* 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.

As of 24 January 2011, seven former premiers are alive, the oldest being Tony Rundle ( 1996 – 98, born 1939 ).

But Gielgud was best known for directing productions in which he also starred, including his greatest commercial success Richard of Bordeaux ( 1933 ), his definitive production of The Importance of Being Earnest ( 1939, 1942, 1947 ), Medea with Judith Anderson's Tony Award-winning performance of the title role with Gielgud supporting her as Jason ( 1947 ), The Lady's Not for Burning ( 1949 ) that won Richard Burton his first notoriety as an actor, and Ivanov ( 1965 ).

* Tony Rand ( born 1939 ), American lawyer and politician

* Tony Dreyfus ( born 1939 ), French politician, Member of the National Assembly for Paris ( 1997-present )

Terrence McNally ( born November 3, 1939 ) is an American playwright who has received four Tony Awards, an Emmy, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, the Lucille Lortel Award, the Hull-Warriner Award, and a citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Hermes Davide Fastino Croatto Martinis, better known as Tony Croatto ( March 2, 1940, some sources state his year of birth as 1939 – April 3, 2005 ) was an Italian singer and composer best known for his interpretations of Puerto Rican folk music.

* Mark Anthony, a pseudonym of composer Tony Hatch ( born 1939 )

People involved in the arts and born in the town include the actress Kathleen Harrison in 1892 ; Alfred Wainwright, author of the Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells, in 1907 ; broadcaster Russell Harty in 1934 ; the internationally renowned Contemporary artist Ross Eccles in 1937, many of his paintings feature Blackburn and Lancashire scenes and landmarks ; the writer Josephine Cox in 1941 who set many of her novels in Lancashire ; the actor Anthony Valentine in 1939 ; the actor Michael Billington, star of UFO in 1941 ; actor Ian McShane in 1942 ; rock musician Tony Ashton in 1946 ; actor Jon Walmsley in 1956 ; film maker Michael Winterbottom in 1961 ; actor Steve Pemberton in 1967 ; actress Wendi Peters in 1968 ; actor / comedian Lee Mack in 1968 ; television host Debbie Travis ; author Tony O ' Neill in 1978 ; television presenter and documentary director Michael Gibson in 1980 ; and singer and actress Diana Vickers in 1991.

* Tony Golab – player ( RB / FW ), 1964 ( Sarnia Imperials 1938 ; Ottawa Rough Riders 1939 – 41, 1945 – 50 ; Ottawa RCAF Uplands 1942 ).

* Tony Towle ( born 1939 )

* Tony Parsons ( Canadian journalist ) ( born 1939 ), Canadian news anchor

The Communist Party split along nationalist lines in 1939, and Jabra Nicola refused to join either wing, and, after being imprisoned by the British occupation from 1940 – 1942, was recruited to a small Trotskyist movement by Yigael Gluckstein, later better known as Tony Cliff.

Tony Green ( born 27 November 1939 ) is a British sports commentator and television presenter.

Other appearances on Broadway included: W. Somerset Maugham's The Letter ( 1927 ), Sidney Howard's The Alien Corn ( 1933 ), Juliet in Romeo and Juliet ( 1934 ), Maxwell Anderson's The Wingless Victory ( 1936 ), S. N. Behrman's No Time for Comedy ( 1939 ), a Tony Award-winning Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra ( 1947 ), and a revival of Maugham's The Constant Wife ( 1951 ).

David Hampshire first appeared amongst the likes of Bira, Villoresi, Tony Rolt, Raymond Mays, Peter Whitehead, Lesley Brooke and Reg Parnell in the 1939 Nuffield Trophy at Donington Park.

* Tony Meeker ( born 1939 ), American politician in Oregon

Davis made a name for himself when he scored a three-round TKO over the great, but by then washed-up, former lightweight champion Tony Canzoneri on November 1, 1939.

* Tony Martin recorded Begin the Beguine at least twice: on March 14, 1939 for Decca Records ( catalog numbers 2375a and later 25018 in 78 rpm, 9-25018 in 45 rpm ) and for RCA Victor Records in the late 1940s ( catalog number 20-2814, 47-3228 ).

Anthony Fitzhardinge Gueterbock, 18th Baron Berkeley and Baron Gueterbock, OBE ( born 20 September 1939 ), aka Tony Berkeley, is a British Labour politician.

A host of major league stars played for the Charlotte Hornets including Van Lingle Mungo ( 1929 ), Early Wynn ( 1939 ), Harmon Killebrew ( 1956 ), Tony Oliva ( 1962 ) and Graig Nettles ( 1967 ).

* Tony Messner ( born 1939 ), Australian Minister for Veterans ' Affairs

* Tony Scotti ( b. 1939 ), American actor and producer ; founder of Scotti Brothers Records

* Tony Davies ( 1939 – 2008 ), New Zealand rugby union footballer, born William Anthony Davies