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… 1929 ^. 1930 ^. 1931 ^. 1932 ^. 1933 ^. 1934 ^. 1935 … 1936 1937 1938 -1939- 1940 1941 1942 … 1943 ^. 1944 ^. 1945 ^. 1946 ^. 1947 ^. 1948 ^. 1949 … In television: 1936 1937 1938 -1939- 1940 1941 1942 In music: 1936 1937 1938 -1939- 1940 1941 1942 In film: 1936 1937 1938 -1939- 1940 1941 1942
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The year 1939 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting.

Events

7 August – Official test transmissions begin from Radio Andorra. The station is ceremonially inaugurated two days later by the French Minister of Public Works, Anatole de Monzie.
3 September – Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, announces on the BBC at 11.15 local time (10.15 GMT) that "this country is at war with Germany".
3 September – Fireside chat: On the European War.
25 December – Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol is read for the first time on American radio (CBS).

January 14 – Honolulu Bound debuts on CBS.
January 16 – I Love a Mystery debuts on west coast NBC stations.
February 13 – Virginia Payne takes over the role of Mrs. Carter in The Carters of Elm Street.
19 February – Norman Corwin's radio series Words Without Music is premiered on the CBS Radio Network.
April 3 – Mr. District Attorney (1939-1952) debuts on NBC.
1 September – At 21.00 local time the BBC's Home Service begins transmission: this will be the Corporation's only domestic radio channel for the first four months of World War II.

1 September – At 18.55 local time BBC engineers receive the order to close down all transmitters in preparation for wartime broadcasting: this marks the end of the National and Regional Programmes of the BBC.