1939

Centuries: Year in Review 20th Century

19th century - 20th century - 21st century

Decades: 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s - 1930s - 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s

Years: 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 - 1939 - 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944

---

Births

• February 11 - [Jane Hyatt Yolen]?, science fiction author.
• June 6 - Louis Andriessen, Dutch composer
• July 26 - John Howard, Australian Prime Minister
• October 14 - [Ralph Lauren]?, American fashion designer

Deaths

• February 11 - [Franz Schmidt]?, Austrian composer.

Events

• March 28 - Dictator Francisco Franco conquers Madrid, ending the Spanish Civil War
• August 23 - Hitler and Stalin divides eastern Europe between themselves. Finland, the Baltic states and eastern Poland to USSR. Western Poland to Germany ([Ribbentrop-Molotov pact]?)
• August 27 - A Heinkel 178, the first jet-powered aircraft, flies for the first time.
• September 1 - Nazi Germany invades Poland, thus beginning World War II in Europe.
• September 3 - France and the United Kingdom declare war on Germany.
• September 10 - Canada declares war on Germany.
• September 17 - Soviet Union invades Poland and then occupies eastern Polish territories.
• November 30 - Soviet Union attacks Finland, starting the Winter War.

Nobel Prizes

• Physics - [Ernest Orlando Lawrence]?
• Chemistry - [Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt]?, [Leopold Ruzicka]?
• Medicine - [Gerhard Domagk]?
• Literature - Frans Eemil Sillanpää
• Peace - not awarded