* 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.

He made several films in the new medium, most notably Son of the Gods ( 1930 ), The Dawn Patrol ( 1930 ), The Last Flight ( 1931 ), and The Cabin in the Cotton ( 1932 ), Central Airport ( 1933 ), and a supporting role as Rita Hayworth's character's husband in Only Angels Have Wings ( 1939 ).

* Mr. Moto's Last Warning ( 1939 )

Last civilian ships were built 1939, the merchant ships Neidenfels for the German company D. D. G.

The Last of the Troubadours, ( New York: Simon and Schuster, 1939 ).

* Mr. Moto's Last Warning ( 1939 ) — In Port Said, Egypt, Moto tries to stop the French Naval Fleet from being destroyed by secret agents who are bent on starting a war between the British and the French.

In October 1939, American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald began writing The Last Tycoon, a fictionalized biography of Thalberg, naming the protagonist Monroe Stahr to represent Thalberg.

Soviet calendar, 1933 Days grouped into seven-day weeks Rest day of six-day work week in blue Five national holidays in red Soviet calendar, 1939 Days grouped into six-day work weeks Each day 31 is outside six-day week Last six-day week of February is short Six national holidays in red

* Le Dernier Tournant ( The Last Turning ), a 1939 French film directed by Pierre Chenal and starring Michel Simon as Nick

Golden Spike Days program, Omaha, 1939An elaborate four day event called the " Golden Spike Days Celebration " was held in Omaha, NE, from April 26 to 29, 1939, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the joining of the UP and CPRR rails and driving of the Last Spike at Promontory Summit, UT, in 1869.

* The Last of the Troubadours: The Life and Music of Carl Michael Bellman 1740-1795 ( with Grace Castagnetta ), 1939, Simon and Schuster

( 1973 ) He also wrote humorous books for children, like The Last Man Alive ( 1939 ).

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums ( 1939 ) won a prize with the Education Department ; like the two abovementioned films, it explores the deprecatory role of women in an unfairly male-centered society.

* 1939 The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums ( 残菊物語 Zangiku monogatari )

The novel was turned into several films, including Bel Ami ( 1939 ), The Private Affairs of Bel Ami ( 1949 ), starring George Sanders and itself the first version in English, a 1971 TV series a 1976 Swedish pornographic version, starring Harry Reems and also known as For Men Only, which had the tagline " Harry Reems ' Last Adult Film ", a 2005 French / Belgian version made for television, starring Sagamore Stévenin, and the 2012 version, Bel Ami, with Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Christina Ricci and Holliday Grainger.

In 1988 he appeared as Clegg's father in First of the Summer Wine, a prequel to Last Of The Summer Wine set in 1939.

* Eric Newby passed within sight of Inaccessible Island on his 1938 / 1939 voyage from Ireland to Australia aboard Moshulu, as chronicled in his books The Last Grain Race and Learning the Ropes.

* The Last Rally: A Story of Charles II ( 1939 ) non-fiction

Vol 3: The Last Phase 1919 – 1939.

* The Last European War: September 1939 – December 1941 ( Garden City, N. Y .: Anchor Press, 1976 ).

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 ).

He appeared in a number of films, including The Iron Duke ( 1934 ) with George Arliss, Brewster's Millions ( 1935 ) with Jack Buchanan and Lili Damita, Young Man's Fancy ( 1939 ) and The Last Days of Dolwyn ( 1949 ), his last picture, with Richard Burton, Emlyn Williams, and Edith Evans.