The Movie Timeline - be obsessive, be very obsessive
Movie history events from 1939
A scientist creates machines that destroy humankind. The Stitchpunks he created are the only survivors. (9)
Cecilia Tallis becomes a nurse in London and Robbie Turner fights reluctantly in mainland Europe. (Atonement)
Thomas and Martha Wayne are shot to death during a robbery, in front of their son Bruce. (Batman)
The film Gone With The Wind is released. (Best in Show)
Lee Blanchard cracks the Boulevard Citizens Bank robbery case. (Los Angeles, Ca) (The Black Dahlia)
Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi and family emigrates to the US. (Die Hard)
Captain Daniel McCormack agrees to be cryogenically frozen by Harry Finlay. (Forever Young)
Ruth Jamieson dies of cancer. (Whistle Stop, AL) (Fried Green Tomatoes)
Edward Wilson is recruited to the Skull and Bones Society. (Yale University) (The Good Shepherd)
Robert North is born. (I Know What You Did Last Summer)
Marcus Brody becomes Dean of the University. (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
Vickers machine gun is made. An African-American male who later becomes a regular at a Sommerton diner is born. (The Last Stand)
Yann Martel's novel would have taken place in this year. (Portugal) (Life of Pi)
The Norton 500 motorcycle, aka "The Mighty One", is constructed that Alberto Granado and Ernesto Guevara will ride across South America, and eventually leave wrecked before the Chilean desert. (The Motorcycle Diaries)
New York Knights' elder rookie Roy Hobbs spends about half the season sitting on the bench; once he gets into the line-up, Hobbs hits home run after home run. (New York) (The Natural)
John Bates dies. His son and wife Norman and Norma live alone together. (Kern County, California) (Psycho)
At Norman Bates' father's funeral, he is tickled by his mother Norma. Norman believes that his father was killed by multiple bee stings. (Kern County, California) (Psycho IV: The Beginning)
Andre Toulon shoots himself. His puppets live on. (Bodega Bay, California) (Puppet Master)
New York is attacked by flying robots, and famous scientists vanish from around the world. (New York) (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow)
A governess falls in love with a captain with seven children; they escape the Nazis by climbing the Alps into Switzerland. (Salzburg, Austria) (The Sound of Music)
Monday 2nd January: Time Magazine names Adolf Hitler Man of the Year 1938. (Death at a Funeral)
Monday 9th January: Future secret service chief Ward Abbott is born. (The Bourne Ultimatum)
Friday 13th January: Arthur "Doc" Barker is killed while trying to escape from prison. (Alcatraz Prison) (Bloody Mama)
Tuesday 31st January: Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter is born. (Unknown) (Hannibal)
Sunday 5th February: The "Voice of Terror" broadcasts a message. (Germany) (Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror)
Sunday 12th February: Ray Manzarek, future keyboardist of The Doors, is born. (Chicago, Illinois) (The Doors)
Friday 17th March: Doctor Totenkopf's robots attack New York City. (New York City) (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow)
Thursday 23rd March: People hear "The Voice of Terror" (England) (Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror)
Wednesday 29th March: Clark Gable & Carole Lombard marry. (Gable and Lombard)
Sunday 30th April: Lou Gehrig plays final game for New York Yankees. (The Pride of the Yankees)
Friday 12th May: A diplomat dies in when a train's course is changed. (Liverpool, England) (Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror)
Thursday 25th May: The Detective License Bureau of the California State Board of Prison Directors issues Michael Shayne his detective license. (Sacramento, CA) (Michael Shayne, Private Detective)
Wednesday 7th June: By order of General Von Hellwig, the German Authorities of Occupation permit the piano recital of Mr. Jan Volny at the Smetana Concert Hall accompanied by the Czech Philhamonic Orchestra, thus demonstrating their "readiness to grant cultural freedom to the Czech population." However, Volny is specifically prohibited from playing Bedřich Smetana's Die Moldau for fear it will ignite anti-Nazi sentiment among the audience members. Volny plays the piece for an encore despite the danger and makes arrangements to flee the country immediately after the concert. (Prague, Czechoslovakia) (Voice in the Wind)
Tuesday 13th June: "Doc" Barker is killed by prison guards as he attempts to escape from Alcatraz Prison. (San Francisco Bay) (The F.B.I. Story: The FBI Versus Alvin Karpis, Public Enemy Number One)
Saturday 1st July: "The Voice of Terror" is heard. (England) (Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror)
August: New York Globe editor appoints Johnny Jones as foreign correspondent, under the pen name "Huntley Haverstock." (New York, New York) (Foreign Correspondent)
August: Thomas Hewitt, aka Leatherface, is born on the production floor of Lee Bros' Meat Packing Co; he is found by Luda Mae Hewitt in a dumpster outside the building. (Texas) (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning)
Tuesday 1st August: Da Mayor takes off like white lightning up a black snake ass during a baseball game. (Snowhill, Alabama) (Do the Right Thing)
Tuesday 8th August: Nazis sink a troop ship. (Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror)
Wednesday 9th August: London Bulletin headline: "NAZIS SINK TROOP SHIP." (London, England) (Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror)
Sunday 20th August: People visit RMS "Queen Mary." (New York City, New York) (Foreign Correspondent)
Friday 25th August: Mr. Powers writes to Huntley Haverstock, saying that he should go to the Van Meer luncheon at the Carlton Hotel in London. (New York, New York) (Foreign Correspondent)
Saturday 26th August: Mr. Powers writes to Huntley Haverstock that he should go to the peace conference in Amsterdam where Van Meer will be. (New York, New York) (Foreign Correspondent)
Sunday 27th August: Robert James Matthews and Nan Elizabeth Harper have their banns of marriage published at the morning service of their local parish. (London, England) (The Bells Go Down)
Sunday 27th August: Huntley Haverstock leaves Hotel Europe when he realizes he is being followed. (London, England) (Foreign Correspondent)
Monday 28th August: A man falls out of Westminister Cathedral tower. (London, England) (Foreign Correspondent)
September: Lady Sarah Ashley arrives in Darwin. She meets Drover who takes her to her husband's estate, Faraway Downs. (Darwin, Australia) (Australia)
September: Nazis take census of Polish Jews arriving in Krakow. (Schindler's List)
Friday 1st September: Germans bomb Warsaw. (Warsaw, Poland) (Foreign Correspondent)
Sunday 3rd September: Bob Matthews and Nan Harper call off their engagement when war is declared. Having been turned down by the armed services, Bob joins the Auxiliary Fire Services along. (London, England) (The Bells Go Down)
Sunday 3rd September: England declares war against Germany. (Foreign Correspondent)
Sunday 3rd September: The United Kingdom declares war on Nazi Germany. (London, England) (The King's Speech)
Tuesday 19th September: Sherlock Holmes has a meeting with the Intelligence Council concerning The Voice of Terror. (London, England) (Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror)
October: A boy is born with the last name of Withnail. (England) (Withnail & I)
Tuesday 10th October: Eleanor Rigby dies 44 years of age asleep. (Liverpool, England) (In His Life: The John Lennon Story)
Wednesday 18th October: Lee Harvey Oswald is born. (New Orleans, Louisiana) (X-Men: Days of Future Past)
Sunday 29th October: Lady Sarah Ashley, the Drover et al arrive in Darwin with 1,500 cattle ready for the army after successfully crossing the desert despite the evil designs of their enemy King Carney. (Darwin, Australia) (Australia)
Thursday 2nd November: The military tribunal of POW Theodor Kretschmar-Schuldorff. (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp)
Thursday 16th November: Danish sea captain Andersen, delayed in a British port, discovers his landing passes have been stolen by two German spies disguised as passengers. He sneaks ashore and onto a London-bound train in order to stop them. (Eastgate-On-Sea, England) (Contraband)
Sunday 26th November: Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock) is born. (Brownsville, Tennessee) (What's Love Got to Do with It)
Friday 1st December: Polish Jews are forced to wear stars, marking them out. (The Pianist)
Monday 25th December: King George VI delivers the Royal Christmas Message over the radio with friend and teacher Lionel Logue helping through every moment. (London, England) (The King's Speech)