Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s - 1930s - 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
Years: 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 - 1939 - 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944
Events:
Art, Culture & Fashion
- 1939 in film
- 1939 in literature
- 1939 in music
- 1939 in sports[?]
- July 4 - Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, tells a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considered himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth" as he announces his retirement from major league baseball.
- 1939 in television
- April - television demonstrations are held at the World's Fair in New York and the Golden Gate International Exhibition in San Francisco
- April 30 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, appearing at the World's Fair, becomes the first U.S. president to give a speech that is broadcast on television
- May 17 - The first baseball game (Princeton-Columbia) is broadcast on television, from Baker Field[?] in New York. Bill Stern[?] was the announcer
- June 1 - The first heavyweight boxing match is televised, Max Baer[?] vs Lou Nova[?], form Yankee Stadium.
- August 26 - The first major league baseball game is telecast, a double-header between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field[?], in Brooklyn.
- September 1 - As the war began, the BBC abruptly stopped its broadcasting in the middle of a Mickey Mouse cartoon (The BBC would resume its broadcasting at that same point after the war in 1945)
- The DuMont company begins producing consumer television sets
- September 30 - The first televised college football game, Fordham vs Waynesburg, at Randall's Island[?], New York.
- October 22 - The first NFL game is televised. The Brooklyn Dodgers vs Philadelphia Eagles at Ebbetts Field[?] in Brooklyn.
Births:
- January 3 - Bobby Hull, hockey player
- January 10 - Bill Toomey[?], track and field athlete
- January 10 - Sal Mineo, actor (+ 1976)
- January 17 - Maury Povich[?], talk show host
- January 19 - Phil Everly[?], musician
- January 21 - Wolfman Jack, disk jockey, actor (+ 1995)
- January 24 - Doug Kershaw[?], musician
- January 24 - Ray Stevens, country music musician
- January 29 - Germaine Greer, writer, feminist
- February 6 - Mike Farrell, actor
- February 10 - Roberta Flack, singer
- February 11 - Jane Hyatt Yolen[?], science fiction author.
- February 12 - Ray Manzarek[?], keyboardist
- February 23 - Peter Fonda, actor
- February 23 - Majel Barrett, actress
- February 28 - Erika Pluhar[?], actress and singer
- February 28 - Tommy Tune[?], dancer, choreographer, actor
- March 13 - Neil Sedaka[?], singer
- March 19 - Joe Kapp[?], American football star
- March 20 - Brian Mulroney, eighteenth Prime Minister of Canada
- March 26 - James Caan[?], actor
- March 27 - Cale Yarborough[?], NASCAR racer
- March 31 - Volker Schlöndorff[?], film director
- April 2 - Marvin Gaye, singer (+ 1984)
- April 4 - Hugh Masakela[?], musician
- April 7 - Francis Ford Coppola, American film director
- April 7 - Sir David Frost[?], broadcaster, television host
- May 7 - Ruud Lubbers, politician and Prime Minister of the Netherlands[?]
- May 7 - Jimmy Ruffin[?], singer
- May 9 - Ralph Boston[?], athlete
- May 13 - Harvey Keitel, actor
- May 18 - Hark Bohm[?], film director
- May 19 - Dick Scobee, astronaut (+ 1986)
- May 23 - Reinhard Hauff[?], film director
- May 25 - Ian McKellen, actor
- May 30 - Michael J. Pollard, actor
- June 6 - Louis Andriessen, Dutch composer
- July 26 - John Howard, Australian Prime Minister
- August 5 - Princess Irene of the Netherlands
- October 14 - Ralph Lauren[?], American fashion designer
- November 23 - Bill Bissett, Canadian anti-conventional poet
- December 18 - Michael Moorcock, English science fiction author
Deaths:
Nobel Prizes: