A look back at the world in the 1940s.

1940

Churchill becomes prime minister of Britain

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1941

The successful use of penicillin is revolutionized

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National debt $64.3 billion.

M & Ms included in WWII soldier's rations

1942

Joseph Stalin is TIME magazine's "Man of the Year"

The film Casablanca is released

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1943

Milton Bradley invents Chutes & Ladders

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1944

Joe Nuxhall, the youngest pitcher in major league baseball, is only 15 years old when he hurled his first major-league game for the Cincinnati Reds

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1945

The slinky is invented by a ship inspector

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The digital computer, named ENIAC, weighing 30 tons and standing two stories high, is completed

The Cold War begins

1946

U.S. population is 140 million

National debt is $280 billion

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1947

Commercial television with 13 stations becomes available to the public

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Reynolds invents aluminum foil

1948

The frisbee is invented

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Pietro Belluschi designs the prototype Equitable Savings and Loan building, a "skyscraper" of 12 stories

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1949

Frozen dinner is invented

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NATO--12 nations sign treaty

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IN THE UNITED STATES

* Average annual salary is $1,299

* Average annual teacher's salary is $1,441

* Minimum wage is $0.43 per hour

* 55 percent of homes have indoor plumbing

* Life expectancy is 68.2 years for females, 60.8 years for males

ARCHITECTURE & REAL ESTATE

* Nonessentials are eliminated and simplicity becomes the key element. Modern glass-and-steel office buildings begin to rise after the war ends

* After the war, suburbs--with their tract homes and uniformity--spring up, housing GI's and their new families

* The family lawn becomes the crowning glory and symbol of pride in ownership

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