{{yearbox|
| in?=
| cp=19th century
| c=20th century
| cf=21st century
| yp1=1936
| yp2=1937
| yp3=1938
| year=1939
| ya1=1940
| ya2=1941
| ya3=1942
| dp3=1900s
| dp2=1910s
| dp1=1920s
| d=1930s
| dn1=1940s
| dn2=1950s
| dn3=1960s
}}
{{C20YearInTopic}}
{{Year in other calendars|japanese=Shōwa 14}}
'''1939''' ('''MCMXXXIX''') was a Common_year_starting_on_Sunday (link will take you to calendar).
==Events==
===January===
* January_1 - The Hewlett-Packard_Company was founded.
* January_2 - End of term for Frank Finley Merriam, 28th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Culbert_Levy_Olson.
* January_13 - Black Friday: 71 people die across Victoria in one of Australia's worst ever Bushfires.
* January_24 - Earthquake kills 30.000 in Chile – about 50.000 sq mi razed
* January_26 - Spanish_Civil_War: Troops loyal to Francisco_Franco, and aided by Italy, take Barcelona.
===February===
* February_1 - Martensville, Saskatchewan is founded
* February_2 - Hungary joins Anti-Comintern_Pact
* February_10 - Falangists take Catalonia
* February_21 - Golden_Gate_International_Exposition opens in San_Francisco,_California
* February_27 - United_Kingdom and France recognize Franco's government
* February_27 - Borley_Rectory burns
* February_27 - Sit-down strikes are outlawed by the Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States.
* February_28 - The first issue of Serbian weekly magazine Politikin_zabavnik was published.
===March===
* March_2 - Pope_Pius_XII (Cardinal Pacelli) succeeds Pope_Pius_XI as the 258th Pope.
* March_3 - In Bombay, Mohandas_Gandhi begins to fast in protest of the autocratic rule in India.
* March_3 - Students at Harvard_University demonstrate the new tradition of swallowing Gold_fish to reporters.
* March_14 - Slovak provincial assembly proclaims independence - priest Jozef_Tiso becomes the president of independent Slovak government
* March_15 - German troops occupy the remaining part of Bohemia and Moravia; Czechoslovakia ceases to exist; beginning hostilities leading to WWII
* March_16 - Marriage of Princess Fawzia_of_Egypt to Shah Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi_of_Iran
* March_22 - Germany takes Memel from Lithuania
* March_25 - The second Cartoon to feature Happy_Rabbit, ''Prest-O_Change-O'', is released.
* March_26 - ''The_Philadelphia_Story'', a Comedy by Philip_Barry starring Katharine_Hepburn, debuts at the Shubert_Theater in New_York_City.
* March_28 - Dictator Francisco_Franco conquers Madrid.
* March_28 - The last message from adventurer Richard_Halliburton - he disappears later.
* March - End of the Great Arab Revolt in the British_mandate_of_Palestine (started 1936)
===April===
* April_1 - Spanish_Civil_War comes to an end when the last of the Republican forces surrendered.
* April_4 - Faisal II becomes King of Iraq.
* April_7 - Italy invades Albania - King Zog flees
* April_9 - Singer Marian_Anderson performs before 75,000 people at the Lincoln_Memorial in Washington,_D.C. after having been denied the use both of Constitution_Hall by the Daughters_of_the_American_Revolution and of a public high school by the federally-controlled District_of_Columbia.
* April_11 - Hungary leaves the League_of_Nations
* April_14 - John_Steinbeck's novel ''The_Grapes_of_Wrath'' is first published.
* April_27 - Ely_Racecourse closes.
* April_30 - New_York_World's_Fair opens.
===May===
* May_2 - Major_League_Baseball's Lou_Gehrig, the legendary Yankee first baseman known as "The Iron Horse", ends his 2130 consecutive games played streak after contracting Amyotrophic_lateral_sclerosis. The record will stand for 56 years before Cal_Ripken,_Jr. plays 2131 consecutive games.
* May_3 - The All_India_Forward_Bloc is formed by Netaji Subhash_Chandra_Bose.
* May_7 - Spain leaves the League_of_Nations
* May_17 - King George VI and Queen Elizabeth arrive in Quebec_City to begin the first-ever visit to Canada by British sovereigns.
* May_22 - Germany and Italy sign the Pact_of_Steel.
* May_29 - Northamptonshire gains (over Leicestershire at Northampton) their first victory for 99 matches, easily a record in the County_Championship. Their last Championship victory was as far back as ''14_May 1935'' over Somerset at Taunton.
===June===
* June_4 - Holocaust: The SS ''St. Louis'', a ship carrying a cargo of 907 Jewish refugees, is denied permission to land in Florida after already having been turned away from Cuba. Forced to return to Europe, most of its passengers later die in Nazi Concentration_camps.
* June_12 - The National_Baseball_Hall_of_Fame_and_Museum is officially dedicated in Cooperstown,_New_York.
* June_17 - Last ''public'' guillotining in France - murderer Eugen_Weidmann is decapitated by the Guillotine.
* June_23 - Turkey annexes Hatay
===July===
Image:WWII_Poland_Invasion_1939-09-01.jpg]]
* July_4 - Lou_Gehrig gives his last public speech, following his diagnosis of ALS. In it, he states, "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."
* July_4 - The Concentration_camp Neuengamme becomes autonomous.
* July_6 - Holocaust: The last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany are closed.
* July_26 - John_Howard, Prime Minister of Australia, born.
===August===
* August_2 - Albert_Einstein writes President Franklin Roosevelt about developing the Atomic_Bomb using Uranium. This led to the creation of the Manhattan_Project.
* August_17 - ''The Wizard of Oz'', starring Judy_Garland, premieres at the Capitol Theater in New_York_City.
* August_23 - Molotov-Ribbentrop_Pact: Hitler and Stalin agree to divide eastern Europe between themselves (Finland, the Baltic_states and eastern Poland to the USSR; Western Poland to Germany).
* August_25 - An IRA bomb explodes in the center of Coventry, England killing five people.
* August_27 - A Heinkel_178, the first jet-powered aircraft, flies for the first time.
* August_30 - Poland begins Mobilization
===September===
* September_1 - World_War_II: Invasion of Poland - Nazi_Germany attacks Poland, beginning the Second_World_War in Europe.
* September_2 - Following the invasion of Poland, Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) is annexed to Nazi Germany.
* September_3 - World War II: France, Australia and the United_Kingdom declare war on Germany.
* September_4 - World War II: Nepal declares war on Germany.
* September_5 - World War II: The United_States declares its neutrality in the war.
* September_6 - World War II: South_Africa declares war on Germany.
* September_10 - Canada declares war on Germany.
* September_16 - Cease Fire ending undeclared Border War between The Soviet Union (and Mongolian allies) and Japan.
* September_17 - Soviet_Union invades Poland and then occupies eastern Polish territories.
* September_27 - Warsaw surrenders to Germany; Modlin surrenders day later; last Polish large operational unit surrenders near Kock eight days later.
===October===
* October_8 - World_War_II: Germany annexes Western Poland.
* October_11 - Manhattan_Project: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt is presented with a letter signed by Albert_Einstein urging the United_States to rapidly develop the Atomic_bomb.
* October_12 - Jüri_Uluots becomes prime minister of Estonia.
* October_15 - The New York Municipal Airport (later renamed La_Guardia_Airport) is dedicated.
* October_25 - ''The_Time_of_Your_Life'', a Drama by William_Saroyan, debuts in New_York_City.
===November===
* November_4 - World_War_II: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the United_States_Customs_Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of Weapons by belligerents.
* November_6 - World_War_II: Sonderaktion_Krakau, the codename for a German action against scientists from the University_of_Kraków and other Kraków universities at the beginning of World_War_II.
* November_6 - ''Hedda Hopper's Hollywood'' debuts with Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda_Hopper as host (the show ran until 1951 and made Hopper a powerful figure in the Hollywood elite).
* November_8 - Venlo_Incident: Two British agents of SIS are captured by the Germans.
* November_8 - In Munich, Adolf_Hitler narrowly escapes an assassination attempt while celebrating the 16th anniversary of the Beer_Hall_Putsch.
* November_15 - In Washington,_DC, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt lays the cornerstone of the Jefferson_Memorial.
* November_16 - Al_Capone released from Alcatraz
* November_30 - Winter_War begins: Soviet forces attack Finland and reach the Mannerheim_Line, starting the war.
===December===
* December_2 - La_Guardia_Airport opens for business in New_York_City.
* December_14 - League_of_Nations expels the USSR because of attacking Finland
* December_15 - The film version of ''Gone_With_The_Wind'', starring Vivien_Leigh, Clark_Gable, Olivia_DeHavilland and Leslie_Howard, premieres at Loew's Grand Theater in Atlanta,_Georgia.
* December_26 - Mining strike in Borinage, Belgium
* December_27 - Earthquake in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey, destroys the town of Erzincan - about 30,000 dead.
===Unknown dates===
*Batman created by Bob_Kane (and, unofficially, Bill_Finger).
*Nuclear_fission discovered independently by Lise_Meitner and Otto_Hahn
*Kirlian_photography invented by Semyon_Kirlian
*Siam changes its name to Thailand
*A logging crew sets off a second Forest_fire in the Tillamook_Burn, which destroys 190,000 acres (769 km²)
===Ongoing events===
* Spanish_Civil_War (1936-1939)
* Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
==Births==
===January===
*January_2 - Jim_Bakker, American televangelist
*January_3 - Bobby_Hull, Canadian hockey player
*January_6 - Valeri_Lobanovsky, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 2002)
*January_9 - Malcolm_Bricklin, American automotive pioneer
*January_10 - Sal_Mineo, American actor (d. 1976)
*January_10 - Bill_Toomey, American athlete
*January_11 - Ann_Heggtveit, Canadian skier
*January_17 - Maury_Povich, American talk show host
*January_18 - James_Gritz, U.S. Presidential candidate
*January_19 - Phil_Everly, American musician
*January_20 - Chandra_Wickramasinghe, British astronomer and poet
*January_21 - Wolfman_Jack, American disk jockey and actor (d. 1995)
*January_22 - Ray_Stevens, American musician
*January_29 - Germaine_Greer, Australian writer
===February===
*February_6 - Mike_Farrell, American actor
*February_10 - Adrienne_Clarkson, 26th Governor_General_of_Canada
*February_10 - Roberta_Flack, American singer
*February_10 - Peter_Purves, British actor and television presenter
*February_12 - Ray_Manzarek, American keyboardist
*February_13 - Beate Klarsfeld, German-born Nazi hunter
*February_20 - Frank_Arundel, English footballer
*February_21 - Gert_Neuhaus, German artist
*February_28 - Daniel_C._Tsui, Chinese-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
*February_28 - Tommy_Tune, American dancer, choreographer, and actor
===March===
*March_1 - Leo_Brouwer, Cuban composer and guitarist
*March_8 - Robert_Tear, Welsh tenor
*March_12 - Johnny_Callison, American basball player (d. 2006)
*March_13 - Neil_Sedaka, American singer
*March_17 - Jim_Gary, American sculptor (d. 2006)
*March_20 - Brian_Mulroney, eighteenth Prime_Minister_of_Canada
*March_31 - Zviad_Gamsakhurdia, President_of_Georgia (d. 1993)
*March_31 - Volker_Schlöndorff, German film director
===April===
*April_2 - Marvin_Gaye, American singer (d. 1984)
*April_4 - Hugh_Masakela, South African musician
*April_7 - Francis_Ford_Coppola, American film director
*April_7 - David Frost, English television personality
*April_13 - Seamus_Heaney, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate
*April_13 - Paul_Sorvino, American actor
*April_16 - Dusty_Springfield, English singer (d. 1999)
*April_22 - Jason Miller, American playwright and actor (d. 2001)
*April_25 - Ted_Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate
===May===
*May_1 - Judy_Collins, American singer and songwriter
*May_7 - Sidney_Altman, Canadian-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
*May_7 - Ruud_Lubbers, Prime_Minister_of_the_Netherlands
*May_7 - Jimmy_Ruffin, American singer
*May_7 - Marco_St._John, American actor
*May_9 - Ralph_Boston, American athlete
*May_12 - Ron_Ziegler, White House Press Secretary (d. 2003)
*May_13 - Harvey_Keitel, American actor
*May_19 - Livio_Berruti, Italian athlete
*May_19 - Dick_Scobee, astronaut (d. 1986)
*May_21 - Heinz_Holliger, Swiss oboist and composer
*May_23 - Reinhard_Hauff, German film director
*May_29 - Al_Unser, American race car driver
*May_30 - Michael_J._Pollard, American actor
===June===
*June_1 - Cleavon_Little, American actor (d. 1992)
*June_3 - Ian_Hunter, English singer (Mott_the_Hoople)
*June_6 - Louis_Andriessen, Dutch composer
*June_9 - Ileana_Cotrubaş, Romanian soprano
*June_9 - Dick_Vitale, American basketball broadcaster
*June_11 - Jackie_Stewart, Scottish race car driver
*June_15 - Brian_Jacques, British writer
*June_16 - Richard_Spendlove, British radio and television presenter and scriptwriter
===July===
*July_5 - Booker_Edgerson, American football player
*July_14 - George_E._Slusser, American scholar and writer
*July_15 - Aníbal_Cavaco_Silva, President of Portugal and former Prime Minister
*July_17 - Milva, Italian singer and actress
*July_21 - John_Negroponte, U.S. Director of National Intelligence
*July_26 - John_Howard, twenty-fifth Prime_Minister_of_Australia
*July_26 - Bob_Lilly, American football player
*July_27 - Michael_Longley, Irish poet
===August===
*August_5 - Princess_Irene_of_the_Netherlands
*August_17 - Luther_Allison, American musician (d. 1997)
*August_22 - Carl_Yastrzemski, baseball player
*August_29 - Joel_Schumacher, American film producer and director
*August_30 - John_Peel, English disk jockey (d. 2004)
===September===
*September_6 - Brigid_Berlin, American actor and artist
*September_6 - David_Allan_Coe, American musician
*September_8 - Carsten_Keller, German field hockey player
*September_8 - Susumu_Tonegawa, Japanese biologist, recipient of the Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine
*September_9 - Ron_McDole, American football player
*September_13 - Richard_Kiel, American actor
*September_16 - Breyten_Breytenbach, South African writer and painter
*September_18 - Frankie_Avalon, American musician
*September_23 - Janusz_Gajos, Polish actor
*September_30 - Len_Cariou, Canadian actor and singer
*September_30 - Jean-Marie_Lehn, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
===October===
*October_1 - George_Archer, American golfer (d. 2005)
*October_7 - John_Hopcroft, American computer scientist
*October_7 - Harold_Kroto, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
*October_7 - Bill_Snyder, American football coach
*October_11 - Austin_Currie, Irish politician
*October_13 - T._J._Cloutier, American poker player
*October_18 - Flavio_Cotti, Swiss Federal Councilor
*October_18 - Lee_Harvey_Oswald, Alleged assassin of President John_F._Kennedy (d. 1963)
*October_14 - Ralph_Lauren, American fashion designer
*October_24 - F._Murray_Abraham, American actor
*October_27 - John_Cleese, British actor
*October_30 - Leland_H._Hartwell, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine
*October_30 - Grace_Slick, American singer (Jefferson_Airplane, Jefferson_Starship, and Starship)
*October_31 - Ron_Rifkin, American actor
===November===
*November_1 - Barbara_Bosson, American actress
*November_6 - Athanasios_Angelopoulos, Greek academic
*November_16 - Michael Billington, British drama critic
*November_21 - Mulayam_Singh_Yadav, Indian politician
*November_23 - Bill_Bissett, Canadian poet
*November_26 - Tina_Turner, American singer
*November_27 - Laurent-Désiré_Kabila, President_of_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo (d. 2001)
===December===
*December_1 - Dianne_Lennon, American singer (The_Lennon_Sisters}
*December_2 - Yael_Dayan, Israeli writer and politician
*December_8 - James_Galway, Irish flutist
*December_13 - Eric_Flynn, British actor and singer (d. 2002)
*December_18 - Alex_Bennett, American radio personality
*December_18 - Robert_T._Bennett, American politician
*December_18 - Michael_Moorcock, English writer
*December_18 - Harold_E._Varmus, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine
==Deaths==
===January-March===
* January_2 - Roman_Dmowski, Polish politician (b. 1864)
* January_9 - Johnny_Gruelle, American cartoonist and children's book writer (b. 1880)
* January_23 - Matthias_Sindelar, Austrian footballer (b. 1903)
* January_24 - Maximilian_Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician and nutritionist (b. 1867)
* January_28 - William_Butler_Yeats, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
* February_10 - Pope_Pius_XI (b. 1857)
* February_11 - Franz_Schmidt, Austrian composer (b. 1874)
* February_12 - S._P._L._Sørensen, Danish chemist (b. 1868)
* February_22 - Antonio_Machado, Spanish poet (b. 1875)
* March_2 - Howard_Carter, British archaeologist (b. 1874)
* March_19 - Lloyd_L._Gaines, American civil rights activist
===April-August===
* April_7 - Joseph_Lyons, tenth Prime_Minister_of_Australia (b. 1879)
* June_4 - Tommy_Ladnier, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1900)
* June_19 - Grace_Abbott, American social worker and activist (b. 1878)
* June_26 - Ford_Maddox_Ford, English writer (b. 1873)
* July_14 - Alfons_Mucha, Czech painter and decorative artist (b. 1860)
* August_2 - Harvey_Spencer_Lewis, American mystic (b. 1883)
* August_11 - Jean_Bugatti, German automobile designer (b. 1909)
===October-December===
* September_6 - Arthur_Rackham, British artist (b. 1867)
* September_18 - Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish writer and painter (b. 1885)
* September_23 - Sigmund_Freud, Austrian psychiatrist (b. 1856)
* October_7 - Harvey_Cushing, American neurosurgeon (b. 1869)
* November_12 - Norman_Bethune, Canadian humanitarian (b. 1890)
* November_28 - James_Naismith, Canadian inventor of basketball (b. 1861)
*November_29 - Philipp_Scheidemann, Chancellor_of_Germany (b. 1865)
* December_3 - Princess Louise of the United Kingdom (b. 1848)
* December_15 - Reinhard_Hetze, Argentinian religious pioneer (b. 1851)
* December_23 - Anthony_Fokker, Dutch aircraft manufacturer (b. 1890)
==Nobel prizes==
* Physics - Ernest_Orlando_Lawrence
* Chemistry - Adolf_Friedrich_Johann_Butenandt, Leopold_Ruzicka
* Physiology or Medicine - Gerhard_Domagk
* Literature - Frans Eemil Sillanpää
* Peace - not awarded
==External links==
*1939 Coin Pictures
{{commonscat}}
Category:1939
Af:1939
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