Birth of Aberdeen Goalscorer
Denis Law was born in Aberdeen on 24 February and later became Scotland's only male Ballon d'Or winner.
Permanent historical records · Updated 2026-11-03
1940 in Great Britain — Page 2
Explore 642 historical events and records for Great Britain in 1940.
Historical records for Great Britain in 1940
Sorted by month and day. Records with no month are shown last. Showing 40 of 642 unique records.
642Unique records
2 of 17Page
22Named events on this page
13Named people on this page
11Places on this page
February
Armament
Introduces the Navy estimates to Parliament for the 1st time since 1914
Budget
Introduces the Navy estimates to Parliament for the 1st time since 1914
Invasion of Norway
Calls off mining Norwegian waters, might effect neutrals such as the USA & Sweden
Mining
Calls off mining Norwegian waters, might effect neutrals such as the USA & Sweden
Neutrality
Calls off mining Norwegian waters, might effect neutrals such as the USA & Sweden
March
Academy Award
Wins an Oscar for, "Gone With The Wind"
Frisch-Peierls Memorandum
Calculates with Peierls that a compact uranium bomb may be practical.
Frisch-Peierls Memorandum
Calculates that a uranium-235 bomb may be practical.
Frisch-Peierls Memorandum
Co-authors the Birmingham memorandum estimating uranium-235 weapon feasibility.
Frisch-Peierls Memorandum
Co-authors memorandum estimating uranium-235 bomb feasibility.
Inside the Whale
Publishes Inside the Whale and Other Essays.
Barttle of Narvik
Continues pushing plans for a northern operation linked to Narvik.
Narvik Landing Plan
The War Cabinet continues planning for a possible Allied landing at Narvik.
Narvik Landing Plan
Continues planning for possible Allied landings linked to Narvik.
Standstill Order
Chamberlain's government pauses Narvik planning after Finland accepts peace with the Soviet Union.
Standstill Order
Narvik plans pause after Finland accepts peace with the Soviet Union.
Enigma Machine
The first bombe is installed
Invasion of Norway
Wins support of the war Cabinet & the Allied supreme war Council to mine Norway
Mining
Wins support of the war Cabinet & the Allied supreme war Council to mine Norway
Barttle of Narvik
Backs Supreme War Council approval of mining Norwegian waters and preparing Narvik occupation plans.
Operation Wilfred Approval
Supreme War Council approves mining Norwegian waters and preparing Narvik occupation plans.
Operation Wilfred Approval
Backs approval to mine Norwegian waters and prepare Narvik operations.
Supreme War Council
Approves Operation Wilfred and related Norwegian planning.
Supreme War Council
The council agrees to mine Norwegian waters and prepare Narvik occupation plans.
Boys' Weeklies
Publishes Boys' Weeklies on popular children's papers.
Charles Dickens
Publishes a major essay on Charles Dickens.
Enigma Machine
Leads British Tabulating Machine engineering work that turns Turing's Bombe design into operational hardware.
Enigma Machine
Breaks several German Naval Enigma messages from late 1938 using the Fort crib method.
April
Barttle of Narvik
Oversees naval preparations as Operation Wilfred begins before the German invasion.
HMS Glowworm Loss
His action warns the Royal Navy of German movement toward Norway.
Invasion of Norway
Soldiers in the British Army land at Namsos in Norway
Operation Wilfred
Churchill backs the Royal Navy mining operation intended to disrupt German access to Swedish iron ore.
Operation Wilfred Begins
Oversees the opening of mining operations off Norway.
Barttle of Narvik
Responds to the German landing at Narvik during Operation Weserubung.
Invasion of Norway
The Germans invade Norway, British intervention is too late
Invasion of Norway
Launches torpedoes at Admiral Hipper to protect Britsh troops
Operation Weserubung
Responds to the German invasion of Norway and Denmark.
Barttle of Narvik
Receives reports of Warburton-Lee's destroyer attack in the first naval battle.
Battle of Narvik
Commands HMS Havock during the destroyer attack.
How these records were prepared
Generated from the World History Database historical_events table. Identical display records are collapsed; descriptions otherwise retain the stored text. Coverage and source quality vary. Check primary and specialist sources before citing individual historical claims.