* 1939 – 1945, the Second Battle of the Atlantic.

Subsequent formalizations were framed as attempts to define " effective calculability " or " effective method "; those formalizations included the Gödel – Herbrand – Kleene recursive functions of 1930, 1934 and 1935, Alonzo Church's lambda calculus of 1936, Emil Post's " Formulation 1 " of 1936, and Alan Turing's Turing machines of 1936 – 7 and 1939.

* 1890 – Anthony Fokker, Dutch aviation engineer ( d. 1939 )

* 1939 – André Ouellet, French-Canadian politician

* 1852 – Ferdinand von Lindemann, German mathematician ( d. 1939 )

* 1939 – Alan Ayckbourn, English writer

* 1939 – Johnny Raper, Australian rugby league footballer

* 1939 – The 1939-40 New York World's Fair opens.

* 1939 – NBC inaugurates its regularly scheduled television service in New York City, broadcasting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's N. Y. World's Fair opening day ceremonial address.

* 1939 – First flight of the turbojet-powered Heinkel He 178, the world's first jet aircraft.

* 1939 – William Least Heat-Moon, American author

* 1939 – Edward Patten, American singer-songwriter and producer ( Gladys Knight & the Pips ) ( d. 2005 )

* 1939 – Bulle Ogier, French actress

* 1939 – Romano Prodi, Italian politician and statesman

* 1939 – Hércules Brito Ruas, Brazilian footballer

* 1939 – Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon.

* 1939 – Benjamin Barber, American theorist

* 1939 – Wes Craven, American director

* 1939 – John W. Snow, American politician, 73rd United States Secretary of the Treasury

* 1984 – Marvin Gaye, American singer ( The Moonglows ) ( b. 1939 )

* 2001 – Trinh Cong Son, Vietnamese composer ( b. 1939 )

Eastern European theorists include Pyotr Stolypin ( 1862 – 1911 ) and Alexander Chayanov ( 1888 – 1939 ) in Russia ; Adolph Wagner ( 1835 – 1917 ), and Karl Oldenberg in Germany, and Bolesław Limanowski ( 1835 – 1935 ) in Poland.

* 1998 – Charlie Foxx, American singer and guitarist ( Inez and Charlie Foxx ) ( b. 1939 )

Ruggles of Red Gap was adapted as a radio play on the July 10, 1939 episode of Lux Radio Theater, the December 17, 1945 episode of The Screen Guild Theater and the June 8, 1946 episode of Academy Award Theater, all with Charles Laughton and Charlie Ruggles reprising their film parts.

He established the syndicated comic strip Mortimer & Charlie, which ran in newspapers from July 1939 to May 1940, illustrated first by Ben Batsford and then by Carl Buettner.

* Charlie Chan in City in Darkness ( 1939 )

* Charlie Stewart ( Australian rules footballer born 1939 ), Australian sportsman

* Charlie Chan in City in Darkness ( 1939 )

The tournament has awarded the Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player award since 1939, and the Charles Stevenson Hustle Award (" Charlie Hustle "), that was the basis for Pete Rose's nickname give to him by Whitey Ford.

Charlie Foxx ( October 23, 1939 – September 18, 1998 ) and his sister Inez Foxx ( born September 9, 1942 ) were an African-American rhythm and blues and soul duo from Greensboro, North Carolina.

* Charlie Chan at Treasure Island ( 1939 )

* Charlie Chan in City in Darkness ( 1939 )

* Charlie McCarthy, Detective ( 1939 ) ( uncredited )

The Benny Goodman Sextet had a popular hit in 1939 with a more subdued version of the song, featuring electric guitarist Charlie Christian.

Eric Tomlinson ( born 26 September 1939 ), known by his stage name Ricky Tomlinson, is an English actor, comedian and activist best known for his roles as Bobby Grant in Brookside, DCI Charlie Wise in Cracker and Jim Royle in The Royle Family.

* Charlie McCarthy, Detective ( 1939 )

Charles " Charlie " Roberts ( 6 April 1883 – 7 August 1939 ) was an English footballer.

Foster directed a number of Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto mysteries, including Charlie Chan in Panama ( 1940 ), Charlie Chan at Treasure Island ( 1939 ), Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation ( 1939 ), Charlie Chan in Reno ( 1939 ), Mr. Moto's Last Warning ( 1939 ), Mysterious Mr. Moto ( 1938 ), Mr. Moto Takes a Chance ( 1938 ), Thank You, Mr. Moto ( 1937 ), and Think Fast, Mr. Moto ( 1937 ).

* 1939 – Murray Rose, Australian swimmer

* 1850 – Rose Hartwick Thorpe, American poet ( d. 1939 )

* April 15 – Murray Rose, Australian swimmer ( b. 1939 )

Anne is portrayed by Rose Hobart in the 1939 film Tower of London, and by Joan Camden in the 1962 remake.

The celesta is used in many 20th century opera scores, including Puccini's Tosca ( 1900 ), Ravel's L ' heure espagnole ( 1911 ), Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos ( 1912 ), and Die Frau ohne Schatten ( 1918 ), while " an excellent example of its beauty when well employed ", is the Silver Rose scene in his Der Rosenkavalier ( 1911 ), Busoni's Arlecchino ( 1917 ) and Doktor Faust ( 1925 ), Orff's Der Mond ( 1939 ), Menotti's Amelia Goes to the Ball ( 1937 ), Britten's The Turn of the Screw ( 1954 ) and A Midsummer Night's Dream ( 1960 ), Susa's Transformations ( 1973 ), and Philip Glass ' Akhnaten ( 1984 ).

Lynne Truss stated that " Samuel Beckett spliced his way merrily through such novels as Molloy and Malone Dies, thumbing his nose at the semicolon all the way ," " James Joyce preferred the colon, as more authentically classical ; P. G. Wodehouse did an effortlessly marvellous job without it ; George Orwell tried to avoid the semicolon completely in Coming up for Air, ( 1939 )," " Martin Amis included just one semicolon in Money ( 1984 )," and " Umberto Eco was congratulated by an academic reader for using no semicolons in The Name of the Rose ( 1983 ).

Alice Brady ( born Mary Rose Brady, November 2, 1892 – October 28, 1939 ) was an American actress who began her career in the silent film era and survived the transition into talkies.

* Rose of Washington Square ( 1939 )

Following the 1939 World's Fair, Rose asked John Murray Anderson, who had staged the Aquacade, to recommend a choreographer for a new show at the Horseshoe.

The book was illustrated, including the cover of the numbered and signed first edition of 1500 copies, by Salvador Dalí whom Rose met while producing events at the 1939 World's Fair.

* Murray Iain Rose Australian Olympic swimmer, winner of four Gold Medals, was born in Nairn in 1939.

* John Murray Rose ( born 1939 ), New Zealand politician

* Rose of Washington Square ( 1939 ) ( uncredited )

* Mary Rose ( 1939 ) ( TV )

In these years, he starred in romantic comedies such as Thin Ice and Day-Time Wife ; in dramas such as Suez, Blood and Sand, Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake, The Rains Came, and In Old Chicago ; in the musicals, Alexander's Ragtime Band, Second Fiddle, and Rose of Washington Square ; in the westerns, Jesse James ( 1939 ) and Brigham Young ; in the war films, A Yank in the R. A. F.

Barry was also a valued part of the USC football teams which claimed national championships in 1931, 1932 and 1939, as well as seven Pacific Coast Conference titles and five Rose Bowl victories.

The team's football successes included a 25-game winning streak from 1931 to 1933, and the undefeated 1938 team's 7 – 3 victory in the 1939 Rose Bowl against Duke — a team which had previously not allowed any opponent to score.

His acting career, which spanned seven decades, began in 1939 with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem.

' Cupid and Psyche ' was the title of a ballet choreographed by Frederick Ashton with music by Lord Berners and decor by Sir Francis Rose, first performed by the Sadler's Wells Ballet ( now Royal Ballet ) on 27 April 1939, with Frank Staff as Cupid, Julia Farron as Psyche, Michael Somes as Pan and June Brae as Venus.

Warda Al-Jazairia ( literally The Algerian Rose ), commonly referred to as just Warda (, ) ( 22 July 1939 – 17 May 2012 ) was an Algerian singer, well known for her panarabist songs and music.

Laurali Rose Wright ( née Appleby ) ( 5 June 1939 — 25 February 2001 ) was a Canadian writer of mystery novels.

First of all, Kinnick's Iowa teams only met Michigan twice, in 1937 and 1939, and at that time, the Big Ten did not send their champion to the Rose Bowl.

Although born in Jefferson City, Missouri, after the 1939 outbreak of World War II, Rose lived in Canada and volunteered to fight overseas with the Black Watch.

Melinda Rose Dillon ( born October 13, 1939 ) is an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and A Christmas Story.