Timeline January 1940

Events in January 1940 10

• 1894 – 1940 Isaac Babel (1894-1940) Died 27 January 1940, aged 45 Soviet writer of "Red Cavalry" and "Odessa Stories". The NKVD arrested him in 1939 on invented charges of espionage and shot him in Moscow after a brief trial.
• 1939 – 1940 Battle of Suomussalmi Winter War battle in which outnumbered Finnish ski troops encircled and destroyed the Soviet 163rd and 44th divisions, capturing large amounts of equipment.
• 1940 Australian Open 1940 Men: Adrian Quist · Women: Nancye Wynne Bolton Last Australian Open before World War II.
• 1940 – 1942 Tommy Dorsey Orchestra -- learning to sing Sinatra joins Tommy Dorsey's band in January 1940 -- the most commercially successful band in America -- and spends two years absorbing everything Dorsey knows about musicianship, phrasing and showmanship. Most significantly, he studies Dorsey's trombone technique: Dorsey can play an extraordinarily long phrase without appearing to breathe, achieved through circular breathing through a tiny aperture in the corner of his mouth. Sinatra translates this technique to voice -- developing the long, legato phrases that will define his mature style. He records his first major hits with Dorsey: 'I'll Never Smile Again' (1940) reaches Number 1.
• 1940 Food rationing begins in Britain Bacon, butter and sugar become the first foods rationed in wartime Britain, starting a system that lasted until 1954.
• 1940 Romeo and Juliet ballet premieres in Leningrad Prokofiev's ballet has its Soviet premiere at the Kirov Theatre, with Galina Ulanova as Juliet.
• 1940 – 2015 Julian Bond (1940-2015) Died 15 August 2015, aged 75 Julian Bond was an American civil rights leader who co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and later served as chairman of the NAACP. He was one of the youngest members ever elected to the Georgia state legislature, though he was initially barred from taking his seat over his opposition to the Vietnam War. Bond remained a prominent voice for civil rights until his death.
• 1940 – 2017 John Hurt (1940-2017) Died 25 January 2017, aged 77 British actor known for roles in Alien, The Elephant Man, and the Harry Potter films. He received Academy Award nominations for Midnight Express and The Elephant Man. He died of pancreatic cancer.
• 1940 The Grapes of Wrath premieres John Ford's film of the Steinbeck novel, starring Henry Fonda, premieres in New York. It won Oscars for Ford and for Jane Darwell.
• 1940 6th Elfstedentocht — Pact of Dokkum Shared victory: Adema, Van der Duim, Jongert, Keijzer, Westra Held on 30 January 1940 with over 3,000 competitors. Five skaters — Auke Adema, Durk van der Duim, Cor Jongert, Piet Keijzer and Sjouke Westra — conspired in Dokkum to cross the finish line together. This Pact of Dokkum caused such controversy that shared finishes were again strictly forbidden. The race took place just months before the German invasion of the Netherlands.