1939

1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1939th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 939th year of the 2nd millennium, the 39th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1930s decade. World War II started in this year.

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1900s  1910s  1920s  – 1930s –  1940s  1950s  1960s
Years:	1936 1937 1938 – 1939 – 1940 1941 1942

Events

• May 15 – Nazi Germany opens Ravensbruück concentration camp, the largest Nazi concentration camp for women
• September 1 – The Second World War begins when Nazi Germany invades Poland
• September 17 – The Soviet Union invades Poland
• October 6 – Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union divide and take over Poland
• November 30 – The Winter War begins

Births

• February 6 – Mike Farrell
• February 14 – John Conn (Scottish-Australian writer)
• April 2 – Marvin Gaye
• July 1 - Karen Black (d. 2013)
• August 3 – Wes Craven
• September 5 – George Lazenby
• September 18 – Frankie Avalon
• October 27 – John Cleese
• November 13 – Will Ryan (American actor)

Deaths

• September - Khan Sahib Abdul Majid Khan Tarin, OBE, British Indian judge and legislator (b. 1877)
• November 12 -Norman Bethune

Movies released

• Gone with the Wind
• The Wizard of Oz
• Goodbye, Mr. Chips (Best Picture Academy Award)
• The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

New books

• Finnegans Wake by James Joyce

Hit songs

• "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" – by E.Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen, from the movieThe Wizard of Oz; won the Academy Award for the best song.