1940s
1940–1949Zoom in — years
Key events
- April 15, 1947Jackie Robinson integrates baseball
Robinson breaks Major League Baseball's color line, enduring abuse to open the game.
- 1940Charles Drew pioneers blood banking
Drew's work on blood plasma storage saves countless lives.
- February 29, 1940Hattie McDaniel wins an Academy Award
The first African American to win an Oscar, for Gone with the Wind.
- March 1940Richard Wright's "Native Son"
A searing bestseller reshapes American literature on race.