Iowa History Timeline: Text Version
B.C.E. = Before Common Era
C.E. = Common Era
C.E. = Common Era
- 1940s:
U.S. Event
-
Farmers No Longer Use Horses
During the 1940s and early '50s farmers made the transition from using horses to tractors. By 1954 more farmers used tractors than horses. The production of crops consumed by horses, such as oats, declined also.
Find out about tractors on Iowa farms. - 1940s:
U.S. Event
-
Food Rationing
During America's involvement in World War II (1941-45), food rationing occurred. Products such as sugar, eggs and butter were rationed to conserve supplies.
Find out more about life during World War II in Iowa. - 1940:
Iowa Event
-
Iowa's population: 2,538,268
- 1940:
Iowa Event
-
Henry A. Wallace Elected Vice President of United States
Henry Agard Wallace is the first Iowan to be elected to the office of vice president of the United States. He served with Franklin D. Roosevelt's third term. Roosevelt's vice president during the first two terms was John Nance Garner of Texas. He refused to run again because of the tradition of George Washington only running for two terms. Wallace served only one term, and was replaced for Roosevelt's fourth term by Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri.
Find out more about Henry A. Wallace. - 1940:
Iowa Event
-
Surprising Blizzard
On November 11 the day started with temperatures in the 40s and 50s in Iowa. Soon a cold front moved in causing a blinding blizzard. The storm caused 154 deaths.
Find out more about natural disasters in Iowa. - 1940-1952:
U.S. Event
-
Polio Strikes
Between these years polio caused fear across the country. Scientists knew of no cures or ways to prevent the disease.
Find out more about polio in Iowa. - 1941:
U.S. Event
-
First Television Broadcasts
- 1941:
Iowa Event
-
United States Enters World War II
Entry into World War II contributed to the end of the agricultural depression in Iowa as the country geared up for a war economy. Thousands of Iowans served in the armed forces during the war, and Iowans at home supported the war effort in factories and on the farms.
Find out more about Iowa's role in WWII. - 1941:
U.S. Event
-
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) Formed
The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps was formed. It was a unit of the U.S. Army during World War II. About 100,000 women served during the war. The name of the corp was changed to Women's Army Corp (WAC) in 1943
- 1941-1945:
U.S. Event
-
America in World War II
The United States joined the war in 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan. In August 1945 the war ended.
Find out more about World War II. - 1942-1946:
Iowa Event
-
Suspension of State Fair
Because of World War II, the State Fair was cancelled in 1942 and did not resume until 1946.
Find out more about the Iowa State Fair. - 1942:
Iowa Event
-
Fort Des Moines Trains Women's Auxiliary Army Corps
Women were first accepted into military service in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAACs), and the first training center for them was in Des Moines. Oveta Culp Hobby was the first director of the WAAC at Ft. Des Moines in WWII appointed with a relative rank of major (women in the WAAC did not initially receive the same rank titles as men) on May 14, 1942. She had been a newspaper editor before the war.
Find out more about Fort Des Moines. - 1942:
Iowa Event
-
Iowa's Sullivan Brothers Killed in WW II
Five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo were killed in action in the same engagement when their ship is sunk in the Pacific. The deaths of the brothers was the greatest single casualty disaster for one family in the entire war. Because of this incident the already existing rule against brothers serving in the same unit was always thereafter enforced.
Find out more about Iowa's World War II experiences. - 1943:
U.S. Event
-
George Washington Carver Dies
Scientist George Washington Carver died and was buried at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
Find out more about George Washington Carver. - 1944:
U.S. Event
-
Ku Klux Klan Disbands
The Ku Klux Klan officially disbanded when the federal government demanded more than $600,000 in back taxes. It reorganized in 1946.
Find out more about the Ku Klux Klan in Iowa. - 1945:
U.S. Event
-
Racism in Baseball
Until 1945 baseball was racially segregated. Black and white players had separate teams.
Find out more about baseball in Iowa. - 1945:
U.S. Event
-
Atomic Bomb Dropped
- 1945:
Iowa Event
-
Henry A. Wallace Appointed Secretary of Commerce
Henry A. Wallace was appointed secretary of commerce by Franklin D. Roosevelt after Wallace lost the nomination for vice president for Roosevelt's fourth term. Wallace served in this post from March 1945 to September 1946, when he was fired by Harry S. Truman, who had become president upon Roosevelt's midterm-death.
Find out more about Henry A. Wallace. - 1945:
U.S. Event
-
President Dies
- 1945:
World Event
-
World War II Ends
- 1946-1961:
U.S. Event
-
Baby Boomers Born
Between 1946-1961 there was a boom in births. Over 65 million babies were born. They became known as the "Baby Boomers" generation.
- 1948:
Iowa Event
-
Henry A. Wallace Nominated for President
Nominated by the Progressive Party, Wallace's campaign for president was unsuccessful. He joined James Baird Weaver as another Iowan who ran for president as a candidate of a third party.
Find out more about Iowa's presidential hopefuls. - 1948:
U.S. Event
-
Israel Becomes Nation
- 1949:
Iowa Event
-
First Television Broadcast in Iowa
WOC-TV in Davenport signed on for its first official telecast day on October 31, 1949, becoming the first television broadcast in the state. The first broadcast reached the approximately 400 homes with television sets in the Quad-Cities. WOI-TV, then based out of Iowa State University, would become the second station in Iowa when it began broadcasting in central Iowa in 1950. Television revolutionized the communications industry, as radio had done 30 years before.
Find out more about the communications industry in Iowa. - 1949:
Iowa Event
-
Effigy Mounds National Monument Established
Effigy Mounds National Monument in northeast Iowa was established by presidential proclamation in 1949. Prehistoric peoples built mounds at various times and places throughout the Americas. Only in the upper Mississippi River valley, however, was there a culture that specialized in ceremonial mounds called effigies. Effigies are representations of living creatures such as eagles, falcons, bison, deer, turtles, lizards and, in particular, bears.
Find out more about early people of Iowa.
Top
1800 | 1810 | 1820 | 1830 | 1840 | 1850 | 1860 | 1870 | 1880 | 1890 |
1900 | 1910 | 1920 | 1930 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 |1980 | 1990 | 2000
Click on a link to view events
Before 1 C.E. | 1 C.E. - 1779 | 1780 | 1790 |1800 | 1810 | 1820 | 1830 | 1840 | 1850 | 1860 | 1870 | 1880 | 1890 |
1900 | 1910 | 1920 | 1930 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 |1980 | 1990 | 2000
|
Questions to Consider:
|
Sources: Additional Sources:
|
Iowa Pathways: Iowa History Resources for Students and Teachers
Home ~ My Path ~ Artifacts ~ Timeline ~ Quest ~ Teacher Resources ~ Project Information ~ SponsorsIowa Pathways © 2005 - 2013 Iowa Public Television