Maybe. This Berkeley Earth chart shows a possible peak at that period (Land + Ocean Data - Berkeley Earth). Notice that they show both annual averages and 10 year trends. It's hard to conclude much when year to year values vary so much. read more
After rising rapidly during the first part of the 20 th century, global average temperatures did cool by about 0.2°C after 1940 and remained low until 1970, after which they began to climb rapidly again. read more
Although there was a significant increase in global temperature in the early 20th Century, the rate of warming from 1910 to 1940 was lower than the rate of warming from 1975 to 2005, at about 1.3 vs. 1.8°C per century, respectively. read more
Mid-20th Century Cooling There was a very slight cooling in the average global surface temperature from about 1940 to 1975. Although the global temperature only decreased by approximately 0.1°C, this period represents a divergence from the warming periods of 1915 to 1940 and 1975 to Present. read more