Today in History for Year 1939

Months in Year 1939: January February March April May June July August September October November December

Historical Events

Events 1 - 100 of 423

Jan 1st - Sydney, Australia, swelters in 45 ˚C (113 ˚F) heat, a record for the city.
Jan 2nd - Bradman scores 107 SA v Victoria, his 4th consecutive century
Jan 3rd - Gene Cox becomes 1st girl page in US House of Representatives
Jan 4th - Frieda Wunderlich elected 1st woman dean of a US graduate school
Jan 4th - Hermann Goering appoints Reinhard Heydrich head of Jewish Emigration
Jan 6th - Daily newspaper comic strip "Superman" debuts
Jan 7th - US worker's union leader Tom Mooney freed (jailed since 1916)
Jan 10th - Bradman hits 186 SA v Qld before Christ catches him at short-leg
Jan 13th - Belgian premier signs Burgos-treaty for trade relations with Franco
Jan 13th - The Black Friday bush fires burn 20,000 square kilometres of land in Australia, claiming the lives of 71 people.
Jan 14th - All commercial ferry service to East Bay ends
Jan 14th - Norway claims Queen Maud Land in Antarctica
Jan 15th - 1st NFL pro bowl, NY Giants beat All Stars 13-10 in Wrigley Field
Jan 15th - Municipal Railway & Market St RR begin service to Transbay Terminal
Jan 17th - Ed Barrow is elected Yankee president succeeding deceased J Ruppert
Jan 18th - SA wicketkeeper Bradman gets his 6th straight ton, 135* v NSW
Jan 19th - Ernest Hausen of Wisconsin sets chicken-plucking record-4.4 sec
Jan 20th - Charles Ives' 1st Sonate "Concord," premieres
Jan 20th - Hitler proclaims to German parliament to exterminate all European Jews
Playwright Moss Hart Jan 21st - George Kaufman & Moss Hart's "American Way," premieres in NYC
Jan 21st - US female Figure Skating championship won by Joan Tozzer
Jan 21st - US male Figure Skating championship won by Robin Lee
Jan 22nd - Aquatic Park, near Fisherman's Wharf, SF, is dedicated
Jan 22nd - Uranium atom 1st split, Columbia University
Jan 24th - 30,000 killed by earthquake in Concepcion Chile
Jan 24th - Eddie Collins, Willie Keeler & George Sisler elected to Hall of Fame
Jan 24th - Spanish government moves to Figueras
Jan 25th - Earthquake hits Chillan Chile, 10,000 killed
Jan 25th - Joe Louis KOs John Henry Lewis in 1 for heavyweight boxing title
Jan 26th - Federal Hall National Monument established
Jan 26th - Filming begins on "Gone With the Wind"
Jan 26th - Franco conquers Barcelona
Jan 27th - First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
Jan 30th - Heavy after shocks destroy some of Chile
Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco Jan 30th - Hitler calls for extermination of European Jews
Feb 4th - Glenn Cunningham (top miler) says 4-min mile beyond human effort
Feb 6th - Spanish government flees to France
Feb 9th - Belgian Spaak government falls
Feb 14th - Victor Fleming replaces George Cukor as director of Gone With the Wind
Feb 15th - German battleship Bismarck was launched
Feb 15th - Lillian Hellman's "Little Foxes," premieres in NYC
Feb 17th - Katwijk soccer team forms
Feb 18th - Golden Gate International Exposition opens on Treasure Island
Feb 21st - Belgian government of Pierlot forms
Feb 22nd - Netherlands recognizes Franco-regime in Spain
Feb 23rd - Lou Thesz beats E Marshall in St Louis, to become wrestling champ
Feb 24th - Roy Harris' 3rd Symphony, premieres in Boston
Feb 25th - 1st Anderson bomb shelter in Britain erected in an Islington garden
Feb 27th - Belgian government of Pierlot falls
Director Victor Fleming Feb 27th - English Spook house Borley Rectory destroyed in a fire
Feb 27th - France recognizes Franco's regime in Spain
Feb 27th - Supreme Court outlaws sit-down strikes
Feb 28th - Great-Britain recognizes Franco-regime in Spain
Feb 28th - The first issue of Serbian weekly magazine Politikin zabavnik is published.
Feb 28th - The erroneous word "Dord" is discovered in the Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition, prompting an investigation.
Mar 1st - Japanese Imperial Army ammunition dump exploded at Hirakata, Osaka, Japan, killing 94.
Mar 2nd - Eugenio Pacelli chosen as Pope Pius XII
Mar 2nd - Mass Legislature votea to ratify the Bill of Rights - 147 years late
Mar 3rd - In Mumbai, Mohandas Gandhi begins to fast in protest of the autocratic rule in India.
Mar 7th - Glamour magazine begins publishing
Mar 7th - Guy Lombardo & Royal Canadians 1st record "Auld Lang Syne"
Mar 8th - Lenore Coffee & William Joyce Cowan's "Family Portrait," premieres
Mar 10th - 17 villages damaged by hailstones in Hyderabad India
Mar 12th - Pope Pius XII crowned in Vatican ceremonies
Pacifist and Spiritual Leader Gandhi Mar 14th - England draw with South Africa at Durban on the 10th day
Mar 14th - Nazi Germany dissolves Republic of Czechoslovakia
Mar 15th - Hitler occupies Bohemia & Moravia (Czechoslovakia); Slovakia independ
Mar 16th - Germany occupies Czechoslovakia
Mar 16th - Hungary annexes republic of Karpato-Ukraine
Mar 16th - NHL record 10 goals in 1 period-NY Rangers (7), NY Americans (3) & a record 26 points in the 3rd period
Mar 17th - Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945): The Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and the Japanese breaks out.
Mar 20th - 7,000 Jews flee German occupied Memel Lithuania
Mar 21st - Nazi-Germany demands Gdansk (Danzig) from Poland
Mar 22nd - Lithuania state, forced to give Memel territory to Germany
Mar 25th - Billboard Magazine introduces hillbilly (country) music chart
Mar 27th - 1st NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: U of Oregon beats OH State 46-33
Mar 28th - Dutch hunter shoots English bombers down
Mar 28th - Philip Barry's "Philadelphia Story," premieres in NYC
Mar 28th - Renaissance Big 5 win 1st pro basketball championship
Mar 28th - Spanish Civil War ends, Madrid falls to Francisco Franco
Mar 30th - The Heinkel He 100 fighter sets the world airspeed record of 463 mph.
Mar 30th - First flight of the Australian C.A.C. CA-16 Wirraway.
Mar 31st - Britain & France agree to support Poland if invaded by Germany
Apr 1st - US recognizes Franco government in Spain at end of Spanish civil war Pope Pius XII congratulates Generalissimo Franco's victory in Spain
Apr 2nd - 6th Golf Masters Championship: Ralph Guldahl wins, shooting a 279
Apr 4th - Faisal II ascends to throne of Iraq
Apr 5th - Membership in Hitler Youth becomes obligatory
Apr 6th - Great Britain & Poland sign military pact
Apr 6th - US & UK agree on joint control of Canton & Enderbury Is (Pacific)
Apr 7th - Italy invades Albania
Apr 8th - ACV soccer team forms in Axes
Apr 8th - King Zog I of Albania, flees
Apr 9th - Marian Anderson sings before 75,000 at Lincoln Memorial
Apr 10th - Colijn's Dutch government opens camp Westerbork for German Jews
Apr 10th - Grens mobilization due to Italian invasion in Albania
Apr 11th - Hungary leaves League of Nations
Apr 13th - W Saroyan's "My Heart's in the Highlands," premieres in NYC
Apr 13th - In India, the Hindustani Lal Sena (Indian Red Army) is formed and vows to engage in armed struggle against the British.
Author John Steinbeck Apr 14th - John Steinbeck novel "The Grapes of Wrath" published
Apr 15th - Albert Lebrun elected president of France

1 2 3 4 5 ▶

Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 727

Jan 1st - Michèle Mercier, French actress
Jan 2nd - Jim Bakker, televangelist (PTL Club)/rapist (Jessica Hahn)
Jan 3rd - Bobby Hull, NHL forward (Chicago Blackhawk 1957-72)
Jan 3rd - Nikos Alefantos, Greek football manager
Jan 3rd - Janice Crosio, Australian politician
Jan 4th - Jon Appleton, composer
Jan 5th - Bridget Parker, England, equestrian 3 day event (Olympic-gold-1972)
Jan 5th - Peter Struycken, statues/computer expert/teacher
Jan 6th - Murray Rose, Nairn Scotland, Australian Olympic swimmer (4x oly gold), (d. 2012)
Jan 7th - David Buchan, ethno-musicologist
Jan 7th - Tom Kierman, British(?) rugby player
Jan 7th - Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark
Jan 10th - Bill Toomey, Phila Pa, decathelete (Olympic-gold-68)
Jan 10th - Sal Mineo, NYC, actor (Exodus, Rebel Without a Cause)
Jan 10th - Jared Carter, American poet
Jan 10th - David Horowitz, American author and political commentator
Jan 10th - William Levy, Dutch writer
Jan 10th - Scott McKenzie, American singer, (d. 2012)
Jan 11th - Anne Heggtveigt, Canada, slalom (Olympic-gold-1960)
Jan 11th - Anne Heggtveit, Canadian alpine skier
Jan 12th - Helmut Eisendle, writer
Jan 12th - Jacobus M "Jacques" Hamelink, Dutch writer/poet (Cold Unrest)
Jan 13th - Jacek Gmoch, Polish footballer and coach
Jan 15th - Charles Christopher Steel, composer
Jan 16th - Cliff Thorburn, English snookers player
Jan 17th - Antao D'Souza, cricketer (Pakistani pace bowler in six Tests 1959-62)
Jan 17th - Maury Povich, TV host (Current Affair, Maury)/Mr Connie Chung
Jan 17th - Toini Gustafson, Sweden, 5K/10K cross country skier (Oly-gold-1968)
Jan 18th - Bernard Glassman, NY, Zen teacher/head (Zen Center of NY)
Jan 20th - Murle Breer, LPGA golfer
Jan 20th - Nalin Chandra Wickramasinghe, Indian astronomer
Jan 20th - Paul Coverdell, American politician (d. 2000)
Jan 21st - Mary Ellen McAnally, Illinois, poet (Dance of the Zygotes)
Jan 22nd - Jeff Smith, American chef (d. 2004)
Jan 23rd - Sonny Chiba, Japanese actor and martial artist
Jan 23rd - Arlene Golonka, American actress
Jan 24th - Ray Stevens, Clarksdale Ga, singer (Ahab the Arab, Streak)
Jan 25th - Gabriel Romanus, Swedish politician
Jan 26th - Marshall Lieb, rocker (Teddy Bears)
Jan 27th - Mike Hill, Jackson MI, PGA golfer (1977 Ohio Kings Island Open)
Jan 27th - N R Bomford, head master (Harrow School)
Jan 27th - Rawlings, Baroness
Jan 27th - Tigran Yegiayi Mansuryan, composer
Jan 28th - John M Fabian, Goosecreek Tx, Col USAF/astronaut (STS 7, STS 51G)
Jan 29th - Germaine Greer, Melbourne Australia, feminist/author (Female Eunich)
Jan 29th - O P Kolomitsev, cosmonaut
Jan 30th - Eleanor Smeal, feminist/pres (NOW)
Jan 30th - Frank R Wolf, (Rep-R-VA, 1981- )
Jan 30th - Nick Gaselee, racehorse trainer
Jan 31st - Claude Gauthier, Canadian singer and songwriter
Feb 1st - Del McCoury, bluegrass singer/musician
Feb 1st - Paul E Gillmor, (Rep-R-Ohio)
Feb 1st - Claude François, French singer (d. 1978)
Feb 2nd - Rachel English, London, author (My 1st 500)
Feb 2nd - Akbar Adibi, Iranian scientist, father of electronics in Iran (d. 2000)
Feb 3rd - Vladimir Yevgenyevich Preobrazhensky, Russian cosmonaut
Feb 4th - Jacques Charlier, Belgian sculptor
Feb 4th - John Schuck, Boston Mass, comedian (McMillan & Wife, Holmes & Yoyo)
Feb 4th - Stan Lundine, (Rep-D-NY, 1976-86)
Feb 5th - Brian Luckhurst, cricketer (England opener of 60's & early 70's)
Feb 5th - Jane Bryant Quinn, newscaster/financial writer (Everyone's Money Book)
Feb 6th - Mike Farrell, St Paul Minn, actor (BJ Honeycutt-M*A*S*H, Battered)
Feb 8th - Gerrit Lakmaaker, sculptor/painter (Leidsepleingroep)
Feb 8th - José Maria Sison, Filipino communist
Feb 9th - Barry Mann, R&B singer (Who Put the Bomp in the Bomp Bomp Bomp)
Feb 9th - Janet Suzman, South African actress (Dry White Season, Nuns on the Run)
Feb 10th - Barbara Kolb, Hartford Ct, composer (Trobar Jus)
Feb 10th - Boris Pickett, vocalist (Monster Mash)
Feb 10th - Roberta Flack, NC, vocalist (If Ever I Saw Your Face)
Feb 10th - Adrienne Clarkson, 26th Governor General of Canada
Feb 11th - Bryan Gould, MP
Feb 11th - Gerry Goffin, Queens NY, rock lyricist (married Carole King)
Feb 11th - Jane [Hyatt] Yolen, US, sci-fi author (Spider Jane, Heart's Blood)
Feb 12th - Ray Manzarek, American keyboardist (Doors-Light My Fire, Unknown Soldier)
Feb 12th - John D Hancock, actor/director (Black Marble, Traxx, Houston Knights)
Feb 13th - Valery Illych Rozhdestvensky, USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 23)
Feb 13th - Beate Klarsfeld, German Nazi hunter
Feb 14th - Chris Pyne, trombonist
Feb 14th - Michael Rudman, English theater director/producer (Donkeys' Years)
Feb 15th - Jo Clayton, US, sci-fi author (Irsud, Maeve, Star Hunters)
Feb 15th - Tony Bloom, deputy CEO (Sketchley)
Feb 15th - Robert Hansen, American serial killer
Feb 16th - David Griffiths, portrait painter
Feb 16th - Harold Kalin, singer
Feb 17th - Mary Ann Mobley, Biloxi Ms, Miss America-1959/actr (Diff'rent Strokes)
Feb 17th - John Leyton, British singer
Feb 18th - Claude Ake, political scientist
Feb 18th - Marlos Nobre, composer
Feb 18th - Petronella CM "Carletta" Banning, actress (Potasch & Perlemoer)
Feb 18th - Dal Maxvill, American baseball player
Feb 18th - Marek Janowski, Polish-born conductor
Feb 19th - Gwen Taylor, British actress (Life of Brian, Sob Sisters, Screaming)
Feb 20th - Barbara Ellis, Olympia Wa, rocker (Fleetwoods)
Feb 20th - Roy George Elroy Josephs, jazz dance teacher
Feb 20th - Frank Arundel, English footballer
Feb 21st - Richard Beymer, Avoca IA, actor (West Side Story, Diary of Anne Frank)
Feb 21st - Ron Nagle, rock producer (Riding with the King)
Feb 22nd - Steve Barber, pitcher (Balt Orioles, NY Yankees)
Feb 23rd - Edmund Boyd Fisher, publisher
Feb 23rd - Josef Feistmantl, Austria, lugeist (Olympic-gold-1964)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ▶

Famous Weddings

Weddings 1 - 6 of 6

Mar 16th - Marriage of Princess Fawzia of Egypt to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran.
Apr 22nd - Actor and naval officer of World War II Douglas Fairbanks Jr (29) weds Huntington Hartford's former wife Mary Lee Hartford
Jul 2nd - Syndicated columnist Ann Landers (21) weds business executive Julius Lederer
Aug 14th - "A Star Is Born" actress Janet Gaynor (32) weds MGM costume designer Adrian (36)
Aug 20th - "Rebecca" actress Joan Fontaine (21) weds actor Brian Aherne (37)
Nov 19th - Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio (24) weds "Freshies" actress Dorothy Arnold at St. Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 100 of 131

Jan 2nd - Roman Dmowski, Polish politician (b. 1864)
Jan 5th - Amelia Earhart, American aviator declared dead after disappearance in 1937. (b. 1897)
Jan 6th - Albert Ward, cricketer (England batsman in 7 Tests 1893-95), dies
Jan 9th - Johann Strauss, Austrian conductor/Royal ball director, dies at 72
Jan 10th - Jameson Thomas, actor (Piccadilly, Farmer's Wife), dies at 50
Jan 10th - Julius Bittner, Austria composer (Missa Austriaca), dies at 64
Jan 13th - Jacob Ruppert, CEO (NY Yankees, 1915-39), dies
Jan 16th - Albert Fish, mass murderer, executed
Jan 19th - Cliff Heathcote, American baseball player (b. 1898)
Jan 23rd - Matthias Sindelar, Austria soccer star, commits suicide
Jan 24th - Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician and nutritionist (b. 1867)
Jan 26th - Armand Calinescu, Romania's PM, assassinated by the iron guard
Jan 28th - William Butler Yeats, Irish poet (Nobel), dies in France at 73
Jan 31st - George Thornton, cricketer (1 Test for South Africa 1902, 1* & 1-20), dies
Feb 4th - Edward Sapir, US linguist/cultural antropologist (indian), dies at 55
Feb 4th - Henri W A Deterding, Dutch oil magnate (Royal Oil, Shell), dies at 72
Feb 7th - Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter (b. 1886)
Feb 10th - Pius XI, [Ambrogio D A Ratti], Italian Pope (1922-39), dies at 81
Feb 11th - Franz Schmidt, Austrian composer, dies at 64
Feb 15th - Foppe G Scheltema, Dutch lawyer, dies at 47
Feb 15th - Henri Jaspar, premier of Belgium (1926-31), dies at 68
Feb 15th - Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Russian painter (b. 1878)
Feb 16th - Jura Soyfer, writer, dies at 26
Feb 17th - Willy Hess, German violinist (b. 1859)
Feb 18th - Ludwig Bonvin, composer, dies at 89
Feb 22nd - Antonio Machado, Spanish poet (b. 1875)
Feb 27th - Nadezjda K Krupskaya, Russian revolutionary/wife of Lenin, dies at 70
Archaeologist and Discoverer of Tutankhamun Howard Carter (Mar 2nd) Mar 2nd - Howard Carter, Brit archaeologist/Egyptologist (King Tut), dies at 65
Mar 6th - [Carl L] Ferdinand von Lindemann, German mathematician, dies at 86
Mar 7th - Amadeo Roldan, composer, dies at 38
Mar 7th - John Jules Barrish, Irish writer (b. 1885)
Mar 18th - Henry Simpson Lunn, English humanitarian and religious leader (b. 1859)
Mar 19th - Lloyd L. Gaines, American civil rights activist
Mar 21st - Evald Aav, composer, dies at 39
Mar 27th - Constance Lindsay Skinner, author (Rivers of America), dies at 57
Mar 28th - Francis Matthew John Baker, Australian politician (b. 1903)
Apr 5th - William Cooper, cricketer (two Tests for Australia 1882-84), dies
Apr 6th - Robert Courtneidge, British theater producer, dies
Apr 7th - Joseph Lyons, tenth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1879)
Apr 9th - Emilio Serrano y Ruiz, composer, dies at 89
Apr 10th - Alfredo Panzini, Ital author (Il Bacio de Lesba), dies at 75
Apr 11th - SS Van Dine, [William Huntingdon Wright], detective writer, dies at 50
Apr 18th - Theo Mann, actress (Pink Bernd, Hedda Gabler), dies at 88
Apr 21st - Herman Finck, composer, dies at 66
Apr 24th - John Foulds, composer, dies at 58
May 3rd - [Karl Eduard] Wilhelm Groener, German general, dies at 71
May 11th - Evgenii Miller, Russian counter-revolutionary (b. 1867)
May 20th - Joe Carr, NFL hall of famer/NFL president (1921-39), dies at 59
May 22nd - Ernst Toller, writer, dies at 45
May 22nd - Jiri Mahen, Czech author (b. 1882)
May 26th - Charles H Mayo, US surgeon/co-founder (Mayo Clinic), dies at 74
May 26th - Cornelis J Cutters, supreme commander of Navy (1910-18), dies
May 27th - Joseph Roth, Austria journalist (Fluctuate ohne Ende), dies at 44
May 29th - Ursula Julia Ledochowska, Polish-Austrian Catholic saint (b. 1865)
May 30th - Floyd Roberts, Auto racer, killed during 1939 Indianapolis 500 (b. 1904)
Jun 4th - Tommy Ladnier, American musician (b. 1900)
Jun 5th - Elijah Beardsworth, world quick shaving champion, dies
Jun 5th - Frank Van de Goes, writer/marxist theorist, dies
Jun 6th - Ford Madox Ford, writer, dies at 65
Jun 9th - Owen Moore, actor (She Done Him Wrong), commits suicide at 52
Jun 13th - Arthur Coningham, cricketer (one Test for Australia 1894), dies
Jun 13th - Volter A Kilpi, Finnish writer (Suljetuilla Porteilla), dies at 64
Jun 16th - Chick Webb, American jazz drummer and big band leader (b. 1905)
Jun 17th - Eugene Weldman, last guillotined in France
Jun 17th - Allen Sothoron, American baseball player (b. 1893)
Jun 18th - French LM "Sas" van Aerschot, Flemish actor, dies at 73
Jun 19th - Grace Abbott, social worker (US Children Bureau), dies at 60
Jun 26th - Ford M Ford, [Hueffer], British writer, (Tietjens Saga) dies at 65
Jul 1st - Louis Davids [Simon David], cabaret performer/chorus performer, dies
Jul 2nd - Alfred R Zimmerman, mayor of Rotterdam (1906-22), dies
Jul 7th - James Deacon White, ball player jumped teams in 1876 (Chi), dies at 91
Jul 8th - [Henry] Havelock Ellis, English sexologist (Man & Woman), dies at 80
Jul 14th - Alphonse Mucha, Czech painter, decorative artist (b. 1860)
Jul 15th - Johon Mellanby, physiologist, dies
Jul 15th - Percy Scott Worthington, architect, dies
Jul 16th - Beatrice Erskine Lane Suzuki, Zen student, dies
Jul 18th - Witold Maliszewski, composer, dies at 65
Jul 19th - Tom Hayward, cricketer (35 Tests for England, 1999 runs), dies
Jul 19th - Rose Hartwick Thorpe, American poet (b. 1850)
Jul 20th - Joseph Mendes da Costa, sculptor, dies
Jul 28th - William J Mayo, US surgeon/co-founder Mayo Clinic, dies at 78
Aug 2nd - Harvey Spencer Lewis, American Rosicrucian mystic (b. 1883)
Aug 3rd - Eugust Enna, composer, dies at 80
Aug 11th - Jean Bugatti, Italian automobile designer (b. 1909)
Aug 16th - Ron Oxenham, cricketer (7 Tests for Australia, 14 wickets), dies
Aug 23rd - Sidney Coe Howard, playwright (Silver Cord, Pulitzer 1925), dies at 48
Aug 24th - W H Moule, cricketer (Australia v England 1880)/High Court judge, dies
Aug 25th - Babe Siebert, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1904)
Sep 5th - Cornelis J "Cor" van Ast, Dutch actor/director (Two Boys), dies at 67
Sep 6th - Arthur Rackham, artist/illustrator (Grimm's Fairy Tales), dies at 71
Sep 7th - Kyoka Izumi, Japanese novelist (b. 1873)
Sep 9th - S M Tretjakow, writer, dies at 47 [or Aug 9]
Sep 18th - Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish writer, painter, and photographer (b. 1885)
Sep 20th - Paul Bruchési, French Canadian Catholic archbishop of Montreal (b. 1855)
Sep 21st - Armand Calinescu, premier of Romania, murdered
Father of Psychology Sigmund Freud (Sep 23rd) Sep 23rd - Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and creator of psychoanalysis, dies at 83
Sep 24th - Carl Laenmie, film producer, dies
Sep 28th - Felicjan Szopski, composer, dies at 74
Sep 29th - Dickstein, mathematician, dies
Oct 7th - Harvey (William) Cushing, US neurologist, dies at 70