On this day

July 5, 1940

Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from July 5, 1940

The International Situation

By Unknown Author

Prime Minister Churchill told the House of Commons yesterday that the major part of the French Fleet either had joined the British, had been bottled up in British-held ports or had been destroyed in Wednesday's unprecedented naval actions between the two former Allies. The rest will be hunted down to keep them from falling into German or Italian hands.

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Notable Births

Chuck Close

1940Chuck Close, American painter and photographer (died 2021)[†]

Charles Thomas Close was an American painter, visual artist, and photographer who made massive-scale photorealist and abstract portraits of himself and others. Close also created photo portraits using a very large format camera. He adapted his painting style and working methods in 1988, after being paralyzed by an occlusion of the anterior spinal artery.

Historical Events

World War II

1940World War II: Foreign relations of Vichy France are severed with the United Kingdom.[†]

World War II or the Second World War was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.