* 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 – John Badham, American director

* 1939 – John Peel, English radio host and producer ( d. 2004 )

* 1939 – The Grapes of Wrath, by American author John Steinbeck is first published by the Viking Press.

* 1939 – John Amos, American actor

* 1939 – John Grieb, American gymnast and athlete ( b. 1879 )

Early films, including those from the silent era, which feature the station include Traffic in Souls ( 1913 ), which starred Matt Moore ; The Yellow Passport ( 1916 ), starring Clara Kimball Young ; My Boy ( 1921 ), starring Jackie Coogan ; Frank Capra's The Strong Man ( 1926 ), starring Harry Langdon ; We Americans ( 1928 ), starring John Boles ; The Mating Call ( film ), 1928, co-starring Thomas Meighan and Renée Adorée ; Ellis Island ( 1936 ), starring Donald Cook ; Paddy O ' Day ( 1936 ), starring Jane Withers ; Gateway ( 1938 ), starring Don Ameche ; Exile Express ( 1939 ), which starred Anna Sten ; I, Jane Doe ( 1948 ), starring Ruth Hussey and Vera Ralston, and Gambling House ( 1951 ), starring Victor Mature

John Dewey and English Education ( 1895 – 1939 ).

On 25 January 1939, a Columbia University team conducted the first nuclear fission experiment in the United States, which was done in the basement of Pupin Hall ; the members of the team were Herbert L. Anderson, Eugene T. Booth, John R. Dunning, Enrico Fermi, G. Norris Glasoe, and Francis G. Slack.

Other leading films included Mr. Deeds Goes to Town ( 1936 ), Lost Horizon ( 1937 ), You Can't Take It With You ( 1938 ), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington ( 1939 ), Meet John Doe ( 1941 ), Arsenic and Old Lace ( 1944 ), It's a Wonderful Life ( 1946 ) and State of the Union ( 1948 ).

In 1939, John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford E. Berry of Iowa State University developed the Atanasoff – Berry Computer ( ABC ), The Atanasoff-Berry Computer was the world's first electronic digital computer.

* John Ford Messer ( 1889 – 1949 ), Canadian local-level legislator ; served as Conservative member of New Brunswick Legislative Assembly from 1939 to 1944

* 1939 – John Howard, Australian politician, 25th Prime Minister of Australia

John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE ( 30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004 ), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist.

* 1939 – John Negroponte, American diplomat, 1st Director of National Intelligence

In order to enter at a talent competition at University High School, Berry and Torrence helped form a doo-wop group known as " The Barons " ( named after their high school's Hi-Y club, where they were members ), which comprised fellow University High students William " Chuck " Steele ( lead singer ), Arnold P. " Arnie " Ginsburg ( born November 19, 1939 ) ( 1st tenor ), Wallace S. " Wally " Yagi ( born 20 July 1940 ) ( 2nd tenor ), John ' Sagi " Seligman ( 2nd tenor ), with Berry singing bass, and Torrence providing falsetto.

* John Brown ( American football ) ( born 1939 ), NFL player

* John Nash ( footballer ) ( 1867 – 1939 ), English footballer

* John Walker ( painter ) ( born 1939 ), nominee for the Turner Prize in 1985

* 1939 John Fante's " Ask the Dust "

Lee Harvey Oswald ( October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963 ) was, according to four government investigations, the sniper who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.

* 1903 – John Harron, American actor ( d. 1939 )

* 1879 – John Grieb, American gymnast and athlete ( d. 1939 )