The following events occurred inOctober 1939:

• TheBattle of Wytyczno was fought, resulting in Soviet victory.
• A royal proclamation ordered all British men between the ages of 20 and 22 to report for army registration on October 21.^[1]
• First Lord of the AdmiraltyWinston Churchill gave a radio address from London reviewing the first month of the war. During this broadcast he famously called Russia "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."^[1][2]
• The ChineseNational Revolutionary Army at Changsha begins a counteroffensive that targets theJapanese army's overextended lines of communication.^[3]
• Latvian representatives negotiate with Soviet leaders Stalin and Molotov, who threaten forced occupation if they do not get military base rights in Latvia.
• Born:George Archer, golfer, in San Francisco,California (d. 2005)

• TheBattle of Hel ended with theFortified Region Hel unit capitulating to the Germans after holding out for three weeks against overwhelming odds.
• TheBattle of Kock began.
• Died:George Mundelein, 67, American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

• ThePanama Conference concluded with the adoption of a general declaration of neutrality of the American Republics.^[4]
• The Greek cargo shipDiamantis was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarineU-35 west of theIsles of Scilly. Because the ship's lifeboats were not suited for use in bad weather, theU-35 took all 28 crew members aboard and dropped them off atDingle Bay, Ireland the next day.^[5]
• Died:Fay Templeton, 73, American actress, singer and comedian.

• Adolf Hitler issued a secret decree granting anamnesty to all crimes committed by German military and police personnel in Poland between September 1 and October 4. The decree justified the crimes as being natural responses to "atrocities committed by the Poles."^[6][7]
• Born:Ivan Mauger, motorcycle speedway rider, inChristchurch, New Zealand (d. 2018).

• TheBattle of Kock, the final battle in theinvasion of Poland, ended in a Polish tactical victory but a German strategic victory.
• Hitler flew toWarsaw and reviewed a victory parade in the fallen Polish capital.^[8][9]
• TheSoviet–Latvian Mutual Assistance Treaty was signed, providing the Russians with naval and air bases in Latvian territory.^[10]
• Born:Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, inBinangonan, Rizal, Philippines.

• TheBattle of Changsha ended in Chinese victory.
• Hitler addressed a special session of theReichstag. After speaking at great length about thevictory over Poland he then proposed an international security conference, hinting at desire for an armistice by saying that such a conference would be impossible "while cannons are thundering."^[11][12]
• AGallup poll was published in the United States asking, "What should be the policy in the present European war? Should we declare war and send our army and navy abroad to fight Germany?" 95% of Americans polled said no.^[13]
• The comedy filmNinotchka starringGreta Garbo andMelvyn Douglas was released. The film was marketed with thetagline, "Garbo Laughs!"
• Born:Melvyn Bragg, broadcaster, author and parliamentarian, inCarlisle, Cumbria, England.

• TheBritish Expeditionary Force completed its crossing to France.^[14]
• Operation Fish: British Royal Navy cruiserHMS Emerald set sail fromPlymouth in convoy forHalifax, Nova Scotia, carrying £2M ingold bar to be used for purchase of militarymateriel in North America.^[15]
• Hitler created the office ofReich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood and appointedHeinrich Himmler as its head.
• The present version of theSpanish Air Force was officially established.
• Born:John Hopcroft, computer scientist, inSeattle,Washington;Clive James, writer and television personality, inKogarah, New South Wales, Australia (d. 2019);Harry Kroto, chemist and Nobel laureate, inWisbech, England (d. 2016);Bill Snyder, American football player and coach, inSt. Joseph, Missouri.
• Died:Harvey Cushing, 70, American neurosurgeon.

• Hitler issued a decree proclaimingthe annexation ofPomerania,Wielkopolska andSilesia into the Reich.^[16]
• ThePiotrków Trybunalski Ghetto was founded in Nazi-occupied Poland.^[17]
• German submarineU-12 was lost to amine in theStrait of Dover.^[18]
• TheNew York Yankees won their fourth straightWorld Series, beating theCincinnati Reds 7–4 in 10 innings atCrosley Field to complete a four-game sweep.
• TeleRadio-Moldova was founded.
• Born:Paul Hogan, actor, comedian and television presenter, inLightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia.

• Hitler issuedDirective No. 6 ordering preparations for an offensive in the west with an initial date set for November 12. Protests from his service chiefs and very cold weather would cause the date of the attack to be postponed repeatedly.^[19]
• OffNewfoundland, the American freighterCity of Flint was intercepted en route from New York to Liverpool by theGerman cruiserDeutschland. The Germans declared the freighter's cargo "contraband" and took the ship over with aprize crew. While at sea the Germans painted the fake nameAlf on the freighter and hung Danish flags over the sides.^{[20][21][22][23]}
• Born:John Pilger, journalist, inSydney, Australia (d. 2023).
• Died:Giulio Gavotti, 56, Italian pilot.

• TheSoviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty was signed.
• French Prime MinisterÉdouard Daladier gave a radio address rejecting Hitler's latest peace propositions, saying that a settlement at this time "would only consecrate conquests by deceit or violence and would not prevent preparation for new ones." Daladier vowed that arms would only be laid down "when we have certain guaranties of security which may not be put in doubt every six months."^[24]
• AdmiralErich Raeder urged Hitler to invade Norway to protect Germany's vital iron ore traffic.^[14]

• U.S. PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt received theEinstein–Szilárd letter.^[19]
• Born:Austin Currie, politician, inDungannon,Northern Ireland (d. 2021).

• The regions of Nazi-occupied Poland not annexed by the Reich were incorporated into a new administrative unit called theGeneral Government.Wawel Castle inKraków was made the seat of government.^[16]
• In the British House of Commons, Prime MinisterNeville Chamberlain formally replied to Hitler's peace offer by saying that a settlement "must be a real and settled peace, not an uneasy truce interrupted by constant alarms and repeated threats." Chamberlain further explained, "Herr Hitler rejected all suggestions for peace until he had overwhelmed Poland, as he had previously overthrown Czechoslovakia. Peace conditions cannot be acceptable which begin by condoning aggression. The proposals in the German Chancellor's speech are vague and uncertain and contain no suggestion for righting the wrongs done to Czechoslovakia and to Poland. Even if Herr Hitler's proposals were more closely defined and contained suggestions to right these wrongs, it would still be necessary to ask by what practical means the German Government intend to convince the world that aggression will cease and that pledges will be kept. Past experience has shown that no reliance can be placed upon the promises of the present German Government."^[25]

• German submarineU-40 struck a mine and sank in theEnglish Channel.
• U-42 was sunk southwest of Ireland by depth charges from the British destroyersImogen andIlex.
• Charles Lindbergh made another radio address in favor of Americanisolationism and questioned Canada's right to be involved in the war. "We must protect our sister American nations from foreign invasion, both for their welfare and our own", Lindbergh said. "But, in turn, they have a duty to us ... We desire the utmost friendship with the people of Canada. If their country is ever attacked, our navy will be defending their seas, our soldiers will fight on their battlefields, our fliers will die in their skies. But have they the right to draw this hemisphere into a European war simply because they prefer the Crown of England to American independence?"^[26][27]
• Born:T. J. Cloutier, poker player, inAlbany, California.
• Died:Ford Sterling, 55, American film actor.

• German submarine U-47 penetrated the British naval base atScapa Flow and sank the battleshipHMS Royal Oak. 833 men were killed including Rear AdmiralHenry Blagrove.^[28]
• U-45 was sunk southwest of Ireland by depth charges from the British destroyersHMS Inglefield,Ivanhoe andIntrepid.
• Born:Ralph Lauren, fashion designer, inthe Bronx,New York.
• Died:Henry Blagrove, 52, British Royal Navy officer (killed in the sinking of theRoyal Oak).

• Germany and Estonia signed an agreement on the resettlement ofBaltic Germans.^[29]
• The New York Municipal Airport (later renamedLaGuardia Airport) was formally dedicated in New York. Nearly 100,000 people turned out to watch almost 60 military aircraft perform aflypast.^[30]

• Nine planes of theLuftwaffe conducted an air raid on theFirth of Forth, damaging three British ships, the cruisersSouthampton andEdinburgh, as well as the destroyerMohawk, and killing sixteen Royal Navy crew beforeSupermarine Spitfires ofNo. 603 Squadron arrived and shot down three of the enemy aircraft, the first to be downed over British territory.^[31]
• The Nazis ordered all Poles out ofGdynia.^[32]
• The comedy playThe Man Who Came to Dinner byGeorge S. Kaufman andMoss Hart premiered at theMusic Box Theatre on Broadway.

• Reinhard Heydrich issued a decree commonly referred to as theFestsetzungserlaß, prohibiting allRomani and part-Romani from changing their registered place of residence.^[33]
• Switzerland passed a decree defining the legal status of emigrants and forbidding them to engage in activities that were political in nature or in breach of Switzerland's neutral status.^[34]
• The courtroom drama playLadies and Gentlemen byCharles MacArthur andBen Hecht premiered inSanta Barbara, California.

• The Soviet Union set up Military Bases in Estonia.^[14]
• President Roosevelt banned all belligerent submarines from American ports and territorial waters except in cases offorce majeure.^[35]
• Hitler issuedDirective No. 7, Preparations for Attack in the West.
• The crew of theU-47 was brought to the Reich Chancellory in Berlin where they all received theIron Cross 2nd Class and the personal congratulations of Hitler. CaptainGünther Prien was awarded theKnight's Cross.^[36]
• An art exhibition titled "Contemporary Unknown American Painters" opened at theMuseum of Modern Art in New York. The exhibition made 79-year old folk artistGrandma Moses famous.^[32]
• Born:Flavio Cotti, politician, inPrato-Sornico, Switzerland (d. 2020).
• Lee Harvey Oswald, assassin ofUS PresidentJohn F. Kennedy (d. 1963).
• Died:Henry Halcro Johnston, 83, Scottish botanist, physician, rugby player and Deputy Lieutenant for Orkney.

• The Anglo-French-Turkish Treaty of Mutual Assistance was signed inAnkara, guaranteeing that if Turkey was attacked, Britain and France would come to its aid. In exchange, Turkey pledged to fight on the side of Britain and France if war spread to the Mediterranean.^[37]
• TheHaupttreuhandstelle Ost was created to co-ordinate the confiscation of Jewish and Polish assets in Nazi-occupied Poland.^[38]
• Four American Navy flyers were killed when two bomber planes collided in mid-air nearSan Diego,California.^[39]
• Former heavyweight boxing championGene Tunney criticizedCharles Lindbergh's radio address of October 13, especially his remarks about Canada. Tunney said he had great respect for Lindbergh but could not understand how he could "desert" England after being sheltered there. Tunney also said it took "great nerve and ambition" for Lindbergh to tell Americans how they should think after accepting an award from the Nazis while visiting Germany.^[40]
• Died:Red Downs, 56, American baseball player and convicted armed robber.

• Some 2,000 Jews were deported from Nazi-controlledVienna toLublin in theGeneral Government.^[41]
• Pope Pius XII published his firstencyclical,Summi Pontificatus, critiquing ideologies such as racism, cultural superiority and totalitarianism.
• The Germanprize crew of theCity of Flint (disguised as a Danish ship namedAlf) entered the Norwegian port ofTromsø to get fresh water. The Norwegians supplied the water but ordered the ship to have its proper name and marking restored and to leave the next morning.^[23]
• The comedy filmAt the Circus starring theMarx Brothers was released.
• Mass public executions of Poles perpetrated by the German police andEinsatzgruppe VI in various towns in the region ofGreater Poland in German-occupied Poland, i.e.Kostrzyn,Kórnik,Książ Wielkopolski,Mosina,Śrem,Środa, in attempt to pacify and terrorize the Polish population.^[42][43]

• Germany and Italy made theSouth Tyrol Option Agreement. Ethnic Germans in the region would be allowed to emigrate to the Reich or remain and beItalianized.^[44]
• First meeting of the United StatesAdvisory Committee on Uranium underLyman James Briggs, authorised by US President Roosevelt to overseeneutron experiments.^[45]
• Mass executions of Poles in Greater Poland continued the German police andEinsatzgruppe VI inGostyń,Krobia,Leszno,Osieczna,Poniec, andWłoszakowice.^[46]

• Elections to the People's Assemblies of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus were held to provide an appearance of legitimacy for the Soviet annexation of Poland.
• American pro football was televised for the first time whenNBC broadcast a game between thePhiladelphia Eagles and theBrooklyn Dodgers. The telecast was available to the approximately 500 television sets in the New York area and was also shown on monitors at theNew York World's Fair. The hometown Dodgers won, 23–14.^[47]
• Born:Joaquim Chissano, 2nd President of Mozambique, inGaza Province,Portuguese Mozambique;George Cohen, footballer, inKensington, London, England (d. 2022).

• With an offensive on Germany's western front looking increasingly unlikely before next spring, French Prime MinisterÉdouard Daladier announced that French soldiers would receive eight to ten days' leave every four months.Blackout regulations were also eased in many French cities.^[48]
• TheCity of Flint arrived in the Russian port ofMurmansk to escape the heavy fog in theBarents Sea. Initially, the Russians arrested the German prize crew and told the American captain that his ship could leave freely as soon as the proper documents were ready, but this changed after Berlin applied heavy pressure.^[20][23]
• AnotherGallup poll result was published in the United States, this time asking, "Which side do you want to see win the war?" 84% of Americans surveyed said the Allies, 14% expressed no opinion, and only 2% said Germany. The same poll asked, "Do you think the United States should do everything possible to help England and France win the war, except go to war ourselves?" 62% said yes, 38% said no.^[13]
• The crime thriller filmThe Roaring Twenties starringJames Cagney,Priscilla Lane,Humphrey Bogart andGladys George was released.
• Mass executions of Poles in Greater Poland continued theEinsatzgruppe VI inKościan andŚmigiel.^[49]
• Born:C. V. Vigneswaran, judge and politician, inHultsdorf,British Ceylon.
• Died:Zane Grey, 67, American author.

• Joachim von Ribbentrop made a speech in Danzig blaming Britain for the war and indicating that fighting would begin on a large scale now that Chamberlain had "refused the hand of the Führer stretched out in a peace gesture."^[50] London swiftly provided an official reply saying the speech "introduces no new element into the situation nor is it considered as having any particular importance."^[51]
• The American crew of theCity of Flint were detained by Russian authorities and prevented from communicating with the U.S. embassy in Moscow.^[20][21]
• TheCarnegie Science Center was established inPittsburgh.
• Born:F. Murray Abraham, American actor, inPittsburgh,Pennsylvania

• The administration ofWłocławek in Nazi-occupied Poland ordered the city's Jews to wear ayellow badge on their clothes.^[17]
• Another German submarine was lost in the Strait of Dover when theU-16 ran aground on theGoodwin Sands trying to avoid a depth charge attack.^[52] U-boats were subsequently ordered to stop using the Strait of Dover as a deployment route.^[53]
• A general election was held in the Canadian province ofQuebec. TheQuebec Liberal Party led byAdélard Godbout defeated the incumbentUnion Nationale led byMaurice Duplessis.

• Jozef Tiso became the first President of Slovakia. He immediately appointedVojtech Tuka Prime Minister.
• Jewish males between the ages of 14 and 60 in Nazi-occupied Poland were forced to perform forced labor.^[54]
• Hans Frank became the Governor-General of theGeneral Government.

• ThePope Pius XII encyclicalSummi Pontificatus was published, denouncing totalitarianism.^[55] The encyclical expressed compassion for displaced Poles but avoided condemning Germany by name.^[38]
• Born:John Cleese, actor, comedian, writer and film producer, inWeston-super-Mare, England.

• On Czech Independence Day marking the 21st anniversary of the founding ofCzechoslovakia, thousands of people, mostly students, protested at various locations throughout the region making up the former country. The Nazis retaliated by closing universities, executing student leaders and making many arrests.^[56]
• Heinrich Himmler issued a secret directive to theSS and police encouraging them to procreate with women of "good blood", even outside of marriage, "to regenerate life for Germany". The directive explained that the SS would support all mothers of children of good blood regardless of legitimacy, so no father would need to be concerned about creating a burden for them.^[57]
• TheCity of Flint left Murmansk under control of the German prize crew, intending to go to Germany.^[58]
• The1939 Nebraska vs. Kansas State football game was the first college football homecoming game ever televised. Nebraska won 25–9.
• Born:Jane Alexander, actress, inBoston,Massachusetts.
• Died:Alice Brady, American actress.

• Federal elections were held in Switzerland, won by theFree Democratic Party.
• Soviet troops enteredLatvia.^[32]
• The new Italian city ofPomezia was inaugurated.
• Born:Malay Roy Choudhury, poet and novelist, inPatna,Bihar,British India (d. 2023).
• Died:Dwight B. Waldo, 75, American educator and historian.

• West of theOrkney Islands, theGerman submarine U-56 encountered the British battleshipHMS Nelson with First Lord of the AdmiraltyWinston Churchill aboard.^[59]U-56 fired three torpedoes that all failed to explode. The U-boat's commanderWilhelm Zahn became known as "the man who almost killed Churchill."^[60]
• TheCity of Flint ended up inTromsø again, to the displeasure of the Norwegians who were trying to avoid being drawn into any international incidents involving belligerent ships in their ports. Norway dispatched a naval escort to see theCity of Flint through Norwegian waters to ensure that the freighter neither tried to stop again nor came under attack from Allied warships.^[23]
• Born:Leland H. Hartwell, biologist and Nobel laureate, in Los Angeles;Grace Slick, singer, inHighland Park, Illinois.

• Benito Mussolini dismissed three military chiefs (Alberto Pariani, Giuseppe Valle and Luigi Russo) and two cabinet ministers (Achille Starace andDino Alfieri), all of whom had been popularly considered pro-German.Ettore Muti replaced Starace as Fascist Party Secretary andAlessandro Pavolini replaced Alfieri as Popular Culture Minister.^[61]
• Soviet Foreign MinisterVyacheslav Molotov sent a Soviet ultimatum to Finland making several demands, including that the town ofHanko be handed over for use as a Russian naval base.^[32]
• Born:Ron Rifkin, actor, in New York City.
• Died:Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg, 73, German field marshal of World War I.

• October 1939
• October by year
• Months in the 1930s

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