1939 Timeline

1939
to 1945
Chronological Timeline of WWII
1939 Chrysler New Yorker is First Produced
The Chrysler New Yorker was a premium automobile built by the Chrysler Corporation from 1939 to 1996, serving for several years as the brand's flagship model. A model named the "New York ...
1939 Chrysler Saratoga is First Produced
The Chrysler Saratoga was a full-sized automobile produced by the Chrysler Corporation. Chrysler first used the Saratoga nameplate on its 1939 models and continued to use the name through...
1939 Chrysler Windsor is First Produced
The Chrysler Windsor was a full-sized car built by the Chrysler Corporation of Highland Park, Michigan (USA) from 1939 through to the 1960s. The final Chrysler Windsor as known to America...
1939 Ford Anglia is First Produced
The Ford Anglia was a British car from Ford in the UK. It was related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Ford Anglia name was applied to four models of car between 1939 a...
1939 Ford Model 91 is First Produced
The Ford Model 91 was a car made by the British Ford in 1939 only and was the last of the British pre war V-8 range that had started with the V8 18 in 1932. In total 1878 were made. For t...
1939 Ford N Series is First Produced
The first of the 'N Series' of Ford tractors was the 9N. It included the first three-point hitch system on tractors, in the United States (Ferguson had used it on the Ferguson-Brown tract...
1939 Ford Taunus is First Produced
Ford Taunus was a range of family cars sold by Ford in Germany and other countries. Models from 1970 onward were similar to the Ford Cortina in the United Kingdom. The model line was n...
1939
to 1945
German/Russian occupation of Poland
This article deals with the occupation of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union during the Second World War (1939–1945). In the beginning of the war (September, 1939) the territory of Po...
1939
to 1941
Jackie Robinson attends UCLA
Jackie Robinson transferred from Pasadena Junior College to the nearby University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he became the school's first athlete to win varsity letters in f...
1939 Malcolm X drops out of school after 8th grade
In December 1938 Louise Little had a nervous breakdown and was declared legally insane. The Little siblings were split up and sent to different foster homes. The state formally committed...
1939 Porsche 64 is First Produced
The Porsche 64, also known as the VW Aerocoupe, Type 64 and Type 60K10, is considered by many to be the first automobile from what was to become the Porsche company, as a true design prec...
1939 The 'Augusta National Invitation' Tournament is Officially named 'The Masters'
he idea for Augusta National originated with Bobby Jones, who wanted to build a golf course after his retirement from the game. He sought advice from Clifford Roberts, who later became th...
1939 'The Seven Lady Godivas: The True Facts Concerning History's Barest Family' is Published
Mr. Geisel began using his middle name as a pen name for his cartoons because he hoped to use his surname as a novelist one day. But when he got around to doing a grown-up book -- "The Se...
1939 Jan 19 'If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem' Is Published
Wild Palms/Old Man is a blend of two stories, a love story and a river story, entitled "Wild Palms" and "Old Man", respectively. Both stories tell us of a distinct relationship between a ...
1939 Jan 23 William Faulkner Appears on the Cover of Time Magazine
Random House retitles Faulkner’s latest novel, which he originally called “If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem.” It becomes The Wild Palms, and when it is published, Faulkner is featured on the c...
1939 Jan 24 Chillán Earthquake of 1939
The 1939 Chillán earthquake was a major earthquake in south-central Chile. It is currently the single earthquake that has caused the most deaths in Chile. The earthquake occurred on 24 Ja...
1939 Jan 27 Adolf Hitler orders "Plan Z"
Plan Z was the name given to the planned re-equipment and expansion of the Nazi German Navy (Kriegsmarine) ordered by Adolf Hitler on January 27, 1939. The plan called for a Kriegsmarine ...
1939 Feb 2 'Finnegans Wake' Is Published
Finnegans Wake, Joyce’s final work was created over a period of fifteen years with composition starting in 1923. It was finally completed in 1938. Joyce celebrated its eventual publicatio...
1939 Feb 10 Hainan Island Operation
The Japanese Navy, after the capture of Canton the previous year, had maintained a formidable blockade all along the coast of south, central and north China. However, loopholes were found...
1939 Feb 10 Pope Pius XI dies
Pope Pius had been ailing for a while, when, on 25 November 1938, he suffered two heart attacks within several hours. He had serious breathing problems and had to stay in his apartment. T...
1939 Feb 13 Sidney Robertson Cowell Records Six Italian Folk Songs
Italian-American Mario Olmeda shared his passion for traditional Italian singing with folk music collector Sidney Robertson Cowell on February 13, 1939, in Martinez, California. Cowell re...
1939 Feb 17 "Gunga Din" Is Released
Gunga Din is a 1939 RKO adventure film directed by George Stevens, (very) loosely based on the poem by Rudyard Kipling, combined with elements of his novel Soldiers Three. The film is abo...
1939 Feb 23 11th Academy Awards
The 11th Academy Awards were held on February 23, 1939 at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. It was the first Academy Awards show without any official host, as well as the fir...
1939 Mar 2 Eugenio Pacelli (Pius XII) elected Pope
The Venerable Pope Pius XII (Latin: Pius PP. XII; Italian: Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (2 March 1876 – 9 October 1958), reigned as the 260th Pope, head of the C...
1939 Mar 3 Gandhi Announces Fast-Unto-Death in the Effort to Form a People's Council in Rajkot
Before the convening of the plenary session of the Congress Party at Tripuri on March 11, India watched with interest and alarm the struggle between the Mahatma and Shri Dharmendrasinhji,...
1939 Mar 4 Ronald Reagan Appears as Lieutenant 'Brass' Bancroft in "Secret Service of the Air"
At the end of the 1930s, Ronald Reagan's career was typical of any second-string studio contract actor––playing supporting roles and bits in top productions, occasionally getting a shot a...
1939 Mar 15 Germany establishes the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was the majority ethnic-Czech protectorate which Nazi Germany established in the central parts of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia in what is tod...
1939 Mar 15 "Midnight" Is Released
Midnight is a 1939 romantic comedy (with some elements of screwball comedy) directed by Mitchell Leisen and written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder based on a story by Edwin Justus M...
1939 Mar 16 "Love Affair" Is Released
Love Affair is a 1939 romantic film starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer and featuring Maria Ouspenskaya. It was directed by Leo McCarey and written by Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Ste...
1939 Mar 17
to 1939 May 9
 Battle of Nanchang
The Battle of Nanchang (Traditional Chinese: 南昌會戰, Simplified Chinese: 南昌会战) was a major battle between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Japanese Imperial Japanese Army in ...
1939 Mar 18 Frank Sinatra first recording, Our Love with Frank Mane
On March 18, 1939, Sinatra made a demo recording of a song called "Our Love", with the Frank Mane band. In June, Harry James hired Sinatra on a one year contract of $75 a week. It was wit...
1939 Mar 27 First NCAA Men's Basketball Championship - Oregon Defeats Ohio State 46-33
The 1939 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. ...
1939 Mar 30
to 1939 Apr 2
 Ralph Guldahl wins the 6th Masters Tournament
After consecutive runner-up finishes in 1937 and 1938, Ralph Guldahl shot a second nine 33 Sunday for a one-stroke victory over Sam Snead.Thursday's round was postponed due to rain. 36 ho...
1939 Apr 1 End of the Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict that devastated Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939. It began after an attempted coup d'état against the government of the Second Spanish Re...
1939 Apr 7 Italy Invades Albania
On April 7 Mussolini's troops invaded Albania. The operation was led by General Alfredo Guzzoni. The invasion force was divided into three groups, which were to land successively. The mos...
1939 Apr 14 'The Grapes of Wrath' is Published
The Grapes of Wrath is the Oakies' saga. It is John Ernst Steinbeck's longest novel (619 pages) and more ambitious than all his others combined (Tortilla Flat, In Dubious Battle, Of Mice ...
1939 Apr 16 Boston Bruins win Stanley Cup
The 1939 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was Boston's first appearance in the Final since 1930; Toronto had ap...
1939 Apr 16 Dusty Springfield is Born
Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien OBE (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known as Dusty Springfield, was a singer. Of all the female British pop artists of the 1960s, she made one of ...
1939 Apr 20
to 1939 May 24
 Battle of Suixian-Zaoyang
The Battle of Suixian-Zaoyang (simplified Chinese: 随枣会战; traditional Chinese: 隨棗會戰; pinyin: Suízǎo Huìzhàn), also known as the Battle of Suizao was one of the 22 major engagements between...
1939 Apr 22 "Dark Victory" Is Released
Dark Victory is a 1939 American drama film directed by Edmund Goulding. The screenplay by Casey Robinson was based on the unsuccessful 1934 play of the same title by George Brewer and Ber...
1939 Apr 22 Ronald Reagan Appears as Alec Hamm in "Dark Victory"
Dark Victory is a 1939 American drama film directed by Edmund Goulding. The screenplay by Casey Robinson was based on the unsuccessful 1934 play of the same title by George Brewer and Ber...
1939 Apr 28 Hitler renounces German-Polish Non-Agression Pact
The German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact was an international treaty between Nazi Germany and the Second Polish Republic signed on January 26, 1934. In it, both countries pledged to resolve ...
1939 Apr 28 Hitler renounces the Anglo-German Naval Agreement
The Anglo-German Naval Agreement (A.G.N.A) of June 18, 1935 was a bilateral agreement between the United Kingdom and German Reich regulating the size of the Kriegsmarine in relation to th...
1939 Apr 30 Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes First President to Appear on TV
In April of 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first president of the United States to appear on television. The setting was the 1939 World's Fair in New York. The appearance was broa...
1939 May British Parliament approves The White Paper
The White Paper of 1939, also known as the MacDonald White Paper after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary who presided over it, was a policy paper issued by the British gov...
1939 May Ravensbrück, the Largest Concentration Camp for Women, Opens
Ravensbrück or Ravensbrueck (German pronunciation: [ʁaːfənsˈbʁʏk]) was a notorious women's concentration camp during World War II, located in northern Germany, 90 km north of Berlin at a ...
1939 May 15 "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" Is Released
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) is a British film based on the novel of the same name by James Hilton. It was directed by Sam Wood, and starred Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Terry Kilburn, John M...
1939 May 15 "Only Angels Have Wings" Is Released
Only Angels Have Wings (1939) is a movie directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Jean Arthur. It is generally regarded as being among Hawks' finest films, particularly in its po...
1939 May 22 Pact of Steel signed by Italy and Germany
The Pact of Steel, known formally as the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy, was an agreement between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany signed on May 22, 1939, by the ...