December 1939 calendar

Events

• 02 Dec 1939 New York's La Guardia Airport begins operations as an airliner from Chicago lands, one minute after midnight.
• 04 Dec 1939 World War II: HMS Nelson is struck by a mine (laid by U-31) off the Scottish coast and is laid up for repairs until August 1940.
• 06 Dec 1939 5th Heisman Trophy Award: Nile Kinnick, Iowa (HB).
• 09 Dec 1939 Russian air raid on Helsinki, Finland.
• 10 Dec 1939 Green Bay Packers win NFL championship, beat the New York Giants 27-0
• 12 Dec 1939 Russ Indigirka capsizes in blizzard off Japanese coast; 750 die
• 13 Dec 1939 Battle at La Plata - 3 British cruisers vs. German Graf Spee
• 14 Dec 1939 Soviet Union attacks Finland-League of Nations drops Soviet Union
• 15 Dec 1939 Gone with the Wind receives its premiere at Loew's Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
• 17 Dec 1939 German pocket battleship Graf Spee scuttled by its crew off Uruguay
• 19 Dec 1939 Russian air and ground attack against Finnish positions near Summa.
• 20 Dec 1939 Radio Australia begins overseas short-wave service.
• 22 Dec 1939 99 die in 2nd wreck at Friedrichshafen Germany
• 23 Dec 1939 South Australia score 7-821 against Queensland in cricket.
• 24 Dec 1939 World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace.
• 25 Dec 1939 Montgomery Ward introduces Rudolph the 9th reindeer.
• 26 Dec 1939 Earthquake in East Anatolia Turkey
• 27 Dec 1939 Between 20,000 and 40,000 die in magnitude 8 quake (Erzincam Turkey)
• 28 Dec 1939 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber prototype first flies.
• 29 Dec 1939 First flight of the Consolidated B-24.
• 31 Dec 1939 25 U-boats sunk this month (81,000 ton)

Famous Birthday

• Phil Spector

  American record producer and songwriter, noted for being a major mover in the industry.

• Tony Scotti
• Dean Corll

  Shot, he raped and killed 26 boys.

• Monique Lang

  French noted family member, the wife of Jack Lang who is a French politician.

• Terry Cole-Whittaker

  American Religious Science pastor from 1977, a fireball who took San Diego by storm with her up-beat, you-can-do-it message.

• Ricardo Bofill
• Harry Reid

  American politician.

• Tom Hayden

  American political activist, one of the "Chicago-7" during his radical hippie days.

• James Galway

  Irish flutist, world known as the greatest flutist living.

• Don Alias
• Lee Trevino

  Mexican-American professional golfer.

• Novella Nelson
• Dianne Lennon
• Pierre-Louis Fagniez
• Marcia Starck

  American astrologer and a healer who incorporates astrology, nutrition, herbology, and other healing techniques in her client consultations.

• Pier Cesare Baretti
• Kathryn Joosten

  American actress (d. 2012).

• Red Berenson

  Canadian ice hockey player and coach.

• Walt Simon
• Dominique Jameux
• See more

Famous Deaths

• Max Fiedler

  Composer, dies at 79.

• Ernest Schelling

  Composer, dies at 63.

• Wilhelm Grosz

  Composer, dies at 45.

• Eric Fogg

  Composer, dies at 36.

• Karl Wagenfeld

  Low German writer (Lucifer, Death & Devil), dies at 70.

• Hans Langsdorff

  German Captain (Graaf Spee), commits suicide.

• Matthew Brown

  Journalist, dies at 51.

• Hans Langsdorff

  German naval officer (Born 1894).

• Anthony H G Fokker

  Dutch airplane builder (Spider), dies at age 49.

• Princess Louise

  Duchess of Argyll, daughter of Queen Victoria (Born 1848).

• Anthony Fokker

  Indonesian Dutch-German engineer, pilot, and aircraft manufacturer.

• Ma Rainey

  "Mother of the Blues", US blues singer / composer, dies at 53.

• Willem Benoy

  Flemish actor / director (The White), dies at 57.

• Douglas Fairbanks

  American actor known as a swashbuckling film hero in the '20s to '40s.

• See more

Top #5 songs in the USA

1. Ambrose & His Orchestra vocal Denny Dennis - South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)
2. Kay Kyser & His Orchestra - The Little Red Fox
3. Dick Jurgens & His Orchestra - Careless
4. Orrin Tucker & His Orchestra - Stop! It's Wonderful
5. Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra - Indian Summer