* 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.

* 1939 – Fred Marcellino, American illustrator ( d. 2001 )

* 1939 – Fred Willard, American comedian, actor, and author

Miller's huge success in 1939 culminated with his band appearing at Carnegie Hall on October 6, with Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, and Fred Waring also the main attractions.

Pickens appeared in dozens of films, including Old Oklahoma Plains ( 1952 ), Down Laredo Way ( 1953 ), One-Eyed Jacks ( 1961 ) with Marlon Brando, Dr. Strangelove ( 1964 ), Major Dundee ( 1965 ) with Charlton Heston, the remake of Stagecoach ( 1966 ; Pickens played the driver, portrayed in the 1939 film by Andy Devine ), Never a Dull Moment ( 1968 ), The Cowboys ( 1972 ) with John Wayne, Ginger in the Morning ( 1974 ) with Fred Ward, Blazing Saddles ( 1974 ), Poor Pretty Eddy ( 1975 ), Rancho Deluxe ( 1975 ), The Getaway with Steve McQueen, Tom Horn ( 1980 ), also with McQueen, An Eye for an Eye ( 1966 ) and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid ( 1973 ) in a small but memorable role.

* Blanche Blick Burnham ( February 23, 1862-December 22, 1939 ), wife of Fred Burnham, lived in Africa during the First Matabele War and the Second Matabele War.

Fred McKinley died near Custer, South Dakota on September 1, 1939.

They left Chicago for New York in 1939, landing a featured spot with Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians radio show.

A little-known example of Jones ' heroic instincts in action is described by his biographer and friend Fred J. Lee in his 1939 book Casey Jones: Epic of the American Railroad.

In 1939 – 40, however, sponsor Bristol-Myers, which advertised Ipana toothpaste as well as Sal Hepatica during the program, altered the title to The Fred Allen Show, over his objections.

Fred Harman's Red Ryder ( December 12, 1939 )

Frederic " Fred " Willard ( born September 18, 1939 ) is an American actor, comedian, voice actor, and writer, best known for his improvisational comedy skills.

Fred was the son of Sam's younger sister, Manya ( who, despite the best efforts of Sam and his brother Ben in 1939 and 1940, could not be extricated from the Warsaw Ghetto and perished in the Holocaust ).

In 1939, the Castles ' life was turned into a movie, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, produced by RKO and starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

It features the mischievous Uncle Fred, who had previously appeared in Uncle Fred in the Springtime ( 1939 ).

* Uncle Fred in the Springtime ( 1939 )-a Blandings story

Leland Harrison ( Lee ) Hartwell ( born October 30, 1939, in Los Angeles, California ) is former president and director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington.

* Broughton, Howard ( 1939 ) Fred Goldsmith Invented The Curve Ball ( Assistant Sports Editor ), The London Free Press, June 21, 1939.

Fred Fisher Fielding ( born March 21, 1939 ) is an American lawyer, and held the office of White House Counsel for US Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

* Freddy Fred, 1939, 1 album

* Uncle Fred in the Springtime ( 1939 )

* Leland H. Hartwell ( b. 1939 ), President and director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle ; 2001 Nobel Prize laureate

* Uncle Fred in the Springtime ( 1939 )