Editing 1939

{{Yearnav}}

== Events ==
* January 5 - [[Fumimaro Konoe]] steps down as Prime Minister of Japan.
* February 13 - [[Béla Imrédy]] resigns as Prime Minister of Hungary.
* March 7 - [[Armand Călinescu]] is named Prime Minister of Romania.
* March 7 - [[Khorloogiin Choibalsan]] declares himself Prime Minister of Mongolia after ousting previous Prime Minister Anandyn Amar in an [[NKVD]]-backed purge.
* March 15 - The [[Arrow Cross Party]] is founded.
* April 1 - The Spanish Civil War ends. [[Francisco Franco]] and his [[Fascism|fascist]] [[Falange de las J.O.N.S]] successfully abolish the Second Spanish Republic and declare the formation of a new Spanish State.
* May 22 - The "Pact of Steel" is signed by Adolf Hitler and [[Benito Mussolini]], formally creating the [[Axis Powers]].
* June 10 - [[James A. Colescott]] replaces [[Hiram Wesley Evans]] as Grand Wizard of the [[Ku Klux Klan]].
* June 24 - [[Plaek Phibunsongkhram]], Prime Minister of Siam, renames the country Thailand.
* August - End of the Great Palestinian Revolt.
* August 23 - The [[Vyacheslav Molotov|Molotov]]-[[Joachim von Ribbentrop|Ribbentrop]] Pact is signed between the Nazi Party and the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]], mandating peace between the two parties.
* August 25 - The [[Irish Republican Army]] conducts an aerial bombing of the city of Coventry in England, killing 5 people and injuring 70.
* September 1 - The [[Action T4]] euthanasia program is first launched by the [[Nazi Party]], with ''[[Schutzstaffel]]'' officers [[Karl Brandt]] and [[Philipp Bouhler]] placed in charge of the program.
* September 1 - [[Adolf Hitler]] orders a full-scale invasion of Poland, marking the official beginning of [[World War II]].
* September 17 - [[Joseph Stalin]] launches an invasion of Poland in an attempt to counter the Nazi invasion.
* September 21 - Armand Călinescu is assassinated in Bucharest by members of the [[Iron Guard]].
* September 27 - [[Heinrich Himmler]] establishes the Reich Main Security Office (RHSA) to serve as an umbrella organization for Nazi Germany's intelligence agencies, including the [[Gestapo]]. [[Reinhard Heydrich]] is appointed as the RHSA's inaugural director.
* October 26 - [[Jozef Tiso]] declares the formation of the [[Slovak Republic]], with himself as president and [[Vojtech Tuka]] as prime minister.
* November 16 -  [[Al Capone]] is released from Alcatraz, due to deteriorating health caused by syphilis.
* November 30 - The Soviet Union invades Finland, beginning the Winter War.
* Unknown - The ''[[Einsatzgruppen]]'' [[death squad]]s are used for the first time.

== Births ==
=== Villain births ===
* January 1 - [[Billy Reid]]
* January 31 - [[Jerry Brudos]]
* February 8 - [[Jose Maria Sison]]
* February 15 - [[Robert Hansen]]
* March 5 - [[Peter Woodcock]]
* April 13 - [[Joseph Maskell]]
* April 19 - [[Ali Khamenei]]
* April 24 - [[Ernst Zündel]]
* April 27 - [[Nino Vieira]]
* May 21 - [[Roger Kibbe]]
* June 12 - [[Bobby Jack Fowler]]
* July 16 - [[Barry Seal]]
* September 24 - [[Patrick Kearney]]
* October 18 - [[Lee Harvey Oswald]]
* November 6 - [[David Parker Ray]]
* November 27 - [[Laurent-Désiré Kabila]]
* December 18 - [[Dean Corll]]
* December 26 - [[Phil Spector]]
* Unknown - [[Edward Charles Allaway]]

=== Victim births ===
* April 2 - Marvin Gaye
* October 15 - Joy Pittman 
* November 6 - Michael Schwerner
* December 18 - Paul Lee Stine

== Deaths ==
=== Villain deaths ===
* January 13 - [[Arthur Barker]]
* February 26 - [[Stanislav Kosior]]
* March 7 - [[Armand Călinescu]]
* June 16 - [[Robert Nixon]]
=== Victim deaths ===