French claim German counter-attacks repulsed east of Moselle Valley and between Saar River and Vosges, map; German reinforcements from Poland reptd arriving; Gen Duval sees Germans held back by Maginot defenses; speculation on Germany's plans on possible violation of neutral borders; Switzerland and Netherlands frontier closings by Germany stressed

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Notable Births

1939Gerry Harvey, Australian businessman, co-founded Harvey Norman^[†]

Gerry Harvey is an Australian entrepreneur best known for being the executive chairman of Harvey Norman Holdings, a company which runs Australian retail chain Harvey Norman. He co-founded it with Ian Norman in 1982.

1939Jorge Sampaio, Portuguese lawyer and politician, 18th President of Portugal (died 2021)^[†]

Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampaio was a Portuguese lawyer and politician who was the 18th President of Portugal from 1996 to 2006. Sampaio was a member of the Socialist Party, a party which he led between 1989 and 1992. He served as the Mayor of Lisbon from 1990 to 1995 and High-Representative for the United Nations' Alliance of Civilizations between 2007 and 2013.

Notable Deaths

1939Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish author, painter, and photographer (born 1885)^[†]

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, commonly known as Witkacy, was a Polish writer, painter, philosopher, theorist, playwright, novelist, and photographer active before World War I and during the interwar period.

Historical Events

1939World War II: The Polish government of Ignacy Mościcki flees to Romania.^[†]

World War II or the Second World War was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

1939World War II: The radio show Germany Calling begins transmitting Nazi propaganda.^[†]

Germany Calling was an English language propaganda radio programme, broadcast by Nazi German radio to audiences in the British Isles and North America during the Second World War. Every broadcast began with the station announcement: "Germany calling! Here are the Reichssender Hamburg, station Bremen". Today, it is best known for its employment of several radio presenters jointly known as Lord Haw-Haw — most notably, William Joyce, who was German radio's most prominent English language speaker and to whom the name gradually came to be exclusively applied.