Editing 1939 (section)

==Events==
Events related to [[World War II]] have a "WWII" prefix.

===January===
{{main|January 1939}}
* [[January 1]] 
** Coming into effect in [[Nazi Germany]] of:
*** The [[Protection of Young Persons Act (Germany)|Protection of Young Persons Act]], passed on April 30, 1938, the Working Hours Regulations.<ref name= ":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.was-war-wann.de/1900/1930/januar-1939.html|title=Januar 1939 Ereignisse}}</ref>
*** The [[small businesses]] obligation to maintain adequate [[accounting]].<ref name= ":0" /> 
*** The [[Jews]] name change decree.<ref name= ":0" />
** With his traditional call to the [[New Year]] in Nazi Germany, [[Führer]] and [[Reich Chancellor]] [[Adolf Hitler]] addresses the members of the [[National Socialist German Workers' Party]] (NSDAP).<ref name= ":0" /> 
** The [[Hewlett-Packard]] [[technology]] and [[scientific instruments]] manufacturing [[company]] is founded by [[Bill Hewlett]] and [[David Packard]], in a garage in [[Palo Alto, California]], considered the birthplace of [[Silicon Valley]].<ref name= ":0" />
** [[Philipp Etter]] takes over as [[President of the Swiss Confederation]].<ref name= ":0" /> 
** The Third Soviet Five Year Plan is launched.<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Tony Cliff |translator=Jacques Fournier |title=State Capitalism in the USSR from Stalin to Gorbachev |  location =Atelier Editions |publisher= |year=1990 |isbn=978-2-85139-095-0 |url={{Google Books|AL-JXobXz5YC|page=94|plainurl=yes}}}}</ref>
* [[January 5]] &ndash; Pioneering U.S. aviator [[Amelia Earhart]] is officially declared dead, eighteen months after her disappearance.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/5486999/amelia-earhart-disappearance-theories/|title=Amelia Earhart Was Declared Dead 80 Years Ago. Here's What to Know About What Actually Happened to Her|magazine=Time|language=en|access-date=2020-01-19|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329014024/https://time.com/5486999/amelia-earhart-disappearance-theories/|url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[January 6]] &ndash; [[Otto Hahn]]'s discoveries in the field of [[nuclear fission]] are published in ''[[Naturwissenschaften]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1944/hahn/facts/|title=Otto Hahn|website=NobelPrize.org|access-date=January 14, 2022}}</ref>
* [[January 7]] &ndash; French physicist [[Marguerite Perey]] identifies [[francium]], the [[Timeline of chemical element discoveries|last]] [[chemical element]] first discovered in nature.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elements.vanderkrogt.net/element.php?sym=fr|title=87 Francium|work=Elementymology & Elements Multidict|first=Peter|last=van der Krogt|accessdate=2019-01-07}}</ref>
* [[January 14]] &ndash; Norway claims [[Queen Maud Land]] in [[Antarctica]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Academie De Droit International De La Ha|title=Recueil Des Cours, Collected Courses 1962|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7rftTUAUXOIC&pg=PA221|date=1 December 1968|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|isbn=90-286-1442-7|pages=221|access-date=January 14, 2020|archive-date=July 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724114405/https://books.google.com/books?id=7rftTUAUXOIC&pg=PA221|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[January 23]] &ndash; "[[Dutch War Scare]]": Admiral [[Wilhelm Canaris]] of the ''[[Abwehr]]'' 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.<ref>{{cite book | last = Watt| first = Donald Cameron | year = 1989 | title = How War Came: Immediate Origins of the Second World War, 1938–1939 | url = https://archive.org/details/howwarcameimmedi00dona| url-access = registration| location = New York | publisher = Pantheon | isbn = 978-0-67973-093-4 | page=101}}</ref>
* [[January 24]] &ndash; [[1939 Chillán earthquake]]: An earthquake in [[Chile]] kills an estimated 30,000 people and razes about {{convert|50,000|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}} of land.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/world_deaths.php |title=Earthquakes with 1,000 or More Deaths since 1900 |work=Earthquake Hazards Program |publisher=[[United States Geological Survey|USGS]] Earthquake.usgs.gov |date=30 November 2012 |access-date=9 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114225331/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/world_deaths.php |archive-date=14 January 2013 }}</ref>
* [[January 25]] &ndash; [[Refik Saydam]] forms the new (11th) government of [[Turkey]].
* [[January 26]] 
** [[Spanish Civil War]]: Spanish Nationalist troops, aided by Italy, take [[Barcelona]].
** In Paris, French Foreign Minister [[Georges Bonnet]], 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 (international relations)|cordon sanitaire]]''.
* [[January 27]] &ndash; [[Adolf Hitler]] orders [[Plan Z]], a 5-year naval expansion programme intended to provide for a huge German fleet capable of crushing the British [[Royal Navy]] by 1944. The ''[[Kriegsmarine]]'' is given the first priority on the allotment of German economic resources.<ref>{{cite book | last = Tooze  | first = Adam  | year = 2008  | title = The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy  | location = London  | publisher = Penguin Books  | isbn = 978-0-14-311320-1  | page=289 }}</ref>
* [[January 30]] &ndash; [[30 January 1939 Reichstag speech|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".<ref>{{cite book | last = Thacker | first = Toby | title = Joseph Goebbels: Life and Death | year = 2010 | orig-year = 2009 | publisher = Palgrave Macmillan  | isbn = 978-0-230-27866-0 | page=205}}</ref>

===February===
{{main|February 1939}}
[[File:Alyssamcpherson.jpg|thumb|150px|right| [[February 21]]: [[Golden Gate International Exposition]] opens.]]
* [[February 6]]
** British Prime Minister [[Neville Chamberlain]] 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]]'s speech of January 26, German Foreign Minister [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]], 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 18]] &ndash; The [[Golden Gate International Exposition]] opens in San Francisco.<ref>{{cite book|author1=California. Board of State Harbor Commissioners for San Francisco Harbor|title=Report|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rZPVAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA35|year=1936|pages=35}}</ref>
* [[February 27]] &ndash; The United Kingdom and France recognize [[Francisco Franco|Franco]]'s government in Spain.<ref>{{cite book|author=Juan Lalaguna|title=A Traveller's History of Spain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yb4kpN7SZUkC|year=1999|publisher=Interlink Books|isbn=978-1-56656-324-6|page=259}}</ref>

===March===

{{main|March 1939}}
* [[March]] &ndash; The [[1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine]] ends.
* [[March 1]] &ndash; An [[Imperial Japanese Army]] ammunition dump explosion on the outskirts of [[Osaka]] kills 94.
* [[March 2]] &ndash; [[Pope Pius XII]] (Cardinal Pacelli) succeeds [[Pope Pius XI]] to become the 260th pope, holding office until 1958.
* [[March 3]] &ndash; 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]] &ndash; [[Adolf Hitler]] advises [[Jozef Tiso]] to declare Slovakia's independence, in order to prevent its partition by Hungary and Poland.
* [[March 14]] &ndash; The [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|Slovak]] provincial assembly proclaims independence; priest [[Jozef Tiso]] becomes president of the independent Slovak government.
* [[March 15]] &ndash; German troops occupy the remaining part of [[Bohemia]] and [[Moravia]]; [[Czechoslovakia]] ceases to exist. The Ruthenian region of Czechoslovakia declares independence as [[Carpatho-Ukraine]].
* [[March 16]]
** Hungary invades Carpatho-Ukraine; final resistance ends on [[March 18]].
** British Prime Minister [[Neville Chamberlain]] gives a speech in [[Birmingham]], stating that Britain will oppose any effort at world domination on the part of Germany.
* [[March 17]] &ndash; The nationalist governments of Spain and Portugal sign the [[Iberian Pact]] in Lisbon, pledging mutual defence of the [[Iberian Peninsula]] and [[Country neutrality (international relations)|neutrality]] in the event of a general European war.
* [[March 20]]
** [[1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania]], 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]] suggests to [[E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Halifax]] that the ideal state for saving Romania from a German attack is Poland.
* [[March 22]] &ndash; Following the [[1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania|March 20 ultimatum]], [[Nazi Germany]] is granted the [[Klaipėda Region]] (Memel Territory, ''Memelland'') by [[Lithuania]]; on the following day German forces occupy the territory.
* [[March 23]] &ndash; The [[Slovak–Hungarian War]] begins.
* [[March 26]] &ndash; [[Final offensive of the Spanish Civil War]] launched by the Nationalists.
* [[March 28]]
** [[General officer|General]] [[Francisco Franco]] assumes power in [[Madrid]], remaining in power until his death in [[1975]].
** 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]] &ndash; [[Neville Chamberlain]] gives a speech in the House of Commons, offering the British "guarantee" of the independence of Poland.

===April===
{{main|April 1939}}
* [[April 1]] &ndash; 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 (1939)|Fall Weiß]]'', the codename for the invasion of Poland.
** [[Refik Saydam]] forms the new government in [[Turkey]] (12th government; Refik Saydam has served twice as a prime minister).
* [[April 4]]
** 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]]'s "Polish Guarantee" of March 31.
** [[Faisal II of Iraq|Faisal II]] becomes King of [[Iraq]] aged three, following the death of his father, [[Ghazi of Iraq|Ghazi]], in an automobile incident.<ref>{{cite book|title=The International Who's who|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CrpWAAAAIAAJ|year=1957|publisher=Europa Publications Limited|page=xiv|access-date=March 9, 2021|archive-date=September 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916232654/https://books.google.com/books?id=CrpWAAAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[April 7]] 
** [[Italian invasion of Albania]] begins; [[Zog I of Albania|King Zog]] flees into exile, initially in Greece, with his wife and [[Leka, Crown Prince of Albania|Crown Prince Skander]] (born April 5).
** [[Joseph Lyons]], 10th [[Prime Minister of Australia]], 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 [[United Australia Party|UAP]] [[United Australia Party leadership election, 1939|leadership election]] is held to replace Lyons. 
* [[April 9]] &ndash; African-American singer [[Marian Anderson]] performs before 75,000 people at the [[Lincoln Memorial]] in Washington, D.C., after having been denied the use both of [[Constitution Hall]] by the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]], and of a public high school by the federally controlled [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]]. [[First Lady of the United States]] [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] resigns from the DAR because of their decision.
* [[April 11]] &ndash; Hungary leaves the [[League of Nations]].
* [[April 14]] &ndash; At a meeting in Paris, French Foreign Minister [[Georges Bonnet]] 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]] is [[United Australia Party leadership election, 1939|elected]] leader of the [[United Australia Party]], and consequently becomes the 12th [[Prime Minister of Australia]], defeating former Prime Minister [[Billy Hughes]]. However, he will not be sworn in until [[April 26]], due to [[Earle Page]] and his [[National Party of Australia|Country Party]] refusing to serve under him.
* [[April 25]] &ndash; The [[Federal Security Agency]] (FSA) is founded in the United States, along with the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] and [[United States Public Health Service|Public Health Service]].
* [[April 28]] &ndash; In a speech before the Reichstag, [[Adolf Hitler]] renounces the [[Anglo-German Naval Agreement]] and the [[German–Polish declaration of non-aggression]].
* [[April 30]] &ndash; The [[1939 New York World's Fair]] opens.

===May===
{{main|May 1939}}
* [[May 3]] &ndash; [[Vyacheslav Molotov]] succeeds [[Maxim Litvinov]], as Soviet Foreign Commissar.
* [[May 6]] &ndash; German anti-Nazi [[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]] &ndash; Spain leaves the [[League of Nations]].
* [[May 14]] &ndash; [[Lina Medina]], a 5-year-old [[Peru]]vian girl, gives birth to a baby boy, becoming the youngest confirmed mother in medical history.<ref>{{cite news|title=Six decades later, world's youngest mother awaits aid |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1020827/asp/foreign/story_1140311.asp |work=[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|The Telegraph]] |location=Kolkata |date=27 August 2002 |access-date=14 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722030008/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1020827/asp/foreign/story_1140311.asp |archive-date=22 July 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[May 17]]
** [[King George VI]] and [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]] of the United Kingdom arrive in [[Quebec City]], to begin the first-ever tour of Canada by [[Monarchy of Canada|Canada's monarch]].
** The British government issues the [[White Paper of 1939]], sharply restricting Jewish immigration to [[Mandatory Palestine]].
** [[Sweden]], [[Norway]], and [[Finland]] refuse Germany's offer of non-aggression pacts.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hershel Edelheit|title=History Of Zionism: A Handbook And Dictionary|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2000|page=366}} {{isbn|9780813329819}}</ref>
* [[May 18]] &ndash; The [[Hòa Hảo]] religious sect is established in Vietnam, by [[Huỳnh Phú Sổ]].
* [[May 20]] &ndash; [[Pan American Airways]] begins transatlantic mail service with the inaugural flight of its [[Boeing 314]] [[flying boat]] ''Yankee Clipper'' from [[Port Washington, New York]], to [[Marseille]].<ref>{{cite book|author=David Clark MacKenzie|title=Canada and international civil aviation, 1932-1948|url=https://archive.org/details/canadainternatio0000mack|url-access=registration|year=1989|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-5828-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/canadainternatio0000mack/page/72 72]}}</ref>
* [[May 22]] &ndash; Germany and Italy sign the [[Pact of Steel]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Charles T. O'Reilly|title=Forgotten Battles: Italy's War of Liberation, 1943-1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2LBvZPXmmqoC&pg=PA339|year=2001|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-0195-7|pages=339|access-date=November 10, 2019|archive-date=July 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724113806/https://books.google.com/books?id=2LBvZPXmmqoC&pg=PA339|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[May 23]] &ndash; The [[White Paper of 1939]] is ratified by the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]], acting as the governing policy for [[Mandatory Palestine]]  from 1939 to 1948.<ref>{{Citation |last=Erakat |first=Noura |title=Chapter 2. PERMANENT OCCUPATION |date=2019-04-23 |work=Justice for Some |pages=61–94 |url=https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781503608832-005/html?lang=en |access-date=2025-04-11 |publisher=Stanford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1515/9781503608832-005 |isbn=978-1-5036-0883-2}}</ref>
* [[May 24]] &ndash; The first issue of ''[[Fashizmi]]'' is published in [[Tirana]], [[Albania]].
* [[May 29]] &ndash; [[Albania]]n [[fascist]] leader [[Tefik Mborja]] is appointed as member of the Italian Chamber of Fasces and Corporations.

=== June ===
{{main|June 1939}}
[[File:Phutthamonthon Buddha.gif|thumb|160px|right| [[June 24]]: Siam is renamed "[[Thailand]]".]]
* [[June 3]] &ndash; 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]] 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]] &ndash; The [[MS St. Louis|''St. Louis'']], a ship carrying a cargo of 907 Jewish refugees, is denied permission to land in [[Florida]], only a few passengers had been allowed to enter [[Cuba]]. Forced to return to Europe, many of its passengers later die in [[Nazism|Nazi]] [[death camps]] during [[The Holocaust]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://activehistory.ca/?s=Netherlands+&submit=Search|title=Remembering the Voyage of the St. Louis|last=Madokoro|first=Laura|website=Active History |date=August 9, 2021 }}</ref>
* [[June 14]] &ndash; [[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]] &ndash; In the last public [[Guillotine|execution]] in France, murderer [[Eugen Weidmann]] is guillotined.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.euronews.com/2019/06/17/eighty-years-since-versailles-execution-gave-public-guillotines-the-chop|title=Eighty years since Versailles execution stopped public guillotine spectacles|date=17 June 2019|author1=Vincent Coste|author2=Alastair Jamieson|website=Euronews|access-date=11 July 2024}}</ref>
* [[June 23]] &ndash; 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 State|Hatay]].
* [[June 24]] &ndash; The government of Siam changes the country's name to [[Thailand]], which means 'Free Land'.<ref>"Thailand ( Siam ) History" (overview), CS Mngt, 2005, ''CSMngt.com'' webpage: [http://www.csmngt.com/thailand_history.htm CSMngt-Thai] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424080811/http://www.csmngt.com/thailand_history.htm |date=April 24, 2015 }}.</ref>
* [[June 29]] &ndash; The [[Ford N-Series tractor#N Series Models|Ford 9N tractor]], with the [[Harry Ferguson|Ferguson]] hydraulic [[three-point hitch]], is first demonstrated at [[Dearborn, Michigan]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Randy|last=Leffingwell|title=Classic Farm Tractors: History of the Farm Tractor|year=1996|location=Osceola, WI, US|publisher=Motorbooks International|isbn=978-0760302460|page=99}}</ref>

=== July ===
{{main|July 1939}}
* [[July 4]] &ndash; The [[Neuengamme concentration camp]] becomes autonomous.
* [[July 6]] &ndash; The last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany are closed by the [[Nazi]]s.
* [[July 8]] &ndash; The [[Pan American Airways]] [[Boeing 314]] [[flying boat]] ''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]] &ndash; [[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]] &ndash; The first recorded snow falls in [[Auckland]], New Zealand, since records began in [[1853]].

=== August ===
{{main|August 1939}}
* [[August 2]] &ndash; The [[Einstein–Szilard letter]] is signed by [[Albert Einstein]], advising [[President of the United States]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] of the potential use of [[uranium]] to construct an [[atomic bomb]]. It is delivered on October 11 and leads to the first meeting on October 21 of the Advisory Committee on Uranium.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lanouette|first1=William|last2=Silard|first2=Bela|title=Genius in the Shadows: A Biography of Leo Szilárd: The Man Behind The Bomb|location=New York|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|year=1992|isbn=978-0-684-19011-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/geniusinshadowsa00lano}}</ref>
* [[August 4]] &ndash; Prime Minister [[Neville Chamberlain]] dismisses the Parliament of the United Kingdom until October 3.
* [[August 19]] &ndash; [[Adolf Hitler]], after evaluating the pace of [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|non-aggression negotiations with the Soviet Union]], orders the ''[[Kriegsmarine]]'' to begin the opening operations for ''[[Fall Weiss (1939)|Fall Weiß]]'', the invasion of Poland. The {{Ship|German pocket battleship|Admiral Graf Spee}}, along with the {{Ship|German pocket battleship|Deutschland}}, 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.<ref name=Shirer>{{cite book|last=Shirer|first=William L.|author-link=William L. Shirer|date=2011|title=[[The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich]]|location=New York|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=9781451651683}}</ref>
* [[August 20]] &ndash; 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]] &ndash; 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]], eastern Poland and Bessarabia (modern-day [[Moldova]]), north-east province of [[Romania]] to the [[Soviet Union]]; [[Lithuania]] and western Poland to Germany). Its annex reassigns Lithuania to the Soviet Union.
* [[August 24]] &ndash; As details of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact become public, British Prime Minister [[Neville Chamberlain]] 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]]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 (1939)|Fall Weiß]]''. At approximately 1830 Central European time, Adolf Hitler postpones ''Fall Weiß'' for 5 days, after receiving a message from [[Benito Mussolini]] 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]] gives [[Edward Rydz-Śmigły]] his "ironclad guarantee" of assistance if Poland is attacked by Germany.
** [[1939 Coventry bombing]]: An [[Irish Republican Army (1922–69)|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]] and the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] at [[Ebbets Field]].
** The ''[[Kriegsmarine]]'' orders all German-flagged merchant ships to head to German ports immediately, in anticipation of the invasion of Poland.
* [[August 27]] &ndash; A [[Heinkel He 178]], the first turbojet-powered aircraft, flies for the first time, with Captain Erich Warsitz in command.
* [[August 28]] &ndash; French ocean liner {{SS|Normandie}} heads into [[New York Harbor]], where she will be interned on September 3, and cut up for scrap, beginning in 1946.
* [[August 30]] &ndash; Poland begins a [[mobilization]] against [[Nazi Germany]].
* [[August 31]] &ndash; [[Operation Himmler]]: Nazi German troops posing as Poles stage a series of [[false flag]] operations on the border (including the [[Gleiwitz incident]]), giving a pretext for the invasion of Poland.

=== September ===
{{main|September 1939}}
[[File:Zniszczenia1939 0.jpg|160px|right|thumb|[[September 1]]: [[Wieluń]] destroyed by ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' bombing.]]
[[File:Armia Czerwona, Wehrmacht 22.09.1939 wspólna parada.jpg|160px|right|thumb|Common parade of Wehrmacht and Red Army in Brest at the end of the Invasion of Poland. At the center Major General [[Heinz Guderian]] and Brigadier [[Semyon Krivoshein]].]]
* [[September 1]] &ndash; Beginning of WWII:
** Opening shots of [[World War II]] and [[invasion of Poland]]: At 4:45 Central European Time, under cover of darkness, the German WWI-era battleship [[German battleship Schleswig-Holstein|''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]], beginning the [[Battle of Westerplatte]] and [[Battle of Danzig Bay]]. Polish soldiers defended there for 7 days. Five minutes previously, the [[bombing of Wieluń]] 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 (Nazi Germany)|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]] 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.<ref>{{cite news|date=1939-09-01|title=F.D. Vows To Keep U.S. Out of War|journal=[[Brooklyn Eagle]]|pages=1, 8}}</ref> Italy is advised that Germany does not expect to need its military support at present.<ref name=Shirer/>
* [[September 2]] &ndash; WWII:
** Following the invasion of Poland, the [[Free City of Danzig]] (modern-day [[Gdańsk]], Poland) is annexed to [[Nazi Germany]].
** [[Francoist Spain|Spain]] and [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] declare their neutrality.
* [[September 3]] &ndash; WWII:
** The United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, Australia and India (by its [[Governor-General of India|Viceroy]]) declare war on Nazi Germany. [[Prime Minister of Canada]] [[Mackenzie King]], in English, and [[Minister of Justice (Canada)|Justice Minister]] [[Ernest Lapointe]], in French, give an international radio address stating the Dominion's intention to declare war also.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.cbc.ca/on_this_day/09/10/|title=On This Day - September 10, 1939|publisher=[[CBC.ca]]|access-date=2011-09-15|archive-date=October 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011122807/http://archives.cbc.ca/on_this_day/09/10/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.junobeach.org/e/2/can-eve-eve-war-e.htm%7ctitle=War!%7cpublisher=junobeach.org%7caccessdate=2011-09-15|title=Canada in the Second World War|work=Juno Beach Centre|date=February 21, 2014|access-date=December 10, 2015|archive-date=September 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916232657/https://i2.wp.com/www.junobeach.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/cwwii_img_people.jpg?resize=720%2C480&ssl=1|url-status=live}}</ref>
** United States President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] advocates neutrality, in a nationwide radio address.
** [[Ocean liner]] {{SS|Athenia|1922|6}} becomes the first British civilian casualty of the war, when she is [[torpedo]]ed and sunk by {{GS|U-30|1936|6}} 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]], who returns to government for the first time since June 4, 1929.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jenkins|first=Roy|author-link=Roy Jenkins|title=Churchill| publisher=MacMillan Press| location=London|year=2001|isbn=0330-48805-8|page=552}}</ref>
* [[September 4]] &ndash; WWII:
** The first [[bombing of Wilhelmshaven in World War II]] is carried out, by the British [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF).
** 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 [[Nazi Germany|Germany]].
* [[September 5]] &ndash; WWII: The United States declares its neutrality in the war.<ref>{{cite book|author=United States|title=United States Code: Containing the General and Permanent Laws of the United States in Force on January 3,1941|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WbxQAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA4442|year=1941|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|pages=4442|access-date=November 26, 2020|archive-date=September 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916232655/https://books.google.com/books?id=WbxQAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA4442|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[September 6]] &ndash; WWII: South Africa declares war on [[Nazi Germany|Germany]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Marshall Cavendish Corporation|title=History of World War II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oD9Z3omHy3IC&pg=RA1-PA620|year=2004|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-7482-1|pages=620|access-date=November 26, 2020|archive-date=September 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916232655/https://books.google.com/books?id=oD9Z3omHy3IC&pg=RA1-PA620|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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 the [[German battleship Schleswig-Holstein|''Schleswig-Holstein'']]) for seven days.<ref>{{cite book|author=Iwo Pogonowski|title=Poland, a Historical Atlas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iw8oAQAAMAAJ|year=1989|publisher=Dorset Press|isbn=978-0-88029-394-5|page=30|access-date=November 26, 2020|archive-date=January 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126074426/https://books.google.com/books?id=Iw8oAQAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>
** The [[Little Sisters of Jesus]] is founded in [[Algeria]], by [[Little Sister Magdeleine]].
[[File:Polish kid in the ruins of Warsaw September 1939.jpg|thumb|160px|September: [[Siege of Warsaw (1939)|Siege of Warsaw]].]]
* [[September 9]] &ndash; WWII: Troops of the Polish [[Poznań Army]] under the command of [[Tadeusz Kutrzeba|General Kutrzeba]] open the [[Battle of the Bzura]], the largest and best organized counter-attack mounted by the Polish forces in the [[Invasion of Poland|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]] &ndash; WWII: Canada declares war on [[Nazi Germany|Germany]], the only declaration of war by Canada.
* [[September 13]]&ndash;[[September 14|14]] &ndash; WWII: [[Zambrów massacre]] &ndash; German [[Wehrmacht]] soldiers shoot more than 200 Polish prisoners of war.
* [[September 15]] &ndash; WWII: Diverse elements of the German Wehrmacht surround [[Warsaw]], and demand its surrender. The Poles refuse, and the [[Siege of Warsaw (1939)|siege]] begins in earnest.
* [[September 16]] &ndash; A ceasefire ends the [[Battles of Khalkhin Gol]], the undeclared border war between the [[Soviet Union]] (and [[Mongolia]]n allies) and Japan.
* [[September 17]] &ndash; WWII:
** The [[Soviet Union]] [[Soviet invasion of Poland|invades Poland]], and then [[Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union|occupies eastern Polish territories]].
** [[Royal Navy]] [[aircraft carrier]] {{HMS|Courageous|50|6}} is torpedoed and sunk by {{GS|U-29|1936|6}} in the [[Western Approaches]] with the loss of 519 crew (the first British warship loss of the war).
* [[September 18]] &ndash; WWII: [[Orzeł incident|''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]] &ndash; 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/02/occupation.asp?WT.mc_id=wiki|title=The Conquest of Poland and the Beginnings of Jewish Persecution|work=The Holocaust|publisher=[[Yad Vashem]]|access-date=2013-03-03|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108072837/http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/02/occupation.asp?WT.mc_id=wiki|archive-date=2012-11-08}}</ref>
**[[Assassination of Armand Călinescu]]: [[Prime Minister of Romania]] [[Armand Călinescu]] is shot in [[Bucharest]] by members of the fascist [[Iron Guard]].
* [[September 22]] &ndash; WWII: A joint [[victory parade]] is staged by the [[Wehrmacht]] and [[Red Army]] in [[Brest-Litovsk]], at the end of the [[Invasion of Poland]].
* [[September 24]] &ndash; 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]] on October 5 and to [[Lithuania]] on October 10, who are forced to accept them as well.
* [[September 28]] &ndash; WWII:
** [[Nazi Germany]] and the [[Soviet Union]] agree on a division of Poland, after their invasion.
** [[Warsaw]] surrenders to [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]; [[Modlin (Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki)|Modlin]] surrenders a day later; the last Polish large operational unit surrenders near [[Kock]] 8 days later.
* [[September 30]] &ndash; General [[Władysław Sikorski]] becomes [[Prime Minister of Poland|Prime Minister]] of the [[Polish government-in-exile]].

=== October ===
{{main|October 1939}}
* [[October 6]] &ndash; WWII: The Battle of Kock ends the Polish Campaign. [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish resistance]] moves underground.<ref>{{cite book|title=New Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZLRAAAAMAAJ|year=1944|publisher=New Europe, Incorporated|page=9|access-date=November 26, 2020|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204090533/https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZLRAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[October 7]] &ndash; WWII: British Royal Navy cruiser {{HMS|Emerald|D66|6}} departs [[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]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Draper|first=Alfred|title=Operation Fish: The Fight to Save the Gold of Britain, France and Norway from the Nazis|year=1979|publisher=General Publishing|location=Don Mills|isbn=9780773600683}}</ref>
* [[October 8]]
** WWII: [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] annexes [[Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany|Western Poland]].
** [[The Holocaust]]: [[Piotrków Trybunalski Ghetto]], the first Jewish [[Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe|ghetto in Nazi-occupied Europe]], is proclaimed in [[Occupation of Poland (1939–45)|German-occupied Poland]].
* [[October 14]] &ndash; {{GS|U-47|1938|6}} sinks the British battleship {{HMS|Royal Oak|08|6}} at anchor in [[Scapa Flow]] (Scotland), with the loss of 833 crew.

=== November ===
{{main|November 1939}}
[[File:Hedda-Hopper-1929.jpg|thumb|140px|right|[[November 6]]: [[Hedda Hopper]]]]
* [[November 1]]&ndash;[[November 2|2]] &ndash; WWII: Physicist [[Hans Ferdinand Mayer]] writes the [[Oslo Report]] on German weapons systems, and passes it to the British [[Secret Intelligence Service]].
* [[November 4]] &ndash; WWII: U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] orders the [[United States Customs Service]] to implement the [[Neutrality Acts of 1930s|Neutrality Act of 1939]], allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons to non-belligerent nations.
*[[November 4]] &ndash; [[Stewart Menzies]] is appointed head of the British [[Secret Intelligence Service]].
* [[November 6]]
** ''Hedda Hopper's Hollywood'' debuts on radio in the United States with gossip columnist [[Hedda Hopper]] as host (the show runs until 1951, making Hopper a powerful figure among the [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] elite).
** WWII: [[Sonderaktion Krakau]] &ndash; 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]] while Hitler is celebrating the 16th anniversary of the [[Beer Hall Putsch]].
** [[CBS]] television station [[W2XAB]] resumes test transmission, with an all-electronic system broadcast from the top of the [[Chrysler Building]] in [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Early Television Stations - W2XAB/W2XAX/WCBW - CBS, New York|url=http://www.earlytelevision.org/w2xab.html|work=Early Television Museum|location=Hilliard, OH|access-date=2014-11-26|archive-date=March 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190319093419/http://www.earlytelevision.org/w2xab.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[November 9]] &ndash; WWII: [[Venlo Incident]]: Two British agents of [[Secret Intelligence Service|SIS]] are captured by the Germans.
* [[November 14]] &ndash; In Washington, D.C., U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] lays the cornerstone of the [[Jefferson Memorial]].
* [[November 16]] &ndash; [[Al Capone]] is released from [[Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island|Terminal Island]], due to deteriorating health caused by [[syphilis]].
* [[November 17]] &ndash; 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]] &ndash; WWII: British [[armed merchantman]] {{HMS|Rawalpindi}} is sunk in the [[GIUK gap]], in an action against the German [[battleship]]s {{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} and {{ship|German battleship|Gneisenau||2}}.
* [[November 26]] &ndash; [[Shelling of Mainila]]: The [[Soviet Union]]'s [[Red Army]] shells the Russian village of Mainila, then claims that the fire originated from [[Finland]], giving a ''[[casus belli]]'' for the [[Winter War]].
* [[November 30]] &ndash; WWII:  [[Winter War]] &ndash; Soviet forces attack Finland and reach the [[Mannerheim Line]], starting the war. Sweden declares itself a [[non-belligerent]] in the Winter War.

=== December ===
{{main|December 1939}}
* [[December 1]] &ndash; The [[Soviet Union]] establishes the [[Finnish Democratic Republic]] puppet state in [[Zelenogorsk, Saint Petersburg|Terijoki]].<ref>{{cite book| title= Terijoen hallitus | last= Jussila | first= Osmo | year= 1985 | location= Porvoo, Helsinki | publisher= [[Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö|WSOY]] | isbn= 951-0-12686-1 | language= fi}}</ref>
* [[December 4]] &ndash; WWII:
** British battleship {{HMS|Nelson|28|6}} strikes a [[Naval mine|mine]] (laid by {{GS|U-31|1936|2}}) off the coast of Scotland, and is laid up for repairs until August 1940.
** [[German submarine U-36 (1936)|German submarine ''U-36'']] is torpedoed and sunk by British submarine [[HMS Salmon (N65)|HMS ''Salmon'']] off [[Stavanger]], the first enemy submarine lost to a British one during the war.
* [[December 6]] &ndash; WWII: [[Winter War]] – The [[Red Army]]'s advance on the [[Karelian Isthmus]] is stopped by Finns at the [[Mannerheim Line]] during the [[Battle of Taipale]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bootcampmilitaryfitnessinstitute.com/2020/11/11/what-was-the-winter-war-1939-1940/|title=What was the Winter War (1939-1940)?|first=Andrew|last=Marshall|publisher=Boot Camp & Military Fitness|date=11 November 2020|access-date=6 December 2024}}</ref>
* [[December 9]] &ndash; WWII: The first soldier of the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] is killed: Corporal Thomas Priday triggers a French land mine.
* [[December 12]] &ndash; WWII: {{HMS|Duchess|H64|6}} sinks after a collision with {{HMS|Barham|04|6}} off the coast of Scotland, with the loss of 124 men.
* [[December 13]] &ndash; WWII &ndash; [[Battle of the River Plate]]: The [[German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee|German heavy cruiser ''Admiral Graf Spee'']] is trapped by cruisers {{HMS|Ajax|22|6}}, [[HMNZS Achilles|HMNZS ''Achilles'']], and {{HMS|Exeter|68|6}} after a running battle off the coast of [[Uruguay]]. ''Graf Spee'' is [[Scuttling|scuttled]] by its crew off [[Montevideo]] Harbor, on [[December 17]].
* [[December 14]] &ndash; WWII: [[Winter War]] &ndash; The [[League of Nations]] expels the USSR for attacking Finland.
* [[December 15]] &ndash; The epic historical romance film ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'', starring [[Vivien Leigh]], [[Clark Gable]], [[Olivia de Havilland]] and [[Leslie Howard (actor)|Leslie Howard]], premieres at [[Loew's Grand Theatre]] in [[Atlanta]]. Based on [[Margaret Mitchell]]'s [[Gone with the Wind (novel)|best-selling novel]] of 1936, it is the longest American film made up to this date (at nearly four hours) and rapidly becomes the [[Timeline of highest-grossing films|highest-grossing film up to this time]].
* [[December 18]] &ndash; WWII: [[Battle of the Heligoland Bight (1939)|Battle of the Heligoland Bight]] &ndash; [[RAF Bomber Command]], on a daylight mission to attack ''[[Kriegsmarine]]'' ships in the [[Heligoland Bight]], is repulsed by ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' [[fighter aircraft]].
* [[December 26]] &ndash; Miners [[Strike action|strike]] in [[Borinage]], Belgium.
* [[December 27]] &ndash; The 7.8 {{M|w}} [[1939 Erzincan earthquake|Erzincan earthquake]] shakes eastern [[Turkey]] with a maximum [[Mercalli intensity scale|Mercalli intensity]] of XII (''Extreme''), causing $20&nbsp;million in damage, and leaving 32,700–32,968 dead.

=== Date unknown ===
* [[Kirlian photography]] is invented by [[Semyon Kirlian]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Sidney Ray|title=Scientific Photography and Applied Imaging|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h6zMCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA431|date=2 August 1999|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-136-09438-5|pages=431|access-date=November 10, 2019|archive-date=July 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724114145/https://books.google.com/books?id=h6zMCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA431|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Enzo Ferrari]] founds Auto Avio Construzioni, the company that becomes [[Ferrari]] in [[1947]].