Questions tagged [1940s]

Referring to the time period between 1940 A.D. and 1949 A.D. by the Gregorian calendar.

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Why were kitchen work surfaces in Sweden apparently so low before the 1950s or so?

Watching old "newsreel"-like films from the 1950s and 1960s, and seeing this in old comics and from other Swedish sources, I have formed the perception that many/most/all kitchens in Sweden, ...
Avanti D.'s user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
1k views

How did German racial laws affect people who weren't Jewish but one of their parents wasn't German?

It's a bit strange question but I can't find anything in this topic. So currently I'm working on a book that is set in the 1940's in Germany, and one of the characters in it was born to a British ...
AnnaBonyhády's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
115 views

How difficult would it have been for a European to obtain access to US scientific journals in 1945?

On May 1, 1945, volume 158 of the Journal of Biologic Chemistry was published. I'd like to establish to what degree –and how soon thereafter– its content may have been accessible in continental Europe ...
m.a.a.'s user avatar
  • 111
15 votes
1 answer
4k views

Was FDR right that a garden hose was really $15 in 1940 (c.a. $300 today)?

As FDR stated in a White House Press conference on December 17, 1940: "What I am trying to do is eliminate the dollar sign. All right! Well let me give you an illustration: Suppose my neighbor's ...
bvargo's user avatar
  • 279
5 votes
1 answer
414 views

What percentage of people were acquitted in "Stalin's trials"

What proportion of those accused under Article 58 and other political articles were acquitted in 1930-1953 in the USSR?
user31264's user avatar
  • 175
3 votes
1 answer
672 views

Where can I find more information about destruction of a castle in Merlas, France?

On approximately the 21st of June 1944, some German troops burned a "castle" (not an historical one, built just before 1900) in the commune of Merlas (Isère), in the south-east of France. ...
F. C.'s user avatar
  • 135
-1 votes
1 answer
140 views

Which operation came last in World War 2? [closed]

Which operation came last in World War 2? I know that the Kwantung Army was defeated on the 2nd of September 1945 during the Soviet Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation (9th of August - 2nd of ...
Zhiltsoff Igor's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
198 views

When did blackouts occur in Cairo during WW2?

In what date was Cairo blackout lifted in WW2? Was the date celebrated in the following years? And, not less important: what notable events were in December 21st 1944? A little background: Someone I ...
Meymann's user avatar
  • 185
54 votes
4 answers
8k views

What do the phone number suffixes J, M, R, W in 1940 New York phone book mean?

Browsing through the Staten Island, NY telephone directory of January 1940, I found that certain phone numbers were printed with a suffix J, M, R or W. What do these mean? I've marked a few of them in ...
MTA's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
425 views

What relation do the early sexual experiences of Lolita and her classmates bear to the real experience of children in New England in 1947?

In the last pages of part 1 of Nabokov's Lolita the title character's abuser Humbert relates 12 year old Dolores's (Lolita is H's nickname for her) description of her own previous sexual experiences, ...
CIR's user avatar
  • 71
4 votes
1 answer
1k views

How long did men have to serve in the US army until they were promoted to sergeants during WW2?

During the Second World War men rose through ranks much quicker than they do today due to heavy losses and they went from private to corporal and corporal to sergeant after serving only a small amount ...
Katerina's user avatar
  • 345
9 votes
1 answer
263 views

How serious was the initiative to create "One World Airline"?

I came across this in the provenance of a map of airmail routes in 1940: Lloyd Welch Pogue (October 21, 1899 – May 10, 2003) American aviation lawyer and chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board. ...
pokep's user avatar
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18 votes
4 answers
4k views

Why did the Japanese attack the Aleutians at the same time as Midway?

Here's where I am starting from: Aleutians, Battle of Dutch Harbor - June 3–4, 1942. 2 smaller aircraft carriers. Main Midway battle. June 4-7. 4 big carriers, with 2 smaller that weren't right ...
Italian Philosophers 4 Monica's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
683 views

Were prisons in Maine mixed race in 1947?

In the movie The Shawshank Redemption, white Andy Dufresne (played by Tim Robbins) and black Ellis "Red" Redding (played by Morgan Freeman) are in the same prison. I don't remember if it was said ...
Armin's user avatar
  • 525
9 votes
1 answer
323 views

Why were the Yellow River dyke repairs delayed?

In 1938, in a desperate bid to slow the Japanese advance, Chinese forces breached the Yellow River dykes at Huayuankou, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians and displacing millions more. The ...
congusbongus's user avatar
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5 votes
0 answers
110 views

In 1940s/50s how did refugees earn US citizenship?

I'm writing a piece about a polish refugee at the start of WW2 and I am trying to figure out the process for an unaccompanied minor, whose parents are supposed to be dead if that makes a difference, ...
Tom's user avatar
  • 611
1 vote
1 answer
275 views

Were there any Muslims left in the Indian side of the Punjab after the 1947 riots?

As is well-known to those acquainted with the history of the Indo-Pak subcontinent, there were large-scale riots in Punjab in 1947 when the province of the British Indian colony was partitioned along ...
Saaqib Mahmood's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
405 views

Date this Jubilee Day photo

I participate in a Facebook group about the history of my hometown, Mechanicsburg, PA. We are trying to put a year on the following picture taken on the town’s annual street fair, called Jubilee Day. ...
RBarryYoung's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
320 views

Did international laws on wars of conquest change in 1945?

From a comment on what victors can do to losers in a war: Since this is a history site, we should also note that wars of conquest are no longer legal after 1945, so "most of history" no longer ...
Andrew Grimm's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
124 views

Age of majority in Washington state in 1945? [closed]

What was the age of majority in Washington state in 1945?
time.constraint's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
771 views

Who coined the term "Golden Age" in reference to musical theatre?

Typically, the Golden Age of Broadway/Musical Theatre is considered to have taken place from the 1940s to the 1960s (some definitions are more specific, citing something like 1943 to 1959). It was ...
user3684314's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
950 views

How was the safety of allied leaders ensured in transportation for conferences during WW2?

Allied leaders met in three (well, four considering Potsdam) conferences to discuss the future after the war -- the Casablanca conference in 1943, the Tehran Conference in 1943, and Yalta Conference ...
taninamdar's user avatar
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5 votes
4 answers
706 views

Did Hitler, or any non USSR residents in the 30s-40s know about Stalin's purges?

In Downfall, Hitler laments about how he should have purged the military officers like Stalin did, so my question is: would people have actually known about Stalin's purges during that time ?
DDFirst Name Dd's user avatar
-5 votes
1 answer
448 views

Is there documented evidence of Israel concentration/death camps used against the Arabs? [closed]

According to some articles I've been reading, there is testimony that as Israel began its conquest and subsequent occupation of Palestine, they sent Arab men to concentration, labor and even death ...
Curious1's user avatar
  • 157
6 votes
0 answers
153 views

Was it possible to travel between Riverdale and Midtown Manhattan via taxi during the 1940s?

I'm writing a book that takes place in New York City in 1943. I have a character that lives in Riverdale, but works in midtown Manhattan. If one needed to travel quickly, could you take a taxi from ...
user8160's user avatar
29 votes
4 answers
4k views

Did Arab policymakers have plans for the Jewish population, in case of victory in 1948 War?

Presumably the Arab goal in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war was to defeat Israel. Total victory would probably mean the total control of the whole Mandatory Palestine, which at this point already contained ...
ASandhiyudha's user avatar
  • 1,388
28 votes
1 answer
7k views

What became of Nazi Germany's embassies in neutral countries?

This picture shows the German embassy in Stockholm very near the end of World War II (with the flag lowered to mark Hitler's death). Germany surrendered on the 8th May 1945. The Flensburg government ...
Tea Drinker's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
6k views

What factors led to the 30% devaluation of pound sterling in 1949?

In 1949, Britain devalued the pound sterling by 30%. This was a major world economic event given that the pound was and still is one of the major currencies in the world. In fact, 9 other countries ...
curious's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
1k views

What were the reasons for the Federal Art Project?

From August 29, 1935, until June 30, 1943 United States promote what they called Federal Art Project. Reputed to have created more than 200,000 separate works, FAP artists created posters, murals ...
G M's user avatar
  • 141
2 votes
1 answer
570 views

Japanese prostitution in 1940s

I've been looking around on the web for information about prostitutes in japan in the 1940s. I am unable to find anything helpful, as all that is mentioned are "Comfort Women". I need information ...
Novelist's user avatar
  • 147
2 votes
2 answers
2k views

Did indebted families commonly sell daughters into prostitution in Japan?

I'm writing a Graphic novel with a segment in 1930's and 40's japan. I've looked around on the web but have been unable to find specific answers. I've heard girls were often sold to brothels by their ...
Novelist's user avatar
  • 147
9 votes
1 answer
3k views

How did schoolgirls dress in Japan in the 1930s/40s?

I'm writing a graphic novel with a segment in 1930's and 40's Japan. I've looked around but haven't been able to find any specific answers. How would teenage schoolgirls have dressed at that time?
Novelist's user avatar
  • 147
10 votes
5 answers
1k views

Did it matter that the Red Army clung on to Stalingrad's West bank in 1942?

All histories of the Stalingrad battle emphasize the heroic defense of the west bank of the Volga by the Red Army in 1942. It implies that if the German 6th Army had just managed to oust the last ...
Tea Drinker's user avatar
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18 votes
4 answers
8k views

How was Israel able to build a powerful military within days of the formation of the state?

The State of Israel was formed in May 14, 1948. I guess the first Arab-Israel war broke out in the same month of the same year. Israel won the war decisively. The question is not "How did they win ...
user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
4k views

Who really attacked first in the 1948 Israeli Palestinian war?

That is when Israel declared independence? Were the Jews hungry for land and started kicking Arabs out, or did the Arabs attack first, or is it sort of a mixed bag?
user4951's user avatar
  • 5,493
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

Are Zoot suits considered an element of the 1940s Hipster subculture?

Are Zoot suits considered an element of the 1940s Hipster subculture? Wikipedia: Hipster, as used in the 1940s, referred to aficionados of jazz, in particular bebop, which became popular in the ...
nic's user avatar
  • 2,538
46 votes
2 answers
13k views

Why does German money from the 1940s not bear Nazi symbols?

I have a 5-mark German banknote (I think from 1941 or 1942), looking exactly like this: I am curious why the banknote not only does not bear a portrait of Hitler, but doesn't include any German state ...
Anixx's user avatar
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