Centuries: Year in Review 20th Century (19th century - 20th century - 21st century)
Decades: 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
Years: 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 - 1943 - 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948
Births
- February 11 - Iain Cameron British brigadier
- January 19 - Janis Joplin, blues singer
- August 17 - Robert De Niro, US actor
- George Harrison, Beatle
Deaths
Events
- February 11 - General Eisenhower is selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
- September 3: Italy is invaded by the Allied forces during World War II
- Development of the Colossus computer by British to break German encryption (see History of computing).
- Physics - Otto Stern
- Chemistry - George de Hevesy
- Medicine - Henrik Carl Peter Dam, Edward Adelbert Doisy 1939 - Gerhard Domagk
- Literature - not awarded
- Peace - not awarded