Timeline October 1940

Events in October 1940 14

• 1880 – 1940 Tom Mix (1880-1940) Died 12 October 1940, aged 60 American actor who starred in hundreds of silent Western films and was Hollywood's first great cowboy star. He died in a car crash in Arizona.
• 1882 – 1940 Lluís Companys (1882-1940) Died 15 October 1940, aged 58 President of the Generalitat of Catalonia during the Civil War. The Gestapo arrested him in France and handed him to Franco's regime. He was shot at Montjuïc Castle in Barcelona.
• 1899 – 1940 Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940) Died 5 October 1940, aged 40 Mexican composer and violinist whose works include "Sensemayá" and the score for "La noche de los Mayas". He died in Mexico City of pneumonia.
• 1940 Battle of Britain RAF defeats Luftwaffe in first major air battle The Battle of Britain was fought from July to October 1940 as the Luftwaffe attempted to destroy the RAF and gain air superiority for a planned invasion of Britain. The RAF prevailed, forcing Hitler to postpone Operation Sea Lion.
• 1940 Becomes an American citizen Sworn in at Trenton, New Jersey Einstein, Margot and his secretary Helen Dukas took the oath on 1 October 1940. He kept his Swiss citizenship alongside it. The FBI had already opened a file on him that would run to 1,400 pages.
• 1940 – 1980 John Lennon Singer-songwriter, Beatle English musician, co-founder of the Beatles and co-writer of most of their songs. Solo career with Plastic Ono Band and Imagine. Murdered in New York in 1980.
• 1940 John Lennon born in Liverpool John Winston Lennon Born during a German air raid on Liverpool.
• 1940 The Great Dictator premieres Chaplin satirises Hitler Charlie Chaplin's first full talking picture premiered in New York on 15 October. Chaplin played both a Jewish barber and the dictator Adenoid Hynkel, a parody of Adolf Hitler. It was Chaplin's most commercially successful film.
• 1940 – 2023 Michael Gambon Irish-English Actor Irish-English actor who enjoyed a six-decade career spanning theatre, film and television. Knighted in 1998 for services to drama, he won three Olivier Awards, four BAFTAs and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He is best known internationally for playing Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Potter films.
• 1940 Michael Gambon born in Dublin Born Michael John Gambon in Cabra, Dublin. His family moved to Camden Town, London, when he was six.
• 1940 For Whom the Bell Tolls published Hemingway's novel of the Spanish Civil War Ernest Hemingway's novel was published on 21 October. It follows Robert Jordan, an American volunteer ordered to blow up a bridge during the Spanish Civil War. It became one of the best-selling American novels of its time.
• 1940 Hitler meets Pétain at Montoire Pétain publicly embraces collaboration On 24 October Adolf Hitler met Marshal Philippe Pétain at Montoire-sur-le-Loir. A photograph of their handshake became notorious. Pétain announced a week later that France was entering "the path of collaboration".
• 1940 – 2002 John Gotti (1940-2002) Died 10 June 2002, aged 61 John Gotti took over the Gambino crime family after ordering the 1985 murder of its boss Paul Castellano outside a Manhattan steakhouse. His expensive suits and repeated acquittals earned him the nicknames the Dapper Don and the Teflon Don. He was convicted of murder and racketeering in 1992 on the testimony of his underboss and died in a prison hospital.
• 1940 Italian invasion of Greece Greece rejects Mussolini's ultimatum On 28 October Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas rejected an Italian ultimatum, and Italian forces invaded from Albania. The Greeks drove the Italians back into Albania within weeks. Greece still marks the refusal each year as Ohi Day.