1939

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.