Also Within This Year in History:
1939
As the Depression era ended, World War II began. Nazi troops goosestepped into Poland, and in response, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. Hitler ally Francisco Franco seized power in Spain, having defeated the democratically elected government in the Spanish Civil War. In the still-neutral U.S., a terrorist bomb exploded at the New York World’s Fair, while in fictional Gotham City, Batman made his comic book debut. College students, meanwhile, battled to see who could gulp the most live goldfish.
Arthur “Doc” Barker is killed while trying to escape from Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco Bay. Barker, of the notorious “Bloody Barkers” gang, was spotted on the rock‑strewn shore of…
During the Spanish Civil War, Barcelona, the Republican capital of Spain, falls to the Nationalist forces of General Francisco Franco. In 1931, King Alfonso XIII approved elections to decide the…
Six and a half months before Adolf Hitler invaded Poland, New York City’s Madison Square Garden hosted a rally to celebrate the rise of Nazism in Germany. Inside, more than…
Hitler’s forces invade and occupy Czechoslovakia, proving the futility of the Munich Pact, an unsuccessful attempt to prevent Germany’s imperial aims. On September 30, 1938, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, French…
The University of Oregon defeats The Ohio State University 46–33 on March 27, 1939 to win the first‑ever NCAA men’s basketball tournament. “March Madness,” as the tournament became known, has…
In Spain, the Republican defenders of Madrid raise the white flag over the city, bringing an end to the fighting of the bloody three‑year Spanish Civil War. Three days later,…
On March 30, 1939, Detective Comics No. 27 appears on the nation’s newsstands, introducing the world to a new superhero, the Batman. Dated May 1939, the comic book featured the…
After being denied the opportunity to sing in a famous Washington, D.C.. concert hall due to the color of her skin, opera star Marian Anderson takes an even bigger—and more…
On April 30, 1939, the New York World’s Fair opens in New York City. The opening ceremony, which featured speeches by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and New York Governor Herbert…
On May 22, 1939, Italy and Germany agree to a military and political alliance, giving birth formally to the Axis powers, which will ultimately include Japan. Mussolini coined the nickname…
A boat carrying 937 refugees, almost all of whom are Jews fleeing Nazi persecution, is turned away from Havana, Cuba, on May 27, 1939. Only 28 immigrants are admitted into…
King George VI becomes the first reigning British monarch to visit the United States when he and his wife, Elizabeth, cross the Canadian‑U.S. border to Niagara Falls, New York. The…
On June 10, 1939, one of the most famous scenes in movie history is filmed: Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara parting in Gone with the Wind. Director Victor Fleming also…
On August 10, 1939, The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland and featuring words and music by E.Y. “Yip” Harburg and Harold Arlen, receives its world premiere in Green Bay,…
On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union sign a nonaggression pact, stunning the world, given their diametrically opposed ideologies. But the dictators were, despite appearances, both playing to…
On August 25, 1939, The Wizard of Oz, which will become one of the best‑loved movies in history, opens in theaters around the United States. Based on the 1900 children’s…
On August 26, 1939, the first televised Major League baseball game is broadcast on station W2XBS, the station that was to become WNBC‑TV. Announcer Red Barber called the game between…
On September 1, 1939, German forces under the control of Adolf Hitler bombard Poland on land and from the air. World War II had begun. Germany invaded Poland to regain lost territory…
On September 3, 1939, in response to Hitler’s invasion of Poland, Britain and France, both allies of the overrun nation declare war on Germany. The first casualty of that declaration…
Audiences at the Fox Theater in Riverside, California, get a surprise showing of Gone with the Wind, which the theater manager shows as a second feature. Producer David O. Selznick…
