Born in 1939
Turns 87 in 2026
Gifts for someone born in 1939
1939 Front PageTheir name. The news from their year.Unframed from £21.50Add their name
Their birth chartThe sky as astrology reads it, cast for one birth.Unframed from £21.50
The Years We Were BornThe whole family, together in years.Unframed from £21.50
Our Story timelineTheir life, told in your words.Unframed from £21.50
Front Page: United Kingdom edition. The year is filled in; add their name in the editor. “Your name” is a placeholder. Light news is selected. A new keepsake, not an original newspaper.
BACK TO 1939 · United Kingdom
A little history to go with their gift.
The New York World’s Fair opened with a showcase of technology and ideas about the future, the Heinkel He 178 made the first turbojet-powered flight, and The Wizard of Oz reached audiences. These records capture spectacle, engineering and a film with lasting popular appeal.
What happened in 1939?
The New York World’s Fair Opened A Future Showcase
The New York World’s Fair opened on 30 April 1939 in Flushing Meadows, Queens.
NYC Department of Records & Information Services · New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division
The Heinkel He 178 makes its first jet flight
The Heinkel He 178 made its first turbojet-powered flight at Rostock on August 27, 1939.
A film carries Dorothy down the yellow road
The Wizard of Oz reached audiences in 1939, with Judy Garland as Dorothy in a musical fantasy.
A cyclotron earns a Nobel Prize
Ernest Lawrence received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing and developing the cyclotron.
Firsts and new ideas
Britain’s radar stations form a coastal chain
By the outbreak of war in 1939, Britain had radar stations linked along its coastline.
A new radio signal reaches the air
Edwin Armstrong began broadcasting from the first full-scale FM station, W2XMN, in 1939.
Number ones and music in 1939
Chart positions belong to the country and chart named in each record.
Vera Lynn records a song of return
Vera Lynn recorded We'll Meet Again in 1939, before it became closely associated with wartime Britain.
A film ballad gives Dorothy a dream
Judy Garland sang Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg’s yearning ballad in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.
American Film Institute Catalog · Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Prices and everyday money in 1939
United Kingdom figures in the money of the time. Units and sources matter: these are not today's prices.
| Item or measure | Then | Unit and source |
|---|---|---|
| Average weekly earnings per person in the United Kingdom (Bank of England series) | £2 3s 5d per week | GBP per week Bank of England (series republished by Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED) |
| sugar (annual average) | 3d | equivalent 1 lb (calculated from ONS per kg) Office for National Statistics |
| flour (annual average) | 4d | equivalent 2 lb (calculated from ONS per 1.5 kg) Office for National Statistics |
| bread (annual average) | 2d | equivalent 1 lb (calculated from ONS 800 g source measure; not historical loaf size) Office for National Statistics |
Planning the birthday
Someone born in 1939 turns 87 in 2026. Before their birthday they are one year younger. Choose the birth year for the print; add the full date in the editor if you know it.
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