another 25 years.
- Commercial broadcast television becomes available to the public.
- The number of television broadcasters is 45.1949- "Scrabble" is trademarked but gets off to a slow start. It will not become popular until 1950
- Cheetos, V8-Juice and Nestle's Quik are first offered.
- George de Mestral invents Velcro
- 1,000,000 homes have television sets.
- Alfred Kinsey's "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" scandalized and titillated the American people by the suggestion that most Americans were far bawdier than the modern media portrayed.
- The number of television broadcasters is 94.1950- Pillsbury and General Mills release "instant" cake mixes.
- Saran Wrap, the first sealer of its kind, becomes available commercially. The household version became available in 1953.
- Maidenform releases the "Bullet Bra", the pioneer of push-up bra technology originating for Howard Hughes "experiments" with Jane Russell.
- The number of television broadcaster is 1031951- The US population is nearly 150 million
- The FCC approves CBS color television broadcasts
- The average income is ~$3,000/year.
- The American labor force is 70% male.
- Minimum Wage nearly doubles to 75 cents an hour.
- Diners Club issues the first credit card. American Express would follow suit in 1958.
- "Curling Tongs" - the predecessor of the curling iron - is made available to consumers
"I Love Lucy" premeires on television.
1938Science-The chemical structure of Vitamin E (a-tocopherol) is described1939- First isolation of Vitamin B6
- Corneille Jean François Heymans wins the Nobel Prize in medicine for his work on the carotid and aortic baroreceptor.
- First cardiac catherization performed.
- The Rh factor (i.e. B+ or B-) is discovered by Levine and Stetson1940- Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk wins the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discovery of sulphonilimide antibiotics.
- Using new and advance fermentation procedures, Pfizer makes citric acid (Vitamin C) available at about 1/5 it's historic price. The vitamin goes on to become a mainstay in American nutrition.
- Penicillin developed as an antibiotic1941- The Nobel Prize is suspended til 1943 due to the outbreak of World War II in Europe
- Dr. Charles Drew opens the first Blood Bank but, because he is an African-American, cannot donate his own blood.
- Cholesterol found to be the main component of atherosclerotic lesions
1942
1943
- Streptomycin discovered1944- Chemist Albert Hofman discover the hallucinogenic properties of LSD
- The Nobel Prize goes to Henrik Dam and E.A. Doisey for the discover of Vitamin K
- Quinine first synthesized1945- The first eye bank is opened in New York City.
1946
- Cobalt-60 replaces Radium-226 in cancer therapy. Most cancer patients are treated with high doses of various radiations during this time frame as chemotherapy was years away.1947- Polio virus isolated1948- The Framingham study, which becomes the standard in heart disease epidemiology, begins.
1949
- Walter Hess and Egas Moniz are awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for their contributions to the field regarding the role of the brain as a integrative physiologic center. Hess mapped key regions of the brain governing internal organ function and Moniz pioneered the lobotomy for treatment of psychoses.1950- The Cardiac Defibrillator is evented.
- As Pfizer develops a modernized drug discover program, the first product, a broad spectrum anti-biotic called Terromycin, reaches stores.
1951
- Bayer & Co. produce the first tablet form of aspirin.
Astronomy
Sports1938Physics- 60th Meeting of American Astronomical Society in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Robert G. Aitken served as President. 93 out of 607 members attended, 10 out of 93 being women.1939- 61st Meeting of American Astronomical Society in New York, New York.
- 62nd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Berkeley, California1940- 63rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Delaware, Ohio
- 64th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Joel Stebbins becomes President.1941- 65th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 66th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Williams Bay, Wisconsin1942- 67th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Cleveland Ohio
-Death of Annie Jump Cannon - a female amateur astronomer who developed the modern system of clasifying stars
- 68th Meeting of American Astronomical Society in New Haven, Conneticut1943- 69th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Evanston, Illinois
- 70th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harlow Shapley Becomes President1944- 71st Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Cinncinati, Ohio
-72nd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania1945- 73rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Cambridge, Massachusetts
- 74th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in New York, New York1946- 75th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Madison, Wisconsin. Ottos Struve becomes President1947- AAS President Harlow Shaply interrogated by the HUAC
- 76th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Cambridge, Massachusetts
- 77th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Evanston, Illinois1948- 78th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Columbus, Ohio
- 79th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Pasadena, California1949- 80th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in New Haven, Conneticut
- Mt. Palomar Observatory dedicated
- 81st Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Ottawa, Ontario. Alfred H. Jov becomes President. Membership 6751950- 82nd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Tucson, Arizona
- Second moon of Neptune, Nereid, is discovered by Gerard Kupier.
- 83rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Bloomington, Indiana1951- 84th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Haverford, Pennsylvania
- International Astronautical Federation, a group devoted to advancement of space study and exploration, met for the first time in Paris, France. Eugen Sanger of Germany is the first President of the Federation.
- 85th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, D.C.1938Technology-Enrico Fermi leaves Italy for Sweden to accept the Nobel Prize in Physics. He never returns, fearing Nazi persecution.1942-Enrico Fermi creates a controllable nuclear reaction.1943- The Manhatten Project forms under Dr. Robert J. Oppenheimer
- Construction begin on the Uranium facility at Oak Ridge, Tennessee1944- Isidor Isaac Rabi wins the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physics for his studies on the magnetic properties of nuclei
1945- Wolfgang Pauli wins the 1945 Nobel Prize in physics for his discover of the Pauli exclusion principle1938- Chester Floyd Carlson invents xerography, a method of copying now known as Xeroxing.1939- Polytetrafluoroethylene, the precursor for Teflon, is discoverd.
- Pan-American Airways begins regularly scheduled service between Europe and the United States1940- Shell Oil company invents a 100-octane fuel for airplanes1941- RCA demonstrates the 1st electron microscope
1942
- Jacques Cousteu invents the Aqua-Lung, allowing scuba divers to begin exploring the world beneath the sea1943- Dr. Louis F. Fieser invents napalm
- Shell Oil invents butadiene, a critical compenent of synthetic rubber. Synthetic rubber becomes critical when South Pacific sources of natural rubber are captured by the Japanese1946- ENIAC, the 1st US computer, is completed1947- Dr. Percy Spencer discovers Microwave cooking.
- Bell Laboratories announce the invention of transistor technology1951- Fighter pilot Chuck Yeager becomes the first man to break the sound barrier.
- The Zoomar lens, now more commonly known as the Zoom lens, allowed close-up and long-distance shots from the same camera, a device that revolutionized filming.
- UNIVAC, the first commercial computer in use.
1938Back to Real History- Auburn defeats Michigan in the Orange Bowl, 6 - 01939
- California defeats Alabama in the Rose Bowl, 13 - 0- USC defeats Duke in the Rose Bowl, 7 - 31940- USC defeats Tennessee in the Rose Bowl, 14 - 01941- Stanford defeats Nebraska in the Rose Bowl, 21 - 131942- Oregon State defeats Duke in the Rose Bowl, 20 - 1619431944
1945
Stanley Cup: Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4
games to 3
19461947
- Jackie Robinson becomes 1st black professional baseball player (National League) in April. Four months later, Larry Doby is recruited as the first black professional player for the American League.- 1st NBA Championship: Philadelphia Warriors beat the Chicago Stags, 4
games to 2
19481949
1950
- Althea Gibson becomes the first African-American woman to play the U.S. Nationals Tennis Match at Forest Hills.
1951
- The first nationally televised NFL championship game- Althea Gibson becomes the first African-American woman to play tennis at Wimbleton.