MAY 7, 1940

TUESDAY
1940 Coca-Cola advertising artwork
$1,000 INVESTED IN COKE STOCK (KO) IN 1940
WOULD HAVE MADE YOU $8,324,276 IN THE 2025 DATASET
Min Wage Hourly$0.30
Median Home Price$4,000.00
Gas Price Avg$0.18
Bread Price Avg$0.09
Movie Ticket Avg$0.30
First Class Stamp$0.03
Milk Price Avg$0.55
Top Movies From 1940
Show screen release and event cards
1 Boom Town
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Boom Town
2 The Great Dictator
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The Great Dictator
3 Rebecca
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Rebecca
4 North West Mounted Police
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North West Mounted Police
5 Strike Up the Band
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Strike Up the Band
6 Northwest Passage
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Northwest Passage
7 Andy Hardy Meets Debutante
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Andy Hardy Meets Debutante
8 The Fighting 69th
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The Fighting 69th
9 Santa Fe Trail
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Santa Fe Trail
10 Kitty Foyle
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Kitty Foyle
The Grapes of Wrath
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The Grapes of Wrath
The Shop Around the Corner
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The Shop Around the Corner
His Girl Friday
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His Girl Friday
Pinocchio
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Pinocchio
Virginia City
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Virginia City
My Little Chickadee
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My Little Chickadee
Dr. Cyclops
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Dr. Cyclops
The Thief of Bagdad
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The Thief of Bagdad
Too Many Husbands
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Too Many Husbands
The Blue Bird
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The Blue Bird
The Invisible Man Returns
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The Invisible Man Returns
Road to Singapore
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Road to Singapore
Black Friday
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Black Friday
Gone with the Wind
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Gone with the Wind
Ninotchka
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Ninotchka
Of Mice and Men
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Of Mice and Men
Allegheny Uprising
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Allegheny Uprising
Remember?
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Remember?
A Christmas Carol
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A Christmas Carol

May 7, 1940 Trivia

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Exact-date daily brief

May 7, 1940

On May 7, 1940, the state reported a substantial revenue of $563,107 generated from betting activities, leading to predictions that the total for the year could reach an impressive $6,325,000, with wagering estimates soaring to $1...

Inventions & Breakthroughs of May 1940

Gadgets, lab surprises, odd bets, and future-shocks from this slice of the calendar.

1 Photocopier (Xerography)
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Photocopier (Xerography)
2 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Concept
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Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Concept
3 Jet Engine Flight Demonstration
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Jet Engine Flight Demonstration
4 Synthetic Detergent
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Synthetic Detergent
5 Mass-Produced Nylon Stockings
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Mass-Produced Nylon Stockings
6 Proximity Fuse
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Proximity Fuse
7 Electronic Fire Control System
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Electronic Fire Control System
8 Polyurethane Foam
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Polyurethane Foam
9 Early Speech Recognition Machine
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Early Speech Recognition Machine
10 Automatic Anti-Lock Brakes Concept
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Automatic Anti-Lock Brakes Concept

The Sounds of

Popular recordings and roots/country selections associated with the year

Headlines From May 7, 1940

Full News Archive

  • Headline: State Revenue from Bets Hits $563,107. Impact: This surge in betting revenue led to the rise of sports betting as a national pastime. Fast forward a few decades, and this event set the stage for the creation of countless fantasy leagues, where people now bet with their sanity instead of money. Fact: Did you know that the only thing more unpredictable than betting on sports is the weather? Spoiler: they both leave you broke and confused.
  • Headline: Students Perform Mozart in Concert. Impact: This innocent concert sparked a worldwide trend of students performing classical music, which eventually led to millions of kids deciding they could also be 'the next Mozart'β€”with the same musical talent as a potato. Fact: Fun fact: Mozart was a child prodigy, and now students use him as a benchmark for their own mediocrity. Bravo!.
  • Headline: Printing Inquiry Resumes Hearings Today. Impact: This inquiry into printing practices eventually led to the rise of digital media, where we now print emails instead of paper. Thanks, guys, for making trees cry. Fact: Did you know that printing paper was once considered a revolutionary idea? Now we can’t even print a document without wondering if it’ll be obsolete by the time it finishes printing.
  • Headline: TWO JAILED IN WPA FRAUD; Men Are Accused of Underpaying Truck-Contract Help. Impact: This fraud case opened the floodgates for scrutiny of government contracts, leading to a cascade of regulations that would make any bureaucrat proud. Who knew fraud could be the catalyst for more red tape?. Fact: In a world where even a hint of fraud leads to jail time, it's almost impressive how some people still manage to get away with it. Just don’t ask how.
  • Headline: YALE GIVES 12 STIPENDS; The Kingsley and Garland Funds Contribute Scholarships. Impact: This allocation of scholarships kickstarted a wave of elitism that would later be referenced with envy by everyone who couldn’t afford a latte at their local coffee shop. Fact: Yale’s scholarships are so exclusive that they might as well hand out golden ticketsβ€”too bad they don’t come with a lifetime supply of ramen noodles.
  • Headline: COSTER CONVINCED BANK, SAYS MERWIN; He Swears Officials at First Rejected Plans to Acquire McKesson & Robbins GIRARD & CO. WAS FACTOR Witness Asserts Acquiescence Was Gained on Plea Young Drug Firm Would Benefit. Impact: This convoluted banking decision led to the eventual rise of the pharmaceutical industry’s intricate web of mergers and acquisitions, where companies now acquire one another faster than you can say β€˜conflict of interest.’. Fact: Did you know that corporate mergers are like bad relationships? One minute you're happy, and the next, you're just trying to figure out how to split the assets.
  • Headline: LEADERS IN SCIENCE TELL COLLEGE MEN OUTLOOK IS BRIGHT; Technology Is Creating Vast New Fields, 400 Guests of General Motors Hear THEIR QUESTIONS TAKEN UP Compton and Johnson Among 'Experts' at Fair Forum on Youth Problems. Impact: This optimistic outlook on science paved the way for the tech boom, leading to the creation of jobs that require four years of college and a PhD just to figure out how to turn a computer on. Fact: In the world of science, optimism is the only thing that’s been proven to multiply faster than actual solutions.
  • Headline: Doctor Cleared on Check Charge. Impact: The doctor’s acquittal on check fraud charges inadvertently paved the way for a boom in medical lawsuits, leading to a culture where doctors now spend more time in court than treating patients. Fact: Did you know that being a doctor might just be the only profession where you're expected to save lives while also dodging legal bullets? Talk about a double life!.
  • Headline: Remington Rand Plant Resumes. Impact: This resumption of operations at Remington Rand marked a turning point that eventually led to the rise of typewriters and, ultimately, the widespread use of the backspace keyβ€”a true technological triumph. Fact: Fun fact: The typewriter was the original keyboard, and yet somehow, people still can’t seem to spell β€˜definitely’ right.

Wall Street Time Machine

The Right Call: A historical $1,000 investment comparison using the stored long-range dataset.
Rank #1
JNJ
Johnson & Johnson
Price in 1940
$0.06
Stored value
$3,433,941

Johnson & Johnson - If you invested $1,000 in 1940, it would be worth $3,433,941 today (3433.9x return)

Rank #2
PG
Procter & Gamble
Price in 1940
$0.25
Stored value
$586,657

Procter & Gamble - If you invested $1,000 in 1940, it would be worth $586,657 today (586.7x return)

Rank #3
KMB
Kimberly-Clark
Price in 1940
$0.69
Stored value
$147,887

Kimberly-Clark - If you invested $1,000 in 1940, it would be worth $147,887 today (147.9x return)

🦸 Top 5 Comics
Batman #1
Batman #1
$2,220,000
Flash Comics #1
Flash Comics #1
$1,500
Green Lantern #1
Green Lantern #1
$150,000
Detective Comics #38
Detective Comics #38
$42,000
All Star Comics #3
All Star Comics #3
$2,500
🧸 Top 5 Toys
Lone Ranger Frontier Town
Lone Ranger Frontier Town
$150.00
Red Ryder BB Gun
Red Ryder BB Gun
$250.00
Sorry!
Sorry!
$30.00
Paper Dolls
Paper Dolls
$35.00
Microscope Kit
Microscope Kit
$200.00
⚾ Top 5 Trading Cards
Walt Disney Comics and Stories #1 Card
Walt Disney Comics and Stories #1 Card
$800
Superman Gum Cards
Superman Gum Cards
$800
G-Men and Heroes of the Law
G-Men and Heroes of the Law
$11.00
1940 War Gum Cards
1940 War Gum Cards
$1,500
1940 Play Ball Baseball Cards
1940 Play Ball Baseball Cards
$3,000