Timeline December 1940

Events in December 1940 5

• 1896 – 1940 F. Scott Fitzgerald American novelist Fitzgerald captured the Jazz Age in The Great Gatsby, exploring wealth, illusion, and disillusionment.
• 1903 – 1940 Nathanael West (1903-1940) Died 22 December 1940, aged 37 American novelist, author of "Miss Lonelyhearts" and "The Day of the Locust". He and his wife died in a car crash in California the day after his friend F. Scott Fitzgerald died.
• 1940 Hundred Regiments Offensive Chinese Communist forces attack Japanese railways and garrisons From 20 August the Eighth Route Army under Peng Dehuai attacked Japanese railways, roads and blockhouses across northern China. It was the largest Communist offensive of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Japan retaliated with the brutal "Three Alls" policy.
• 1940 – 2005 Richard Pryor (1940-2005) Died 10 December 2005, aged 65 Richard Pryor, a stand-up comedian and actor widely regarded as one of the most influential in American comedy, died on 10 December 2005 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis. His raw, confessional style influenced generations of comedians and he starred in numerous films through the 1970s and 1980s. Pryor was awarded the first Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 1998.
• 1940 – 1993 Frank Zappa (1940-1993) Died 4 December 1993, aged 52 Frank Zappa was an American musician and composer known for his prolific and genre-defying output across rock, jazz, and orchestral music. He was also an outspoken advocate for free speech, testifying before Congress against the labeling of music with explicit content warnings. He died of prostate cancer at his home in Los Angeles.