What Happened in December 1939

Historical Events

Deportation of Jew Begins

Dec 1 SS-Fuhrer Himmler begins deportation of Polish Jews

Leading Nazi and Reichsführer of the SS Heinrich Himmler

Dec 2 British Imperial Airways & British Airways merge to form BOAC
Dec 2 NY's La Guardia Airport began operations as an airliner from Chicago lands, 1 minute after midnight
Dec 6 5th Heisman Trophy Award: Nile Kinnick, Iowa (HB)

Du Barry Was A Lady

Dec 6 Cole Porter's musical "Du Barry Was A Lady" opens at 46th Street Theatre, NYC; runs 408 performances

Lou Gehrig Elected HOF

Dec 7 Lou Gehrig, 36, is elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame

Dec 7 William Walton's Violin Concerto premieres in Cleveland; Ohio, with Jascha Heifetz as soloist and the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Artur Rodziński
Dec 9 1940 NFL Draft: George Cafego from University of Tennessee first pick by Chicago Cardinals
Dec 9 CFL Grey Cup, Landsdowne Park, Ottawa: Winnipeg Blue Bombers claim 2nd title; defeat Ottawa Rough Riders, 8-7
Dec 9 Pianist and statesman Ignacy Paderewski becomes Chief of National Council of Poland (government in exile)
Dec 9 Russian air raid on Helsinki
Dec 10 KNVB celebrates 50th anniversary

Green Bay Packers vs. NY Giants

Dec 10 National Football League Championship, Dairy Bowl, West Allis, Wisconsin: Green Bay Packers beat New York Giants, 27-0; Packers 5th title

Dec 12 Russ Indigirka capsizes in blizzard off Japanese coast; 750 die
Dec 13 Battle of the River Plate - 3 British cruisers vs German pocket battleship Graf Spee
Dec 14 The League of Nations expels the Soviet Union for invading Finland

Gone With The Wind

Dec 15 "Gone With The Wind", drama film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, premieres in Atlanta (Best Picture 1940, inflation not adjusted highest-grossing film of all time)

Dec 15 1st commercial manufacture of nylon yarn in Seaford, Delaware

Bradman's 251

Dec 16 Bradman scores 251* SA v NSW, 271 minutes, 38 fours 2 sixes

Dec 17 German pocket battleship Graf Spee scuttled by its crew off Uruguay
Dec 18 Finnish army recaptures Agläjärvi (Karelia)
Dec 19 Russian air & ground attack against Finnish positions near Summa
Dec 20 Radio Australia begins overseas shortwave service

Hitler Appoints Eichmann

Dec 21 Adolf Hitler names Adolf Eichmann leader of "Referat IV B", responsible for evictions and Jewish immigration

Nazi SS Officer and War Criminal Adolf Eichmann

Dec 22 Finnish counter offensive at Petsamo
Dec 22 Freight train and passenger train head-on collision kills 101 at Markdorf, Germany
Dec 22 Genthin, Germany rail disaster - 186 die in train wreck as an express has a rear-end collision with a train stopped at the station
Dec 23 Finnish counter offensive at Summa
Dec 23 South Australia score 7-821 against Queensland

Pius XII's Peace Appeal

Dec 24 World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace.

Dec 25 Clarrie Grimmett & Ward rip through Qld except Bill Brown (156)
Dec 25 Montgomery Ward introduces Rudolph the 9th red-nosed reindeer
Dec 26 Earthquake in East Anatolia Turkey
Dec 26 Mine strikes in Borinage Brussels
Dec 27 1st American skimobiles (North Conway, NH)
Dec 27 Between 20,000 and 40,000 die in magnitude 8 earthquake in Erzincam, Turkey
Dec 29 First flight of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber prototype

Of Mice and Men

Dec 30 "Of Mice and Men", starring Burgess Meredith as George, Lon Chaney Jr. as Lennie, is released

Dec 30 Bradman scores 267 South Australia v Vic, world record 34th double cricket century
Dec 30 O'Reilly takes 14-45 (8-23 & 6-22) as NSW crush Qld in 2 days
Dec 31 Dutch national debt hits ƒ4,218,553,180.99

Events in 1939

Famous Birthdays

Dec 1 Dianne Lennon, American singer (Lennon Sisters), born in Los Angeles, California

Lee Trevino (84 years old)

Dec 1 American golfer (British Open 1971-72; US Open 1968, 71; US PGA 1974, 84), born in Dallas, Texas

Dec 2 Francis Fox, Canadian politician (member of the Senate of Canada), born in Montreal, Quebec

Harry Reid (1939-2021)

Dec 2 American attorney and politician (U.S. Senator from Nevada, 1987-2017; U.S. House of Representatives, 1983-87), born in Searchlight, Nevada [1]

Dec 2 Yael Dayan, Israeli writer and politician, born in Nahalal, Israel
Dec 5 Frédéric van Rossum, Belgian pianist, composer (Waves; In memoriam Glenn Gould), and pedagogue, born in Ixelles, Belgium
Dec 5 Horst Bastian, German writer and screenwriter, born in Exin (d. 1986)
Dec 5 Jack Whitten, American abstract painter, born in Bessemer, Alabama (d. 2018)
Dec 6 Steve Alaimo, American pop singer ("Mashed Potatoes"; "Every Day I Have To Cry"), born in Omaha, Nebraska
Dec 6 Tomés Svoboda, Czech composer (Etude), born in Paris, France
Dec 8 James Galway, Irish classical flutist known as "The Man With the Golden Flute", born in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Dec 8 Jerry Butler, American soul vocalist (The Impressions; "Never Give You Up"), born in Sunflower, Mississippi
Dec 8 Lynn Wilson, contractor and multi-millionaire
Dec 9 Patricia Stephens Due, African-American civil rights activist (FAMU jail-in), born in Quincy, Florida (d. 2012)
Dec 10 Barry Cunliffe, English archaeologist and university professor, born in Portsmouth, England
Dec 11 David Gates, American rock vocalist (Bread - "Baby I'm A Want You"; "If"), born in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Dec 11 Thomas McGuane, American writer (Colf Feet, Tom Horn, Missouri Breaks), born in Wyandotte, Michigan
Dec 11 Tom Hayden, American civil rights and antiwar activist and politician (Rep-D-Ca), born in Royal Oak, Michigan (d. 2016)

Ernie Davis (1939-1963)

Dec 14 American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (1st African-American to win Heisman Trophy 1961, Syracuse), born in New Salem, Pennsylvania

Dec 14 Marilyn Cooper, American actress (Broadway Bound, Survivors), born in New York City
Dec 15 Cindy Birdsong, American rock vocalist (Patti LaBelle & Blue Belles, 1963-67; The Supremes, 1967-76), born in Camden, New Jersey
Dec 15 Dave Clark, British rock drummer, singer-songwriter, and producer (Dave Clark Five - "Glad All Over"), born in Tottenham, Middlesex, England [1]
Dec 15 Nicolaus A. Huber, German composer, born in Passau, Germany
Dec 17 Charles V. Bush, African-American pioneer (1st African-American US Air Force Academy Graduate and US Supreme Court Page), (d. 2012)
Dec 17 Eddie Kendricks, American singer-songwriter (The Temptations - "The Way You Do the Things You Do"; "Just My Imagination"), born in Union Springs, Alabama (d. 1992)
Dec 17 James Booker, American R&B musician (Gonzo), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
Dec 17 Novella Nelson, American actress (Antwone Fisher, Purlie, Chiefs), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2017)
Dec 18 Christoffel "Stoffel" van de Merwe, South African minister of Education
Dec 18 Harold E. Varmus, American scientist (1989 Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology for cellular origin of retroviral oncogenes.), born in Oceanside, New York
Dec 18 Michael J. Moorcock, English sci-fi author (Alien Heat, Bull & Spear), born in London, England
Dec 18 Sandro Lopopolo Italian lightweight boxer (Olympic-Silver-1960), born in Milan, Italy (d. 2014)
Dec 18 Wiesje Backer, Dutch ballet dancer, actress. and playwright, born in Ammerzoden, Netherlands (d. 2018)
Dec 20 Bill Keith, American bluegrass, country, and session banjoist, and tuning instrument tuner inventor, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2015)
Dec 20 Dianne Arndt, American artist and photographer, born in Springfield, Massachusetts
Dec 20 Kathryn Joosten, American actress (Desperate Housewives), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2012)
Dec 20 Kim Weston, American soul singer (with Marvin Gaye - "It Takes Two"), born in Detroit, Michigan
Dec 20 Klaus Schweizer, German composer, born in Albstadt, Germany
Dec 21 Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian politician, born in North Battleford, Canada
Dec 22 James Gurley, American rock lead guitarist (Big Brother and the Holding Company - "Piece Of My Heart"), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2009)
Dec 22 Valentin Afonin, Russian soccer defender (42 caps; SKA Rostov-on-Don, CSKA Moscow), born in Vladimir, Russia (d. 2021)
Dec 25 Bob James, American smooth jazz keyboardist and composer ("Angela"; "Tappen Zee"), born in Marshall, Missouri
Dec 25 Christopher Wates, English real estate developer/multi-millionaire
Dec 26 Lynn Martin, American politician, (Secretary of Labor, 1991-93; US Congress, 1981-91), born in Evanston, Illinois

Phil Spector (1939-2021)

Dec 26 American record producer (Wall of Sound), and convicted murderer, born in The Bronx, New York

Dec 27 John Amos, American actor (Good Times; Roots; Coming to America; The West Wing), born in Newark, New Jersey
Dec 28 Charles Neville, American vocalist and saxophonist (Neville Brothers), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2018)
Dec 28 Philip Anschutz, American businessman
Dec 29 (William Edwin) "Ed" Bruce, American country singer ("Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys"), born in Keiser, Arkansas (d. 2021)
Dec 29 Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Maldivian politician and Islamic scholar, born in Malé, Maldives
Dec 30 Doeke Eisma, Dutch sociologist and politician (D66)
Dec 30 Elena Tchaikovskaia, Russian figure skating coach, choreographer (Lyudmila Pakhomova / Aleksandr Gorshkov; 6 x World C'ship gold, Olympic gold 1976), born in Moscow, Russia
Dec 30 Felix Pappalardi, American rock music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist (Mountain - "Mississippi Queen"), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 1983)
Dec 30 Glenda Adams (née Fenton), Australian novelist (Dancing on Coral; Longlegs), and playwright (The Monkey Trap), born in Ryde, New South Wales, Australia (d. 2007)
Dec 30 Viola Mae Wilkerson, American pop singer ("Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now"), born in Watts, Los Angeles, California (d. 2009)
Dec 31 Afaq Hussain, Pakistani cricket spin bowler (2 Tests, 1 wicket; Karachi University, Pakistan International Airlines), born in Lucknow, India (d. 2002)
Dec 31 Hugh Lewin, South African anti-apartheid activist and writer (Bandiet: Seven Years in a South African Prison), born in Lydenburg, South Africa (d. 2019)
Dec 31 Willye White, American athlete (Olympic silver long jump 1956, 4x100m relay 1964; Sports Illustrated 100 greatest women athletes of 20th century), born in Money, Mississippi (d. 2007)

Born in 1939

Famous Deaths

Dec 1 Max Fiedler, German composer, dies at 79
Dec 8 Ernest Schelling, American child piano prodigy, conductor, and composer (A Victory Ball), dies of a cerebral embolism at 63
Dec 10 Wilhelm Grosz, Austrian pianist, conductor, classical composer (Afrika Songs), and popular songwriter ("Red Sails in the Sunset"; "Isle of Capri"), dies at 45 [1]

Douglas Fairbanks (1883-1939)

Dec 12 American actor (The Mark of Zorro, 3 Musketeers, Robin Hood), dies from a heart attack at 56

Dec 15 Tom McKibbin, Australian cricket spin bowler (5 Tests, 17 wickets; NSW CA), dies at 69
Dec 18 Heywood Broun, American journalist (1st President of American Newspaper Guild), dies of pneumonia at 51
Dec 19 Eric Fogg, English composer, dies under a train at 36
Dec 19 Karl Wagenfeld, Low German writer (Lucifer, Death & Devil), dies at 70
Dec 19 Willem Benoy, Flemish actor and director (The White), dies at 57
Dec 20 Hans Langsdorff, German Kriegsmarine (navy) captain commits suicide after scuttling his ship, the 'Admiral Graf Spee,' due to damage from the Battle of the River Plat (near Argentina)
Dec 22 Ma Rainey [Gertrude Pridgett], American singer "Mother of the Blues", dies at 53

Anthony Fokker (1890-1939)

Dec 23 Dutch aviation pioneer and aircraft manufacturer (Eindecker monoplanes, Fokker Triplane), dies of pneumococcal meningitis at 49

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