About the day » Friday April 21, 1939Calender converter

• Georges CASTELAIN, Heule († 2021)
• Jo Geurts († 2011)
• Jan Nijman († 1986)
• Hendrina Albertina Maria Jeurissen, Venray († 2005)
• Catharina Thereseia Ran, Den Helder, Noord-Holland, Nederland († 2013)
• Eduardus Johannes Joseph Ruivenkamp, Den Haag, ZH Netherlands († 2000)
• Irène Bourbonnais († 1997)
• Adrianus Baijens, Nuland, Noord-Brabant, Nederland († 1939)
• Cataharina Theresia Ran, Den Helder, Noord-Holland, Nederland († 2013)
• Elselina Frida Ruiten († 2002)

• Abraham Carolus Ludovicus Nelis (80), Achterthof
• Abraham Faas (71), Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Nederland
• Abraham Faas (71)
• Albertus de JONG (39), Scheveningen, gemeente 's-Gravenhage (Z-H)
• Aaltjen Olthuis(Olthuijs) (60), Zutphen
• Agnes Daisy JOHNSON (46), Lichfield
• Antje de Goede (71), Castricum, Noord-Holland, Nederland
• Akke Wijtzes van der Heide (84)
• Alphonsus Eeman (76), Vogelwaarde, Hontenisse, Zeeland, Netherlands
• Antonie Giezen (0), Vlagtwedde, Groningen, Nederland

• 1936 » James Dobson, American evangelist, psychologist, and author, founded Focus on the Family
• 1936 » Reg Fleming, Canadian-American ice hockey player († 2009)
• 1937 » Ben Zinn, Israeli-born American academic and former international soccer player
• 1937 » Gary Peters, American baseball player
• 1939 » John McCabe, English pianist and composer († 2015)
• 1939 » Reni Santoni, American actor
• 1939 » Sister Helen Prejean, American nun, activist, and author
• 1940 » Jacques Caron, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1940 » Souleymane Cissé, Malian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1941 » David L. Boren, American lawyer and politician, 21st Governor of Oklahoma

• 1924 » Eleonora Duse, Italian actress (b. 1858)
• 1930 » Robert Bridges, English poet and author (b. 1844)
• 1932 » Friedrich Gustav Piffl, Bohemian cardinal (b. 1864)
• 1938 » Muhammad Iqbal, Indian-Pakistani philosopher and poet (b. 1877)
• 1941 » Fritz Manteuffel, German gymnast (b. 1875)
• 1945 » Walter Model, German field marshal (b. 1891)
• 1946 » John Maynard Keynes, English economist and philosopher (b. 1883)
• 1948 » Aldo Leopold, American ecologist and author (b. 1887)
• 1952 » Leslie Banks, American actor, director and producer (b. 1890)
• 1954 » Emil Leon Post, Polish-American mathematician and logician (b. 1897)

• Koningin Wilhelmina (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1890 till 1948 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from June 24, 1937 to July 25, 1939 the cabinet Colijn IV, with Dr. H. Colijn (ARP) as prime minister.
• In The Netherlands , there was from July 25, 1939 to August 10, 1939 the cabinet Colijn V, with Dr. H. Colijn (ARP) as prime minister.
• In The Netherlands , there was from August 10, 1939 to September 3, 1940 the cabinet De Geer II, with Jonkheer mr. D.J. de Geer (CHU) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 8.7 million citizens.
• April 30 » The 1939–40 New York World's Fair opens.
• June 12 » Shooting begins on Paramount Pictures' Dr. Cyclops, the first horror film photographed in three-strip Technicolor.
• August 2 » Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon.
• November 30 » Winter War: Soviet forces cross the Finnish border in several places and bomb Helsinki and several other Finnish cities, starting the war.
• December 18 » World War II: The Battle of the Heligoland Bight, the first major air battle of the war, takes place.
• December 27 » Winter War: Finland holds off a Soviet attack in the Battle of Kelja.

The temperature on April 21, 1939 was between 4.5 °C and 16.4 °C and averaged 10.6 °C. There was 11.1 hours of sunshine (78%). The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the west.