![Herd St Post Office (4420435469)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Herd_St_Post_Office_%284420435469%29.jpg)
This year also marks the start of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the
largest and deadliest conflict in human history.
Events
Below, the events of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
have the "WWII" prefix.
January
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
**
Third Reich
***
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
are forbidden to work with
Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
.
*** The
Youth Protection Act was passed on April 30, 1938 and the Working Hours Regulations came into effect.
*** The
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
name change decree has gone into effect.
** The rest of the world
*** In
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, it becomes a duty of all young women under 25 to complete compulsory work service for one year.
*** First edition of the
Vienna New Year's Concert
The Vienna New Year's Concert () is an annual concert of classical music performed by the Vienna Philharmonic on the morning of New Year's Day in Vienna, Austria. The concert occurs at the Musikverein at 11:15. The orchestra performs the same c ...
.
*** The
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
of
technology
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
and manufacturing
scientific instruments Hewlett-Packard
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
, was founded in a garage in
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...
, by
William (Bill) Hewlett and
David Packard. This garage is now considered the birthplace of
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
.
***
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, records temperature of 45 ˚C, the highest record for the city.
***
Philipp Etter
Philipp Etter (21 December 1891, in Menzingen – 23 December 1977) was a Swiss politician. He was the son of Joseph Anton, cooper master, and the Jakobea Stocker.
During his office time he held the Department of Home Affairs and was President of ...
took over as
Swiss Federal President
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
*Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internationa ...
.
***
Texas A&M became the US champion in college football.
*** The
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
-winning
nuclear physicist
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter.
Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi (; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian (later naturalized American) physicist and the creator of the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and ...
, along with his
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
, left
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
to move to
exile
Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
*** In
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, the densely populated settlement of
Vähäheikkilä was abolished and transferred from the municipality of
Kaarina to the city of
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
.
*** The National Pension Act has entered into force in
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
.
*** Launch of the Third Soviet Five Year Plan.
*** In the proposal of the Congregation of the Mosaic, the
Swedish government
The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden ( sv, Konungariket Sveriges regering) is the national cabinet of Sweden, and the country's executive authority.
The Government consists of the Prime Ministerappointed and dismissed by the Speaker of the R ...
approves the acceptance of about 1,000
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
from
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
as refugees in transit. The
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
is responsible for them and visa requirements are introduced for all non-
Nordic refugees
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. in
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
.
*
January 5
Events Pre-1600
*1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Duchy of Burgundy, Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.
1601–1900
*1675 – Battle of Turckh ...
– Pioneering US aviator
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...
is officially declared dead, eighteen months after her disappearance.
*
January 6
Events Pre-1600
*1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eve ...
– ''
Naturwissenschaften
''The Science of Nature'', formerly ''Naturwissenschaften'', is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media covering all aspects of the natural sciences relating to questions of biological significance. I ...
'' publishes
Otto Hahn's discoveries in the field of
nuclear fission
Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei. The fission process often produces gamma photons, and releases a very large amount of energy even by the energetic standards of radio ...
.
*
January 14
Events Pre-1600
*1236 – King Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence.
*1301 – Andrew III of Hungary dies, ending the Árpád dynasty in Hungary.
1601–1900
*1639 – The "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, Fundamenta ...
– Norway claims
Queen Maud Land in
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
.
*
January 23
Events Pre-1600
* 393 – Roman emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor.
* 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao.
*1264 & ...
– "Dutch War Scare": Admiral
Wilhelm Canaris of the ''
Abwehr
The ''Abwehr'' (German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', but the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context; ) was the German military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ''Wehrmacht'' from 1920 to 1944. A ...
'' leaks misinformation to the effect that Germany plans to invade the Netherlands in February, with the aim of using Dutch air-fields to launch a strategic bombing offensive against Britain. The "Dutch War Scare" leads to a major change in British policies towards Europe.
*
January 24
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.
* 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.
*1438 – The Cou ...
–
1939 Chillán earthquake
The 1939 Chillán earthquake occurred in south-central Chile on 24 January with a surface wave magnitude of 8.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). With a death toll of around 28,000, compared to the 2,231–6,000 (official estima ...
: An earthquake in
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
kills an estimated 30,000 people and razes about of land.
*
January 25
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate.
* 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty ...
–
Refik Saydam
İbrahim Refik Saydam (8 September 1881 – 8 July 1942) was a Turkish physician, politician and the fourth Prime Minister of Turkey, serving from 25 January 1939 until his death on 8 July 1942.Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
.
*
January 26
Events Pre-1600
* 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
*1531 – The 6.4–7.1 1531 Lisbon earthquake, Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
*1564 – ...
**
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
: Spanish Nationalist troops, aided by Italy, take
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
.
** In Paris, French Foreign Minister
Georges Bonnet
Georges-Étienne Bonnet (22/23 July 1889 – 18 June 1973) was a French politician who served as foreign minister in 1938 and 1939 and was a leading figure in the Radical Party.
Early life
Bonnet was born in Bassillac, Dordogne, the son of ...
, in response to rumours (which are true) that he is seeking to end the French alliance system in Eastern Europe, gives a speech highlighting his government's commitment to the ''
cordon sanitaire''.
*
January 27
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.
* 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to becom ...
–
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
orders
Plan Z, a 5-year naval expansion programme intended to provide for a huge German fleet capable of crushing the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
by 1944. The ''
Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
'' is given the first priority on the allotment of German economic resources.
*
January 30
Events Pre-1600
*1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.
*1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.
1601–1900
*1607 – An estimated ...
–
Hitler gives a speech before the ''Reichstag'' calling for an "export battle" to increase German foreign exchange holdings. The same speech also sees
Hitler's "prophecy", where he warns that if "Jewish financiers" start a war against Germany, "the result will be the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe".
February
![Alyssamcpherson](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Alyssamcpherson.jpg)
*
February 2
Events Pre-1600
* 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of "Roman law".
* 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King ...
– Hungary joins the
Anti-Comintern Pact.
*
February 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1579 – The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop.
1601–1900
* 1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of ...
** British Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasemen ...
states in the House of Commons that any German attack on France will be automatically considered an attack on Britain.
** In a response to
Georges Bonnet
Georges-Étienne Bonnet (22/23 July 1889 – 18 June 1973) was a French politician who served as foreign minister in 1938 and 1939 and was a leading figure in the Radical Party.
Early life
Bonnet was born in Bassillac, Dordogne, the son of ...
's speech of January 26, German Foreign Minister
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945.
Ribbentrop first came to Adolf Hitler's not ...
, referring to Bonnet's alleged statement of December 6, 1938, accepting Eastern Europe as being in Germany's exclusive
sphere of influence, protests that all French security commitments in that region are "now off limits".
*
February 15
Events Pre-1600
* 438 – Roman emperor Theodosius II publishes the law codex Codex Theodosianus
* 590 – Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia.
* 706 – Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberi ...
–
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
's Western film ''
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...
'' starring
John Wayne
Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...
premieres in New York City and Los Angeles.
*
February 18
Events Pre-1600
* 1229 – The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
* 1268 &ndas ...
– The
Golden Gate International Exposition opens in San Francisco.
*
February 27
Events Pre-1600
* 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity.
* 425 – The University of Constantinople ...
– The United Kingdom and France recognize
Franco's government.
March
*
March – The
1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine ends.
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first Roman triumph, triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor ...
– An
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
ammunition dump explosion on the outskirts of
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
kills 94.
*
March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his ''bucellarii'' are almost cut o ...
–
Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...
(Cardinal Pacelli) succeeds
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...
to become the 260th pope.
*
March 3
Events Pre-1600
* 473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
* 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan.
* 1575 &nd ...
– In
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
, South Africa the
Timeless Test begins between England and South Africa, the longest game of cricket ever played. It is abandoned 12 days later, when the English team has to catch their ship home.
*
March 13
Events Pre-1600
*624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh.
*1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War.
*1591 – At the Battle of Tond ...
–
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
advises
Jozef Tiso to declare Slovakia's independence, in order to prevent its partition by Hungary and Poland.
*
March 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland.
* 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguen ...
– The
Slovak provincial assembly proclaims independence; priest
Jozef Tiso becomes president of the independent Slovak government.
*
March 15
Events Pre-1600
* 474 BC – Roman consul Aulus Manlius Vulso celebrates an ovation for concluding the war against Veii and securing a forty years' truce.
*44 BC – The assassination of Julius Caesar takes place.
* 493 – Odoa ...
– German troops occupy the remaining part of
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
and
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The me ...
;
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
ceases to exist. The Ruthenian region of Czechoslovakia declares independence as
Carpatho-Ukraine.
*
March 16
** Princess
Fawzia Fuad of Egypt
Fawzia of Egypt (; 5 November 1921 – 2 July 2013), also known as Fawzia Pahlavi or Fawzia Chirine, was an Egyptian princess who became Queen of Iran as the first wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran .
Fawzia was the daughter of Fuad I ...
marries Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
, title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran
, image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg
, caption = Shah in 1973
, succession = Shah of Iran
, reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979
, coronation = 26 October ...
of Iran.
** Hungary invades Carpatho-Ukraine; final resistance ends on
March 18.
*
March 17
** British Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasemen ...
gives a speech in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, stating that Britain will oppose any effort at world domination on the part of Germany.
** The nationalist governments of Spain and Portugal sign the
Iberian Pact
The Iberian Pact (''Pacto Ibérico'') or Peninsular Pact, formally the Portuguese–Spanish Treaty of Friendship and Non-Aggression,; pt, Tratado de Amizade e Não Agressão entre Portugal e Espanha was a non-aggression pact that was signed at ...
in Lisbon, pledging mutual defence of the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
and
neutrality in the event of a general European war.
*
March 20
**
1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania
The 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania was an oral ultimatum which Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany, presented to Juozas Urbšys, Foreign Minister of Lithuania on 20 March 1939. The Germans demanded that Lithuania give up ...
, requiring return of the
Klaipėda Region
The Klaipėda Region ( lt, Klaipėdos kraštas) or Memel Territory (german: Memelland or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when as ...
(Memel Territory) to Germany.
** At an emergency meeting in London to deal with the Romanian crisis, French Foreign Minister
Georges Bonnet
Georges-Étienne Bonnet (22/23 July 1889 – 18 June 1973) was a French politician who served as foreign minister in 1938 and 1939 and was a leading figure in the Radical Party.
Early life
Bonnet was born in Bassillac, Dordogne, the son of ...
suggests to
Lord Halifax
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a senior British Conservative politician of the 19 ...
that the ideal state for saving Romania from a German attack is Poland.
*
March 21
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
–
Aleister Crowley's ''Eight Lectures on Yoga'' is published by the
Ordo Templi Orientis
Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.; ) is an occult Initiation, initiatory organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The origins of the O.T.O. can be traced back to the German-speaking occultists Carl Kellner (mystic), Carl Kellner, He ...
in London.
*
March 22
Events Pre-1600
* 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
* 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century.
* 871 – Æthelr ...
** Following the
March 20 ultimatum,
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
is granted the
Klaipėda Region
The Klaipėda Region ( lt, Klaipėdos kraštas) or Memel Territory (german: Memelland or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when as ...
(Memel Territory, ''Memelland'') by
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
; on the following day German forces occupy the territory.
** In the U.S., undefeated
LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's basketball team tops undefeated
Loyola of Chicago in the championship game of the second annual
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...
, 44–32. LIU's 24–0 final record is the first
perfect season of
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
's postseason tournament era.
*
March 23 – The
Slovak–Hungarian War
The Slovak–Hungarian War, or Little War ( hu, Kis háború, sk, Malá vojna), was a war fought from 23 March to 31 March 1939 between the First Slovak Republic and Hungary in eastern Slovakia.
Prelude
After the Munich Pact, which weakened C ...
begins.
*
March 26 –
Final offensive of the Spanish Civil War launched by the Nationalists.
*
March 27 – The
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
defeats
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
46–33 in
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...
, to win the championship of the first
NCAA men's basketball tournament.
*
March 28
Events Pre-1600
* AD 37 – Roman emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, bestowed on him by the Senate.
* 193 – After assassinating the Roman Emperor Pertinax, his Praetorian Guards auction off the throne to Di ...
**
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
assumes power in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, remaining in power until his death in
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
.
** American adventurer
Richard Halliburton
Richard Halliburton (January 9, 1900 – Declared death in absentia, presumed dead after March 24, 1939) was an American travel writing, travel writer and adventurer who swam the length of the Panama Canal and paid the lowest toll in its hi ...
delivers a last message from a Chinese junk, before he disappears on a voyage across the Pacific Ocean. In 1945, some wreckage identified as a rudder, and believed to belong to the junk, washes ashore in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
*
March 31
Events Pre-1600
* 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine the Great, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman emperor Maximian.
*1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at V ...
– Neville Chamberlain gives a speech in the House of Commons, offering the British "guarantee" of the independence of Poland.
April
*
April 1
Events Pre-1600
* 33 – According to one historian's account, Jesus Christ's Last Supper is held.
* 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne.
*1081 – Alexios I Kom ...
– The
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
comes to an end when the last of the Republican forces surrender.
*
April 3
**
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
orders the German military to start planning for
Fall Weiß, the codename for the invasion of Poland.
**
Refik Saydam
İbrahim Refik Saydam (8 September 1881 – 8 July 1942) was a Turkish physician, politician and the fourth Prime Minister of Turkey, serving from 25 January 1939 until his death on 8 July 1942.Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
(12th government; Refik Saydam has served twice as a prime minister).
*
April 4
Events Pre-1600
* 503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.
* 190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground.
* 611 – ...
**
Faisal II
Faisal II ( ar, الملك فيصل الثاني ''el-Melik Faysal es-Sânî'') (2 May 1935 – 14 July 1958) was the last King of Iraq. He reigned from 4 April 1939 until July 1958, when he was killed during the 14 July Revolution. This regici ...
becomes King of
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
aged three, following the death of his father,
Ghazi, in an automobile incident.
** The
Slovak–Hungarian War
The Slovak–Hungarian War, or Little War ( hu, Kis háború, sk, Malá vojna), was a war fought from 23 March to 31 March 1939 between the First Slovak Republic and Hungary in eastern Slovakia.
Prelude
After the Munich Pact, which weakened C ...
ends, with Slovakia ceding eastern territories to Hungary.
** Polish Foreign Minister Colonel
Józef Beck, in London, signs a treaty designed to bilateralize
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasemen ...
's "Polish Guarantee" of March 31.
*
April 7
** Italy invades
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
;
King Zog flees.
**
Joseph Lyons
Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the List of prime ministers of Australia by time in office, 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He ...
, 10th
Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...
, dies in office from a heart attack at the age of 59. He is briefly replaced by his deputy
Earle Page, who serves as the 11th Prime Minister, until a
UAP leadership election is held to replace Lyons.
*
April 9
Events Pre-1600
* 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum.
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, s ...
– African-American singer
Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897April 8, 1993) was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to Spiritual (music), spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throu ...
performs before 75,000 people at the
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in the ...
in Washington, D.C., after having been denied the use both of
Constitution Hall
DAR Constitution Hall is a concert hall located at 1776 D Street NW, near the White House in Washington, D.C. It was built in 1929 by the Daughters of the American Revolution to house its annual convention when membership delegations outgrew Memo ...
by the
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence.
A non-profit group, they promote ...
, and of a public high school by the federally controlled
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
.
First Lady of the United States
The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...
resigns from the DAR because of their decision.
*
April 11 – Hungary leaves the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
.
*
April 14
Events Pre-1600
* 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum.
* 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho ...
– At a meeting in Paris, French Foreign Minister
Georges Bonnet
Georges-Étienne Bonnet (22/23 July 1889 – 18 June 1973) was a French politician who served as foreign minister in 1938 and 1939 and was a leading figure in the Radical Party.
Early life
Bonnet was born in Bassillac, Dordogne, the son of ...
meets with Soviet Ambassador Jakob Suritz, and suggests that a "peace front" comprising France, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, Poland and Romania would deter Germany from war.
*
April 18
Events Pre-1600
* 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
* 1428 – Peace of Ferrara betw ...
** The Soviet Union proposes a "peace front" to resist aggression.
**
Robert Menzies
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
is
elected leader of the
United Australia Party, and consequently becomes the 12th
Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...
, defeating former Prime Minister
Billy Hughes
William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but ...
. However, he will not be sworn in until
April 26, due to
Earle Page and his
Country Party refusing to serve under him.
*
April 20 –
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...
records "
Strange Fruit
"Strange Fruit" is a song written and composed by Abel Meeropol (under his pseudonym Lewis Allan) and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. The lyrics were drawn from a poem by Meeropol published in 1937. The song protests the lynching of Black ...
", the first anti-lynching song, in the United States.
*
April 25 – The
Federal Security Agency
The Federal Security Agency (FSA) was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1939 pursuant to the Reorganization Act of 1939. For a time, the agency oversaw food a ...
(FSA) is founded in the United States, along with the
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...
and
Public Health Service.
*
April 28 – In a speech before the ''Reichstag'',
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
renounces the
Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the
German–Polish declaration of non-aggression.
*
April 30 – The
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...
opens.
May
*
May 1 –
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
, the fictional character created by
Bill Finger and
Bob Kane, makes his first appearance in ''
Detective Comics
''Detective Comics'' is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is best known for introducing the superhero Batman i ...
'' #27.
*
May 3
**
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov. ; (;. 9 March Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._25_February.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 25 February">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dat ...
succeeds
Maxim Litvinov, as Soviet Foreign Commissar.
** The
All India Forward Bloc
The All India Forward Bloc ( AIFB) is a left-wing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose. The party re-established as an independent political party a ...
is formed by Netaji
Subhas Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...
.
*
May 6 –
Carl Friedrich Goerdeler tells the British government that the German and Soviet governments are secretly beginning a rapprochement, with the aim of dividing Eastern Europe between them. Goerdeler also informs the British of German economic problems which he states threaten the survival of the Nazi regime, and advises that if a firm stand is made for Poland, then Hitler will be deterred from war.
*
May 9
Events Pre-1600
* 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria.
*1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy.
*1386 – England and Portugal formally rati ...
– Spain leaves the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
.
*
May 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1027 – Robert II of France names his son Henry I as junior King of the Franks.
*1097 – The Siege of Nicaea begins during the First Crusade.
* 1264 – Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured and forc ...
–
Lina Medina, a 5-year-old
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
vian girl, gives birth to a baby boy, becoming the youngest confirmed mother in medical history.
*
May 17
**
King George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...
and
Queen Elizabeth arrive in
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
, to begin the first-ever tour of Canada by
Canada's monarch.
** The British government issues the
White Paper of 1939
The White Paper of 1939Occasionally also known as the MacDonald White Paper (e.g. Caplan, 2015, p.117) after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary, who presided over its creation. was a policy paper issued by the British government ...
, sharply restricting Jewish immigration to
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
.
**
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, and
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
refuse Germany's offer of non-aggression pacts.
*
May 18
Events Pre-1600
* 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
* 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 4 ...
– The
Hòa Hảo religious sect is established in Vietnam, by
Huỳnh Phú Sổ.
*
May 20
Events Pre-1600
* 325 – The First Council of Nicaea is formally opened, starting the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church.
* 491 – Empress Ariadne marries Anastasius I. The widowed '' Augusta'' is able to choose her ...
–
Pan American Airways begins transatlantic mail service with the inaugural flight of its
Boeing 314 flying boat
A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...
''Yankee Clipper'' from
Port Washington, New York, to
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
.
*
May 22
Events Pre-1600
* 192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.
* 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
* 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
* 11 ...
– Germany and Italy sign the
Pact of Steel.
*
May 24
Events Pre-1600
* 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
* 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
* 1276 – Magnus La ...
– The first issue of ''
Fashizmi
''Fashizmi'' ('Fascism') was a daily Albanian-Italian bilingual newspaper published from Tirana, Albanian Kingdom 1939-1940. It functioned as the official organ of the Albanian Fascist Party. Fejzi Alizoti was the editor of ''Fashizmi''. Vangjel ...
'' is published in
Tirana
Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...
,
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
.
*
May 29 –
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
n
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
leader
Tefik Mborja
Tefik Selim Mborja (6 November 1891 – 1 July 1954) was an Albanian politician and lawyer. He served as the general secretary of the Albanian Fascist Party during the Second World War.Fischer, Bernd Jürgen. Albania at War: 1939-1945'. London: Hu ...
is appointed as member of the Italian Chamber of Fasces and Corporations.
June
![Phutthamonthon Buddha](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Phutthamonthon_Buddha.gif)
*
June 3
Events Pre-1600
* 350 – The Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators.
* 713 – The Byzantine Empire, Byzantine emperor Philippikos Ba ...
– The Soviet government offers its definition of what constitutes "aggression", upon which the projected Anglo-Soviet-French alliance will come into effect. French Foreign Minister
Georges Bonnet
Georges-Étienne Bonnet (22/23 July 1889 – 18 June 1973) was a French politician who served as foreign minister in 1938 and 1939 and was a leading figure in the Radical Party.
Early life
Bonnet was born in Bassillac, Dordogne, the son of ...
accepts the Soviet definition of aggression at once. The British reject the Soviet definition, especially the concept of "indirect aggression", which they feel is too loose a definition, and phrased in such a manner as to imply the Soviet right of inference in the internal affairs of Eastern European nations.
*
June 4 – The
''St. Louis'', a ship carrying a cargo of 907 Jewish refugees, is denied permission to land in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, after already having been turned away from
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
. Forced to return to Europe, many of its passengers later die in
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
death camps
Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...
during
The Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
.
*
June 10 – MGM's first successful animated character,
Barney Bear, makes his debut in ''
The Bear That Couldn't Sleep
''The Bear That Couldn't Sleep'' is a 1939 animated short film, directed by Rudolf Ising for MGM as part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's ''Barney Bear'' series. Released with the feature film '' 6,000 Enemies'' by MGM on June 10, 1939, the short is nota ...
''. However, it is not until 1942 that his name is adopted.
*
June 12
Events Pre-1600
* 910 – Battle of Augsburg: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under King Louis the Child, using the famous feigned retreat tactic of the nomadic warriors.
* 1240 – At the instigation of Louis IX of Fr ...
– The
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
is officially dedicated in
Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...
.
*
June 14 –
Tientsin Incident: The Japanese blockade the British concession in
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
, China, beginning a crisis which almost causes an Anglo-Japanese war in the summer of 1939.
*
June 17
Events Pre-1600
* 653 – Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople, due to his opposition to monothelitism.
* 1242 – Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were bur ...
– In the last public
guillotining in France, murderer
Eugen Weidmann
Eugen Weidmann (5 February 1908 - 17 June 1939) was a German criminal and serial-killer who was executed by guillotine in France in June 1939, the last public execution in France.
Early life
Weidmann was born in Frankfurt am Main to the family ...
is executed.
*
June 23
Events Pre-1600
* 229 – Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
* 1266 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
* 1280 – The Spanish Re ...
– Talks are completed in
Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
between French Ambassador
René Massigli
René Massigli (; 22 March 1888 – 3 February 1988) was a French diplomat who played a leading role as a senior official at the Quai d'Orsay and was regarded as one of the leading French experts on Germany, which he greatly distrusted.
Early ca ...
and Turkish Foreign Minister
Şükrü Saracoğlu, resolving the Hatay dispute in Turkey's favor.
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
annexes
Hatay
Hatay Province ( tr, Hatay ili, ) is the southernmost province of Turkey. It is situated almost entirely outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province borders Syria to its south and east, the Turkish province of ...
.
*
June 24 – The government of Siam changes its name to
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, which means 'Free Land'.
*
June 29
Events Pre-1600
* 226 – Cao Rui succeeds his father as emperor of the Kingdom of Wei.
*1149 – Raymond of Poitiers is defeated and killed at the Battle of Inab by Nur ad-Din Zangi.
* 1194 – Sverre is crowned King of Norway, ...
– The
Ford 9N tractor, with the
Ferguson hydraulic
three-point hitch
The three-point hitch (British English: three-point linkage) is a widely used type of hitch for attaching ploughs and other implements to an agricultural or industrial tractor. The three points resemble either a triangle, or the letter A. Three-p ...
, is first demonstrated at
Dearborn, Michigan
Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States pe ...
.
July
*
July 4
Events Pre-1600
* 362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.
* 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaim ...
– The
Neuengamme concentration camp becomes autonomous.
*
July 6 – The last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany are closed by the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
s.
*
July 8
Events Pre-1600
* 1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch.
* 1283 – Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese ...
– The
Pan American Airways Boeing 314 flying boat
A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...
''Yankee Clipper'' inaugurates the world's first
heavier-than-air
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. C ...
North Atlantic air passenger service, between the United States (
Port Washington, New York) and Britain.
*
July 23 –
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
writes a personal letter to
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
from India, addressing him as "My friend", requesting him to prevent any possible war.
*
July 27 – The first recorded snow falls in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, New Zealand, since records began in
1853
Events
January–March
* January 6 – Florida Governor Thomas Brown signs legislation that provides public support for the new East Florida Seminary, leading to the establishment of the University of Florida.
* January 8 – Taiping Reb ...
.
August
*
August 2
Events Pre-1600
*338 BC – A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean.
*216 BC – The Carthaginian arm ...
– The
Einstein–Szilárd letter is signed, advising
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
of the potential use of
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...
to construct an
atomic bomb
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
.
*
August 4 – Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasemen ...
dismisses the Parliament of the United Kingdom until October 3.
*
August 15 – MGM's classic musical film ''
The Wizard of Oz'', based on
L. Frank Baum's famous novel of 1900, and starring
Judy Garland
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...
as Dorothy, premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
. On August 25 it is released in movie theaters throughout the United States.
*
August 19
Events Pre-1600
*295 BC – The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during the Third Samnite War.
*43 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, later know ...
–
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
, after evaluating the pace of
non-aggression negotiations with the Soviet Union, orders the
Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
to begin the opening operations for ''
Fall Weiß'', the invasion of Poland. The , along with the , as well as dozens of U-boats, cast off for their advance positions. Hitler spends the next few days worrying that the Russians will not come to terms in time for the rest of the invasion plans to unfold as scheduled.
*
August 20 – Armored forces under the command of Soviet General
Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( rus, Георгий Константинович Жуков, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐukəf, a=Ru-Георгий_Константинович_Жуков.ogg; 1 December 1896 – ...
deliver a decisive defeat to
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
forces in the Japanese-Soviet border war in
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
.
*
August 23 – The
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
, long_name = Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
, image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg
, image_width = 200
, caption = Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking ...
is signed between Germany and the Soviet Union, a neutrality treaty that also agrees to division of spheres of influence (Finland,
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
,
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
, eastern Poland and Bessarabia (modern-day
Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
), north-east province of
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
;
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
and western Poland to Germany). Its annex reassigns Lithuania to the Soviet Union.
*
August 24
Events Pre-1600
* 367 – Gratian, son of Roman Emperor Valentinian I, is named co-Augustus at the age of eight by his father.
* 394 – The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom, the latest known inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphs, is written. ...
– As details of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact become public, British Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasemen ...
recalls the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
several weeks early. In a burst of legislation, the
Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939
The Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 was emergency legislation passed just prior to the outbreak of World War II by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to enable the British Government to take up emergency powers to prosecute the war effective ...
gives full authority to defence regulations, the British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
is to be put on a war footing, all military leave is to be cancelled,
military reserve force
A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve f ...
s are to be called up, especially coast defence, radar and anti-aircraft units, and
Civil Defence workers are placed on alert. In addition, the last British and French private citizens in Germany are advised to return home by their respective Governments.
*
August 25
** The German Foreign Ministry cuts off all telegraph and telephone communication with the outside world, in accordance with the plan for ''
Fall Weiß''. At approximately 1830 Central European time, Adolf Hitler postpones ''Fall Weiß'' for 5 days, after receiving a message from
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
that he will not honor the Pact of Steel if Germany attacks Poland, and because Chamberlain's government has not fallen as a result of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. Some units already in their forward positions (the attack is scheduled for 0430 the next day) do not get the word in time and attack various targets along the border. This same day,
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasemen ...
gives
Edward Rydz-Śmigły his "ironclad guarantee" of assistance if Poland is attacked by Germany.
**
1939 Coventry bombing
The Coventry bombing of 25 August 1939 was carried out by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) as a part of its S-Plan campaign of bombing English cities. A bomb was left in Coventry city centre in the West Midlands, which resulted in 5 deaths and 70 ...
: An
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...
bomb explodes in the centre of
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
, England, killing 5 people.
*
August 26
** The first televised
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
games are shown on experimental station
W2XBS
WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo station WN ...
in the United States: a double-header between the
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
and the
Brooklyn Dodgers
The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...
at
Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five p ...
.
** The
Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
orders all German-flagged merchant ships to head to German ports immediately, in anticipation of the invasion of Poland.
*
August 27 – A
Heinkel He 178, the first turbojet-powered aircraft, flies for the first time, with Captain Erich Warsitz in command.
*
August 28
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna.
* 489 – Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way ...
– French ocean liner heads into
New York Harbor
New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in t ...
, where she will be interned on September 3, and cut up for scrap, beginning in 1946.
*
August 30 – Poland begins a
mobilization
Mobilization is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the Prussian Army. Mobilization theories and ...
against
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
.
*
August 31 –
Operation Himmler: Nazi German troops posing as Poles stage a series of
false flag
A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misr ...
operations on the border (including the
Gleiwitz incident), giving a pretext for the invasion of Poland.
September
![Armia Czerwona, Wehrmacht 22](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Armia_Czerwona%2C_Wehrmacht_22.09.1939_wsp%C3%B3lna_parada.jpg)
*
September 1
Events Pre-1600
* 1145 – The main altar of Lund Cathedral, at the time seat of the archiepiscopal see of all the Nordic countries, is consecrated.
* 1173 – The widow Stamira sacrifices herself in order to raise the siege of Ancon ...
– Beginning of WWII:
** Opening shots of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
: At 4:45am Central European Time, under cover of darkness, the German WWI-era battleship
''Schleswig-Holstein'' quietly slips her moorings at her wharf in Danzig Harbor, drifts into the center of the channel, and commences firing on a Polish military installation on
Westerplatte at the northeastern mouth of the port of the internationalized
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...
, beginning the
Battle of Westerplatte
The Battle of Westerplatte was the first battle of the German invasion of Poland, marking the start of World War II in Europe. It occurred on the Westerplatte peninsula in the harbour of the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland).
In the mi ...
and
Battle of Danzig Bay
__NOTOC__
The Battle of Danzig Bay ( pl, bitwa w Zatoce Gdańskiej) took place on 1 September 1939, at the beginning of the invasion of Poland, when Polish Navy warships were attacked by German Luftwaffe aircraft in Gdańsk Bay (then Danzig Bay ...
. Five minutes previously, the
bombing of Wieluń
The bombing of Wieluń is considered by many to be the first major act of World War II, and the Invasion of Poland, September Campaign. After Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 87, air units moved into Second Polish Republic, Polish airspace in the early mo ...
in the western part of Poland had commenced, beginning the
Battle of the Border. Shock-troops of the German
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
begin crossing the border into Poland.
** The
Reichstag passes a statement, stating that
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's second-in-command
Reichsmarschall
(german: Reichsmarschall des Großdeutschen Reiches; ) was a rank and the highest military office in the ''Wehrmacht'' specially created for Hermann Göring during World War II. It was senior to the rank of , which was previously the highes ...
Hermann Göring should be appointed as Hitler's successor as
Führer
( ; , spelled or ''Fuhrer'' when the Umlaut (diacritic), umlaut is not available) is a German word meaning "leader" or "guide". As a political title, it is strongly associated with the Nazi Germany, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
Nazi Germany ...
, should Hitler die during the war.
Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position unt ...
is to be appointed in Göring's place, should anything befall Göring.
** Britain and France deliver ultimatums to Germany. Norway, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland declare their neutrality. U.S. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
states that "every effort" would be made by his administration to stay out of the war. Italy is advised that Germany does not expect to need its military support at present.
[
** General ]George C. Marshall
George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the US Army under Pre ...
becomes Chief of Staff
The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...
of the United States Army.
* September 2
Events
Pre-1600
*44 BC – Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion.
* 44 BC – Cicero launches the first of his ''Philippicae'' (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will make 14 of them ...
– WWII:
** Following the invasion of Poland, the Free City of Danzig (modern-day Gdańsk
Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...
, Poland) is annexed to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
.
** Spain and Ireland declare their neutrality.
* September 3
Events Pre-1600
*36 BC – In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompey, son of Pompey, thus ending Pompeian resistance to the Second Triumvirate.
* 301 – San Marino, one of the s ...
– WWII:
** The United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, Australia and India (by its Viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...
) declare war on Nazi Germany. Prime Minister of Canada
The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority the elected Hou ...
Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...
, in English, and Justice Minister Ernest Lapointe, in French, give an international radio address stating the Dominion's intention to declare war also.
** United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
advocates neutrality, in a nationwide radio address.
** Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships).
Ca ...
becomes the first British civilian casualty of the war, when she is torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
ed and sunk by in the eastern Atlantic. Of the 1,418 aboard, 98 passengers and 19 crew are killed.
** Chamberlain offers the war cabinet post of First Lord of the Admiralty to Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
, who returns to government for the first time since June 4, 1929.
* September 4 – WWII:
** The first bombing of Wilhelmshaven in World War II
The Wilhelmshaven World War II bombings by the Allies of World War II destroyed targets at Wilhelmshaven in Germany. From spring 1943 until November 1943 slave labourers of the SS- Baubrigade II from the Neuengamme concentration camp were transfer ...
is carried out, by the British Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
.
** The Defense of Katowice
The Defense of Katowice (Polish: ''Obrona Katowic'') was carried out by small groups of irregular Polish militia on 3–4 September 1939 during the German invasion of Poland. German troops secured the city by the end of 4 September.
Background ...
by irregular Polish militia fails and the city is secured by German Wehrmacht forces who carry out the Katowice massacre.
** Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
declares war on Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
* September 5 – WWII: The United States declares its neutrality in the war.
* September 6 – WWII: South Africa declares war on Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
* September 8
** WWII: Forward elements of General Hoeppner's XVI Panzerkorps take up positions outside Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. The world is stunned by the rapidity of the German advance, and the Polish High Command is effectively isolated, but lack of infantry support and effective civilian resistance cause Hoeppner to halt outside the city itself.
** WWII: Battle of Westerplatte
The Battle of Westerplatte was the first battle of the German invasion of Poland, marking the start of World War II in Europe. It occurred on the Westerplatte peninsula in the harbour of the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland).
In the mi ...
ends when Polish troops on the Westerplatte are forced by lack of food and ammunition to surrender. The garrison of about two hundred had held out against thousands of German forces (many of them naval officer cadets from ''Schleswig-Holstein'') for seven days.
** The Little Sisters of Jesus
The Little Sisters of Jesus are a community of Catholic religious sisters inspired by the life and writings of Charles de Foucauld, founded by Little Sister Magdeleine of Jesus (Madeleine Hutin).
Little Sister Magdeleine of Jesus 1898 - 1989 ...
is founded in Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
, by Little Sister Magdeleine
Madeleine Hutin, taking the name Little Sister Magdeleine of Jesus (26 April 1898–6 November 1989), founded a Roman Catholic community of religious sisters, the Little Sisters of Jesus, on 8 September 1939 in Touggourt, French Algeria. She ...
.
* September 9 – WWII: Troops of the Polish Poznań Army
Army Poznań ( pl, Armia Poznań) led by Major General Tadeusz Kutrzeba was one of the Polish Armies during the Invasion of Poland in 1939.
Tasks
Flanked by Armia Pomorze to the north and Łódź Army to the south, the Army was to provide fla ...
under the command of General Kutrzeba open the Battle of the Bzura, the largest and best organized counter-attack mounted by the Polish forces in the campaign of 1939. For the first few days all goes well, and the Germans are forced to retreat; but quick reaction by mechanized units and the Luftwaffe soon take their toll, and the operation bogs down.
* September 10 – WWII: Canada declares war on Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, the only declaration of war by Canada.
* September 13– 14 – WWII: Zambrów massacre
The Zambrów massacre was a war crime that took place on the night of 13–14 September 1939. It was one of the major war crimes of the Wehrmacht during the invasion of Poland. During that night, the makeshift prisoner-of-war camp in Zambrów wa ...
– German Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
soldiers shoot more than 200 Polish prisoners of war.
* September 15
Events Pre-1600
* 994 – Major Fatimid victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes.
*1440 – Gilles de Rais, one of the earliest known serial killers, is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by ...
– WWII: Diverse elements of the German Wehrmacht surround Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, and demand its surrender. The Poles refuse, and the siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...
begins in earnest.
* September 16
Events Pre-1600
* 681 – Pope Honorius I is posthumously excommunicated by the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
*1400 – Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers. 1601–1900
* 1620 – A determined band of 35 relig ...
– A ceasefire ends the Battles of Khalkhin Gol
The Battles of Khalkhin Gol (russian: Бои на Халхин-Голе; mn, Халхын голын байлдаан) were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union, Mongolia, Jap ...
, the undeclared border war between the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
(and Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
n allies) and Japan.
* September 17
Events Pre-1600
* 1111 – Highest Galician nobility led by Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and the bishop Diego Gelmírez crown Alfonso VII as "King of Galicia".
* 1176 – The Battle of Myriokephalon is the last attempt by the Byzantine Empi ...
– WWII:
** The Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
invades Poland, and then occupies eastern Polish territories.
** Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
is torpedoed and sunk by in the Western Approaches with the loss of 519 crew (the first British warship loss of the war).
* September 18
Events Pre-1600
* 96 – Domitian, who has been conducting a reign of terror for the past three years, is assassinated as a result of a plot by his wife Domitia and two Praetorian prefects.
* 96 – Nerva is proclaimed Roman emperor a ...
– WWII: ''Orzeł'' incident: Polish submarine ORP ''Orzeł'' escapes internment from Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
Harbour, Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
, leading both the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
to question Estonia's neutrality.
* September 19 – WWII: The Poznan pocket collapses, and the Germans capture, according to many sources, over 150,000 men. Many elements of General Tadeusz Kutrzeba
Tadeusz Kutrzeba (15 April 1885 – 8 January 1947) was a general of the army during the Second Polish Republic. He served as a major general in the Polish Army in overall command of Army Poznań during the 1939 German Invasion of Poland. :pl:Tad ...
's forces work their way into Warsaw, under extreme difficulty.
* September 21
Events Pre-1600
* 455 – Emperor Avitus enters Rome with a Gallic army and consolidates his power.
* 1170 – The Kingdom of Dublin falls to Norman invaders.
* 1217 – Livonian Crusade: The Estonian leader Lembitu and Livonian ...
** Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the Security Police, sends a directive, the Schnellbrief, explaining that Jews living in towns and villages in the Polish occupation zones are to be transferred to ghettos, and Jewish councils, Judenräte
A ''Judenrat'' (, "Jewish council") was a World War II administrative agency imposed by Nazi Germany on Jewish communities across occupied Europe, principally within the Nazi ghettos. The Germans required Jews to form a ''Judenrat'' in every com ...
, will be established to carry out the German authorities' orders.
**Assassination of Armand Călinescu
Armand Călinescu, at the time the Prime Minister of Romania, was assassinated on 21 September 1939, aged 46, in Bucharest by Iron Guard members under the direct leadership of Horia Sima (exiled in Steglitz at the time). This was the culminatio ...
: Prime Minister of Romania
The prime minister of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul României), officially the prime minister of the Government of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul Guvernului României, link=no), is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was s ...
Armand Călinescu is shot in Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
by members of the fascist Iron Guard
The Iron Guard ( ro, Garda de Fier) was a Romanian militant revolutionary fascist movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael () or the Legionnaire Movement (). It was strongly ...
.
**Radio station WJSV in Washington, D.C. records an entire broadcast day, for preservation in the National Archives.
* September 22
Events Pre-1600
* 904 – The warlord Zhu Quanzhong kills Emperor Zhaozong, the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty, after seizing control of the imperial government.
* 1236 – The Samogitians defeat the Livonian Brothers of th ...
– WWII: A joint victory parade is staged by the Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
and Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
in Brest-Litovsk
Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Br ...
, at the end of the Invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
.
* September 24
Events Pre-1600
*787 – Second Council of Nicaea: The council assembles at the church of Hagia Sophia.
*1568 – Spanish naval forces defeat an English fleet, under the command of John Hawkins, at the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa near ...
– WWII: The Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
issues an ultimatum to Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
to allow Soviet military bases on its territory, which Estonia accepts on September 28. Similar ultimatums are issued to Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
on October 5 and to Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
on October 10, who are forced to accept them as well.
* September 28
Events Pre-1600
*48 BC – Pompey disembarks at Pelusium upon arriving in Egypt, whereupon he is assassinated by order of King Ptolemy XIII.
* 235 – Pope Pontian resigns. He is exiled to the mines of Sardinia, along with Hippolytus ...
– WWII:
** Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
agree on a division of Poland, after their invasion.
** Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
surrenders to Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
; Modlin surrenders a day later; the last Polish large operational unit surrenders near Kock
Kock is a town in eastern Poland, about north of Lublin and south-east of Warsaw. It lies in Lublin Voivodeship, in Lubartów County. It is the capital of the administrative district Gmina Kock. Historically Kock belongs to the Polish province ...
8 days later.
* September 30
Events Pre-1600
* 489 – The Ostrogoths under Theoderic the Great defeat the forces of Odoacer for the second time.
* 737 – The Turgesh drive back an Umayyad invasion of Khuttal, follow them south of the Oxus, and capture their b ...
– General Władysław Sikorski becomes Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
of the Polish government-in-exile
The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...
.
October
* October 6 – WWII: The Battle of Kock ends the Polish Campaign. Polish resistance moves underground.
* October 7 – WWII: British Royal Navy cruiser departs Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
in convoy for Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...
, carrying £2M in gold bar
A gold bar, also called gold bullion or gold ingot, is a quantity of refined metallic gold of any shape that is made by a bar producer meeting standard conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record keeping. Larger gold bars that are produced ...
to be used for purchase of military materiel
Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context.
In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specifi ...
in North America, a predecessor of Operation Fish.
* October 8
Events Pre-1600
* 314 – Constantine I defeats Roman Emperor Licinius, who loses his European territories.
* 451 – The first session of the Council of Chalcedon begins.
* 876 – Frankish forces led by Louis the Younger preven ...
** WWII: Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
annexes Western Poland
Poland ( pl, Polska) is a country that extends across the North European Plain from the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south to the sandy beaches of the Baltic Sea in the north. Poland is the fifth-most populous country of the Europe ...
.
** The Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
: Piotrków Trybunalski Ghetto
The Piotrków Trybunalski Ghetto ( yi, פּיִעטריקאָװ) was created in Piotrków Trybunalski on , shortly after the 1939 German Invasion of Poland in World War II. It was the first Nazi ghetto in occupied Europe. founded on The town was ...
, the first Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Europe, is proclaimed in German-occupied Poland.
* October 11 – The Einstein–Szilárd letter is delivered to President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, advising of the potential use of uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...
to construct an atomic bomb
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
, leading to the Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
.
* October 14
Events Pre-1600
*1066 – The Norman conquest of England begins with the Battle of Hastings.
* 1322 – Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England at the Battle of Old Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland's i ...
– sinks the British battleship at anchor in Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009
Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...
(Scotland), with the loss of 833 crew.
* October 15
Events Pre-1600
*1066 – Following the death of Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, Edgar the Ætheling is proclaimed King of England by the Witan; he is never crowned, and concedes power to William the Conqueror two months later.
* 1211 ...
– The New York Municipal Airport (later renamed LaGuardia Airport) is dedicated.
* October 17 – Comedy-drama film ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' is a 1939 American Political drama, political Comedy drama, comedy-drama film directed by Frank Capra, starring Jean Arthur and James Stewart, and featuring Claude Rains and Edward Arnold (actor), Edward Arnold. ...
'' premieres in Washington, D.C.
* October 21 – The first meeting of the U.S. Advisory Committee on Uranium
The S-1 Executive Committee laid the groundwork for the Manhattan Project by initiating and coordinating the early research efforts in the United States, and liaising with the Tube Alloys Project in Britain.
In the wake of the discovery of nucl ...
is held under Lyman James Briggs
Lyman James Briggs (May 7, 1874 – March 25, 1963) was an American engineer, physicist and administrator. He was a director of the National Bureau of Standards during the Great Depression and chairman of the Uranium Committee before America en ...
, authorized by President Roosevelt to oversee neutron
The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons constitute the nuclei of atoms. Since protons and neutrons beh ...
experiments, a precursor of the Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
.
* October 22 – In the first televised NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
football game, the Brooklyn Dodgers
The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...
defeat the Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
23–14 at Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five p ...
.
* October 24 – Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic.
Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...
stockings go on sale for the first time anywhere in Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
.
November
* November – Lebensborn: Policy of kidnapping of children by Nazi Germany initiated in occupied Poland.
* November 1
Events Pre-1600
* 365 – The Alemanni cross the Rhine and invade Gaul. Emperor Valentinian I moves to Paris to command the army and defend the Gallic cities.
* 996 – Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freising, ...
– 2 – WWII: Physicist Hans Ferdinand Mayer writes the Oslo Report The Oslo Report was one of the most spectacular leaks in the history of military intelligence. Written by German mathematician and physicist Hans Ferdinand Mayer on 1 and 2 November 1939 during a business trip to Oslo, Norway, it described several G ...
on German weapons systems, and passes it to the British Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
.
* November 4
Events Pre-1600
*1429 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier.
* 1493 – Christopher Columbus reaches Leeward Island and Puerto Rico.
* 1501 – Catherine of Aragon (later Henry VIII's ...
– WWII: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
orders the United States Customs Service
The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted c ...
to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939
The Neutrality Acts were a series of acts passed by the US Congress in 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1939 in response to the growing threats and wars that led to World War II. They were spurred by the growth in isolationism and non-interventionism in ...
, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons to non-belligerent nations.
*November 4
Events Pre-1600
*1429 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier.
* 1493 – Christopher Columbus reaches Leeward Island and Puerto Rico.
* 1501 – Catherine of Aragon (later Henry VIII's ...
– Stewart Menzies is appointed head of the British Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
.
* November 6
** ''Hedda Hopper's Hollywood'' debuts on radio with gossip columnist Hedda Hopper as host (the show runs until 1951, making Hopper a powerful figure among the Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
elite).
** WWII: Sonderaktion Krakau: Germans take action against scientists from the University of Kraków, and other Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
universities.
* November 8
** WWII: In Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, an attempt to kill Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
is made by Georg Elser
Johann Georg Elser (; 4 January 1903 – 9 April 1945) was a German worker who planned and carried out an elaborate assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler and other high-ranking Nazi leaders on 8 November 1939 at the Bürgerbräukeller in ...
, while Hitler is celebrating the 16th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch
The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party ( or NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and othe ...
.
** CBS television station W2XAB
WCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–licensed independent station W ...
resumes test transmission, with an all-electronic system broadcast from the top of the Chrysler Building in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
* November 9
Events Pre-1600
* 694 – At the Seventeenth Council of Toledo, Egica, a king of the Visigoths of Hispania, accuses Jews of aiding Muslims, sentencing all Jews to slavery.
* 1277 – The Treaty of Aberconwy, a humiliating settlement f ...
– WWII: Venlo Incident
The Venlo incident was a covert German ''Sicherheitsdienst'' operation on 9 November 1939, in the course of which two British Secret Intelligence Service agents were captured from the German border, on the outskirts of the Dutch city of Venlo. ...
: Two British agents of SIS are captured by the Germans.
* November 14
Events Pre-1600 1601–1900
*1680 – German astronomer Gottfried Kirch discovers the Great Comet of 1680, the first comet to be discovered by telescope.
* 1770 – James Bruce discovers what he believes to be the source of the Nile.
* ...
– In Washington, D.C., U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
lays the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial.
* November 16 – Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
is released from Terminal Island
Terminal Island, historically known as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, is a largely artificial island located in Los Angeles County, California, between the neighborhoods of Wilmington and San Pedro in the city of Los Angeles, and the city of Long Be ...
, due to deteriorating health caused by syphilis
Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...
.
* November 17
Events Pre-1600
* 887 – Emperor Charles the Fat is deposed by the Frankish magnates in an assembly at Frankfurt, leading his nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia, to declare himself king of the East Frankish Kingdom in late November.
*1183 &n ...
– WWII: To punish protests against the Nazi occupation of the Czech homeland, the Nazis storm the University of Prague and murder 9 Czech graduate students, send over 1,200 to concentration camps, and close all Czech universities, an event which will be commemorated as International Students' Day
International Students' Day is an international observance of the student community, held annually on 17 November. Originally commemorating the Czech universities which were stormed by Nazis in 1939 and the students who were subsequently kille ...
.
* November 23 – WWII: British armed merchantman is sunk in the GIUK gap, in an action against the German battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
s and .
* November 26
Events Pre-1600
* 783 – The Asturian queen Adosinda is held at a monastery to prevent her king from retaking the throne from Mauregatus.
*1161 – Battle of Caishi: A Song dynasty fleet fights a naval engagement with Jin dynasty ...
– Shelling of Mainila
The Shelling of Mainila ( fi, Mainilan laukaukset, , russian: Ма́йнильский инциде́нт, Máynil'skiy intsidént) was a military incident on 26 November 1939 in which the Soviet Union's Red Army shelled the Soviet village of Ma ...
: The Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
's Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
shells the Russian village of Mainila, then claims that the fire originated from Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, giving a ''casus belli
A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one b ...
'' for the Winter War
The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
.
* November 30 – WWII:
** Winter War
The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
: Soviet forces attack Finland and reach the Mannerheim Line, starting the war.
** Sweden declares itself a non-belligerent in the Winter War.
December
* December 2 – LaGuardia Airport opens for business in New York City.
* December 4 – WWII:
** British battleship strikes a Naval mine, mine (laid by ) off the coast of Scotland, and is laid up for repairs until August 1940.
** German submarine U-36 (1936), German submarine ''U-36'' is torpedoed and sunk by British submarine HMS Salmon (N65), HMS ''Salmon'' off Stavanger, the first enemy submarine lost to a British one during the war.
* December 9 – WWII: The first soldier of the British Expeditionary Force (World War II), British Expeditionary Force is killed; Corporal Thomas Priday triggers a French land mine.
* December 12 – WWII: sinks after a collision with off the coast of Scotland, with the loss of 124 men.
* December 13 – WWII – Battle of the River Plate: The German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, German heavy cruiser ''Admiral Graf Spee'' is trapped by cruisers , HMNZS Achilles, HMNZS ''Achilles'', and after a running battle off the coast of Uruguay. ''Graf Spee'' is Scuttling, scuttled by its crew off Montevideo Harbor, on December 17.
* December 14 – WWII – Winter War
The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
: The League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
expels the USSR for attacking Finland.
* December 15 – The epic historical romance film ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind'', starring Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland and Leslie Howard (actor), Leslie Howard, premieres at Loew's Grand Theatre in Atlanta. Based on Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind (novel), best-selling novel of 1936, it is the longest American film made up to this date (at nearly four hours) and rapidly becomes the Timeline of highest-grossing films, highest-grossing film up to this time.
* December 18 – WWII – Battle of the Heligoland Bight (1939), Battle of the Heligoland Bight: RAF Bomber Command, on a daylight mission to attack ''Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
'' ships in the Heligoland Bight, is repulsed by Luftwaffe fighter aircraft.
* December 26 – Miners Strike action, strike in Borinage, Belgium.
* December 27 – The 7.8 1939 Erzincan earthquake, Erzincan earthquake shakes eastern Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of XII (''Extreme''), causing $20 million in damage, and leaving 32,700–32,968 dead.
Date unknown
* Kirlian photography is invented by Semyon Kirlian.
* Enzo Ferrari founds Auto Avio Construzioni, the company that becomes Ferrari in 1947.
Births
January–February
![Sal mineo Allan Warren](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Sal_mineo_Allan_Warren.jpg)
* January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
– Ali Mahdi Muhammad, Somali entrepreneur, politician and 4th President of Somalia (d. 2021)
* January 3
** Arik Einstein, Israeli singer (d. 2013)
** Bobby Hull, Canadian ice hockey player
** Vincent Siew, Taiwanese politician, 9th Vice President of the Republic of China
* January 6
Events Pre-1600
*1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eve ...
** Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Ukrainian footballer, manager (d. 2002)
** Murray Rose, Australian swimmer (d. 2012)
* January 9 – Susannah York, British actress (d. 2011)
* January 10
** Sal Mineo, American actor (d. 1976)
** Bill Toomey, American athlete
* January 11 – Anne Heggtveit, Canadian skier
* January 12 – Joachim Yhombi-Opango, Congolese politician (d. 2020)
* January 17 – Maury Povich, American talk show host
* January 19 – Phil Everly, American rock 'n' roll musician (member of Rockabilly Hall of Fame) (d. 2014)
* January 20 – Chandra Wickramasinghe, British astronomer and poet
* January 22
** Sonny Chiba, Japanese actor and martial artist (d. 2021)
** Alfredo Palacio, 42nd President of Ecuador
** Ray Stevens, American musician (''Everything is Beautiful'')
* January 29 – Germaine Greer, Australian feminist writer
* February 1 – Ekaterina Maximova, Russian ballerina (d. 2009)
* February 3 – Michael Cimino, American film director (d. 2016)
* February 7 – Francisco Mendes, Guinea-Bissau politician, 1st Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau (d. 1978)
* February 8 – Egon Zimmermann, Austrian Olympic alpine skier (d. 2019)
* February 10
** Adrienne Clarkson, 26th Governor General of Canada
** Tsuyoshi Yamanaka, Japanese freestyle swimmer (d. 2017)
* February 12 – Ray Manzarek, American keyboardist (''The Doors'') (d. 2013)
* February 13 – Andrew Peacock, Australian politician (d. 2021)
* February 18
Events Pre-1600
* 1229 – The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
* 1268 &ndas ...
– Abdelraouf Al-Rawabdeh, Jordanian political figure, 65th Prime Minister of Jordan
* February 19 – Erin Pizzey, British author, founder of the first domestic violence shelter in the modern world
* February 28 – Daniel C. Tsui, Chinese-born physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate
March–April
* March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first Roman triumph, triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor ...
– Tzvetan Todorov, Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, structuralist literary critic, sociologist and essayist (d. 2017)
* March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his ''bucellarii'' are almost cut o ...
– Takako Shimazu, Takako, Princess Suga
* March 5
** Samantha Eggar, English actress
** Chögyam Trungpa, Buddhist meditation master (d. 1987)
* March 8 – Lidiya Skoblikova, Russian speed-skater
* March 10 – Lee Soo-sung, 27th Prime Minister of South Korea
* March 13
Events Pre-1600
*624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh.
*1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War.
*1591 – At the Battle of Tond ...
– Neil Sedaka, American singer-songwriter
* March 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland.
* 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguen ...
– Glauber Rocha, Brazilian film director, actor and screenwriter (d. 1981)
* March 17 – Giovanni Trapattoni, Italian footballer and manager
* March 20 – Brian Mulroney, 18th Prime Minister of Canada
The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority the elected Hou ...
* March 25 – D. C. Fontana, American television writer (d. 2019)
* March 29 – Terence Hill, Italian actor
* March 31
Events Pre-1600
* 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine the Great, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman emperor Maximian.
*1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at V ...
** Zviad Gamsakhurdia, President of Georgia (d. 1993)
** Volker Schlöndorff, German film director
** Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, German footballer
* April 1
Events Pre-1600
* 33 – According to one historian's account, Jesus Christ's Last Supper is held.
* 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne.
*1081 – Alexios I Kom ...
– Ali MacGraw, American actress
* April 2 – Marvin Gaye, American singer (d. 1984)
* April 4
Events Pre-1600
* 503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.
* 190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground.
* 611 – ...
** Alex George (botanist), Alex George, Australian botanist
** Hugh Masekela, South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer and singer (d. 2018)
** Ernie Terrell, African-American professional boxer (d. 2014)
* April 7
** Sir David Frost, English television personality (d. 2013)
** Francis Ford Coppola, American film director
* April 9
Events Pre-1600
* 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum.
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, s ...
– Michael Learned, American actress
* April 10 – Claudio Magris, Italian author
* April 12 – Alan Ayckbourn, English dramatist
* April 13 – Seamus Heaney, Irish writer, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
* April 15 – Jaime Paz Zamora , 60th President of Bolivia
* April 16 – Dusty Springfield, English pop singer (d. 1999)
* April 19 – Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran
* April 20 – Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norwegian politician, 1st female Prime Minister of Norway, Prime Minister
* April 21 – Helen Prejean, American writer
* April 23 – Lee Majors, American actor
* April 27 – João Bernardo Vieira, President of Guinea-Bissau (d. 2009)
May–June
* May 1 – Judy Collins, American singer-songwriter
* May 2
** Sumio Iijima, Japanese physicist and inventor
** Taomati Iuta, Vice President of Kiribati (1991–94) (d. 2016)
* May 4 – Amos Oz, Israeli author and journalist (d. 2018)
* May 7
** José Antonio Abreu, Venezuelan orchestral conductor, music educator (d. 2018)
** Sidney Altman, Canadian-born chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2022)
** Ruud Lubbers, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1982–94) (d. 2018)
* May 9
Events Pre-1600
* 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria.
*1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy.
*1386 – England and Portugal formally rati ...
– Ralph Boston, American athlete
* May 13 – Harvey Keitel, American actor
* May 15 – Barbara Hammer, American filmmaker (d. 2019)
* May 18
Events Pre-1600
* 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
* 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 4 ...
– Peter Grünberg, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
* May 19
** Livio Berruti, Italian sprinter
** James Fox, English actor
** Nancy Kwan, American actress
** Dick Scobee, American astronaut (d. 1986)
* May 20
Events Pre-1600
* 325 – The First Council of Nicaea is formally opened, starting the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church.
* 491 – Empress Ariadne marries Anastasius I. The widowed '' Augusta'' is able to choose her ...
– Roman Kartsev, Russian actor (d. 2018)
* May 21 – Heinz Holliger, Swiss oboist, composer
* May 22
Events Pre-1600
* 192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.
* 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
* 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
* 11 ...
– Paul Winfield, African-American actor (d. 2004)
* May 25
** Dixie Carter, American actress (d. 2010)
** Sir Ian McKellen, English actor
* May 27 – Don Williams, American musician (d. 2017)
* May 29 – Maeve Binchy, Irish author (d. 2012)
* May 30 – Michael J. Pollard, American actor (d. 2019)
* June 1 – Cleavon Little, African-American actor (d. 1992)
* June 4 – Ottavio Cogliati, Italian cyclist (d. 2008)
* June 5
** Joe Clark, 16th Prime Minister of Canada
The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority the elected Hou ...
** Margaret Drabble, English novelist
* June 6 – Louis Andriessen, Dutch composer (d. 2021)
* June 9 – Ileana Cotrubaș, Romanian soprano
* June 11 – Jackie Stewart, Scottish motor racing driver
* June 16 – Billy "Crash" Craddock, American country and rockabilly singer
* June 21 – Charles Jencks, American cultural theorist (d. 2019)
* June 22 – Ada Yonath, Israeli crystallographer
* June 26 – Osvaldo Hurtado, 34th President of Ecuador
* June 29
Events Pre-1600
* 226 – Cao Rui succeeds his father as emperor of the Kingdom of Wei.
*1149 – Raymond of Poitiers is defeated and killed at the Battle of Inab by Nur ad-Din Zangi.
* 1194 – Sverre is crowned King of Norway, ...
– Sante Gaiardoni, Italian cyclist
* June 30 – Renzo Rovatti, Italian footballer
July–August
* July 1
** Kazi Zafar Ahmed, 8th Prime Minister of Bangladesh (d. 2015)
** Karen Black, American actress (d. 2013)
* July 4
Events Pre-1600
* 362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.
* 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaim ...
** Abdelmajid Chetali, Tunisian footballer, manager
** Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani, 2nd Prime Minister of Yemen (d. 2011)
* July 6
** Mary Peters (athlete), Mary Peters, British athlete
** Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, sovereign ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah
* July 7 – Elena Obraztsova, Russian opera singer (d. 2015)
* July 8
Events Pre-1600
* 1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch.
* 1283 – Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese ...
** Likulia Bolongo, Congolese politician, general and Prime Minister of Zaire
** Abdelhamid Sharaf, Jordanian ambassador to the United States and Canada, 51st Prime Minister of Jordan (d. 1980)
* July 10 – Mavis Staples, African-American rhythm and blues, gospel singer, actress and civil rights activist
* July 13 – John Danielsen, Danish football midfielder
* July 14
** Karel Gott, Czech singer (d. 2019)
** Sid Haig, American actor (d. 2019)
* July 15 – Aníbal Cavaco Silva, 113th Prime Minister of Portugal, 19th President of Portugal
* July 16 – Lido Vieri, Italian footballer and manager
* July 17 – Milva, Italian singer, stage and film actress, and television personality (d. 2021)
* July 18 – Dion DiMucci, American singer, songwriter (''The Wanderer (Dion song), The Wanderer'')
* July 21 – Helmut Haller, German footballer (d. 2012)
* July 22 – Gila Almagor, Israeli actress and author
* July 24 – Walt Bellamy, African-American basketball player (d. 2013)
* July 26 – John Howard, 25th Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...
* July 28 – Gösta Ekman, Swedish actor, comedian, and director (d. 2017)
* July 31 – Susan Flannery, American soap opera actress
* August 1 – Robert James Waller, American novelist (d. 2017)
* August 2
Events Pre-1600
*338 BC – A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean.
*216 BC – The Carthaginian arm ...
** Ali Mroudjaé, 9th Prime Minister of the Comoros (d. 2019)
** Wes Craven, American film director and writer (d. 2015)
* August 5 – Princess Irene of the Netherlands
* August 8 – Viorica Viscopoleanu, Romanian athlete
* August 9 – Romano Prodi, Italian politician, economist and 52nd Prime Minister of Italy
* August 11 – James Mancham, Seychellois politician, President 1976-77 (d. 2017)
* August 12
** George Hamilton (actor), George Hamilton, American actor
** S. Jayakumar, Singaporean politician and 4th Senior Minister of Singapore
* August 16
** Seán Brady (bishop), Seán Brady, Irish cardinal
** Valery Ryumin, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 2022)
* August 19
Events Pre-1600
*295 BC – The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during the Third Samnite War.
*43 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, later know ...
** Alan Baker (mathematician), Alan Baker, English mathematician (d. 2018)
** Ginger Baker, English drummer (d. 2019)
* August 20 – Fernando Poe Jr., Filipino actor (d. 2004)
*August 21 – Clarence Williams III, American actor (d. 2021)
* August 22 – Valerie Harper, American actress (d. 2019)
* August 23 – Fernando Luján, Mexican actor (d. 2019)
* August 27 – Bill Mulliken, American swimmer (d. 2014)
* August 29 – Joel Schumacher, American film producer and director (d. 2020)
* August 30
** Elizabeth Ashley, née Cole, American actress
** John Peel, né Ravenscroft, English disc jockey (d. 2004)
September
* September 1
Events Pre-1600
* 1145 – The main altar of Lund Cathedral, at the time seat of the archiepiscopal see of all the Nordic countries, is consecrated.
* 1173 – The widow Stamira sacrifices herself in order to raise the siege of Ancon ...
– Lily Tomlin, American actress (''Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In'')
* September 5
** George Lazenby, Australian actor
** Claudette Colvin, American civil rights activist and nurse
** William Devane, American actor
** Clay Regazzoni, Swiss Formula One driver (d. 2006)
* September 6 – Susumu Tonegawa, Japanese biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* September 7 – Stanislav Petrov, Soviet Air Defence Forces official
* September 8 – Carsten Keller, German field hockey player
* September 9 – Reuven Rivlin, 10th President of Israel
* September 11 – Charles Geschke, American inventor and businessman (d. 2021)
* September 13
** Richard Kiel, American actor (d. 2014)
** Guntis Ulmanis, 5th President of Latvia
* September 15
Events Pre-1600
* 994 – Major Fatimid victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes.
*1440 – Gilles de Rais, one of the earliest known serial killers, is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by ...
– Ron Walker (Australian businessman), Ron Walker, Australian businessman, former Lord Mayor of Melbourne (d. 2018)
* September 16
Events Pre-1600
* 681 – Pope Honorius I is posthumously excommunicated by the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
*1400 – Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers. 1601–1900
* 1620 – A determined band of 35 relig ...
– Breyten Breytenbach, South African writer and painter
* September 18
Events Pre-1600
* 96 – Domitian, who has been conducting a reign of terror for the past three years, is assassinated as a result of a plot by his wife Domitia and two Praetorian prefects.
* 96 – Nerva is proclaimed Roman emperor a ...
– Jorge Sampaio, 17th President of Portugal (d. 2021)
* September 22
Events Pre-1600
* 904 – The warlord Zhu Quanzhong kills Emperor Zhaozong, the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty, after seizing control of the imperial government.
* 1236 – The Samogitians defeat the Livonian Brothers of th ...
– Junko Tabei, Japanese mountaineer (d. 2016)
* September 27 – Kathy Whitworth, American professional golfer
* September 30
Events Pre-1600
* 489 – The Ostrogoths under Theoderic the Great defeat the forces of Odoacer for the second time.
* 737 – The Turgesh drive back an Umayyad invasion of Khuttal, follow them south of the Oxus, and capture their b ...
– Jean-Marie Lehn, French chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate
October
* Date unknown - Muhammad Banaru Abubakar, Nigerian Administrator and public servant (d. 2015)
* October 4 – Ivan Mauger, New Zealand speedway rider, 6 times World Speedway Champion (d. 2018)
* October 6 - Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, English broadcaster and author
* October 7
** John Hopcroft, American computer scientist
** Clive James, Australian-born writer, humorist and television personality (d. 2019)
** Harold Kroto, English organic chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
* October 8
Events Pre-1600
* 314 – Constantine I defeats Roman Emperor Licinius, who loses his European territories.
* 451 – The first session of the Council of Chalcedon begins.
* 876 – Frankish forces led by Louis the Younger preven ...
– Paul Hogan, Australian actor and comedian
* October 9
** Carmen Salinas, Mexican actress and politician (d. 2021)
** John Pilger, Australian-born journalist
* October 11 – Maria Bueno, Brazilian tennis player (d. 2018)
* October 14
Events Pre-1600
*1066 – The Norman conquest of England begins with the Battle of Hastings.
* 1322 – Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England at the Battle of Old Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland's i ...
– Ralph Lauren, American fashion designer
* October 18 – Lee Harvey Oswald, Alleged American assassin of President John F. Kennedy (d. 1963)
* October 21 – Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens (d. 2008)
* October 22
** Joaquim Chissano, President of Mozambique
** George Cohen, English footballer (d. 2022)
* October 24
** F. Murray Abraham, American actor (Amadeus (film))
**Madalena Iglésias, Portuguese actress and singer (d. 2018)
* October 27 – John Cleese, English comic actor and writer
* October 28 – Jane Alexander, American actress
* October 29 – Malay Roy Choudhury, Bengali poet, novelist and creator of the Indian Hungry generation literary and cultural movement
* October 30
** Leland H. Hartwell, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
** Grace Slick, American rock singer (''Jefferson Airplane'')
* October 31
** Ali Farka Touré, Malian singer (d. 2006)
** Ron Rifkin, American actor
November
* November 1
Events Pre-1600
* 365 – The Alemanni cross the Rhine and invade Gaul. Emperor Valentinian I moves to Paris to command the army and defend the Gallic cities.
* 996 – Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freising, ...
– Barbara Bosson, American actress
* November 6
** Athanasios Angelopoulos, Greek academic
** Carlos Emilio Morales, Cuban jazz guitarist (d. 2014)
* November 8 – Laila Kinnunen, Finnish singer (d. 2000)
* November 10 – Russell Means, Native American activist (d. 2012)
* November 14
Events Pre-1600 1601–1900
*1680 – German astronomer Gottfried Kirch discovers the Great Comet of 1680, the first comet to be discovered by telescope.
* 1770 – James Bruce discovers what he believes to be the source of the Nile.
* ...
– Wendy Carlos, American electronic composer
* November 15 – Yaphet Kotto, African-American actor (d. 2021)
* November 18
** Margaret Atwood, Canadian novelist
** Amanda Lear, French model and singer
** Brenda Vaccaro, American actress
* November 19 – Emil Constantinescu, President of Romania
* November 25
** Rais Khan, Pakistani sitarist (d. 2017)
** Thomas Resetarits, Austrian sculptor (d. 2022)
* November 26
Events Pre-1600
* 783 – The Asturian queen Adosinda is held at a monastery to prevent her king from retaking the throne from Mauregatus.
*1161 – Battle of Caishi: A Song dynasty fleet fights a naval engagement with Jin dynasty ...
** Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia
** Shettima Mustafa, Nigerian politician (d. 2022)
** Tina Turner, American born Swiss singer and actress
* November 27
** Dudley Storey, New Zealand rower (d. 2017)
** Laurent-Désiré Kabila, 3rd President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (d. 2001)
** Ulla Strömstedt, Swedish actress (d. 1986)
* November 30 – Chandra Bahadur Dangi, Nepalese dwarf, world's shortest man (d. 2015)
December
* December 1 – Lee Trevino, American professional golfer
* December 8
** Jerry Butler, African-American singer-songwriter and politician
** James Galway, Irish flautist
** Fahrudin Jusufi, Kosovar-Serbian footballer and coach (d. 2019)
* December 15 – Cindy Birdsong, American singer
* December 17 – Eddie Kendricks, African-American singer (''The Temptations'') (d. 1992)
* December 18
** Pedro Jirón, Nicaraguan footballer
** Michael Moorcock, English science fiction writer
** Harold E. Varmus, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* December 26 – Phil Spector, American record producer (d. 2021)
* December 27 – John Amos, African-American actor (''Good Times'')
Date unknown
*Astratijs Roškovs, former Lithuanian-Russian-Latvian footballer
Deaths
January
* January 2 – Roman Dmowski, Polish politician (b. 1864)
*January 4 – Mary J. L. Black, Canadian librarian and suffragist (b. 1879)
* January 6
Events Pre-1600
*1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eve ...
– Gustavs Zemgals, 2nd President of Latvia (b. 1871)
* January 8 – Charles Eastman, American author, physician, reformer, helped found the Boy Scouts of America (b. 1858)
* January 13 – Arthur Barker, American criminal, son of Ma Barker (b. 1899)
* January 14
Events Pre-1600
*1236 – King Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence.
*1301 – Andrew III of Hungary dies, ending the Árpád dynasty in Hungary.
1601–1900
*1639 – The "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, Fundamenta ...
– Prince Valdemar of Denmark (b. 1858)
* January 15 – Kullervo Manner, Finnish Speaker of the Parliament of Finland, Speaker of the Parliament, the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic, Prime Minister of the FSWR and the Supreme Commander of the Red Guard (Finland), Red Guards (b. 1880)
* January 18 – Ivan Mosjoukine, Soviet actor (b. 1889)
* January 22 – Léopold Bernhard Bernstamm, Soviet sculptor (b. 1859)
* January 23
Events Pre-1600
* 393 – Roman emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor.
* 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao.
*1264 & ...
– Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer (b. 1903)
* January 24
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.
* 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.
*1438 – The Cou ...
– Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician, nutritionist (b. 1867)
* January 25
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate.
* 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty ...
– Helen Ware, American actress (b. 1877)
* January 28 – W. B. Yeats, Irish writer, 1923 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
February
* February 1 – Lawrence Marston, American actor, playwright, and film director (b. 1857)
* February 2
Events Pre-1600
* 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of "Roman law".
* 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King ...
– Vladimir Shukhov, Russian engineer, polymath, scientist and architect (b. 1853
Events
January–March
* January 6 – Florida Governor Thomas Brown signs legislation that provides public support for the new East Florida Seminary, leading to the establishment of the University of Florida.
* January 8 – Taiping Reb ...
)
* February 3 – Janez Frančišek Gnidovec, Yugoslav Roman Catholic priest and venerable (b. 1873)
* February 4 – Edward Sapir, German-American anthropologist, linguist (b. 1884)
* February 5 – Teresa Mañé, Spanish teacher, editor and writer (b. 1865)
* February 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1579 – The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop.
1601–1900
* 1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of ...
– Sayajirao Gaekwad III, Maharada of Baroda (b. 1863)
* February 9 – Henry Balfour, British archaeologist (b. 1863)
* February 10
** Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...
(b. 1857)
** Patriarch Torkom Koushagian of Jerusalem (b. 1874)
* February 11 – Franz Schmidt (composer), Franz Schmidt, Austrian composer (b. 1874)
* February 12
** Potenciano Gregorio, Filipino musician (b. 1880)
** S. P. L. Sørensen, Danish chemist (b. 1868)
* February 13 – Alexander Hamilton-Gordon (British Army officer, born 1859), Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon, British general (b. 1859)
* February 15
Events Pre-1600
* 438 – Roman emperor Theodosius II publishes the law codex Codex Theodosianus
* 590 – Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia.
* 706 – Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberi ...
– Henri Jaspar, Belgian politician, 27th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1870)
* February 18
Events Pre-1600
* 1229 – The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
* 1268 &ndas ...
– Okamoto Kanoko, Japanese tanka poet (b. 1899)
* February 22 – Antonio Machado, Spanish poet (b. 1875)
* February 23 – Michael Knatchbull, 5th Baron Brabourne, British peer, soldier (b. 1895)
* February 26 – Ivan Fedko, Soviet army commander (b. 1897)
* February 27
Events Pre-1600
* 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity.
* 425 – The University of Constantinople ...
– Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russians, Russian Marxist revolutionary, Vladimir Lenin's widow (b. 1869)
March
* March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his ''bucellarii'' are almost cut o ...
– Howard Carter, British archaeologist (b. 1874)
* March 3
Events Pre-1600
* 473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
* 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan.
* 1575 &nd ...
– Dimitrie Gerota, Romanian anatomist, physician (b. 1867)
* March 5 – Herbert Mundin, British actor (b. 1898)
* March 6
** Ginepro Cocchi, Italian Roman Catholic priest and Servant of God (b. 1908)
** Patriarch Miron of Romania, Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian cleric, politician, priest and 38th Prime Minister of Romania
The prime minister of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul României), officially the prime minister of the Government of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul Guvernului României, link=no), is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was s ...
(b. 1868)
* March 7 – Matvei Berman, Soviet intelligence officer (b. 1898)
* March 13
Events Pre-1600
*624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh.
*1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War.
*1591 – At the Battle of Tond ...
– Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, French sociologist, anthropologist (b. 1857)
* March 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland.
* 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguen ...
– Agostino Borgato, Italian actor, director (b. 1871)
* March 21
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
– Avril de Sainte-Croix, French author, journalist (b. 1855)
* March 23 – Abd al-Rahim al-Hajj Muhammad, Palestinian revolutionary (b. 1892)
* March 27 – Ferdinand von Quast, German general (b. 1850)
* March 28
Events Pre-1600
* AD 37 – Roman emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, bestowed on him by the Senate.
* 193 – After assassinating the Roman Emperor Pertinax, his Praetorian Guards auction off the throne to Di ...
** Carlos Manuel de Cespedes y Quesada, Cuban diplomat, politician, writer and 6th President of Cuba (b. 1871)
** Mario Lertora, Italian artistic gymnast in the 1924 Summer Olympics (b. 1897)
* March 29 – Gerardo Machado, Cuban general, 5th President of Cuba (b. 1871)
* March 31
Events Pre-1600
* 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine the Great, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman emperor Maximian.
*1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at V ...
– Ioannis Tsangaridis, Greek general (b. 1887)
April
* April 4
Events Pre-1600
* 503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.
* 190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground.
* 611 – ...
** King Ghazi of Iraq (b. 1912)
** Joaquín García Morato, Spanish fighter ace (b. 1904)
* April 7 – Joseph Lyons
Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the List of prime ministers of Australia by time in office, 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He ...
, 10th Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...
, Premier of Tasmania (b. 1879)
* April 15 – Konstantin Petrovich Grigorovich, Soviet engineer, professor (b. 1886)
* April 18
Events Pre-1600
* 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
* 1428 – Peace of Ferrara betw ...
** Ishbel Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair, British writer, philanthropist (b. 1857)
** Hugo Charlemont, Austrian painter (b. 1850)
* April 19
** Lucilio de Albuquerque, Brazilian painter (b. 1877)
** János Vaszary, Hungarian painter and graphic artist (b. 1867)
* April 20 – Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria (b. 1866)
* April 22 – Leandro Campanari, Italian conductor, composer and violinist (b. 1859)
* April 25
** John Foulds, British classical music composer (b. 1880)
** Georges Ricard-Cordingley, French painter (b. 1873)
* April 27 – José Gola, Argentinian actor (b. 1904)
* April 28 – Archduke Leo Karl of Austria (b. 1893)
May
* May 1 – Bautista Saavedra , 29th President of Bolivia (b. 1870)
* May 2 – Phillips Smalley, American actor, director (b. 1875)
* May 3 – Wilhelm Groener, German general (b. 1867)
* May 4 – James A. Johnson (architect), James A. Johnson, American architect (b. 1865)
* May 7 – Francesco Paleari, Italian priest and blessed (b. 1863)
* May 9
Events Pre-1600
* 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria.
*1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy.
*1386 – England and Portugal formally rati ...
– Mary, Lady Heath, Irish aviator (b. 1896)
* May 10 – James Parrott, American actor (b. 1898)
* May 13 – Victor Bernau, Norwegian actor, director (b. 1890)
* May 18
Events Pre-1600
* 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
* 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 4 ...
**Charles deForest Chandler, American military aviator (b. 1878)
**Tang Juwu, Chinese general of the National Revolutionary Army (b. 1892)
* May 19 – Ahmet Ağaoğlu, Turkish politician, author and writer (b. 1869)
* May 20
Events Pre-1600
* 325 – The First Council of Nicaea is formally opened, starting the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church.
* 491 – Empress Ariadne marries Anastasius I. The widowed '' Augusta'' is able to choose her ...
** Joseph Carr, 2nd president of the National Football League (b. 1880)
** Alexandra Čvanová, Czechoslovakian soprano (b. 1897)
* May 22
Events Pre-1600
* 192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.
* 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
* 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
* 11 ...
– Ernst Toller, German playwright, Communist politician (b. 1893)
* May 23 – Witmer Stone, American ornithologist, botanist (b. 1866)
* May 24
Events Pre-1600
* 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
* 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
* 1276 – Magnus La ...
– Aleksander Brückner, German scholar (b. 1856)
* May 25 – Álvaro Casanova Zenteno, Chilean painter (b. 1857)
* May 25 – Frank Watson Dyson, British astronomer (b. 1868)
* May 27 – Alfred A. Cunningham, American aviator, the first United States Marine Corps aviator (b. 1882)
* May 29 – Ursula Ledóchowska, Polish Roman Catholic religious professed and saint (b. 1865)
* May 30 – Floyd Roberts, American race car driver (b. 1900)
June
* June 4 – Tommy Ladnier, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1900)
* June 6
** George Fawcett, American actor (b. 1860)
** Constantin Noe, Megleno-Romanian editor and professor (b. 1883)
* June 9 – Owen Moore, American actor (b. 1886)
* June 15 – Nicolae M. Condiescu, Romanian novelist and general (b. 1880)
* June 16 – Chick Webb, American musician (b. 1905)
* June 17
Events Pre-1600
* 653 – Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople, due to his opposition to monothelitism.
* 1242 – Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were bur ...
– Eugen Weidmann
Eugen Weidmann (5 February 1908 - 17 June 1939) was a German criminal and serial-killer who was executed by guillotine in France in June 1939, the last public execution in France.
Early life
Weidmann was born in Frankfurt am Main to the family ...
, German serial killer, last person publicly executed in France (b. 1908)
* June 19 – Grace Abbott, American social worker, activist (b. 1878)
* June 22 – Benjamin Tucker, American anarchist (b. 1854)
* June 23
Events Pre-1600
* 229 – Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
* 1266 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
* 1280 – The Spanish Re ...
– Ernest Alexander Cruikshank, Canadian general (b. 1859)
* June 25 – Richard Seaman, British motor racing driver (b. 1913)
* June 26 – Ford Madox Ford, British writer (b. 1873)
* June 27 – Margaret Campbell, American actress (b. 1883)
* June 28 – Bobby Vernon, American actor (b. 1898)
* June 30 – Eduardo Lopez Bustamante, Venezuelan poet, lawyer and journalist (b. 1881)
July
* July 3 – Juan José Gárate, Spanish painter (b. 1869)
* July 4
Events Pre-1600
* 362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.
* 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaim ...
– Louis Wain, English artist (b. 1860)
* July 5 – Malietoa Tanumafili I, King of Samoa (b. 1879)
* July 7 – Deacon White, American baseball player, MLB Hall of Famer (b. 1847)
* July 8
Events Pre-1600
* 1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch.
* 1283 – Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese ...
** Havelock Ellis, British sexologist (b. 1859)
** Anna Pappritz, German writer, suffragist (b. 1861)
* July 9
** Carlo Chiostri, Italian painter (b. 1863)
** Alphonse Laurencic, French painter, architect (b. 1902)
* July 11 – Stiliyan Kovachev, Bulgarian general (b. 1860)
* July 14 – Alphonse Mucha, Czech painter, decorative artist (b. 1860)
* July 17 – María del Carmen González-Valerio, Spanish Roman Catholic saint (b. 1930)
* July 19 – Rose Hartwick Thorpe, American poet (b. 1850)
* July 20
** Judy Chicago, American feminist artist
** Joseph Mendes da Costa, Dutch sculptor (b. 1863)
* July 23 – Jack Duffy (actor), Jack Duffy, American actor (b. 1882)
* July 26 – William Mackay (artist), William Mackay, American artist (b. 1876)
* July 27 – Stanisław Baczyński, Polish writer, journalist and soldier (b. 1890)
August
* August 2
Events Pre-1600
*338 BC – A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean.
*216 BC – The Carthaginian arm ...
– Harvey Spencer Lewis, American mystic (b. 1883)
* August 6
** Mehmet Emin Çolakoğlu, Turkish army general (b. 1878)
** Monroe Dunaway Anderson, American founder of Anderson, Clayton and Company; "Father of Texas Medical Center" (b. 1873)
* August 10 – Carlo Galimberti, Italian Olympic weightlifter (b. 1894)
* August 11 – Jean Bugatti, German automobile designer (b. 1909)
* August 12 – Eulalio Gutiérrez, President of Mexico (b. 1881)
* August 23
** Sidney Howard, American writer (b. 1891)
** Germán Busch , 36th President of Bolivia (b. 1903)
* August 25 – Arthur Asquith, British general (b. 1883)
* August 26 – Rubén González Cárdenas, Venezuelan lawyer (b. 1875)
* August 29 – Marthe de Florian, French painter (b. 1864)
* August 31 – Richard Bouwens van der Boijen, French architect (b. 1863)
September
* September 6 – Arthur Rackham, British artist (b. 1867)
* September 8 – Swami Abhedananda, Indian mystic (b. 1866)
* September 10 – Wilhelm Fritz von Roettig, German Waffen SS general, first general killed in action during World War II (b. 1888)
* September 12
**Fyodor Raskolnikov, Soviet revolutionary, writer, journalist, naval commander, and diplomat (assassinated) (b. 1892)
**Eliodoro Villazón, 27th President of Bolivia (b. 1848)
* September 16
Events Pre-1600
* 681 – Pope Honorius I is posthumously excommunicated by the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
*1400 – Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers. 1601–1900
* 1620 – A determined band of 35 relig ...
** Józef Kustroń, Polish general (killed in action) (b. 1892)
** Nikolaos Triantafyllakos, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1855)
** Otto Wels, German politician, chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) (b. 1873)
* September 18
Events Pre-1600
* 96 – Domitian, who has been conducting a reign of terror for the past three years, is assassinated as a result of a plot by his wife Domitia and two Praetorian prefects.
* 96 – Nerva is proclaimed Roman emperor a ...
– Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish writer, painter (b. 1885)
* September 20
** Paul Bruchesi, Canadian prelate (b. 1855)
** Hermann Brunn, German mathematician (b. 1862)
** Andrew Claude de la Cherois Crommelin, French astronomer (b. 1865)
* September 21
Events Pre-1600
* 455 – Emperor Avitus enters Rome with a Gallic army and consolidates his power.
* 1170 – The Kingdom of Dublin falls to Norman invaders.
* 1217 – Livonian Crusade: The Estonian leader Lembitu and Livonian ...
– Armand Călinescu, Romanian economist, politician and 39th Prime Minister of Romania
The prime minister of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul României), officially the prime minister of the Government of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul Guvernului României, link=no), is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was s ...
(b. 1893)
* September 22
Events Pre-1600
* 904 – The warlord Zhu Quanzhong kills Emperor Zhaozong, the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty, after seizing control of the imperial government.
* 1236 – The Samogitians defeat the Livonian Brothers of th ...
** Mikołaj Bołtuć, Polish army general (killed in battle) (b. 1893)
** Józef Olszyna-Wilczyński, Polish general (b. 1890)
** Werner von Fritsch, German general (killed in action) (b. 1880)
* September 23
** Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychoanalyst (b. 1856)
** Eugeniusz Kazimirowski, Polish painter (b. 1873)
** Francisco León de la Barra, Mexican diplomat, political figure, and acting President of Mexico (b. 1863)
* September 24
Events Pre-1600
*787 – Second Council of Nicaea: The council assembles at the church of Hagia Sophia.
*1568 – Spanish naval forces defeat an English fleet, under the command of John Hawkins, at the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa near ...
** Danilo, Crown Prince of Montenegro (b. 1871)
** Carl Laemmle, German film producer (b. 1867)
October
* October 2 – Edgar M. Lazarus, American architect (b. 1868)
* October 3 – Fay Templeton, American musical comedy star (b. 1865)
* October 6 – Giulio Gavotti, Italian aviator (b. 1882)
* October 7 – Harvey Cushing, American neurosurgeon (b. 1869)
* October 8
Events Pre-1600
* 314 – Constantine I defeats Roman Emperor Licinius, who loses his European territories.
* 451 – The first session of the Council of Chalcedon begins.
* 876 – Frankish forces led by Louis the Younger preven ...
– Gustav Henriksen, Norwegian executive (b. 1872)
* October 13 – Ford Sterling, American actor (b. 1882)
* October 14
Events Pre-1600
*1066 – The Norman conquest of England begins with the Battle of Hastings.
* 1322 – Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England at the Battle of Old Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland's i ...
– Polaire, French actress (b. 1874)
* October 23
**Zane Grey, American writer (b. 1872)
**Liao Lei (general), Liao Lei, Chinese general of the National Revolutionary Army (b. 1890)
* October 28 – Alice Brady, American actress (b. 1892)
* October 30 – Carlos De Valdez, Peruvian actor (b. 1894)
* October 31
** Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg, German field marshal (b. 1865)
** Otto Rank, Austrian psychoanalyst (b. 1884)
November
* November 1
Events Pre-1600
* 365 – The Alemanni cross the Rhine and invade Gaul. Emperor Valentinian I moves to Paris to command the army and defend the Gallic cities.
* 996 – Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freising, ...
– Kálmán Darányi, 31st Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1886)
* November 4
Events Pre-1600
*1429 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier.
* 1493 – Christopher Columbus reaches Leeward Island and Puerto Rico.
* 1501 – Catherine of Aragon (later Henry VIII's ...
** Percy Douglas, Sir Percy Douglas, chairman of the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) Advisory Committee (b. 1876)
** Ma Xiangbo, Chinese Jesuit priest and blessed (b. 1840)
* November 7 – Kirsti Suonio, Finnish actress (b. 1872)
* November 10 – Charlotte Despard, Anglo-Irish suffragist, socialist, pacifist, Sinn Féin activist, and novelist
* November 11 – Alicja Kotowska, Polish Roman Catholic nun, martyr and blessed (b. 1899)
* November 12 – Norman Bethune, Canadian humanitarian (b. 1890)
* November 13 – Lois Weber, American actress (b. 1881)
* November 15
**Platon Ivanovich Ivanov, Soviet-born Finnish civil servant (b. 1863)
* November 17
Events Pre-1600
* 887 – Emperor Charles the Fat is deposed by the Frankish magnates in an assembly at Frankfurt, leading his nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia, to declare himself king of the East Frankish Kingdom in late November.
*1183 &n ...
– Aurelio Mosquera, Ecuadorian politician, 25th President of Ecuador (b. 1883)
* November 21 – Émile Guépratte, French admiral (b. 1856)
* November 22 – King Daudi Cwa II of Buganda (b. 1896)
* November 24 – John Harron, American actor (b. 1903)
* November 28 – James Naismith, Canadian inventor of basketball (b. 1861) He was 78 years old.
* November 29
** Eugen Kolisko, Austrian-born German physician, educator (b. 1893)
** Józef Krasnowolski, Polish painter (b. 1879)
** Philipp Scheidemann, German politician, 11th Chancellor of Germany (German Reich), Chancellor of Germany (b. 1865)
December
* December 3 – Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, second youngest daughter of Queen Victoria (b. 1848)
* December 5 – Santiago Iglesias, Puerto Rican statesman (b. 1872)
* December 8
** Alimondo Ciampi, Italian sculptor (b. 1876)
** Jean Grave, French anarchist (b. 1854)
* December 12 – Douglas Fairbanks, American actor, father of Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (b. 1883)
* December 14 – Helene Kröller-Müller, Dutch museum founder and art collector (b. 1869)
* December 16 – Juan Demóstenes Arosemena, 18th President of Panama (b. 1879)
* December 18 – Bruno Liljefors, Swedish artist (b. 1860)
* December 19
** Dmitry Grave, Soviet mathematician (b. 1863)
** Reginald F. Nicholson, United States Navy admiral (b. 1852)
* December 20 – Hans Langsdorff, German naval officer (suicide) (b. 1894)
* December 22 – Ma Rainey, African-American blues singer (b. 1886)
* December 23
** Anthony Fokker, Dutch-born American aircraft manufacturer (b. 1890)
** Maxime Laubeuf, French maritime engineer (b. 1864)
* December 24 – Walter Gordon (physicist), Walter Gordon, German physicist (b. 1893)
* December 25 – Ivan Dmitriyevich Borisov, Soviet aircraft pilot (b. 1913)
* December 27 – Rinaldo Cuneo, American artist ("the painter of San Francisco") (b. 1877)
* December 31 – Frank Benson (actor), Sir Frank Benson, British actor (b. 1858)
Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Ernest Lawrence
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt, Leopold Ružička
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Physiology or Medicine – Gerhard Domagk
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Frans Eemil Sillanpää
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – not awarded
References
External links
1939 WWII Timeline
– from American Studies Programs at The University of Virginia
Paula Phelan, 1939 Into The Dark, 2009, ZAPmedia.
{{Authority control
1939,