The Forties (1940 – 1949 CE)

1940

• Memphis Minnie writes a tribute song to Ma Rainey.
• October 7: Althea Garrison is born.

1941

• Willem Arondeus begins an underground periodical as part of the Dutch Resistance.

1943

• Allied forces invade the island of Sicily and store munitions in the Addaura Cave. The munitions explode, revealing previously undiscovered rock art.
• Willem Arondeus joins force with another underground publication in order to increase their circulation.
• March 27: Willem Arondeus leads the bombing of the Amsterdam Public Records Office, in order to hinder Nazi efforts to root out Jews in the area.
• July 1: Willem Arondeus is executed by Nazis. His last message is: “Let it be known that homosexuals are not cowards.”

1945

• Christine Jorgensen — still living as a man — graduates high school and enlists in the Army, serving during the end of World War II.
• Willem Arondeus is awarded a posthumous medal and buried at Erebegraafplaats Bloemendaal.
• Alan Turing begins working on the Automatic Computing Engine (ACE).
• August 24: Marsha P. Johnson is born.

1946

• King George IV awards Alan Turing with the Order of the British Empire — his classified work with codebreaking during World War II is estimated to have saved thousands of lives.

1947

• The Sex Perversion Elimination Program begins in the United States.

1948

• Alfred Kinsey publishes “Sexual Behavior in the Human Male”.

1949

• Herman Weber attempts to restart the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee. This group ultimately becomes the Committee for the Reform of Sexual Criminal Laws.