1940
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Contents
Events
January
- January 5: Greek boxer, Anton Christoforidis, marks his US debut by defeating Willie Pavlovich in Madison Square Garden, New York.
June
- June 2: With Kleanthis Vikelidis in its roster, Aris is defeated by Panathinaikos (3-1) at the Leoforos Stadium at the final of the Greek Football Cup. The match is played during wartime, on the eve of the allies’ win at Dunkirk.
October
- October 28: Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas replied with the single-word reply "no", when Mussolini demanded occupation rights to strategic Greek sites. Greece officially entered World War II.
November
- November 1: Lieutenant Alexandros Diakos becomes the first Greek officer to die in World War II.
- November 2: The Italian Air Force bombs Ioannina causing civilian casualties.
- November 9: After the complete failure of the invasion of Greece by the Italian military, Mussolini replaces General Sebastiano Visconti Prasca with General Ubaldo Soddu, his former Vice-Minister of War.
- November 22: The Greek army on the counter-offensive enters Korytsa in World War II
- November 24: The Greek army "liberates" the town of Moschopolis (known in Albanian as Voskopoja and in Aromanian as Moscopole) of Northern Epirus (Albania) during the counter-offensive operations against the Italians in WWII
- November 30: The Greek Army enters Pogradec.
December
- December 3: The Greek army liberates Premeti.
- December 5: Colonel Mardochaios Frizis (Μαρδοχαίος Φριζής) is killed near Premeti during the Greek-Italian confrontation. He is the first high ranking officer to fall in battle in World War II.
- December 6: The Greek army liberates Agioi Saranda.
- December 8: The Greek army liberates Argyrokastro.
- December 22: The Greek army liberates Chimara.
- December 22: The Submarine Papanikolis, under the command of Lt.Cdr. Miltiades Iatridis, sinks the Italian sailing vessel Antonietta by ramming in the Adriatic.
- December 29: As the situation on the Albanian Front gets worse for the Italian forces, Mussolini replaces General Ubaldo Soddu with General Ugo Cavallero.
Births
February
- February 29: His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew I.
March
- March 4: Giorgos Koinousis, songwriter, singer
June
- June 2: Former King Constantine II of Greece.
July
- July 4: Anna Fonsou, actress
- July 26: Tolis Voskopoulos, singer
September
- September 7: Sotiris Moustakas, actor
October
- October 28: Poly Panou, popular singer
Unknown
- Spiros Arion, wrestler
- Stelios Skevofilakas, footballer
- Christos Zanteroglou, footballer
Deaths
February
- February 1: Zacharias Papantoniou, writer, poet.
March
- March 26: Spiros Loues, 1896 Olympic Games Marathon winner.
November
- November 1: Lt Alexandros Diakos, first Greek officer to fall in battle in WWII
- Date Unknown: Dimitris Pierrakos, footballer killed in the Battle of Pogradec