" The term made an impact into English pulp science fiction starting from Jack Williamson's The Cometeers ( 1936 ) and the distinction between mechanical robots and fleshy androids was popularized by Edmond Hamilton's Captain Future ( 1940 – 1944 ).

* 1940 – Homero Aridjis, Mexican writer and diplomat

* 1940 – Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Mexican actor

* 1874 – William B. Bankhead, American politician ( d. 1940 )

* 1892 – Johnny Dodds, American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist ( d. 1940 )

* 1940 – Herbie Hancock, American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer

* 1857 – Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist ( d. 1940 )

* 1940 – Burt Young, American actor

* 1874 – Carl Bosch, German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate ( d. 1940 )

* 1940 – Sonny Sharrock, American guitarist ( Last Exit ) ( d. 1994 )

* 1940 – Estonia was illegally annexed by the Soviet Union.

* 1940 – Mukhu Aliyev, Russian politician

* 1940 – Louise Sorel, American actress

* 1857 – Manuel de Escandón, Mexican polo player ( d. 1940 )

* 1940 – Bill Musselman, American basketball coach ( d. 2000 )

* 1940 – Beko Ransome-Kuti, Nigerian doctor and activist ( d. 2006 )

* 1940 – Will Tura, Belgian singer-songwriter, musician, and composer

2 # 1 ( Jan., 1940 ), pp. 87 – 104 in JSTOR

* 1881 – Otto Toeplitz, German mathematician ( d. 1940 )

* 1940 – Mervyn Kitchen, English cricketer and umpire

* 1940 – Ram Loevy, Israeli screenwriter and director

* 1940 – World War II: Italian forces begin the invasion of British Somaliland.

* 1940 – Lance Alworth, American football player

* 1940 – Martin Sheen, American actor

* 1940 – John Craven, English journalist

* 1940 – Jill St. John, American actress

* 1940 – John McCririck, English horse racing pundit

It has been argued by John Mosier that, while the French soldiers in 1940 were better trained than German soldiers, as were the Americans later, and the German army was the least mechanised of the major armies, its leadership cadres were both larger and superior and their high standards of leadership were the primary reason for the successes of the German army in World War Two as it had been in World War One.

Hounded by debtors, Thomas and his family left Laugharne in July 1940 and moved to the home of critic John Davenport in Marshfield.

* 1940 – John Lewis, American politician and civil rights activist

* 1940 – John Hadl, American football player

* 1875 – John Duha, American gymnast ( d. 1940 )

In the wake of Mussolini ’ s declaration of war against France and England on June 10, 1940, he discovered Kafka ’ s The Metamorphosis, Gogol, John Steinbeck and William Faulkner along with French films by Marcel Carné, René Clair, and Julien Duvivier.

* John Anson Ford ( 1883 – 1983 ), American local-level legislator who served on Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for 24 years ( 1934 – 58 ); Democratic nominee for U. S. Senator ( 1940 )

* 2012 – Caroline John, English actress ( b. 1940 )

John Ono Lennon, MBE, born John Winston Lennon ( 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980 ) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as a founder member

* 1940 – John Hurt, English actor

In order to enter at a talent competition at University High School, Berry and Torrence helped form a doo-wop group known as " The Barons " ( named after their high school's Hi-Y club, where they were members ), which comprised fellow University High students William " Chuck " Steele ( lead singer ), Arnold P. " Arnie " Ginsburg ( born November 19, 1939 ) ( 1st tenor ), Wallace S. " Wally " Yagi ( born 20 July 1940 ) ( 2nd tenor ), John ' Sagi " Seligman ( 2nd tenor ), with Berry singing bass, and Torrence providing falsetto.

John Fink ( born February 11, 1940 ) is an American film and television actor.

* John Brown ( footballer born 1940 ), English association footballer

* John M. Walker, Jr. ( born 1940 ), former chief judge of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

* John Walker ( footballer ) ( 1874 – 1940 ), Scottish international footballer

* Harris, Jesse W. ( 1940 ) John Bale, a study in the minor literature of the Reformation.

* 1940 – John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.

The ' resonant ' cavity magnetron variant of the earlier magnetron tube was invented by John Randall and Harry Boot in 1940 at the University of Birmingham, England.

In 1940, at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, John Randall and Harry Boot produced a working prototype similar to Hollman's cavity magnetron, but added liquid cooling and a stronger cavity.

* 1940 – John Horgan, author, professor and politician