1940 January
Population: 671,659.

1940 January 2
Pittsburgh business activity for 1939 was 34.9 per cent over that of 1938, approaching 1929 levels in the closing months.

1940 January 5
City and county officials announced that the $38,000,000 "Moses Plan" would be put into motion in 1940 with reconstruction of Duquesne Way, at a cost of $2,500,000, as the first project. Next on the list were a $1,400,000 Liberty Tubes grade separation plaza and a $1,500,-000 extension of Saw Mill Run Boulevard to West End.

1940 January 25
"Musical Americana" the national radio program of Westinghouse, was instituted by KDKA.

1940 February 15
A 20-inch snowfall stopped auto and trolley traffic and forced a two-day suspension in business and trading activities.

1940 March 26
Investigators for the Dies Congressional Committee raided Pittsburgh Communist headquarters at 305-7 Seventh Avenue following arrest of James H. Dolsen, local Communist leader, on a congressional contempt citation.

1940 March 27
David L. Lawrence and seven other state Democratic leaders went on trial in Harrisburg on charge of conspiring to "mace" state payrolls (forcing employees to make political contributions); the original charges were made by ex-Attorney General Charles J. Margiotti. On April 12 Lawrence and his co-defendants were acquitted by a Dauphin County Court jury.

1940 April 15
Bedford Dwellings, the first large federal public housing development, was completed.

Courtesy of the Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh

1940 June 4
The Pirates played their first night game in Forbes Field.

Courtesy of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania

1940 June 4
Irving S. Olds succeeded Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., as Chairman of the United Steel Corporation.

1940 June 13
Industrial leaders met with public officials to plan mobilization of Pittsburgh district resources for the nation's $5,000,000,000 defense program.

1940 June 28
Highland Park Zoo, completely overhauled and modernized, was reopened to the public.

1940 August 1
A reorganization plan, consolidating 55 interlocking street transit systems into a single company, was filed, in Federal Court by trustees for the bankrupt Pittsburgh Railways Company.

1940 August 18
Spear and Company leased a Wood Street 14-story building, formerly occupied by McCreery's Department Store, and announced plans for a $1,000,000 renovation program.

1940 August 22
Preparations were made to raze old Allegheny General Hospital and 25 other buildings in a congested North Side section, site of a huge new Sears, Roebuck and Company store and parking lot.