Historical Facts about the 1940's

FACTS about this decade.

• Population 132,122,000
• Unemployed in 1940 - 8,120,000
• National Debt $43 Billion
• Average Salary $1,299. Teacher's salary $1,441
• Minimum Wage $.43 per hour
• 55% of U.S. homes have indoor plumbing
• Antarctica is discovered to be a continent
• Life expectancy 68.2 female, 60.8 male
• Auto deaths 34,500
• Supreme Court decides blacks do have a right to vote
• World War II changed the order of world power; the United States and the USSR become super powers
• Cold War begins.

http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade40.html