Baseball was one of the major sports in the 1940s. Major news in sports in the 1940s included the first black major league baseball player, Jackie Robinson. In the late 1940s, Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers where he later won the National League's Most Valuable Player Award.
Popular tunes in the 1940s included the music of Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Glen Miller, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. Be-bop and rhythm and blues music was popular in the 1940s but died down around the end of the decade. The jitterbug was a popular dance move in the 1940s. Radio stations, much like today's radio stations, provided news, music, entertainment and sports. In the 1940s, radio started to compete with a newcomer: television.
Popular clothing in the 1940s included the zoot suit, military style jackets, hats and alligator skins. Referred to as the Big Band Era, the 1940s clothing styles were heavily influenced by swing music and by World War II. Popular designers in the 1940s included Jacques Fath, Madame Gres, David Evins and Salvatore Ferragamo.
The Cold War began in the 1940s, the minimum wage was 43 cents an hour and the average salary was $1,299. Antarctica was discovered as a continent, the 8 million people were unemployed after the war and 55 percent of people gained indoor plumbing. The presidents during the '40s were Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman. The first computer, created in the early '40s, weighed 30 tons and stood up to two stories high.