Skip to main content

Key Historical Events of 1939

Test your knowledge of significant events that shaped the world in 1939. This quiz covers various historical occurrences, notable figures, and key developments that marked this pivotal year.

#History #1939 #World Events #Historical Figures #Quizzes #Education

1 June 4 – The St. Louis, a ship carrying a cargo of 907 Jewish refugees, is denied permission to land in Florida after already having been turned away from ________.

2 September 8 – Little Sisters of Jesus founded in ________ by Little Sister Magdeleine.

3 ________ – Herbert Mundin, British actor (b.

4 ________ – Texas A&M University wins its only football national championship.

5 June 26 – ________, English writer (b.

6 Sweden, Norway, and ________ refuse Germany's offer of non-aggression pacts.

7 May 9 – Spain leaves the ________.

8 November 28 – ________, Canadian inventor of basketball (b.

9 March 3 – In ________, South Africa the Timeless Test begins between England and South Africa, the longest game of cricket ever played.

10 ________ – Philipp Scheidemann, Chancellor of Germany (b.

💡 Interesting Facts

  • from 1936 to 1939, Alexander Monkman led a volunteer effort to build a road through the Monkman Pass into British Columbia.
  • the 1939 planned encyclical of Pope Pius XI, Humani Generis Unitas, which condemned racism and persecution of Jews, became known as "The Hidden Encyclical" or "The Lost Encyclical," because it was never promulgated.
  • the American Thanksgiving holiday was moved a week earlier from 1939—1941 because of The Great Depression and was referred to as Franksgiving after President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
  • during the 1939 Battle of Wizna in Poland, German planes dropped leaflets asking the Poles to surrender.
  • Sofia Petrovna, a book by Russian writer Lydia Chukovskaya written in 1939-1940, and published in the West in 1960s, was published in the Soviet Union only in 1988.
  • Ferrellgas, the largest propane retail distributor in the United States, started in 1939 as a family-owned business in Atchison, Kansas.
  • Józef Olszyna-Wilczyński was a high-ranking commander of the Polish Army, a veteran of World War I, Polish-Ukrainian War and the Polish-Soviet War, and was executed by the Soviets during the Polish Defensive War of 1939.
  • school bus yellow is a specific shade of yellow formally adopted as the standard color for school buses in the United States in 1939, following a conference funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.
  • Birger Dahlerus was a Swedish businessman and friend of Hermann Göring, who made numerous trips between Germany and England in 1939 in a attempt to avert the Second World War.
    • Previous Quiz Next Quiz

    Related Quizzes

    Key Events and Figures of the 13th Century: A Quiz

    #13th century #history #Mongol Empire #Crusades #European culture #Franciscan order #Cambridge #Boyana Church

    Discovering the 14th Century: A Historical Quiz

    #14th Century #History #Renaissance #Ming Dynasty #Hundred Years' War #Petrarch #Military History

    Exploring the 16th Century: Events, Figures, and Discoveries

    #history #16th century #exploration #Renaissance #Conquistadores #art #politics #religion

    Exploring the 17th Century: Key Events and Figures

    #17th century #history #empires #Mughal Empire #Ottoman Empire #Persian Empire #Taiwan #Hudson's Bay Company #Kara Mustafa #French history

    Exploring the 18th Century: A Historical Quiz

    #18th century #history #quiz #education #literature #philosophy #politics

    Significant Events of 1904

    #1904 #history #events #quiz #education

    Significant Events and Figures of 1906

    #1906 #history #chess #astronomy #civil rights #swimming #biochemistry

    Significant Events and Figures of 1911

    #1911 #history #events #figures #Nobel Prize #aviation #fire incidents #education #composers