In the year 1940
419 Notable deaths
Charles Sumner Tainter
American inventor and businessman.
Born April 25th, 1854 in Watertown.
Died April 20th, 1940 at 85 years old in San Diego.
John Wray
American character actor (1887-1940).
Born February 13th, 1887 in Philadelphia.
Died April 5th, 1940 at 53 years old in Los Angeles (disease).
Ray Strachey
British feminist activist and writer (1887-1940).
Born June 4th, 1887 in Westminster.
Died July 16th, 1940 at 53 years old in London.
Nadezhda Plevitskaya
Russian singer and spy.
Born September 29th, 1879 in Kursk Uyezd.
Died October 1st, 1940 at 61 years old in Rennes.
Henri Desgrange
French racing cyclist, journalist and organiser of the first tour de france.
Born January 31st, 1865 in 10th arrondissement of Paris. [ref]
Died August 16th, 1940 at 75 years old in Grimaud. [ref]
Anton Korošec
Austrian member of austrian empire council (1872-1940).
Born May 12th, 1872 in Biserjane. [ref]
Died December 14th, 1940 at 68 years old in Belgrade.
Paul Nizan
French philosopher, politician, writer (1905-1940).
Born February 7th, 1905 in Tours. [ref]
Died May 23rd, 1940 at 35 years old in Recques-sur-Hem (killed in action). [ref]
Herbert Fisher
British politician (1865-1940).
Born March 21st, 1865 in London. [ref]
Died April 18th, 1940 at 75 years old in London. [ref]
Vítězslava Kaprálová
Czech conductor and composer (1915-1940).
Born January 14th, 1915 in Brno. [ref]
Died June 16th, 1940 at 25 years old in Montpellier (unknown). [ref]
Chujiro Hayashi
Japanese reiki practitioner (1880–1940).
Born September 15th, 1880 in Tokyo.
Died May 11th, 1940 at 59 years old in Atami (seppuku).
Deaths 131 to 140 of 419
I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity. Gilda Radner