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This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history.
This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.January
* January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to work with Germans. *** TheYouth Protection Act
Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Y ...
was passed on April 30, 1938 and the Working Hours Regulations came into effect.
*** The Jews name change decree has gone into effect.
** The rest of the world
*** In Spain, 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 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 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, by William (Bill) Hewlett and David Packard. This garage is now considered the birthplace of Silicon Valley.
*** 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-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, left Italy 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.
*** In Finland, the densely populated settlement of Vähäheikkilä was abolished and transferred from the municipality of Kaarina to the city of Turku.
*** The National Pension Act has entered into force in Finland.
*** 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 from Germany as refugees in transit. The parish 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.
* January 5 – 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.
* January 23 – "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 – 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 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.
* January 26
** Spanish Civil War: Spanish Nationalist troops, aided by Italy, take Barcelona.
** 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 orders Plan Z, a 5-year naval expansion programme intended to provide for a huge German fleet capable of crushing the Royal Navy 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
* 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'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 – 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
Franco may refer to:
Name
* Franco (name)
* Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975
* Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître"
Prefix
* Franco, a prefix used when ...
's government.
March
* March – The 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine ends. * March 1 – An Imperial Japanese Army ammunition dump explosion on the outskirts of Osaka kills 94. * March 2 –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 – In Durban, 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 – Adolf Hitler 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 – 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; Czechoslovakia ceases to exist. The Ruthenian region of Czechoslovakia declares independence as Carpatho-Ukraine.
* March 16
** Princess Fawzia Fuad of Egypt 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, 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 in Lisbon, pledging mutual defence of the Iberian Peninsula and neutrality
Neutral or neutrality may refer to:
Mathematics and natural science Biology
* Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity
Chemistry and physics
* Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction ...
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 (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 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 in London.
* March 22
** Following the March 20 ultimatum, Nazi Germany is granted the Klaipėda Region (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
Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic universities in the United States. Its namesake is Saint Ignat ...
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's postseason tournament era.
* March 23 – The Slovak–Hungarian War begins.
* March 26 – Final offensive of the Spanish Civil War launched by the Nationalists.
* March 27 – The University of Oregon defeats Ohio State University 46–33 in Evanston, Illinois, to win the championship of the first NCAA men's basketball tournament.
* March 28
** General 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, 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 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, California.
* 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 – The Spanish Civil War comes to an end when the last of the Republican forces surrender. * April 3 ** Adolf Hitler 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 (12th government; Refik Saydam has served twice as a prime minister).
*
* June 3 – 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
* September 1 – Beginning of WWII:
** Opening shots of World War II and invasion of Poland: 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 
* September 9 – WWII: Troops of the Polish Poznań Army 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, the only declaration of war by Canada.
* September 13– 14 – WWII: Zambrów massacre – German Wehrmacht soldiers shoot more than 200 Polish prisoners of war.
* September 15 – WWII: Diverse elements of the German Wehrmacht surround Warsaw, and demand its surrender. The Poles refuse, and the siege begins in earnest.
* September 16 – A ceasefire ends the Battles of Khalkhin Gol, the undeclared border war between the Soviet Union (and Mongolian allies) and Japan.
*
* November – Lebensborn: Policy of kidnapping of children by Nazi Germany initiated in occupied Poland.
* November 1– 2 – WWII: Physicist Hans Ferdinand Mayer writes the Oslo Report on German weapons systems, and passes it to the British
* January 1 – Ali Mahdi Muhammad, Somali entrepreneur, politician and 4th
* March 1 – Tzvetan Todorov, Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, structuralist literary critic, sociologist and essayist (d.
* May 1 –
* July 1
** Kazi Zafar Ahmed, 8th Prime Minister of Bangladesh (d. 2015)
** Karen Black, American actress (d.
* September 1 – 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.
* 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.
* November 1 – Barbara Bosson, American actress
* November 6
** Athanasios Angelopoulos, Greek academic
** Carlos Emilio Morales, Cuban jazz guitarist (d.
* 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.
* January 2 – Roman Dmowski, Polish politician (b. 1864)
*January 4 – Mary J. L. Black, Canadian librarian and suffragist (b. 1879)
*
*
* March 2 – Howard Carter, British archaeologist (b. 1874)
* March 3 – Dimitrie Gerota, Romanian anatomist, physician (b. 1867)
*
*
* 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 – 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
**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
** Joseph Carr, 2nd president of the National Football League (b. 1880)
** Alexandra Čvanová, Czechoslovakian soprano (b. 1897)
* May 22 – Ernst Toller, German playwright, Communist politician (b. 1893)
* May 23 – Witmer Stone, American ornithologist, botanist (b. 1866)
*
* July 3 – Juan José Gárate, Spanish painter (b. 1869)
* July 4 – 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 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)
*
* 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
** 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 – 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 – Armand Călinescu, Romanian economist, politician and 39th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1893)
* September 22
** 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
** Danilo, Crown Prince of Montenegro (b. 1871)
** Carl Laemmle, German film producer (b. 1867)
* 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 – Gustav Henriksen, Norwegian executive (b. 1872)
* October 13 – Ford Sterling, American actor (b. 1882)
* October 14 – 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 1 – Kálmán Darányi, 31st Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1886)
* November 4
** 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 – 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 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)
1939 WWII Timeline
– from American Studies Programs at The University of Virginia
Paula Phelan, 1939 Into The Dark, 2009, ZAPmedia.
{{Authority control 1939,
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 becomes King of Iraq aged three, following the death of his father, Ghazi, in an automobile incident.
** The Slovak–Hungarian War 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; 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 – African-American singer Marian Anderson 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 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. 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 resigns from the DAR because of their decision.
* April 11 – Hungary leaves the League of Nations.
* April 14 – 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
** 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 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 and Public Health Service.
* April 28 – In a speech before the ''Reichstag'', Adolf Hitler 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 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 – Spain leaves the League of Nations.
* May 14 – Lina Medina, a 5-year-old Peruvian 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
Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to:
Queens regnant
* Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland
* Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022 ...
arrive in Quebec City, to begin the first-ever tour of Canada by Canada's monarch.
** The British government issues the White Paper of 1939, sharply restricting Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine.
** 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, and Finland refuse Germany's offer of non-aggression pacts.
* May 18 – The Hòa Hảo religious sect is established in Vietnam, by Huỳnh Phú Sổ.
* May 20 – 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.
* May 22 – 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'' is published in Tirana, Albania.
* May 29 – Albanian 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 is appointed as member of the Italian Chamber of Fasces and Corporations.
June
* June 3 – 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, after already having been turned away from Cuba. Forced to return to Europe, many of its passengers later die in Nazi 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.
* June 10 – MGM's first successful animated character, Barney Bear, makes his debut in '' The Bear That Couldn't Sleep''. However, it is not until 1942 that his name is adopted.
* June 12 – The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum 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, China, beginning a crisis which almost causes an Anglo-Japanese war in the summer of 1939.
* June 17 – In the last public guillotining in France, murderer Eugen Weidmann 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 between French Ambassador René Massigli and Turkish Foreign Minister Şükrü Saracoğlu, resolving the Hatay dispute in Turkey's favor. Turkey 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 o ...
.
* June 24 – The government of Siam changes its name to Thailand, which means 'Free Land'.
* June 29 – The Ford 9N tractor, with the Ferguson
Ferguson may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Ferguson Avenue (Hamilton, Ontario)
* Ferguson, British Columbia
* Mount Ferguson (Ontario), a mountain in Temagami, Ontario
United States
*Ferguson, a meteorite fall in North Carolina
* Ferguson, Arkansas ...
hydraulic three-point hitch, 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 – The Neuengamme concentration camp becomes autonomous. * July 6 – The last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany are closed by the Nazis. *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 North Atlantic air passenger service, between the United States ( Port Washington, New York) and Britain.
* July 23 – Mahatma Gandhi writes a personal letter to Adolf Hitler from India, addressing him as "My friend", requesting him to prevent any possible war.
* July 27 – The first recorded snow falls in Auckland, 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 Franklin D. Roosevelt of the potential use of uranium 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
''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' or ''The Wizard of Oz'' most commonly refers to:
*'' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', a 1900 American novel by L. Frank Baum often reprinted as ''The Wizard of Oz''
** Wizard of Oz (character), from the Baum novel serie ...
'', based on L. Frank Baum's famous novel of 1900, and starring Judy Garland 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 – Adolf Hitler, 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 deliver a decisive defeat to Imperial Japanese Army forces in the Japanese-Soviet border war in Inner Mongolia.
* August 23 – The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact is signed between Germany and the Soviet Union, a neutrality treaty that also agrees to division of spheres of influence (Finland, Estonia, 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), north-east province of Romania to the Soviet Union; 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 – 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 several weeks early. In a burst of legislation, the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 gives full authority to defence regulations, the British Royal Navy 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 bomb explodes in the centre of Coventry, England, killing 5 people.
* August 26
** The first televised Major League Baseball games are shown on experimental station W2XBS 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.
** 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 – 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 against Nazi Germany.
* 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
* September 1 – Beginning of WWII:
** Opening shots of World War II and invasion of Poland: 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 and Battle of 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 begin crossing the border into Poland.
** The Reichstag passes a statement, stating that Adolf Hitler's second-in-command Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring should be appointed as Hitler's successor as Führer, 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 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 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 – 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.
** Spain and Ireland declare their neutrality.
* September 3 – WWII:
** The United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, Australia and India (by its Viceroy) declare war on Nazi Germany. Prime Minister of Canada 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 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 torpedoed 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 Defense of Katowice by irregular Polish militia fails and the city is secured by German Wehrmacht forces who carry out the Katowice massacre.
** Nepal declares war on Germany.
* September 5 – WWII: The United States declares its neutrality in the war.
* September 6 – WWII: South Africa declares war on Germany.
* September 8
** WWII: Forward elements of General Hoeppner's XVI Panzerkorps take up positions outside Warsaw. 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 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 - 198 ...
is founded in Algeria, by Little Sister Magdeleine.
* September 9 – WWII: Troops of the Polish Poznań Army 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, the only declaration of war by Canada.
* September 13– 14 – WWII: Zambrów massacre – German Wehrmacht soldiers shoot more than 200 Polish prisoners of war.
* September 15 – WWII: Diverse elements of the German Wehrmacht surround Warsaw, and demand its surrender. The Poles refuse, and the siege begins in earnest.
* September 16 – A ceasefire ends the Battles of Khalkhin Gol, the undeclared border war between the Soviet Union (and Mongolian 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 invades Poland, and then occupies eastern Polish territories.
** Royal Navy 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 – WWII: ''Orzeł'' incident: Polish submarine ORP ''Orzeł'' escapes internment from Tallinn Harbour, Estonia, leading both the Soviet Union and Germany 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's forces work their way into Warsaw, under extreme difficulty.
* September 21
** 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, 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 Armand Călinescu is shot in Bucharest 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 – WWII: A joint victory parade is staged by the Wehrmacht and Red Army 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.
* September 24 – WWII: The Soviet Union issues an ultimatum to Estonia 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 and the Soviet Union agree on a division of Poland, after their invasion.
** Warsaw surrenders to Germany; Modlin surrenders a day later; the last Polish large operational unit surrenders near Kock 8 days later.
* September 30 – General Władysław Sikorski becomes Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile.
October
* October 6 – WWII: The Battle of Kock ends the Polish Campaign. Polish resistance moves underground. * October 7 – WWII: British Royal Navy cruiser departsPlymouth
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, carrying £2M in gold bar to be used for purchase of military materiel in North America, a predecessor of Operation Fish.
* October 8
** WWII: Germany 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 European ...
.
** The Holocaust: Piotrków Trybunalski Ghetto, 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 Franklin D. Roosevelt, advising of the potential use of uranium 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.
* October 14 – 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 nuc ...
is held under Lyman James Briggs, authorized by President Roosevelt to oversee neutron experiments, a precursor of the Manhattan Project.
* 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 23–14 at Ebbets Field.
* October 24 – Nylon stockings go on sale for the first time anywhere in Wilmington, Delaware.
November
* November – Lebensborn: Policy of kidnapping of children by Nazi Germany initiated in occupied Poland.
* November 1– 2 – WWII: Physicist Hans Ferdinand Mayer writes the Oslo Report 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 – WWII: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the United States Customs Service 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 – 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 universities.
* November 8
** WWII: In Munich, an attempt to kill Adolf Hitler 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 resumes test transmission, with an all-electronic system broadcast from the top of the Chrysler Building in New York City.
* 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: Two British agents of SIS are captured by the Germans.
* November 14 – In Washington, D.C., U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt 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, 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 – 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.
* 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 – 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 ...
: The Soviet Union's Red Army shells the Russian village of Mainila, then claims that the fire originated from Finland, 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.
* November 30 – WWII:
** Winter War: 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 mine (laid by ) off the coast of Scotland, and is laid up for repairs until August 1940. ** German submarine ''U-36'' is torpedoed and sunk by British submarine HMS ''Salmon'' offStavanger
Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...
, the first enemy submarine lost to a British one during the war.
* December 9 – WWII: The first soldier of the 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 heavy cruiser ''Admiral Graf Spee'' is trapped by cruisers , HMNZS ''Achilles'', and after a running battle off the coast of Uruguay. ''Graf Spee'' is scuttled by its crew off Montevideo
Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
Harbor, on December 17.
* December 14 – WWII – Winter War: The League of Nations expels the USSR for attacking Finland.
* December 15 – The epic historical romance film '' Gone with the Wind'', starring Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh ( ; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967; born Vivian Mary Hartley), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for her definitive performances as Scarlett O'Hara in ''Gon ...
, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland and Leslie Howard, premieres at Loew's Grand Theatre in Atlanta. Based on Margaret Mitchell's best-selling novel of 1936, it is the longest American film made up to this date (at nearly four hours) and rapidly becomes the highest-grossing film up to this time.
* December 18 – WWII – Battle of the Heligoland Bight: RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...
, 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
Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
.
* December 26 – Miners strike in Borinage
The Borinage () is an area in the Walloon province of Hainaut in Belgium. The name derives from the coal mines of the region, ''bores'' meaning mineshafts. In French the inhabitants of the Borinage are called Borains.
The provincial capital ...
, Belgium.
* December 27 – The 7.8 Erzincan earthquake shakes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XII (''Extreme''), causing $20 million in damage, and leaving 32,700–32,968 dead.
Date unknown
* Kirlian photography is invented bySemyon Kirlian
Semyon Davidovich Kirlian (; russian: Семён Давидович Кирлиан; hy, Սիմոն Կիրլյան; 20 February 1898 – 4 April 1978) was a Soviet inventor and researcher of Armenian descent, who along with his wife Valentina ...
.
* Enzo Ferrari founds Auto Avio Construzioni, the company that becomes Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
in 1947
It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Events
January
* January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...
.
Births
January–February
* January 1 – Ali Mahdi Muhammad, Somali entrepreneur, politician and 4th President of Somalia
The president of Somalia ( so, Madaxaweynaha Soomaaliya) is the head of state of Somalia. The president is also commander-in-chief of the Somali Armed Forces. The president represents the Federal Government of Somalia, Federal Republic of Somal ...
(d. 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
)
* January 3
Events Pre-1600
*AD 69, 69 – The Roman legions on the Rhine refuse to declare their allegiance to Galba, instead proclaiming their legate, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor.
* 250 – Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (ex ...
** Arik Einstein, Israeli singer (d. 2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
)
** 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
Valeriy Vasylyovych Lobanovskyi ( uk, Вале́рій Васи́льович Лобано́вський ; russian: Вале́рий Васи́льевич Лобано́вский; 6 January 1939 – 13 May 2002) was а Ukrainian football playe ...
, Ukrainian footballer, manager (d. 2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
)
** Murray Rose, Australian swimmer (d. 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
)
* January 9
Events Pre-1600
* 681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain.
*1127 – Jin–Song Wars: Invading Jurchen soldiers from the J ...
– Susannah York
Susannah Yolande Fletcher (9 January 1939 – 15 January 2011), known professionally as Susannah York, was an English actress. Her appearances in various films of the 1960s, including '' Tom Jones'' (1963) and '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' ...
, British actress (d. 2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
)
* January 10
Events Pre-1600
*49 BC – Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signalling the start of civil war.
* 9 – The Western Han dynasty ends when Wang Mang claims that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the dynasty and the be ...
** Sal Mineo, American actor (d. 1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
)
** Bill Toomey, American athlete
* January 11 – Anne Heggtveit, Canadian skier
* January 12 – Joachim Yhombi-Opango, Congolese politician (d. 2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
)
* 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
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
)
* January 20
Events Pre-1600
* 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
* 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
* 1156 &ndas ...
– Chandra Wickramasinghe
Nalin Chandra Wickramasinghe (born 20 January 1939) is a Sri Lankan-born British mathematician, astronomer and astrobiologist of Sinhalese people, Sinhalese ethnicity. His research interests include the interstellar medium, infrared astronomy, ...
, British astronomer and poet
* January 22
Events Pre-1600
* 613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (''Caesar'') by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.
* 871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vi ...
** Sonny Chiba, Japanese actor and martial artist (d. 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
)
** Alfredo Palacio
Luis Alfredo Palacio González (born 22 January 1939) is an Ecuadorian cardiologist and former politician who served as President of Ecuador from 20 April 2005 to 15 January 2007. From 15 January 2003 to 20 April 2005, he served as vice presid ...
, 42nd President of Ecuador
** Ray Stevens, American musician ('' Everything is Beautiful'')
* January 29 – Germaine Greer, Australian feminist writer
* February 1
Events Pre-1600
* 1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.
* 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Mon ...
– Ekaterina Maximova, Russian ballerina (d. 2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
)
* February 3
Events Pre-1600
* 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
*1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
*1488 – ...
– Michael Cimino, American film director (d. 2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
)
* February 7 – Francisco Mendes
Francisco Mendes, ''nom de guerre'' Chico Té (February 7, 1939 – July 7, 1978), was a Guinea-Bissau, Bissau-Guinean politician. He was the country's first List of prime ministers of Guinea-Bissau, Prime Minister and held that position from Sep ...
, Guinea-Bissau politician, 1st Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau (d. 1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
)
* February 8 – Egon Zimmermann, Austrian Olympic alpine skier (d. 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
)
* February 10
** Adrienne Clarkson, 26th Governor General of Canada
** Tsuyoshi Yamanaka, Japanese freestyle swimmer (d. 2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
)
* February 12 – Ray Manzarek
Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr. (né Manczarek; February 12, 1939 – May 20, 2013) was an American keyboardist. He is best known as a member of the Doors, co-founding the band with singer and lyricist Jim Morrison in 1965.
Manzarek was induct ...
, American keyboardist ('' The Doors'') (d. 2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
)
* February 13
Events Pre-1600
* 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome.
*1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th.
*1462 – The ...
– Andrew Peacock, Australian politician (d. 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
)
* February 18 – Abdelraouf Al-Rawabdeh, Jordanian political figure, 65th Prime Minister of Jordan
* February 19
Events Pre-1600
* 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
* 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of pagan ...
– Erin Pizzey, British author, founder of the first domestic violence shelter in the modern world
* February 28
Events Pre-1600
*202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
* 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
*1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on ...
– Daniel C. Tsui, Chinese-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
March–April
* March 1 – Tzvetan Todorov, Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, structuralist literary critic, sociologist and essayist (d. 2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
)
* March 2 – Takako, Princess Suga
* March 5
Events Pre-1600
* 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
* 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern ...
** Samantha Eggar, English actress
** Chögyam Trungpa, Buddhist meditation master (d. 1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
)
* March 8 – Lidiya Skoblikova, Russian speed-skater
* March 10 – Lee Soo-sung
Lee Soo-sung (born March 10, 1939) is a South Korean politician and legal scholar. He was the 27th Prime Minister of South Korea from December 18, 1995 to March 4, 1997. Prior to becoming prime minister, he was president of Seoul National Univ ...
, 27th Prime Minister of South Korea
* March 13 – 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
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
)
* March 17 – Giovanni Trapattoni, Italian footballer and manager
* March 20 – Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993.
Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...
, 18th Prime Minister of Canada
* March 25
Events Pre-1600
* 421 – Italian city Venice is founded with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo di Rialto on the islet of Rialto.
* 708 – Pope Constantine becomes the 88th pope. He would be the last pope to vi ...
– D. C. Fontana
Dorothy Catherine Fontana (March 25, 1939 – December 2, 2019) was an American television script writer and story editor, best known for her work on the original '' Star Trek'' franchise and several Western television series.
After a shor ...
, American television writer (d. 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
)
* 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
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
(d. 1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
)
** Volker Schlöndorff, German film director
** Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, German footballer
* April 1 – Ali MacGraw, American actress
* April 2 – Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
, American singer (d. 1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
)
* 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 Alexander or Alex George may refer to:
*Alex George (botanist) (born 1939), Australian botanist
* Alexander L. George (1920–2006), American political scientist
* Alexander George (philosopher), American philosopher
*Alex George (motorcyclist), Sc ...
, Australian botanist
** Hugh Masekela, South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer and singer (d. 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
)
** Ernie Terrell, African-American professional boxer (d. 2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
)
* April 7
** Sir David Frost
Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ' ...
, English television personality (d. 2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
)
** Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...
, American film director
* April 9 – Michael Learned, American actress
* April 10 – Claudio Magris, Italian author
* April 12 – Alan Ayckbourn
Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. He has written and produced as of 2021, more than eighty full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of ...
, English dramatist
* April 13
Events Pre-1600
*1111 – Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
* 1204 – Constantinople falls to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire.
1601–1900
*1612 – In one of the epic samurai ...
– Seamus Heaney, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
)
* April 15 – Jaime Paz Zamora , 60th President of Bolivia
* April 16 – Dusty Springfield, English pop singer (d. 1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
)
* April 19 – Ali Khamenei
Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنهای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia ''marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president o ...
, Supreme Leader of Iran
* April 20 – Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norwegian politician, 1st female Prime Minister
* April 21
Events Pre-1600
*753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date).
* 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered ...
– Helen Prejean, American writer
* April 23
Events Pre-1600
* 215 BC – A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene.
* 599 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul attacks rival city-state Palenque in southe ...
– Lee Majors, American actor
* April 27
Events Pre-1600
* 247 – Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome with a celebration of the ''ludi saeculares''.
* 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of ...
– João Bernardo Vieira, President of Guinea-Bissau (d. 2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
)
May–June
* May 1 – Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...
, American singer-songwriter
* May 2
** Sumio Iijima, Japanese physicist and inventor
** Taomati Iuta
Taomati T. Iuta (2 May 1939 on Beru Island
, Vice President of Kiribati (1991–94) (d. 2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
)
* May 4 – Amos Oz, Israeli author and journalist (d. 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
)
* May 7
** José Antonio Abreu, Venezuelan orchestral conductor, music educator (d. 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
)
** Sidney Altman, Canadian-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
)
** Ruud Lubbers, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1982–94) (d. 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
)
* May 9 – Ralph Boston, American athlete
* May 13 – Harvey Keitel, American actor
* May 15 – Barbara Hammer
Barbara Jean Hammer (May 15, 1939 – March 16, 2019) was an American feminist film director, producer, writer, and cinematographer. She is known for being one of the pioneers of the lesbian film genre, and her career spanned over 50 years. Hamm ...
, American filmmaker (d. 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
)
* May 18 – Peter Grünberg, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
)
* May 19
** Livio Berruti, Italian sprinter
** James Fox, English actor
** Nancy Kwan, American actress
** Dick Scobee, American astronaut (d. 1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
)
* May 20 – Roman Kartsev, Russian actor (d. 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
)
* May 21 – Heinz Holliger, Swiss oboist, composer
* May 22 – Paul Winfield, African-American actor (d. 2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
)
* May 25
** Dixie Carter, American actress (d. 2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
)
** Sir Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural i ...
, English actor
* May 27
Events Pre-1600
* 1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens. At least 600 Jews are killed.
* 1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death.
* 1153 &ndash ...
– Don Williams, American musician (d. 2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
)
* May 29 – Maeve Binchy, Irish author (d. 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
)
* May 30
Events Pre-1600
* 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem. Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall. The Romans build a circumvallation, cutting down all trees within fifteen kilometres ...
– Michael J. Pollard, American actor (d. 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
)
* 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
** Margaret Drabble, English novelist
* June 6 – Louis Andriessen, Dutch composer (d. 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 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
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
)
* June 22 – Ada Yonath, Israeli crystallographer
* June 26 – Osvaldo Hurtado, 34th President of Ecuador
* June 29 – 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
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
)
* July 4
** Abdelmajid Chetali, Tunisian footballer, manager
** Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani, 2nd Prime Minister of Yemen (d. 2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
)
* 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
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
)
** Sid Haig, American actor (d. 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
)
* 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
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
)
* July 18 – Dion DiMucci, American singer, songwriter (''The Wanderer (Dion song), The Wanderer'')
* July 21 – Helmut Haller, German footballer (d. 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
)
* July 22 – Gila Almagor, Israeli actress and author
* July 24 – Walt Bellamy, African-American basketball player (d. 2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
)
* 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
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
)
* July 31 – Susan Flannery, American soap opera actress
* August 1 – Robert James Waller, American novelist (d. 2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
)
* 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
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
)
** 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
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
)
* 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
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
)
* August 19
** Alan Baker (mathematician), Alan Baker, English mathematician (d. 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
)
** Ginger Baker, English drummer (d. 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
)
* August 20 – Fernando Poe Jr., Filipino actor (d. 2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
)
*August 21 – Clarence Williams III, American actor (d. 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
)
* August 22 – Valerie Harper, American actress (d. 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
)
* August 23 – Fernando Luján, Mexican actor (d. 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
)
* August 27 – Bill Mulliken, American swimmer (d. 2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
)
* August 29 – Joel Schumacher, American film producer and director (d. 2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
)
* August 30
** Elizabeth Ashley, née Cole, American actress
** John Peel, né Ravenscroft, English disc jockey (d. 2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
)
September
* September 1 – 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
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
)
* September 13
** Richard Kiel, American actor (d. 2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
)
** Guntis Ulmanis, 5th President of Latvia
* September 15 – Ron Walker (Australian businessman), Ron Walker, Australian businessman, former Lord Mayor of Melbourne (d. 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
)
* September 16 – Breyten Breytenbach, South African writer and painter
* September 18 – Jorge Sampaio, 17th President of Portugal (d. 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
)
* September 22 – Junko Tabei, Japanese mountaineer (d. 2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
)
* September 27 – Kathy Whitworth, American professional golfer
* September 30 – Jean-Marie Lehn, French chemist, 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
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
)
* 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
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
)
** Harold Kroto, English organic chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
)
* October 8 – Paul Hogan, Australian actor and comedian
* October 9
** Carmen Salinas, Mexican actress and politician (d. 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
)
** John Pilger, Australian-born journalist
* October 11 – Maria Bueno, Brazilian tennis player (d. 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
)
* October 14 – 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
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
)
* October 24
** F. Murray Abraham, American actor (Amadeus (film))
**Madalena Iglésias, Portuguese actress and singer (d. 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
)
* 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 – Barbara Bosson, American actress
* November 6
** Athanasios Angelopoulos, Greek academic
** Carlos Emilio Morales, Cuban jazz guitarist (d. 2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
)
* November 8 – Laila Kinnunen, Finnish singer (d. 2000)
* November 10 – Russell Means, Native American activist (d. 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
)
* November 14 – Wendy Carlos, American electronic composer
* November 15 – Yaphet Kotto, African-American actor (d. 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 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
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
)
** Thomas Resetarits, Austrian sculptor (d. 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
)
* November 26
** 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
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
)
** Laurent-Désiré Kabila, 3rd President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (d. 2001)
** Ulla Strömstedt, Swedish actress (d. 1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
)
* 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
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
)
* 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
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
)
* December 27 – John Amos, African-American actor (''Good Times'')
Date unknown
*Astratijs Roškovs, former Lithuanian-Russian-Latvian footballerDeaths
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
Events Pre-1600
* 613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (''Caesar'') by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.
* 871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vi ...
– Léopold Bernhard Bernstamm, Soviet sculptor (b. 1859)
* January 23 – Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer (b. 1903)
* January 24 – 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 laureate (b. 1865)
February
* February 1
Events Pre-1600
* 1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.
* 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Mon ...
– 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
Events Pre-1600
* 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
*1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
*1488 – ...
– 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
Events Pre-1600
* 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome.
*1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th.
*1462 – The ...
– 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 – 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 – Howard Carter, British archaeologist (b. 1874)
* March 3 – Dimitrie Gerota, Romanian anatomist, physician (b. 1867)
* March 5
Events Pre-1600
* 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
* 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern ...
– 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 (b. 1868)
* March 7 – Matvei Berman, Soviet intelligence officer (b. 1898)
* March 13 – 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
** 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
** 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
Events Pre-1600
* 247 – Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome with a celebration of the ''ludi saeculares''.
* 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of ...
– 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 – 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
**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
** Joseph Carr, 2nd president of the National Football League (b. 1880)
** Alexandra Čvanová, Czechoslovakian soprano (b. 1897)
* May 22 – 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
Events Pre-1600
* 1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens. At least 600 Jews are killed.
* 1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death.
* 1153 &ndash ...
– 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
Events Pre-1600
* 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem. Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall. The Romans build a circumvallation, cutting down all trees within fifteen kilometres ...
– 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 – Eugen Weidmann, 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 – 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
** 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 – 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 – Armand Călinescu, Romanian economist, politician and 39th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1893)
* September 22
** 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
** 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 – Gustav Henriksen, Norwegian executive (b. 1872)
* October 13 – Ford Sterling, American actor (b. 1882)
* October 14 – 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 – Kálmán Darányi, 31st Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1886)
* November 4
** 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 – 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 awardedReferences
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,