1939

Found /www/bigissue/cache/1939oldid is 558656

Events:

March 28 - Dictator Francisco Franco conquers Madrid, ending the Spanish Civil War
August 23 - Hitler and Stalin divides eastern Europe between themselves. Finland, the Baltic states and eastern Poland to USSR. Western Poland to Germany (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact)
August 27 - A Heinkel 178, the first jet-powered aircraft, flies for the last time.
September 1 - Nazi Germany invades Poland, thus beginning World War II in Europe (see Polish September Campaign 1939).
September 3 - France and the United Kingdom declare war on Germany.
September 10 - Canada declares war on Germany.
September 17 - Soviet Union invades Poland and then occupies eastern Polish territories.
September 27 - Warsaw surrender to Germans; Modlin surrender day later; last Polish large operational unit surrender near Kock eight days later.
November 30 - Soviet Union attacks Finland, starting the Winter War.
December 25 - A Christmas Carol was read before a radio audience for the first time.
Batman created by Bob Kane.
Nuclear fission discovered independently by Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn
Kirlian photography invented by Semyon Kirlian
Siam changes its name to Thailand

Art, Culture & Fashion

1939 in film
- December 15 - Gone With the Wind premiers in Atlanta.
- The Wizard of Oz
1939 in literature
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
1939 in music
- Frequency modulation (FM) is invented
1939 in sports
1939 in television
- television demonstrations are held at the World's Fair in New York and the Golden Gate International Exhibition in San Francisco
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes first U.S. president to give a speech that is broadcast on television
- The DuMont company begins producing consumer television sets
- First baseball game is broadcast on television.

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