yesterwire.comBack to search

On the date

Friday, May 24, 1940

From the day

Memories from that day

No memories yet. Add yours if you remember this day.

The Headlines

NAVY BILL PASSED BY SENATE, 78 TO 0; Mass Production of Airplanes Projected--Industrialists Pledge Defense Cooperation

Read in The New York Times →

The must-have

Red Ryder BB Gun

On This Day

  • Acting on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, NKVD agent Iosif Grigulevich orchestrates an unsuccessful assassination attempt on exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky in Coyoacán, Mexico.

    Wikipedia →
  • Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.

    Wikipedia →

Slang

Slang of the decade

General

gobbledygooksnafufubar

Gi

ack-ackdear johnfatiguesroger that

Bobby Soxer

neatodreamydreamboat

Catchphrases of 1940

  • I'll never go hungry again

Tech Check

Color TV Broadcasts, Jeep & Radar Systems.

Style of 1940

Silhouette: Boxy and austere (Utility)

Material: Rayon and tweed

  • Victory rolls
  • Utility suits
  • Snoods

Cost of Living (1940)

Loaf of Bread

$0.08

Gallon of Gas

$0.18

Average Home

$2,938

New Car

$850

Time Elapsed

31,424 days ago

(86 years, 34 days)