August 1939

[August 1], 1939 (Tuesday)

• Prohibition went into effect in Bombay.
• Nazi Germany forbade the sale of lottery tickets to Jews.
• Glenn Miller and His Orchestra recorded "In the Mood".
• Born:
• *Terry Kiser, American actor; in Omaha, Nebraska
• *Robert James Waller, American author; in Rockford, Iowa

  [August 2], 1939 (Wednesday)

• Albert Einstein signed a letter written by Leo Szilard addressed to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, warning that Germany might develop an atomic weapon and suggesting that the United States should start its own nuclear program. The letter would prompt Roosevelt to take action and eventually result in the Manhattan Project.
• British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain introduced a motion to adjourn the House of Commons until October 3. The motion passed 250-132, and an attempted amendment by the opposition to shorten the length of adjournment to August 21 was defeated. More than 30 Conservatives supported the shorter recess and expressed their displeasure by abstaining from voting. One of them was Winston Churchill, and another was Ronald Cartland, who during a speech prophetically said, "We are in the situation that within a month we may be going to fight, and we may be going to die."
• Born:
• *Wes Craven, American filmmaker, in Cleveland, Ohio
• *John W. Snow, American businessman and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury; in Toledo, Ohio
• Died: Harvey Spencer Lewis, 55, American occultist

  [August 3], 1939 (Thursday)

• The medical licenses of all Jewish doctors in Nazi Germany were nullified.
• Born: Jimmie Nicol, English drummer and temporary member of The Beatles; in London

  [August 4], 1939 (Friday)

• A Chinese mob in Tianjin attacked offices of the British International Export Corporation, smashing furniture and other equipment and throwing it into the Hai River. The British said the attack was instigated by the Australians.
• Born: Frankie Ford, American singer ; in Gretna, Louisiana

  [August 5], 1939 (Saturday)

• The 76th United States Congress adjourned for the rest of the summer.
• Poland sent Danzig a note demanding that interference with Polish customs guards on the border with East Prussia cease.
• Thirteen women known as Las Trece Rosas were executed in Francoist Spain for aiding a military rebellion.
• Born: Princess Irene of the Netherlands; at Soestdijk Palace in Baarn

  [August 6], 1939 (Sunday)

• Poland celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Polish Legions' entry into the World War. Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły told a cheering crowd of 100,000 that "violence inflicted by force must be resisted by force" and that Poland's conduct with regard to Danzig "will be adjusted to the conduct of the other side."

  [August 7], 1939 (Monday)

• Swedish businessman Birger Dahlerus arranged a meeting at his house in Schleswig-Holstein between his friend Hermann Göring and seven important British businessmen in an effort to avoid war. The meeting was friendly and Dahlerus believed that an informal agreement was in place to hold a peace conference.
• Danzig rejected the Polish demand of August 5, refusing to recognize untrained Polish officials as supervisors of Danzig customs.

  [August 8], 1939 (Tuesday)

• 1,300 warplanes filled the skies over Britain on the first of several days of air defence tests.
• The historical adventure film Stanley and Livingstone starring Spencer Tracy and Cedric Hardwicke premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
• Born: Phil Balsley, American baritone singer of The Statler Brothers; in Augusta County, Virginia

  [August 9], 1939 (Wednesday)

• George VI conducted a fleet review of 133 ships at Weymouth Bay.
• Italy published a law introducing fines for anyone moving from the country to a city of 25,000 people or more unless they already had work there. Mussolini had recently advised moving out of the cities if possible to avoid potential bombing in event of war.
• Born:
• *The Mighty Hannibal, American singer, songwriter and record producer; in Atlanta
• *Bulle Ogier, French actress; in Boulogne-Billancourt
• *Claude Osteen, American baseball player; in Caney Spring, Tennessee

  [August 10], 1939 (Thursday)

• Dirk Jan de Geer became Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
• Citizens of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia were ordered to turn in all arms and explosives to the government. Failure to comply could be punishable by death.
• Died: Carlo Galimberti, 45, Italian Olympic champion weightlifter, died of burns sustained in the line of duty as a firefighter five days earlier from a boiler explosion. Two other firemen, Aldo Parora and Anselmo Pasi, also died.

  [August 11], 1939 (Friday)

• Starting at midnight, half of England went dark for four hours in a test to determine how effectively the country could shroud itself from enemy planes.
• Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano went to Salzburg to begin three days of talks with his German counterpart Joachim von Ribbentrop. Ciano soon realized that Germany was serious in its willingness to risk starting a general war. This was not welcome news for the Italians, who were unprepared for war and did not think that the Axis powers would fare well if Britain and France came to the aid of Poland.
• Died: Jean Bugatti, 30, French-Italian automobile designer, died in a car crash.

  [August 12], 1939 (Saturday)

• Count Ciano and Joachim von Ribbentrop rode to the Berghof and met with Adolf Hitler, who confidently asserted that the war against Poland would be "a localized war."
• The Anglo-French military mission to the Soviet Union began talks in Moscow.
• German submarines U-49 and U-61 were commissioned.
• The spy film The Spy in Black premiered in the United Kingdom. When it was released two months later in the United States it was titled U-Boat 29.
• Born:
• *Skip Caray, American sportscaster; in St. Louis, Missouri
• *George Hamilton, American actor; in Memphis, Tennessee
• *David Jacobs, American television writer; in Baltimore, Maryland
• *S. Jayakumar, former Singaporean politician, 4th Senior Minister of Singapore

  [August 13], 1939 (Sunday)

• Count Ciano returned to Italy convinced that the Germans had already decided on war and that nothing could be done to deter them. "I am certain that even if the Germans were given more than they ask for they would attack just the same, because they are possessed by the demon of destruction", Ciano wrote in his diary.
• A Pan American World Airways Sikorsky S-43 made a crash landing at Rio de Janeiro harbor, killing 14 of 16 aboard.

  [August 14], 1939 (Monday)

• U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced that he would proclaim Thanksgiving to be moved up one week from the last Thursday of November to the next-to-last Thursday this year. The president explained that stores had requested the change to give them extra time to sell merchandise between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Additionally, workers had complained of the long stretch of time between Labor Day and Thanksgiving.
• The Jean-Antoine Watteau painting L'Indifferent, stolen from the Louvre on June 12, was reported to have been returned to authorities. The thief, who was himself an artist, explained that he was upset to see that the painting had been badly retouched so he decided to steal it and do some repairs.
• Actress Janet Gaynor and costume designer Adrian were married in Yuma, Arizona.
• The first night game at Comiskey Park took place. The hometown Chicago White Sox defeated the St. Louis Browns 5-2.

  [August 15], 1939 (Tuesday)

• The musical fantasy film The Wizard of Oz had its official premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
• Panama observed a holiday in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Panama Canal. The SS Ancon, the first commercial vessel to go through the canal in 1914, repeated its historic voyage as 820 passengers cheered and an army band played.
• Indian troops arrived in Egypt to strengthen British forces there.
• U-boat commander Karl Dönitz received a coded instruction for his forces to put out to sea at once.
• José Félix Estigarribia became President of Paraguay.

  [August 16], 1939 (Wednesday)

• A Polish soldier was killed inside the Danzig border. Polish sources said he had crossed over by mistake and was shot without receiving any kind of warning beforehand. In retaliation, Polish military guards were given orders to shoot on sight any uniformed German or Danzinger in Polish territory.
• The Anglo-French mission arrived in Moscow.
• Born:
• *Billy Joe Shaver, country musician; in Corsicana, Texas
• *Carole Shelley, actress; in London, England
• *Sir Trevor McDonald, British newsreader and journalist; in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago

  [August 17], 1939 (Thursday)

• Hitler closed the border with Poland at Upper Silesia.
• The semi-official Polish newspaper Kurjer Poranny demanded confiscation of property held by German citizens in Poland in retaliation for the confiscation of property owned by Polish Jews in Germany.
• Born: Luther Allison, American blues guitarist; in Widener, Arkansas

  [August 18], 1939 (Friday)

• The Reich Interior Ministry ordered all physicians, nurses and midwives to report children under the age of three who showed signs of severe mental or physical disability. This was the first step in the Nazi Germany's child euthanasia programme.
• Died: William Demaine, 80, Australian newspaper editor and politician

  [August 19], 1939 (Saturday)

• Hitler received a message from his ambassador in Moscow reporting that the Russians were prepared to meet with Joachim von Ribbentrop on August 27 or 28 to negotiate and sign a non-aggression pact. Hitler welcomed the news but wanted the date of von Ribbentrop's visit to be brought forward.
• Stalin's alleged speech of 19 August 1939: A secret meeting of the Politburo was allegedly held in which Joseph Stalin outlined the strategy of the Soviet Union in the upcoming war. Stalin supposedly said that the war among the Western powers should go on as long as possible so all belligerents would be weakened, creating an ideal opportunity for Soviet expansion.
• Italy barred entry to Jews from Germany, Poland, Hungary and Romania.
• Born: Ginger Baker, English drummer; in Lewisham, South London