1939 in the United States

Incumbents

Federal Government">Federal government of the United States">Federal Government

• President: Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Vice President: John Nance Garner
• Chief Justice: Charles Evans Hughes
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: William B. Bankhead
• Senate Majority Leader: Alben W. Barkley
• Congress: 75th, 76th

  Governors

Lieutenant Governors

Events

January

• January 1
• *The Hewlett-Packard Company is founded.
• *Texas A&M University wins its only football national championship.
• January 5 – Amelia Earhart is officially declared dead after her 1937 disappearance.

  February

• February 6 – Raymond Chandler's hardboiled California private detective Philip Marlowe is introduced in his first full-length work of crime fiction, The Big Sleep, published by Alfred A. Knopf.
• February 20 – A Nazi rally was organized by the German American Bund at Madison Square Garden. More than 20,000 people attended, and Fritz Julius Kuhn was a featured speaker.
• February 21 – The Golden Gate International Exposition opens in San Francisco.
• February 27 – Sitdown strikes are outlawed by the Supreme Court of the United States.

  March

• March 3 – Students at Harvard University demonstrate the new tradition of swallowing goldfish to reporters.
• March 28 – American adventurer Richard Halliburton delivers a last message from a Chinese junk, before he disappears on a voyage across the Pacific Ocean.

  April

• April 9 – African-American singer Marian Anderson performs before 75,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after having been denied the use both of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, and of a public high school by the federally controlled District of Columbia. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigns from the DAR because of their decision.
• April 14 – John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath is first published.
• April 30 – The 1939 New York World's Fair opens.

  May

• May 1 – Batman makes his first appearance in Detective Comics #27.
• May 2 – Major League Baseball's Lou Gehrig, the legendary Yankee first baseman known as "The Iron Horse", ends his 2,130 consecutive games played streak after contracting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The record stands for 56 years before Cal Ripken, Jr. plays 2,131 consecutive games.
• May 20 – Pan American Airways begins trans-Atlantic mail service with the inaugural flight of its Boeing 314 flying boat Yankee Clipper from Port Washington, New York to Marseille.

  June

• June – Superman begins publication.
• June 4 – The, a ship carrying a cargo of 907 Jewish refugees, is denied permission to land in Florida after already having been turned away from Cuba. Forced to return to Europe, many of the passengers later die in Nazi death camps during the Holocaust.
• June 12 – The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is officially dedicated in Cooperstown, New York.

  July

• July 2 – The 1st World Science Fiction Convention opens in New York City.
• July 8 – The Pan American Airways Boeing 314 flying boat Yankee Clipper inaugurates the world's first heavier-than-air North Atlantic air passenger service between the United States and Britain.

  August

• August 2 – Albert Einstein writes to President Franklin Roosevelt about developing the atomic bomb using uranium. This leads to the creation of the Manhattan Project.
• August 15 – MGM's classic musical film The Wizard of Oz, based on L. Frank Baum's famous novel, and starring Judy Garland as Dorothy, premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

  September

• September 5 – World War II: The United States declares its neutrality in the war.
• September 11 – Mark Twain National Forest is established.
• September 21 – Radio station WJSV in Washington, D.C. records an entire broadcast day for preservation in the National Archives.
• September 29 – Gerald J. Cox, speaking at an American Water Works Association meeting, becomes the first person to publicly propose the fluoridation of public water supplies in the United States.
• September 30 – 1939 Waynesburg vs. Fordham football game, the first televised American football game, between college teams Fordham University and Waynesburg College at Randall's Island, New York.

  October

• October 8 - The New York Yankees defeat the Cincinnati Reds, 4 games to 0, to win their 8th World Series Title.
• October 11 – Manhattan Project: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt is presented a letter signed by Albert Einstein, urging the United States to rapidly develop the atomic bomb.
• October 15 – The New York Municipal Airport is dedicated.
• October 24 – Nylon stockings go on sale for the first time anywhere in Wilmington, Delaware.
• October 25 – The Time of Your Life, a drama by William Saroyan, debuts in New York City.

  November

• November 4 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the United States Customs Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons to non-belligerent nations.
• November 6 – Hedda Hopper's Hollywood debuts on radio with Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper as host.
• November 8 – CBS television station W2XAB resumes test transmission with an all-electronic system broadcast from the top of the Chrysler Building in New York City.
• November 15 – In Washington, D.C., U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt lays the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial.

  December

• December 2 – La Guardia Airport opens for business in New York City.
• December 15 – The film Gone with the Wind, starring Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland and Leslie Howard, premieres at Loew's Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. It is based on Margaret Mitchell's best-selling novel. It is the longest American film made up to this time.

  Undated

• Sandia View Academy, a private Adventist school, is founded in Corrales, New Mexico,
• General Motors introduces the Hydra-Matic drive, the first mass-produced, fully automatic transmission, as an option in 1940 model year Oldsmobile automobiles.
• Construction of Fallingwater, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is completed.

  Sport

• April 16 – Boston Bruins win their Second Stanley Cup by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs. The deciding Game 5 is played at the Boston Garden.

  Births

January

• January 3 – Gene Summers, American rock 'n' roll singer
• January 9 – Jimmy Boyd, American singer, musician and actor
• January 10
• * David Horowitz, American conservative writer
• * Sal Mineo, American actor
• * Bill Toomey, American athlete
• January 12
• * William Lee Golden, American country and gospel singer, member of the Oak Ridge Boys
• * Jim Palosaari, American evangelist
• January 13 – Paul Henderson, journalist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting
• January 16 – Mac Curtis, American singer
• January 17 – Maury Povich, American talk show host
• January 18 – Bo Gritz, U.S. Presidential candidate
• January 19 – Phil Everly, American rock 'n' roll musician
• January 20 – Paul Coverdell, American politician
• January 27 – Julius Lester, American civil rights activist, writer, musician, photographer, and professor
• January 29 – Ray Stevens, American musician
• January 31 – Jerry Brudos, American serial killer

  February

• February 1 – Joe Sample, American pianist, keyboardist, and composer
• February 3 – Michael Cimino, American film director
• February 4 – Stan Lundine, American politician
• February 6
• * Augie Garrido, American baseball player, coach
• * Mike Farrell, American actor
• February 9
• * Red Lane, American singer, songwriter
• * Barry Mann, American songwriter
• February 10 – Barbara Kolb, American composer
• February 11
• * Gerry Goffin, American lyricist
• * Jane Yolen, American writer and poet
• February 12
• * John D. Hancock, American actor and film director
• * Ray Manzarek, American keyboardist
• February 14 – Blowfly, American musician, songwriter and record producer
• February 15 – Robert Hansen, American serial killer
• February 18 – Dal Maxvill, American baseball player and manager
• February 23 – Rachel Elkind-Tourre, American record producer
• February 25 – John Leonard, American literary, television, film, and cultural critic
• February 27 – Peter Revson, American race car driver
• February 28 – Tommy Tune, American dancer, choreographer, and actor

  March

• March 2 – Manch Wheeler, American footballer
• March 4 – Jack Fisher, former American Major League baseball pitcher
• March 6 – Kit Bond, American politician
• March 9 – Malcolm Bricklin, American automotive pioneer
• March 12 – Johnny Callison, American baseball player
• March 13 – Neil Sedaka, American singer-songwriter
• March 15 – Ted Kaufman, American politician
• March 17 – Jim Gary, American sculptor
• March 25 – Toni Cade Bambara, African-American writer
• March 29 – Jonathan Daniels, civil rights leader and Episcopal seminarist

  April

• April 1 – Phil Niekro, American baseball player
• April 2 – Marvin Gaye, African-American singer, songwriter, and record producer
• April 4
• * JoAnne Carner, American professional golfer
• * Ernie Terrell, African-American professional boxer
• April 5 – Ronald White, American musician
• April 7 – Francis Ford Coppola, American film director
• April 8 – Elizabeth Clare Prophet, American writer
• April 9 – George Harrison, American competition swimmer
• April 10 – Alan Rothenberg, American lawyer and sports executive
• April 12 – Alan Ayckbourn, American dramatist
• April 13 – Paul Sorvino, American actor
• April 16 – John Delafose, Zydeco accordionist
• April 22 – Jason Miller, American playwright, actor
• April 23
• * Lee Majors, American actor
• * Ray Peterson, American singer

  May

• May 1
• * Judy Collins, American singer, songwriter
• * Max Robinson, American journalist and academic
• May 4 – Paul Gleason, American actor
• May 8 – Paul Drayton, American Olympic athlete
• May 9 – Ralph Boston, American athlete
• May 11 – Milt Pappas, American baseball player
• May 12 – Ron Ziegler, White House Press Secretary
• May 13 – Harvey Keitel, American actor
• May 15 – Barbara Hammer, American filmmaker
• May 19
• * Sonny Fortune, American jazz musician
• * Nancy Kwan, American actress
• * Dick Scobee, American astronaut
• May 22 – Paul Winfield, African-American actor
• May 25 – Dixie Carter, American actress
• May 26 – Brent Musburger, American sports announcer
• May 27 – Don Williams, American country singer
• May 29 – Al Unser, American race car driver
• May 30 – Michael J. Pollard, American actor

  June

• June 2 – John Schlee, American golfer
• June 6 – Marian Wright Edelman, American activist, founder of Children's Defense Fund
• June 8
• *Bernie Casey, African-American football player and actor
• *Ruthe Blalock Jones, American painter
• June 11
• * Wilma Burgess, American country music singer
• * Christina Crawford, author and actress
• June 18 – Lou Brock, African-American baseball player
• June 19 – John F. MacArthur, American pastor
• June 21 – Charles Boone, American composer
• June 24 – Henry L. Garrett III, American politician
• June 25
• * Curtis McClinton, American football player
• * Barbara Montgomery, American actress
• June 26 – Chuck Robb, American politician
• June 27 – Brereton Jones, American politician
• June 28
• * Jack Harbaugh, American football player, coach
• * Wally English, American football coach
• June 30 – Martin A. Herman, American politician

  July

• July 1 – Frank Parker, American actor
• July 2
• * John H. Sununu, American politician
• * Mike Castle, American attorney, politician
• July 4 – Lee Folkins, American football tight end
• July 5 – Booker Edgerson, American football player
• July 6 – Bruce Hunter, American competition swimmer
• July 10 – Mavis Staples, African-American rhythm and blues, gospel singer, actress and civil rights activist
• July 11
• * Larry Laoretti, American golfer
• * Stephen Berger, American entrepreneur, investment banker, civil servant and political advisor
• July 12
• * Barbara Crossette, American journalist, author
• * Arlen Ness, American motorcycle designer, entrepreneur
• July 13 – Clara Leach Adams-Ender, U.S. Army officer
• July 14
• * Sid Haig, American actor
• * George E. Slusser, American scholar, writer
• July 15 – Patrick Wayne, actor
• July 16
• * William Bell, American soul singer, songwriter
• * Denise LaSalle, African-American blues and R&B/soul singer, songwriter and record producer
• July 18 – Dion DiMucci, American singer-songwriter
• July 21 – John Negroponte, U.S. Director of National Intelligence
• July 22 – Raul Yzaguirre, American civil rights activist
• July 26 – Bob Lilly, American football player
• July 27 – William Eggleston, American photographer
• July 31 – Susan Flannery, American soap opera actress

  August

• August 1
• * Terry Kiser, American actor
• * Robert James Waller, American novelist
• August 2
• * Benjamin Barber, American political theorist, author
• * Wes Craven, American film director, writer
• * John W. Snow, 73rd United States Secretary of the Treasury
• August 4 – Frankie Ford, American singer
• August 9 – The Mighty Hannibal, American singer, songwriter and record producer
• August 12
• * Skip Caray, American baseball broadcaster
• * George Hamilton, American actor
• * David Jacobs, American producer, writer
• August 13 – Howard Tate, American soul singer, songwriter
• August 16
• * Billy Joe Shaver, American country singer-songwriter
• * Eric Weissberg, American folk musician
• August 18
• * Molly Bee, American country music singer
• * Johnny Preston, American singer
• August 21 – Clarence Williams III, African-American actor
• August 22
• * Valerie Harper, American actress
• * Carl Yastrzemski, baseball player
• August 27 – Bill Mulliken, American competition swimmer
• August 29 – Joel Schumacher, American film producer and director
• August 30 – Elizabeth Ashley, American actress

  September

• September 1 – Lily Tomlin, American actress and comedian
• September 5
• * Donna Anderson, American actress
• * Claudette Colvin, American civil rights activist and nurse
• * William Devane, American actor
• * John Stewart, American folk musician
• September 6
• * Brigid Berlin, American actress, artist
• * Dan Cragg, American science-fiction author
• * David Allan Coe, American country singer, songwriter and musician
• September 7 – S. David Griggs, American astronaut
• September 9 – Ron McDole, American football player
• September 10 – Greg Mullavey, American actor
• September 11 – Charles Geschke, American inventor and businessman
• September 12
• * Henry Waxman, American politician
• * Phillip Ramey, American composer
• September 13 – Richard Kiel, American actor
• September 17 – David Souter, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
• September 18 – Fred Willard, American actor, comedian, voice actor and writer
• September 20 – Michu Meszaros, Hungarian-born American actor
• September 22
• * Gilbert E. Patterson, American minister and bishop
• * Tim Wirth, American politician
• September 24
• * Mark Elliott, voice-over artist for the Walt Disney Company
• * Wayne Henderson, American trombonist, record producer
• * Patrick Kearney, American serial killer
• September 25 – David S. Mann, American lawyer, politician
• September 26 – Judith Appelbaum, American editor, consultant and author
• September 27 – Kathy Whitworth, American professional golfer
• September 29 – Larry Linville, American actor

  October

• October 1
• * George Archer, American golfer
• * Mariah A. Taylor, founder of the North Portland Nurse Practitioner Community Health Clinic
• October 6 – Ellen Travolta, American actress
• October 7
• * John Hopcroft, American computer scientist
• * Bill Snyder, American football coach
• October 8 – Lynne Stewart, American defense attorney
• October 9 – O. V. Wright, American singer
• October 12 – Carolee Schneemann, American visual artist
• October 13 – T. J. Cloutier, American poker player
• October 14 – Ralph Lauren, American fashion designer
• October 18 – Lee Harvey Oswald, American assassin
• October 24 – F. Murray Abraham, American actor
• October 27 – Suzy Covey, American scholar of popular culture
• October 28 – Jane Alexander, American actress
• October 30
• * Leland H. Hartwell, American scientist
• * Grace Slick, American rock singer
• October 31 – Ron Rifkin, American actor

  November

• November 1 – Barbara Bosson, American actress
• November 2 – Richard Serra, American sculptor
• November 9 – Paul Cameron, American psychologist
• November 13 – Will Ryan, American voice actor
• November 14 – Wendy Carlos, American electronic composer
• November 15
• * Yaphet Kotto, African-American actor
• * Thalmus Rasulala, American actor
• November 18
• * John O'Keefe, American-born neuroscientist
• * Larry Libertore, American football player
• * Liz J. Patterson, American politician
• * Brenda Vaccaro, American actress
• November 19 – Tom Harkin, American politician
• November 20 – Dick Smothers, American actor, comedian
• November 21 – Budd Dwyer, American politician
• November 23 – Betty Everett, African-American soul singer, pianist
• November 26 – Tina Turner, African-American singer and actress
• November 29 – Peter Bergman, American comedian

  December

• December 2 – Harry Reid, American politician
• December 8 – Jerry Butler, African-American singer-songwriter and politician
• December 11
• * Tom Hayden, academic, activist and politician
• * Thomas McGuane, author and screenwriter
• December 14 – Ernie Davis, American football player
• December 15 – Cindy Birdsong, African-American singer
• December 17 – Eddie Kendricks, African-American singer
• December 25 – Don Alias, jazz percussionist
• December 27 – John Amos, African-American actor
• December 29 – Ed Bruce, American country singer and actor

  Deaths

• January 8 – Charles Eastman, Native American author, physician, reformer, helped found the Boy Scouts of America
• January 13 – Arthur Barker, son of Ma Barker and a member of the Barker-Karpis gang
• January 25 – Helen Ware, stage and screen actress
• February 17 – Fred Gamble, actor
• March 19 – Lloyd L. Gaines, civil rights activist
• April 6 – Bennie Dickson, bank robber
• May 2 – Phillips Smalley, actor and director
• May 10 – James Parrott, actor
• May 20 – Joseph Carr, 2nd president of the National Football League
• May 23 – Witmer Stone, ornithologist and botanist
• May 27 – Alfred A. Cunningham, first United States Marine Corps aviator
• May 30 – Floyd Roberts, race car driver
• June 4 – Tommy Ladnier, jazz trumpeter
• June 6 – George Fawcett, actor
• June 9 – Owen Moore, actor
• June 16 – Chick Webb, musician
• June 19 – Grace Abbott, social worker and activist
• June 28 – Bobby Vernon, actor
• July 7 – Deacon White, baseball player and MLB Hall of Famer
• August 2 – Harvey Spencer Lewis, mystic
• August 23 – Sidney Howard, writer
• October 1 – Conway Tearle, actor
• October 3 – Fay Templeton, musical comedy star born 1865)
• October 7 – Harvey Cushing, neurosurgeon
• October 13 – Ford Sterling, actor
• October 23 – Zane Grey, writer
• October 28 – Alice Brady, actress
• October 29 – Dwight B. Waldo, educator and historian
• November 13 – Lois Weber, actress
• November 24 – John Harron, actor
• December 12 – Douglas Fairbanks, actor
• December 19 – Reginald F. Nicholson, United States Navy admiral
• December 22 – Ma Rainey, blues singer
• December 26 – Blanche Butler Ames, First Lady of Mississippi