1938

[Winter] Plagued by troubled dreams, New York playboy Wesley Dodds becomes the first costumed “mystery-man”—the Sandman. He meets the precocious socialite Dian Belmont, daughter of D.A. Larry Belmont, and apprehends the murderer calling himself “the Tarantula.”

[Feb 26] The Sandman hunts down the Chinatown serial killer “the Face.”

The planet Krypton explodes.

[Sep 1] Zatara the Magician begins his crimefighting career.

[Oct 30] Publisher Lee Travis (see 1919, 1937) dons a costume to become The Crimson Avenger, assisted by his valet (and sidekick), Wing.

Adventurer “Hop” Harrigan is active.

[Autumn] College junior Jay Garrick acquires super-speed in a lab accident and becomes the original Flash (the first super-powered costumed hero).

[Nov 26] The Crimson Avenger is interviewed (by Jonathan Law; see 1941) on the front page of the New York Daily Globe-Leader (Lee Travis’ own paper). His heroic example begins to inspire others.

The Sandman confronts the villainous “Dr. Death,” and Dian Belmont learns that he is actually Wesley Dodds.

[Dec] The Crimson Avenger defeats a Nazi SS plot called “The Black Cross.”

[Dec 24-31] Chemist Rex Tyler, having invented the super-energizing drug Miraclo, makes his first (unsuccessful) outing as “The Hour-Man.”

1939

A plethora of amazing figures bursts on the scene, as enumerated below:

Engineer Alan Scott’s life is saved by a lantern carved from the Starheart (see 1st Century BCE), and he uses it to become the original Green Lantern.

[Spring] Wesley (Sandman) Dodds travels to England to pursue his relationship with a conflicted Dian Belmont, and briefly meets the imprisoned Morpheus (see 1916).

Wes Dodds meets researcher Ted Knight while pursuing rogue scientist “Jonathan Smythe,” who later becomes the villainous Mist.

[Jun 10] The Sandman and the Crimson Avenger join forces against the Phantom of the Fair, a villain terrorizing the New York World’s Fair, rescuing England’s visiting Royal Family from his murderous plot.

Polish expatriate aviator Janos Prohaska visits New York seeking funds to aid the European resistance to the Nazis, and is framed for murder, but saved by the timely intervention of the Sandman and Dian Belmont.

Kent Thurston becomes the Invisible Hood.

[Sep 1] In Europe, Nazi Germany invades Poland, beginning World War II.

Janos Prohaska’s family is murdered in the invasion of Poland. Dubbing himself Blackhawk, Prohaska sets out to assemble an elite international fighter squadron.

[Oct 6] Archaeologist Carter Hall discovers that he is the reincarnation of the ancient Egyptian Prince Khufu (see 13th C. BCE), uses his secret “Nth Metal” to fashion an antigravity belt, and begins battling evil as the original Hawkman.

Pvt. Hank Heywood becomes the cyborg called Steel.

Darrell Dane becomes Doll Man.

New York cop Jim Corrigan is killed by gangsters, but his soul is directed by a heavenly Voice to return and confront evil, and becomes host to the Spectre.

Rod Gaynor revives the legend of a hero from the 1840s when he becomes The Whip.

Sandra Knight becomes the original Phantom Lady, the first female costumed hero.

[Nov 20] Ted Knight becomes the original Starman, using his newly-invented Gravity Rod.

[Dec 29-31] Rex Tyler, using an improved version of Miraclo, re-launches his career as Hourman, crossing paths with Sandman and the Crimson Avenger.

1940

[Feb] The wizard Shazam relocates to Fawcett City and awakens Ibis the Invincible (see 2060 BCE).

Alan Armstrong becomes Spy Smasher.

Jim Barr becomes Bulletman.

Richard Grey becomes the original Black Condor, and soon assumes the identity of murdered Senator Thomas Wright.

Tom Halloway debuts as the apparently-heroic archer called the Spider.

The Red Torpedo debuts.

[May 11] The Blackhawk Squadron (Blackhawk, Stan Drozdowski, Ritter Hendricksen, Olaf Friedriksen, Andre Blanc-Dumont, Chuck Sirianni, and Weng “Chop-Chop” Chan) rescues a Dutch village from Nazi invaders.

[May 27-Jun 4] The British evacuate their forces at Dunkirk as the Nazis overrun France. Olympic swimmer Libby Lawrence (see 1941) escapes by swimming the English Channel.

[Jul 7] On his 23rd birthday, Johnny Thunder discovers his mystic Thunderbolt.

Manipulated by the Lord of Order Nabu (see 3500 BCE, etc.), Kent Nelson becomes the sorcerer Doctor Fate.

The Spectre first meets Dr. Fate.

District Attorney Rick Raleigh becomes the Red Bee.

Neon the Unknown debuts.

Magno debuts.

A smuggled German prototype atomic bomb devastates Blackhawk Island.

The Crimson Avenger adopts a new costume.

The Flash and Green Lantern are teamed up by the government to defeat the top-secret Alien X.

After months of intensive training, 5' 2” college student Al Pratt debuts as the original Atom.

[Autumn] The Shining Knight is awakened from 1,400 years of suspended animation in an ice floe (see 6th Century). During the London Blitz, he meets young Percy Sheldrake (his father captured at Dunkirk, his mother killed by the bombing), who later becomes his sometime-sidekick, the Squire.

[Sep 27] The Axis Treaty is signed, uniting the fascist states of Germany, Italy and Japan against the Allies.

[Oct 12-13] Starman rescues the victims of Opal City’s disastrous Gladstone Towers fire.

[Oct] The mysterious Scarab (Louis Sendak) first appears, empowered by the Egyptian deity Khepri. He is active until 1944 (and reappears c. 1997/Yr15).

[Nov 9] Eight top “mystery-men” team up to save England from Hitler’s invasion fleet, then rescue President Roosevelt from a mystic attack on his life. At the suggestion of FDR, they form the world’s first super-hero group: the Justice Society of America.

[Nov 22] The JSA holds its first official meeting.

[Nov 22] “Tex” Thompson starts adventuring as Mr. America.

[Nov 26] On a mission from J. Edgar Hoover, the JSA defeats a group of Nazi Fifth Columnists led by conspirator Fritz Klaver.

Blackhawk’s life is spared by the Nazi femme fatale code-named Domino, but he is unable to prevent her death.

David Clark becomes the masked hero Midnight.

Jack Weston becomes Minute-Man.

1941

The former Ahwehota goes public again as Quicksilver and meets fellow speedster Jay (Flash) Garrick.

Sargon the Sorcerer takes the stage.

New York cop Chuck Lane becomes the Jester.

Blinded, Dr. Charles McNider invents night-vision goggles that allow him to become Dr. Mid-Nite.

[Spring] When Nazis kill her family, Greek teenager Helena Kosmatos is transformed into Fury, empowered by the Eumenides (aka Erinyes), the Furies of myth.

Shiera Saunders, girlfriend of Carter Hall, becomes his partner Hawkgirl.

Roy Lincoln becomes the Human Bomb.

Small-time crook Patrick “Eel” O’Brian becomes Plastic Man.

Flier Richard Dare of the RAF becomes known as “Captain X” (later the Aviator).

The Shade, assisting Captain X on a mission in London, is unknowingly merged with his enemy Culp (see 1866) during a bomb blast.

[Late spring] Joan Dale, transformed by the top-secret Project M, creates the heroic identity of Miss America.

[Jun 30-Jul 1] The JSA (along with non-members Hawkgirl and Dr. Mid-Nite) encounters a mysterious infiltration of technology from the year 2000, secretly engineered by future villain T.O. Morrow. When the Justice League follows to retrieve the devices, the JSA at first battles the heroes out of fear of their troubling future, but then joins forces with the League, undoing Morrow’s time alterations before they began.

Johnny Thunder joins the JSA when the Flash steps down to “honorary member” status.

[Jul 4] Sylvester Pemberton III and his friend Pat Dugan team up to battle saboteurs as the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy.

Starman has his first encounter with the Mist.

Hourman battles the evil scientist Dr. Rocco Togg and his Gombezis. Togg is transformed by his own “monstroscopic lamp,” and imprisoned for 58 years.

“Singing Cowboy” Greg Saunders becomes the original Vigilante.

Newsreel reporter Johnny Chambers uses a super-speed formula to become Johnny Quick.

Boxing champion Ted Grant, seeking to clear his name after a death in the ring, and inspired by the exploits of Green Lantern, starts fighting crime as Wildcat.

Bored yet brilliant playboy Terry Sloane, former child prodigy and “man of 1,000 talents,” begins fighting for Fair Play as Mr. Terrific.

[Sep 7] JSA chairman Green Lantern leads the team on a mission to raise $1 million for war orphans—a mission nearly derailed (all unknown to the team) by an attack from the future by the villain Extant, until his time disruptions are corrected by the young hero Impulse.

[Sep 28?] The JSA (along with Dr. Mid-Nite, Starman, and Hawkgirl) battles the villainous Ian Karkull, who attemps to kill the next several U.S. presidents. Karkull’s chronal energies retard the aging of the heroes (plus Jay Garrick’s girlfriend Joan Williams). In the aftermath, Hourman takes a leave of absence to refine Miraclo; Green Lantern steps down to honorary status; and Hawkman becomes chairman. In recognition of their help, Starman and Dr. Mid-Nite are both invited to join the group, filling the vacancies. (Dr. Fate also changes to a half-helmet after this point, to avoid total domination by Nabu.)

The long-dead Keith Everet returns as the Grim Ghost.

Hourman confronts the “90-Minute Man,” a radium-powered robotic villain.

The spirit of America (see 1776, 1812, 1861, 1871) bonds to a human host and returns again as Uncle Sam.

Former Olympic athlete Libby Lawrence becomes the heroine Liberty Belle.

A second hero group forms: the non-powered Seven Soldiers of Victory, aka the Law’s Legionnaires. They combine forces to tackle the criminal mastermind “The Hand.”

[Oct 31] Dr. Robert Crane escapes death when his brain is transplanted into the original Robotman.

Mystery writer Jonathan Law dons the costume of the Tarantula.

Wes (Sandman) Dodds takes on a new crimefighting sidekick, young Sanderson “Sandy” Hawkins, nephew of his girlfriend Dian Belmont.

Rod Reilly becomes the first Firebrand.

The JSA retrieves a prototype “bomb defense formula” from the year 2442.

Rookie cop Dan Richards is recruited as the heroic Manhunter by the secret Manhunter cult (see 1066).

[Dec 7] The Japanese fleet attacks the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
• Uncle Sam gathers an ad hoc group of Freedom Fighters to repel the invasion, without success, and all the heroes involved are presumed dead.

• Lanford “Happy” Terrill becomes the golden age Ray, under circumstances influenced by the time-displaced 1990s Ray and Black Canary (see 1997/Yr15).

• The United States enters World War II.

• President Roosevelt calls for the formation of a mega-group of heroes, the All-Star Squadron.

[Dec 8] The All-Stars and JSA attempt to invade Japan, but are rebuffed from Axis territory by a mystic “Sphere of Influence” created using the Spear of Destiny (see 30 CE), controlled by Hitler, and the Holy Grail (see 980 CE), now in the hands of Japan's “Dragon King.”
[Dec 9] The JSA disbands as its members enlist in the armed services.
[Dec 10] Danette Reilly replaces her injured brother Rod as Firebrand.

FDR forms the OSS (Office of Special Services), headed by an agent code-named Control.

[Late Dec] The Manhunter cult secretly recruits another human agent, big-game hunter Paul Kirk.

U.S. soldier Rip Jagger, on duty in the Pacific, becomes the costumed Judomaster, accompanied by his young Japanese sidekick, Tiger.

1942

While costumed “mystery men” protect the home front, countless hardy combatants, often bizarre but still mortal, fight the forces of oppression overseas—the most distinguished undoubtedly being Sgt. Frank Rock and the men of Easy Company¹. Other notable wartime figures include the Blackhawks (see 1939-40), the Haunted Tank², the Losers³, Mlle. Marie⁴, the Unknown Soldier⁵, the Viking Commando⁶, the Boy Commandos⁷, the Creature Commandos⁸, G.I. Robot⁹, the Ghost Patrol¹⁰, and Ulysses “Gravedigger” Hazard¹¹, as well as Rick Flag and the original Suicide Squad¹².

Thomas N. Thomas and Danny Dunbar become the explosive duo TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite.

The SSoV clash with the maniacal Dr. Doome (!) and his tyrants from throughout history.

Flash, Green Lantern, The Atom, Wildcat, and police officer Jim Harper battle Starheart-possessed ex-boxer Joe Morgan, whom the latter three discover was responsible for training each of them.

Jim Harper becomes the golden age Guardian, and takes on responsibility for the Newsboy Legion.

The JSA re-forms to protect the home front, but officially renames itself the Justice Battalion “for the duration,” taking orders from the War Department.

[Feb 9] 1936 Oympic medalist Will Everett becomes the golden age Amazing Man.

[Feb 9-10] Starman teams up with Bulletman on a covert mission to stop a Nazi incursion into Alaska—where the heroes encounter a scouting expedition by Venusian worms that is only curtailed by the timely intervention of GL Abin Sur. Meanwhile, several other All-Stars tackle saboteurs attempting to sink the U.S.S. Normandie in New York harbor.

[Feb 10] The All-Stars, aided by the time-lost members of Infinity, Inc., as well as Amazing Man and Terry (Cyclotron) Curtis, defeat a complex, world-threatening, time-twisting plot by the Ultra-Humanite. Curtis gives his life in the battle, and the Atom is exposed to a large dose of radiation. Meanwhile, Dr. Fate’s original helmet is lost between dimensions.

[Feb 23] Uncle Sam interrupts the first full meeting of the All-Star Squadron, revealing the fate of his first Freedom Fighters (see 1941) and recruiting a new group to help repel a Japanese incursion on the West Coast. The effort succeeds, and Hourman is rescued from Nazi villain Baron Blitzkrieg’s captivity.

[Spring] A young G.I. in the South Pacific is disfigured by a grenade, and interred in a Japanese POW camp. After his rescue, with training in martial arts and disguise, he is coerced into working for Army Intelligence as codename: the Unknown Soldier, and soon becomes a legend among Axis and Allies alike.

[Mar 31] The All-Stars battle comic-strip characters come to life in Metropolis.

[Apr 1] Johnny Chambers and Libby Lawrence marry. The effects of the Crisis are felt in 1942.

The SSoV combat the Sense-Master.

The All-Stars encounter Mekanique, a feminine robot from the 23rd century, whose secret agenda is to alter the future in favor of her creator, the tyrant Rotwang.

[Apr 26-30] TNT is killed. Dyna-Mite joins several other young heroes to form the Young All-Stars, an independent “youth auxiliary” of the main group.

The Freedom Fighters relocate to Washington, D.C.

Neptune Perkins discovers he’s the grandson of Arthur Gordon Pym/Captain Nemo (see 1827, 1866).

[Late May] Miss America, recovered from a coma, joins the JSA—as its secretary.

[Jun 3-6] The Battle of Midway occurs, a key turning point in the Pacific war.

[Jun 10-11] The Young All-Stars battle Baron Blitzkrieg when he attemps to kidnap Albert Einstein.

The JSA provides “Food for Starving Patriots” in Europe, using a spell to resist the Sphere of Influence.

The SSoV battle the super-rich criminal The Skull, and his criminal hirelings.

The Young All-Stars disband and officially merge back into the main All-Star Squadron.

[Jun 27] Firebrand, the Shining Knight, Dr. Fate, and Green Lantern defend Roosevelt and Churchill from an attack by a mystically-summoned Thor.

Time-travelling Katar Hol and Shayera Thal (see 1995/Yr13) help the Flash defeat their era’s Fiddler.

[Jul 15] The Flash escapes a trap set by his own era’s Fiddler.

[Jul 15] Time-travelling Wonder Woman III (Queen Hippolyta) and Jay Garrick (see 1998/Yr16) assist the JSA in defeating Nazi Baroness Paula Von Gunther, aka Dark Angel. Hippolyta decides to stay in the past; she joins the JSA and remains for the next eight years.

[Jul] Adventurer Tex “Mr. America” Thompson (see 1940) goes undercover as the “Americommando.”

Hippolyta meets and becomes a mentor to Fury (Helena Kosmatos). Helena comes to think of her as the reincarnation of her own dead mother (see 1941).

Wonder Woman (Hippolyta) confronts Nazi General Helmut Streicher, aka the Red Panzer.

Wonder Woman, Sandman, and Hawkman combat the mystic Kali Gari.

An injured young orphan is granted supernatural powers by the mysterious Mr. Keeper (secretly a Lord of Chaos), and becomes Kid Eternity (see 1961).

Wonder Woman and Inza Cramer (Kent Nelson’s girlfriend) gather Hawkgirl, Dian Belmont, and the other JSAers’ girlfriends to rescue the male heroes when they are captured by Brain Wave.

1943

Dr. Mid-Nite and Wildcat help an overly impulsive Atom take on the Gambler and the Sportsmaster.

[Jan 18-30] The JSA takes on the brilliant but (literally) power-hungry Lord Dynamo, with an assist from science fiction writer Jack Williamson.

The alien goddess Osira brainwashes JSAers Atom, Johnny Thunder, Sandman, Starman, and non-member Mr. Terrific into battling Wonder Woman.

[Spring] The JSA again defeats its recurring nemesis Brain Wave, and drops the name “Justice Batallion.”

[Jun] The time-displaced Superman (see 1996/Yr14) saves FDR from a Nazi assassin; then, sent to Warsaw by the Spectre, detonates a German atomic bomb prototype.

[Summer] Wonder Woman teams with Liberty Belle, Phantom Lady, and the Red Tornado (Ma Hunkle!) to defeat Fifth Columnist saboteurs.

[Jul 9] The tide begins to turn in the war as British and U.S. forces successfully invade Axis-held Sicily.

Time-traveler Walker Gabriel is caught in the midst of combat on Dragon (Dinosaur?) Island (see 1927).

Confronting mysterious new villain “the Prairie Witch,” Starman befriends rookie cop Billy O’Dare.

Green Lantern first encounters Vandal Savage, attempting to infiltrate high-level U.S. war councils.

[Aug] The Blackhawks visit the U.S. to protect their government funding from political attacks. Stan dies in battle with the Nazi White Lion squadron. Natalie Reed informally joins the team as “Lady Blackhawk.” The team saves Manhattan from a German atomic bomb prototype.

[Sep 8] Fascist Italy surrenders to the Allies.

[Oct] Wonder Woman (time-lost from 2002/Yr20) disguises herself as Miss America and teams up with her mother Hippolyta to keep Nazi agents (aided by Atlantean Queen Clea) from stealing Poseidon’s horn and trident.

[Oct 31–Nov 10] Phantom Lady helps Starman win a rematch with the Prairie Witch.

1944

[Spring] A time-travel adventure marks Dr. Fate and Sandman’s last recorded Golden Age case as active JSA members.

The JSA is attacked by a Fear-Creature during a meeting with FDR.

[Apr] Mr. Terrific fends off an attack from Black Barax (see 33rd C.)—aided by Mr. Terrific II and Hawkgirl II (from 2003/Yr21), plus the Freedom Fighters.

Sandman saves Starman from the villainous Gambler.

Sandman’s sidekick Sandy, fighting alongside his mentor and the JSA against Opal City criminal Johnny Sorrow, accidentally destroy’s Sorrow’s body.

[Jun 6] The Allies open up a second front in Europe with the D-Day invasion of Axis-held France.

American G.I. Joseph Jones, injured in France, becomes the super-patriotic hero General Glory.

Green Lantern first confronts Solomon Grundy.

[Autumn] Starman meets Etrigan the Demon during a confrontation with Nazi saboteurs.

[Sep] The time-displaced Captain Atom and Monarch clash in the South Pacific, before returning to their present (see 1906, 1996/Yr14).

Paul (Manhunter) Kirk gives up his costumed identity to fight behind enemy lines for the OSS.

The JSA defeats the original Psycho-Pirate (Charley Halstead), in the Spectre and Starman’s last recorded Golden Age case as active members.

Johnny Sorrow returns, his life changed (and body altered) by the King of Tears, lord of the unearthly “Subtle Realms". Seeking revenge against Sandy and the JSA, Sorrow kills the Chicago hero team the Seven Shadows, teammates of the Scarab (see 1941).

[Nov] Gangster Bugsy Siegel kills Danny “Stuff” Leong, the Vigilante’s sidekick, setting the Vigilante on a vendetta against Siegel (see 1945, 1947).

[Late Nov] Sgt. Rock and Easy Company take part in the brutal, costly capture of the Hürtgen forest, on the Belgian/German border.

[Late Dec] The JSA (including Miss America) fights alongside Resurrection Man against Nazis and Vandal Savage in Belgium’s Ardennes Forest during the Battle of the Bulge.

1945

[Winter] Rá’s al Ghúl, serving in the S.S., leaves his daughter Nyssa (see 1809, 2003/Yr21) to the depredations of the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp.

[Winter] In a fight alongside Zatara against the sorcerous “King Inferno,” Wildcat gains “nine lives.”

On a South Pacific island, the Spectre flies into a righteous rage at the depredations of a Japanese POW camp, and threatens to pass judgement on the entire earth. Starman talks him out of it, showing him a U.S. Japanese internment camp—which almost aggravates his anger, until he discovers hope there as well.

On another South Pacific island, the JSA rescues stranded pilot Derek Trevor, who soon falls in love with Miss America.

Mr. Terrific and Wildcat are inducted into the JSA, and Flash and Green Lantern agree to return from “honorary” status and resume more active duties.

[Feb] Seven Nazi agents are empowered to destroy all life on earth by the insane mystic Stalker. All available members of the JSA join forces to defeat them, taking the heroes to numerous far-flung historical locales:

[Feb 11] On the last day of the Yalta conference, GL and Johnny Thunder rescue Churchill, FDR, and Stalin from one of Stalker’s agents.

[Feb 13-14] In firebombed Dresden, Flash and Mr. Terrific witness the death of the Americommando.

• Dr. Mid-Nite and Hourman defeat a Stalker disciple in Scotland.

[Feb 22] Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman, along with “Speed” Saunders, join in the battle at Iwo Jima.

• Starman and the Atom take the fight to Los Alamos, NM, where Atom is again exposed to intense radiation (see 1942).

• In New York, non-members Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, plus “King” Standish, help Sandman and Sandy defeat another Stalker agent.

• Hawkman and Wildcat, plus Tigress and Paul (Manhunter) Kirk, defeat Stalker’s agent in Angola.

• The Stalker is finally defeated by the previously-unknown power of Hourman’s hourglass (see 1919).

• Dr. Occult, wounded in the battle, is saved by merging with Rose Psychic; thereafter both souls share one (changeable) body.

[Apr] The JSAers save FDR from yet another Nazi assassination attempt… but within days they find themselves in mourning nevertheless, when he dies of natural causes.

[Apr 15] The JSAers serve as honor guards at FDR’s funeral. They are then summoned by the Spectre to combat Hitler’s last-ditch attempt to destroy the world by invoking Ragnarok with the Spear of Destiny—and they fail… in a hypertimeline averted only by the intervention of their future selves (see 1993/Yr11).

[Apr] After a long struggle with his conscience, Hans von Hammer surrenders his unit to the Allies.

[Apr 30] Adolf Hitler dies in Berlin—slain in his own bunker by the Unknown Soldier, although history records the death as a suicide. The Soldier himself seemingly perishes saving a young girl from a bomb.

[May 1-2] Swamp Thing, travelling through time, thwarts the last-ditch plans of Nazi Anton Arcane. The effort is aided by Sgt. Rock and Easy Company… and, covertly serving as their medic, the Unknown Soldier.

[May 7] Germany surrenders.

[May 8] The Allies declare “V-E Day,” celebrating victory in Europe.

[May] Horrified by what he sees at the liberated concentration camp at Dachau, the Unknown Soldier sets aside any thoughts of retirement, rededicating himself to intelligence work and the U.S. interest.

[May] On a European inspection tour with the JSA, the Spectre is also horrified by the Nazis’ concentration camp atrocities, and once again flies into a judgmental rage, restrained only by his most powerful teammates.

[June] Pursuing Bugsy Siegel, the Vigilante is nearly killed by an explosion set by the villainous Dummy.

[June] Bulletman, Spy Smasher, and Minute-Man take on an unrepentant Captain Nazi.

[Aug 6] The U.S. drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

• Two agents of Rá’s al Ghúl’s organization (which has been opposing the Japanese) are unfortunate enough to be undercover in Hiroshima. Their orphaned adolescent son descends into bitterness and anger, and adopts the name Qayin.

[Aug 9] The U.S. drops another atomic bomb, this time on Nagasaki.

[Aug 14] Japan unconditionally surrenders, ending World War II.

[Aug 15] The Allies celebrate “V-J Day,” for victory in Japan, marking the end of World War II.

Sgt. Rock perishes, felled by the last enemy bullet fired in the closing days of the war.

Shortly after his Army discharge, “Frank Rock” kills his nemesis the Iron Major while on a covert mission in Argentina for the Unknown Soldier.

With the war over, Hippolyta contemplates returning home, but her teammates persuade her to remain in the 1940s.

The Vigilante is bitten by werewolves, but manages to keep the condition in remission.

[Oct 9] The Flash is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his wartime heroics.

[Dec] When his sidekick Tiger is refused admission to the U.S., Rip Jagger (see 1941) decides to stay in Asia.

1946

The American Talisman (see 1776) is shattered, and Uncle Sam disappears.

Ted (Starman) Knight suffers an emotional collapse from guilt over his role in creating the atomic bomb.

Hawkman and Hawkgirl discover the hidden arctic land of Feithera, home to a race of bird-people (see 3000 BCE).

[Spring] The JSA battles Landor, a villain from the 25th century.

Returning home to Smallville, Kansas, after being thought lost in the war, young Jonathan Kent finds his first love Martha Clark married, but courts and ultimately weds her himself after she is widowed.

Teenager Sally Smart is gifted with a magic whistle that grants her powers—and stops her aging.

The “Knight Dependents Bill” is passed into law, allowing (among other things) individuals who meet certain education requirements to run for the House of Representatives at age 20 rather than 25.

[Sep 2] Former Manhunter Paul Kirk seemingly dies while on safari in Africa (but is actually placed in suspended animation by the mysterious “Council”).

1947*

*"47 Years Ago” according to ZH —but from this point forward, I have converted ZH’s “relative” dates to real dates, for clarity’s sake.

The JSA defeats Solomon Grundy, who is exiled to the moon.

The JSA has the first (?) of several encounters with the time-altering Per Degaton. (See also 331 BCE.)

Repeatedly regaining his memory after his defeat, Degaton tries again (and again) to steal his employer Professor Zee’s time machine and change history to his advantage—ultimately creating a chronal duplicate of himself that disappears into the future with the machine.

As many other heroes are ending their careers, Dinah Drake begins hers… as the original Black Canary.

Wes (Sandman) Dodds accidently converts his sidekick Sandy Hawkins into a sand monster with an experimental “silicoid gun.” Placing Sandy in suspended animation (see 1990/Yr8), he retires from crimefighting and devotes himself to seeking a cure.

Ted (Wildcat) Grant fathers a son, Jake—but the child is kidnapped by his enemy, the Yellow Wasp.

[Jun 20] The Vigilante finally gains his vengeance in a one-on-one confrontation with Bugsy Siegel.

Teenage Molly Mayne first confronts Green Lantern as the original Harlequin.

Green Lantern confronts Knodar, the “last criminal,” from the 25th century.

Rose Canton’s alternate personality, the golden age villainess Thorn, makes her debut.

Vandal Savage joins Per Degaton, Brain Wave, the Gambler, the Thinker, and the Wizard to form the original Injustice Society of the World.

The Blackhawks, now running an air cargo service out of Singapore, are recruited by the newly-formed CIA and relocated to Washington, DC.

[Oct 25] Black Canary helps save the JSA from “History’s Crime Wave.”

The JSA again confronts Vandal Savage.

The Flash encounters the golden age Star Sapphire, a sorceress from the “7th dimension.”

The House Un-American Activities Committee begins an aggressive hunt for “Communist subversion,” with results that include the Hollywood Blacklist.

Time-traveler Walker (Chronos) Gabriel rescues his father from Arkham Asylum.

The Flash battles the atomic villain Atom-Smasher (Manfred Mota), witnessed by the time-travelling John Fox (see 27th Century).

The Flash helps Quicksilver (now calling himself Max Mercury) defeat the Screaming Skull, and is “the last hero to see Max alive for years to come.”

1948

The JSA (including Miss America, and with an assist from Black Canary) battles Lorelei and the “Invasion from Fairyland.”

Max Mercury leaps into the future once again (see 1957), leaving behind a baby daughter.

On a series of missions in Italy and China, the Blackhawks mourn the loss of Hendrickson but gain a new member, Grover Baines. They are also (again) charged with Communist sympathies; the CIA abducts them and installs more-cooperative doubles.

Merry Pemberton, sister of the Star-Spangled Kid, begins adventuring as the “Gimmick Girl.”

The Wizard recruits the Fiddler, Harlequin, Huntress, Icicle, and Sportsmaster to join forces as the second Injustice Society (colloquially aka the Injustice Gang) and take control of the JSA. Harlequin switches sides to help Black Canary defeat the villains and free the JSA, and Dinah is officially inducted into the team.

Jay (Flash) Garrick marries his sweetheart Joan Williams, and they honeymoon in Las Vegas— undeterred by the schemes of Shade, the Fiddler, and the Thinker, or by his buddies from the JSA.

J. Edgar Hoover convinces the Flash to work with the FBI against domestic Communism—until Flash discovers that the Bureau considers even his alter-ego Jay Garrick and his good friend Elliot Shapiro to be “potential subversives.”

[July 16] The mayor of Gotham City is murdered, the first of five grisly killings that taunt Green Lantern throughout the remainder of the year.

[Late Oct] The Seven Soldiers of Victory are set up for a losing battle with the Nebula Man by the duplicitous Spider, who kills Vigilante’s old partner Billy Gunn. Wing gives his life to defeat the Nebula Man, and the surviving Soldiers are scattered throughout time (see 14,000 BCE, 16th Century BCE, 12th C. BCE, 13th C., 15th C., and 1860s).

Diana Rockwell Trevor (mother of Steve Trevor) crashes her plane near Themyscira, where she gives her life aiding the Amazons against Cottus, the monster imprisoned beneath the island.

1949

The JSA tackles “The Case of the Cosmic Criminals,” and relocates its headquarters to Civic City, where it remains until the team disbands.

The JSA confronts a revived Injustice Gang, aided by Starman, Dr. Fate and others former members/allies.

Ted (Starman) Knight tries to analyze the Spectre’s ectoplasm—but succeeds only in annoying him.

The Harlequin, working undercover, confronts Green Lantern one final time about her feelings for him, then disappears from his life for decades. (See 1993/Yr11.)

Guiseppe Bertinelli (see 1920) dies, and his son Alfredo becomes capo of Gotham’s “Five Families.”

1950

[Feb] Blackhawk rescues his teammates from government suspended animation. After an escapade in southeast Asia, Blackhawk Airways severs all ties with the CIA and the U.S. government, making them free agents once again.

The JSA (including Miss America) confronts a “circus crime wave.”

Dan (Manhunter) Richards hangs up his costume.

The Ray, angered by unsavory truths behind his origin, quits the Freedom Fighters.

[Jun 25] The Korean War begins; the U.S. quickly becomes involved. It lasts until an armistice is signed on July 27, 1953. In the DCU, Jonathan Kent and Slade Wilson are known to have fought in Korea.