* 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.

* 1891 – Ron Oxenham, Australian cricketer ( d. 1939 )

* 1939 – Ron Ziegler, American White House Press Secretary ( d. 2003 )

* 1939 – Ron Rifkin, American actor

Ronald Louis " Ron " Ziegler ( May 12, 1939 – February 10, 2003 ) was White House Press Secretary and Assistant to the President during United States President Richard Nixon's administration.

Ron Rifkin ( born October 31, 1939 ) is an American actor.

Roland Owen " Ron " McDole ( born September 9, 1939 in Chester, Ohio ) is a former American collegiate and Professional Football defensive end from the University of Nebraska, Buffalo Bills, and Washington Redskins.

* Ron Campbell ( animator ) ( born 1939 ), animator, director, and producer

Ronald Frederick " Ron " Atkinson ( born 18 March 1939 ) commonly known as " Big Ron " and ( earlier in his managerial career ) " Mr Bojangles " is an English former football player and manager.

Bernie Naylor Medalists: ( 11 total ) 1913: Alf Halliday ( 46 ), 1914: Alf Halliday ( 38 ), 1916: Alf Halliday ( 38 ), 1921: Allan Evans ( 64 ), 1931: Doug Oliphant ( 84 ), 1939: Albert Gook ( 102 ), 1950: Ron Tucker ( 115 ), 1975: Murray Couper ( 63 ), 1985: Mick Rea ( 100 ), 1986: Mick Rea ( 90 ), 1994: Brenton Cooper ( 90 )

* Ron Miller ( American football ) ( born 1939 ), American football player

Born in April 1939 to Sally and O ' Kelly Isley, Sr. in Cincinnati, Rudy began singing in church at a young age and by his teen years was singing regularly with brothers O ' Kelly, Ron and Vernon.

* Ron Ziegler ( 1939 – 2003 ), Richard Nixon's press secretary

Terry Atkinson ( born 1939 ) is an English artist.

The Art & Language group was founded in 1967 / 8 in the United Kingdom by artists Terry Atkinson ( b. 1939 ), David Bainbridge ( b. 1941 ), Michael Baldwin ( b. 1945 ) and Harold Hurrell ( b. 1940 ), four artists who began collaborating around 1966 while teaching art in Coventry.

In 1939, the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, designed by Robert Atkinson, was opened.

British ornithologists Robert Atkinson and John Ainslie observed the communities of Leach's Petrel on the remote Scottish islands of North Rona between the 16 July and 12 August 1936, and on Sula Sgeir between the 3 and 4 August 1939.

In September 1939 with the outbreak of World War II Waldorf Astor again offered the use of the land at a rent of one shilling per year to the Canadian Red Cross and the Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital was built to the designs of Robert Atkinson.

The Grade II listed Art Deco building was designed by Robert Atkinson in the 1930s and opened in 1939 by Queen Mary.

Together they owned the Crawley Films company which produced numerous short films, feature films, television commercials, animated cartoons and other productions from its formation in 1939 until its sale to Atkinson Film Arts in 1982.

Lady Barber's inheritance was also dedicated to the Institute and was used to expand the collection and fund the construction of a new building: the Grade II listed building of art deco architecture was designed by Robert Atkinson and opened in 1939 by Queen Mary.

* 1939 The Women as Miss Atkinson