January 10
Stanford scientists report isolation of the polio virus.

March 12
Truman declares the U.S. will give millions to Greece, Turkey, and other countries -- a change from the U.S.'s tradition of neutrality.

June 5
Secretary of State Marshall unveils an ambitious plan to prop up European countries against Communist revolution, which could put them in league with the Soviets.

June 23
The anti-labor Taft-Hartley act passes in Congress. It limits unions' power to strike and contribute money. It also requires union leaders to take anti-Communist oaths.

June 28
In New York, the last trolley in Manhattan is retired and replaced by diesel buses.

September 22
More than a million ex-GI's go to college. At Berkeley, 20,000 of the 40,000 students enrolled are veterans.

October 14
Chuck Yeager becomes the "fastest man on earth." Flying in a Bell X-1 rocket plane, he becomes the first human to move faster than sound.

October 23
A House panel on "Un-American Activities" says it suspects 79 influential Hollywood figures of being leftist "subversives." Actor Robert Taylor says Communism should be outlawed. Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and other actors protest the hearings the next week.

November 25
Hollywood blacklists ten moviemakers for refusal to participate in the Un-American Activities hearings.

and...
The first Polaroid camera is invented.

5/2/40
Joe the hero's big speech

11/16/40
Jane the hero's last stand

Fifty years before Denzel Washington reprised his role in The Preacher's Wife, Cary Grant is the angel who visits The Bishop's Wife.