September 3, 1939: At 11:00 AM -- 12:00 Noon, Central European Time; and 6:00 AM, U.S. Eastern Time -- with the Nazis having refused his ultimatum following their invasion of Poland 2 days earlier, Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Great Britain, his hope for "peace for our time" (usually misquoted as "peace in our time") of one year ago in ashes, goes onto the international radio network of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and announces that he has gotten the Parliament to declare war on Germany; and that the French Third Republic had done the same.
One of the first things France does is evacuate some paintings from The Louvre. Priorities.
In 1919, having read the Treaty of Versailles, Marshal Ferdinand Foch said, "This is not peace. It is an armistice for 20 years." He died in 1929, and turned out to be right within 2 months.
Before the war ended on August 14, 1945, 75 million people, military and civilian combined, had been killed. This included 11 million in the Nazis' concentration camps, 6 million of them for no crime other than being Jewish.
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September 3, 1939 was a Sunday. England's Football Association suspended Football League and FA Cup play for the duration of the war. Many other sporting events would also be canceled during the war.
Though this was a Sunday, the NFL season was still 2 weeks away from beginning. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees played a doubleheader with the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Boston won the 1st game, 12-11. Charlie Keller hit a home run and had 4 RBIs, but DiMaggio injured himself in the 1st inning, and had to leave the game. The Sox hit no home runs, but Joe Vosmik got 3 hits, Doc Cramer and shortstop-manager Joe Cronin each got 2, and rookie Ted Williams got 1.
The 2nd game was called due to darkness after 7 innings, tied 5-5. DiMaggio returned, and he and Joe Gordon hit home runs for the Yankees. For the Sox, Williams hit 2 home runs, and Cronin hit 1. Foxx went 4-for-6 over the 2 games.
* The New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 7-1 at the Polo Grounds. Mel Ott did not play.
* The Boston Bees swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies at Shibe Park, taking the 1st game 4-3, and the 2nd game 6-2.
* The Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 6-1 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Browns, 6-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-0 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.
* A doubleheader was split at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 8-1 in the 1st game. The Tigers won the 2nd game 7-2. Greenberg was still injured, and did not play in either game.
* And the St. Louis Cardinals swept a doubleheader with the Pittsburgh Pirates at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Cards won the 1st game 14-6, and the 2nd game 3-0.
Also, John Davey, who played Captain Marvel on the CBS TV series Shazam! from 1975 to 1977, was born.
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