1940
| January | Futurian Observer first published. |
| February 18 | Stranger Club formed. |
| Spring | Denver Science Fictioneers formed. |
| May | Fandom learns that “Yngvi is a Louse!” |
| July | Philadelphia Blitzkrieg. |
| September 1–2 (Labor Day) |
Chicon (Second Worldcon). |
| Jack Speer distributes first filksongs. | |
| End of Second Transition and start of Third Fandom (Numerical Fandoms). | |
| October | Louis Russell Chauvenet coins the word Fanzine in Detours. |
| October | Damon Knight proposes the establishment of the N3F. |
| Fall | Colorado Fantasy Society formed. |
| September | Serial of A. E. van Vogt’s Slan begins. |
| November 10 | Phillycon 1940. |
| November 29 | Minneapolis Fantasy Society restarted. |
| December 6 | First Sydney Conference held. |
Births and Deaths:
Alexei Panshin - Angela Carter - Ann Cecil - Arlan K. Andrews, Sr. - Barry Hall - Bryan Welham - Burt Satz - Butch Honeck - Chuck Partington - Doug Barbour - Drew Whyte - Farnsworth Wright - Fred Patten - Fuzzy Pink Niven - George C. Chesbro - George Jumper - H. R. Giger - Jackie Causgrove - James Coleman Nelson - Jim Caughran - John Clute - John McGeehan - Judith Brownlee - Kent Moomaw - Kinuko Y. Craft - Lou Donato - Mary Turzillo - Meade Frierson - Mike McQuown - Norman Spinrad - Peter Haining - Philip Nowlan - Robert Smets - Robin Wood - Roger Sween - Ron Bushyager - Ron Haydock - Ron Tiner - Roy Thomas - T. O'Conor Sloane - Talbot Mundy - Ted Wade - Terry Gilliam - Thomas M. Disch - Tim Dumont - Tom Digby - Tomas A. Endrey - Warren A. Freiberg - Wendall Ing
Convention series started or ended:
Onetime conventions:
Bids:
Publications started or ended:
1940 Chicon Scrapbook and Everyfan's Guide - a - Ad Astra - Astonishing Stories - Austra-Fantasy - CFS Review - Captain Future - Chaos - Comet - The Comet - Comet Stories of Time and Space - Confiteor - Cosmos - Damn Thing - Dawn Shadows - Detours - Directory of Current British Fan Magazines - Epilogue - Escape - FAPA Review - Fan Directory - Fanmail - Fantasite - Fantasmagoria - Fantastic Novels - Fantasy Digest - Fantasy Fiction Field - Fantasy Fictioneer - Fanzine - Forerunner - Frontier - Futuria Fantasia - Futurian Observer - Futurian War Digest - Gargoyle - The Gentlest Art - Hermes - Le Vombiteur - Looking Ahead - Lovecraftian - Melbourne Bulletin - Memo Sheet - Midwest Marky - Milty's Mag - Nepenthe - Pluto - Postal Preview - Pseudo-Futurian - STF-ETTE - Sardonyx - Science Fiction Fandom Quarterly - Science Fiction Forward - Science Fiction Progress - Science Fiction Quarterly - Science Fiction Song Sheet - Science Fiction Weekly - Science-Fantasy Review - Science-Fantasy Review's War Digest - Scienti-Comics - Shangri L'Affaires - Snide - Stardust - Stars - Strange Fantasy - Sun Spots - Super Science Stories - Sweetness and Light - The "Pseudo-Futurian!" - The Alchemist - The Feminine Fan - The Futurian - The Gentlest Art - The Rocket - The Satellite - Uncanny Tales - Vad-Jong - War in Heaven - Who's Who in Fandom 1940 - Why I Have Left Fandom
Publishers founded or closed:
Awards made, started or ended:
Stores opened or closed:
Clubs founded or disbanded:
Fanhistory:
New fanspeak coined:
Blitzkrieg - Confabulation - Fanzine - Faster Than Light - Slan - Triumvirs - Vad-Jong - Yngvi
Miscellaneous:
Asia:
Australia:
Britain:
Angela Carter - Barry Hall - Bryan Welham - Chuck Partington - Confiteor - Dawn Shadows - Directory of Current British Fan Magazines - Fanmail - Forerunner - Futurian War Digest - Gargoyle - The Gentlest Art - John Clute - Memo Sheet - Paint Research Station Science Fiction Library - Peter Haining - Postal Preview - Pseudo-Futurian - Ron Tiner - Science-Fantasy Review - Science-Fantasy Review's War Digest - Ted Wade - Terry Gilliam - The "Pseudo-Futurian!" - The Futurian - The Gentlest Art - The Satellite
Canada:
Europe:
Ireland:
New Zealand:
US:
1940 Chicon Scrapbook and Everyfan's Guide - a - Ad Astra - Alexei Panshin - All-Eastern Science Fiction Conference - Ann Cecil - Arlan K. Andrews, Sr. - Astonishing Stories - Bubonicon 1 - Burt Satz - Butch Honeck - CFS Review - Captain Future - Chaos - Chicon - Forrest J Ackerman's Chicon I Reminiscence - Colorado Fantasy Society - Comet - The Comet - Comet Stories of Time and Space - Cosmic Circle - Damn Thing - Denver Science Fictioneers - Detours - Drew Whyte - Epilogue - Escape - FAPA Review - Fantasite - Fantasmagoria - Fantastic Novels - Fantasy Digest - Fantasy Fiction Field - Fantasy Fictioneer - Farnsworth Wright - Fred Patten - Frontier - Frontier Society - Futuria Fantasia - Futurian League - Fuzzy Pink Niven - Galactic Roamers - George C. Chesbro - George Jumper - Indiana Fantasy Association - Intellectual Brotherhood of Pro-Scientists - Ivory Tower - Jackie Causgrove - James Coleman Nelson - Jim Caughran - John Clute - John McGeehan - Judith Brownlee - Kent Moomaw - Kinuko Y. Craft - Le Vombiteur - List of Chicago Conventions - Looking Ahead - Lou Donato - Lovecraftian - Mary Turzillo - Meade Frierson - Midwest Marky - Mike McQuown - Milty's Mag - Nepenthe - Norman Spinrad - Philip Nowlan - Phillycon 1940 - Pluto - Robin Wood - Roger Sween - Ron Bushyager - Ron Haydock - Roy Thomas - STF-ETTE - Sardonyx - Science Fiction Fandom Quarterly - Science Fiction Forward - Science Fiction Progress - Science Fiction Quarterly - Science Fiction Song Sheet - Science Fiction Weekly - Scienti-Comics - Shangri L'Affaires - Skylark of Woo-Woo - Snide - Solaroid Club - Stardust - Stars - Strange Fantasy - Stranger Club - Sun Spots - Super Science Stories - Sweetness and Light - T. O'Conor Sloane - Talbot Mundy - The Alchemist - The Feminine Fan - The Rocket - The Stranger Club by Art Widner - Theodore/Tanya - Third Chicago Conference - Thomas M. Disch - Tim Dumont - Tom Digby - Tomas A. Endrey - Triumvirs - Uncanny Tales - Unite — or Fie! - Vad-Jong - War in Heaven - Warren A. Freiberg - Washington Confabulation - Washington Confabulation 1 - Wendall Ing - Who's Who in Fandom 1940 - Why I Have Left Fandom
Rest of the World:
| 1939 | 1940 | 1941 |
