September 1, 1939: At 4:40 AM Central European Time -- 3:40 AM in London, 10:40 PM August 31, U.S. Eastern Time -- the bombing of Wieluń in the western part of Poland commences, beginning the Battle of the Border. Shock-troops of the German Wehrmacht begin crossing the border into Poland. World War II has begun.
Five minutes later, under the cover of darkness, the German WWI-era battleship Schleswig-Holstein quietly slips her moorings at her wharf in Danzig Harbor, drifts into the center of the channel, and commences firing on a Polish military installation on Westerplatte at the northeastern mouth of the port of the internationalized Free City of Danzig, beginning the Battle of Westerplatte and the Battle of Danzig Bay.
Britain and France deliver ultimatums to Germany, to get out of Poland within 2 days. Norway, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland declare their neutrality. President Franklin D. Roosevelt states that "every effort" would be made by his administration to stay out of the war. Italy is advised that Germany does not expect to need its military support at present.
The war ended on August 14, 1945. Between these 2 dates, these nations lost about this many people, military and civilian combined:
Soviet Union: 27 million
China: 20 million
Germany: 7.4 million
Dutch East Indies, later Indonesia: 4 million
Japan: 3.1 million
French Indochina, later Vietnam: 2.2 million
Yugoslavia: 1.7 million
Philippines: 1.4 million
Burma, later Myanmar: 1 million
Hungary: 864,000
Greece: 807,000
France proper: 600,000
Korea: 533,000
Italy: 514,000
Romania: 500,000
Great Britain: 451,000
United States: 419,000
Czechoslovakia: 355,000
Netherlands proper: 250,000
Singapore: 100,000
Ethiopia: 100,000
Finland: 97,000
Belgium: 88,000
Portuguese Timor (now East Timor): 70,000
Ruanda-Urundi (Belgian, now Rwanda and Burundi): 50,000
Canada: 44,000
Australia: 41,000
Albania: 30,000
Bulgaria: 22,000
Papua New Guinea: 15,000
South Africa: 12,000
New Zealand: 12,000
Norway: 11,000
Thailand: 7,600
Luxembourg: 7,100
Denmark: 6,000
Ireland: 5,100
Sweden: 2,100
Brazil: 2,000
Over 75 million people died, simply because Adolf Hitler couldn't handle Germany losing World War I, and wanted to make his country great again.
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September 1, 1939 was a Friday. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 11-8 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. No home runs for the Bronx Bombers, but 3 hits each for Joe DiMaggio and Bill Dickey; and 2 each for Frank Crosetti, Charlie Keller, George Selkirk and the starting pitcher, Monte Pearson. But Pearson and Bob Feller each got hit hard. Spud Chandler pitched to 3 batters, allowing 2 runs before getting 1 out, but turned out to be the winning pitcher because the Yankees scored 4 runs in the top of the 8th.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers split a doubleheader with the Chicago Cubs at Ebbets Field. The Cubs won the 1st game, 6-2; and the Dodgers won the 2nd game, 3-1.
* The Boston Bees, as the Braves were known from 1936 to 1940, beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-0 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.
* And the Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 14-10 at Briggs Stadium (renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961. Pinky Higgins hit 2 home runs for the Tigers. Hank Greenberg, the Tigers' Jewish slugger, was injured, and did not play. For the Red Sox, Jimmie Foxx went 2-for-5, and rookie Ted Williams went 3-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI.
* The Chicago White Sox, the Cincinnati Reds, the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Athletics, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the St. Louis Browns, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Senators were not scheduled.
And comedian and actress Lily Tomlin was born.
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