Today in History for September 1939

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

Historical Events

Events 1 - 67 of 67

1st - Hitler orders extermination of mentally ill
1st - Last day of 1st-class cricket in England for 6 years
1st - Physical Review publishes 1st paper to deal with "black holes"
1st - Switzerland proclaims neutrality
1st - WW II starts, Germany invades Poland, takes Danzig
1st - The Wound Badge for Wehrmacht, SS, Kriegsmarine, and Luftwaffe soldiers is instituted. The final version of the Iron Cross was also instituted on this date.
1st - Switzerland mobilizes its forces and the Swiss Parliament elects Henri Guisan to head the Swiss Army (an event that can happen only during war or mobilization).
3rd - German U-boat sinks British passenger ship Athenia
3rd - Great Britain & France declare war on Germany after invasion of Poland
3rd - Yanks beat Red Sox on a forfeit, their 4th forfeit win
3rd - Britain declares war on Germany. France follows 6 hours later quickly joined by Australia, NZ, South Africa & Canada
4th - Dutch 2nd Chamber affirms Neth's in a State of War
4th - German submarine U-30 sinks British passenger ship Athenia
4th - German troops move into Danzig
4th - Netherlands & Belgium declare neutrality
4th - Polish ghetto of Mir is exterminated
4th - RAF bombs Wilhelmshafen
5th - 34th Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in Haverford (3-2)
5th - FDR declares US neutrality at start of WW II in Europe
5th - US declare itself neutral
6th - 1st German air attack on Great-Britain in WW II
6th - South Africa declares war on nazi-Germany
6th - World War II: The Battle of Barking Creek.
7th - Radio NY Worldwide-WRUL begins radio transmission
8th - FDR declares "limited national emergency" due to war in Europe
8th - Gen Von Reichenaus pantzer division reaches suburbs of Warsaw
8th - Indians Bob Feller, 20, is youngest pitcher to win 20 games
8th - Yanks beat Red Sox 4-1 in 7, game called because of lightning
9th - Nazi army reaches Warsaw
10th - Canada declares war on Germany
10th - In WW II, Canada declared war on Germany
11th - Battle of Kutno-pocket: Germans advance to Warsaw
11th - British submarine Triton torpedoes British submarine Oxley
11th - Iraq & Saudi Arabia declare war on nazi-Germany
13th - First (tethered) flight of the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, one of the first viable American helicopters
14th - British fleet attacks German U-39 boat
British war time Prime Minister Winston Churchill 14th - Minister Winston Churchill visits Scapa Flow
16th - 53rd US Womens Tennis: Alice Marble beats Helen Hull Jacobs (60 810 64)
16th - 59th US Mens Tennis: Robert L Riggs beats S Welby van Horn (64 62 64)
16th - NY Yankees clinch their 11th & 4th successive pennant
17th - German U-29 sinks British aircraft carrier Courageous, 519 die
17th - Poland's president Moscicki & PM Slawoj-Skladkowski flee to Romania
17th - Russia invades Eastern Poland, takes 217,000 Poles prisoner
17th - Soviet Union invades Poland during WW II
17th - Taisto Mäki becomes the first man to run the 10,000 metres in under 30 minutes, in a time of 29:52.6
18th - Polish government of Moscicki flees to Romania
18th - William Joyce's first Nazi propaganda broadcast.
19th - British Expeditionary Force reaches France
19th - Lord Haw-Haw becomes radio host of Reichsrundfunk Berlin
19th - Wehrmacht (German regular army) murders 100 Jews in Lukov Poland
20th - British fleet takes German U-27 boat
20th - Joe Louis KOs Bob Pastor in 11 for heavyweight boxing title
21st - Reinhard Heydrich meets in Berlin to discuss final solution of Jews
23rd - Cookie Lavagetto goes 6 for 6-Dodgers get 27 hits & beat Phillies 22-4
25th - German Luftwaffe strikes Warsaw with (fire)bombs
25th - Versailles Peace Treaty forgot to include Andorra, so Andorra & Germany finally sign an official treaty ending WW I
26th - German seaplane shoots KLM-aircraft (1 killed)
27th - Warsaw Poland, surrenders to Germans after 19 days of resistance
27th - White Sox host 1st "day-night" doubleheader, lose to Cleve, 5-2 & 7-5
28th - Estonia accepts Soviet military bases
28th - Final broadcast of The Fleischmann Hour was heard on radio
28th - Soviet-German treaty agree on 4th partition of Poland (WW II) & gives Lithuania to USSR, last Polish troops surrender
30th - 1st televised college football game (Fordham vs Waynesburg at NYC)
30th - 41 U-boats sunk this month (153,000 ton)
30th - Germany & Russia agree to partition Poland
30th - White Sox reliever Clint Brown sets record of 61st relief appearance
30th - Britain first evacuates citizens in anticipation of war.

Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 66 of 66

1st - Heinrich Messner, Austria, downhill skier (Olympic-bronze-1972)
1st - Katie Webster, [Swamp-Boogie Queen]/US R&B pianist/singer
1st - Lily Tomlin, Detroit, comedienne/actress (9 to 5, Laugh-in, All of Me)
2nd - Bobby Purify, rocker
2nd - Robert Lee Dickey, US singer (I'm your puppet)
2nd - Sam Gooden, Chattanooga Tenn, rock vocalist (Impressions-Gypsy Woman)
5th - George Lazenby, Goulburn Australia, actor (OHMSS-James Bond)
5th - John Stewart, San Diego Ca, rocker (Kingston Trio-Fire in the Wind)
5th - Clay Regazzoni, Swiss racing driver (d. 2006)
6th - David Allan Coe, country musician (Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy)
6th - Susumu Tonegawa, Japanese molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
6th - Dan Cragg, American soldier and author
7th - Stanley David Griggs, Portland Oregon, astronaut (STS 51-D), STS 33)
7th - [Benjamin] Latimore, US singer (Let's Straighten It Out)
8th - Carsten Keller, German field hockey player
8th - Guitar Shorty, American musician
9th - Howard P McKeon, (Rep-R-California)
9th - Carlos Ortiz, Puerto Rican boxer
10th - Artie Tripp, rocker (Mothers Of Invention)
10th - Greg Mullavey, Buffalo NY, actor (Tom-Mary Hartman, Rituals)
10th - Topham Brinton, English carpet magnate/multi-millionaire
11th - Lola Falana, Camden NJ, singer (Liberation of LB Jones)
11th - Charles Geschke, American inventor and businessman
12th - Henry A Waxman, (Rep-D-California, 1975-86)
12th - Phillip Ramey, composer
13th - Larry Speakes, presidential press secretary
13th - Richard Kiel, Detroit Mich, actor (So Fine, Jaws-Moonraker, Skidoo)
14th - DeWitt T Weaver Jr, Danville KY, PGA golfer (1972 Southern Open)
14th - Piet R Stoffelen, Dutch ambassador/MP (PvdA)
15th - Breyten Breytenbach, South African poet/painter
17th - David H Souter, Weir NH, 107th Supreme Court Justice (1990- )
17th - Joseph Mosikili, South African actor/singer
17th - Lamonte McLemore, St Louis Mo, rock vocalist (5th Dimension)
17th - Shelby Flint, American singer
18th - Bob Whittaker, (Rep-R-KS, 1979- )
18th - Fred Willard, Ohio, comedian (Fernwood 2 Night, Real People)
18th - Naresh Kumar Sohal, composer
18th - Jorge Sampaio, President of Portugal
20th - Robert L. Gerry III, American businessman
22nd - Junko Tabei, Japan, 1st woman to climb Mount Everest
22nd - Mike Sullivan, (Gov-Wyoming)
22nd - Timothy E Wirth, (Rep-D-CO, 1975- )
22nd - Gilbert E. Patterson, American minister and presiding bishop of the Church of God in Christ (d. 2007)
23rd - Roy Buchanan, Ozark Ark, rocker
23rd - Henry Blofeld, English cricket commentator
23rd - Roy Buchanan, American guitarist (d. 1988)
23rd - Janusz Gajos, Polish actor
25th - David Mann, (Rep-D-Ohio)
25th - Joseph "Jesse" Russell, US singer (Slip Sliding Away)
25th - Leon Britain, vice president (Commission of European Communities)
25th - Feroz Khan, Indian actor
26th - Judith P Appelbaum, magazine & newspaper editor, educator
26th - Ricky Tomlinson, English actor
27th - Jim Ross Lightfoot, (Rep-R-Iowa, 1985- )
27th - Kathy Whitworth, Monahans Tx, golfer (7 time LPGA Player of Year)
27th - Nicholas Haslam, interior designer
27th - Carol Lynn Pearson, American poet and writer
28th - Stuart Kauffman, American biologist
28th - Rudolph Walker, Trinidadian-born British actor
29th - Eberhard Koellner, German DR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 31 backup)
29th - Larry Linville, Ojai California, actor (Frank Burns-M*A*S*H, Blue Movie)
29th - Tommy Boyce, songwriter (Boyce & Hart)
29th - Molly Haskell, American film critic
29th - Jim Baxter, Scottish footballer (d. 2001)
30th - Len Cariou, Winnipeg Manitoba, actor (Four Seasons-Sherry)
30th - Piet M Blauw, Dutch MP (VVD)

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 12 of 12

5th - Cornelis J "Cor" van Ast, Dutch actor/director (Two Boys), dies at 67
6th - Arthur Rackham, artist/illustrator (Grimm's Fairy Tales), dies at 71
7th - Kyoka Izumi, Japanese novelist (b. 1873)
9th - S M Tretjakow, writer, dies at 47 [or Aug 9]
18th - Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish writer, painter, and photographer (b. 1885)
18th - Gwen John, Welsh painter, dies aged 63
20th - Paul Bruchési, French Canadian Catholic archbishop of Montreal (b. 1855)
21st - Armand Calinescu, premier of Romania, murdered
23rd - Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and creator of psychoanalysis, dies at 83
24th - Carl Laenmie, film producer, dies
28th - Felicjan Szopski, composer, dies at 74
29th - Dickstein, mathematician, dies