At sea
SprueStack Zero Hour: WW2 day by day
20 December 1939
What happened on this day in the Second World War, from 1939 to 1945, with a source for every entry.
About this page
Each day we list events from the Second World War that happened on that date, from 1939 to 1945. Every entry names its source and links to it, so you can read further. Entries are sourced and machine-screened before they go up, a subset is human-reviewed, and we add more over time.
7 of 9 sourced entries for this date, chosen by the editor.
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Entries
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At sea
U.S. freighters Oakwood, bound for Genoa, Italy, and Executive, bound for Greece, Turkey, and Rumania, are detained by British authorities at Gibraltar (see 23 December 1939 and 3 January 1940, respectively).
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Diplomatic record
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Japan (Grew)
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Diplomatic record
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
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Diplomatic record
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Switzerland (Harrison)
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Excerpt from the London Gazette, Issue 34757, page 8458, published 1939-12-22: "f the publication in the LondonGazette of any Order of Your Majesty inCouncil ratifying this Scheme.
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Excerpt from the London Gazette, Supplement to Issue 34776, page 372, published 1940-01-19: "this Order be forthwith registered by the Registrar of the said Diocese of York. Rupert B. Howorth.
The full list for this date is being cleaned and will return soon.
Sources listed with each entry. Spotted an error? Tell us.
20 December in other years 19401941194219431944
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