U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Wages and Hours (later Fair Labor Standards) Act banning child labor and establishing the 40-hour work week - 1941

57 crewmen on three freighters die over a three-day period when their ships sink during a huge storm over Lake Michigan - 1940

The 40-hour work week went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act, signed by Pres. Roosevelt two years earlier - 1940