October 11, 1939: The Atomic Age Begins

Wednesday 11 October 1939

The Iroquois arrives in New York City, 11 October 1939.

Western Front: Heavy artillery duels and probing attacks on French outposts on 11 October 1939.

Battle of the Atlantic: The passenger liner Iroquois arrives in New York, accompanied by a coast guard cutter and two US destroyers. It thus arrives safely despite the Admiral Raeder warnings of a potential false-flag sinking.

The British detain the US freighter Sundance in London and the US freighter Black Tern at Weymouth. The British release the US freighter Black Gull.

Finland: Anti-aircraft and other defensive armament being installed in all large Finnish towns. Voluntary evacuations continue. Paasikivi arrives in Moscow.

Anglo-Soviet Relations: The British and Soviets sign a trade agreement. The Soviets will trade timber for rubber and Cornish tin.

Population Movements: Ethnic Germans are being "returned" to Germany from the Baltic states.

Polish Government: The Poles have set up a government-in-exile in Paris. Foreign Minister August Zaleski arrives in London for consultations with Lord Halifax.

British Government: Secretary of War Baron Leslie Hore-Belisha reports to the House of Commons on the state of the BEF.

In a by-election in Clackmannan and East Sterling, the Labour Party candidate receives 15,645 votes, the Pacifist candidate only 1,060.

British Military: The War Office increases weekly production of mustard gas from 310 to 1200 tons.

US Government: President Roosevelt attempts to intercede in the Soviet/Finnish negotiations, urging Soviet President Mikhail Kalinin to "make no demands on Finland which are inconsistent with the maintenance and development of amicable and peaceful relations between the two countries, and the independence of each."

Manhattan Project: FDR finally receives the Einstein–Szilárd letter from last August. He orders investigation into the technical possibility of an "atomic bomb."

German Homefront: There is an erroneous radio broadcast that the British government has fallen and the new government wishes to make peace. This leads to widespread rejoicing.

Future History: The passenger liner Iroquois will be acquired by the US Navy on 22 July 1940. The Navy will put it into service as a hospital ship at Ford Island, Honolulu, Hawaii, where it will be on 7 December 1941.

Albert Einstein and Leo Szilárd re-enact their August 1939 meeting about the letter the latter had drafted to President Roosevelt about the atomic bomb.

October 1939

October 1, 1939: Occupation of Warsaw
October 2, 1939: Hel Peninsula Falls
October 3, 1939: The Diamantis Incident
October 4, 1939: Otto Kretschmer Gets Rolling
October 5, 1939: Polish Resistance Ends
October 6, 1939: Hitler Peace Effort
October 7, 1939: The British Have Arrived
October 8, 1939: First RAF Kill from UK
October 9, 1939: "City of Flint" Incident
October 10, 1939: Lithuania Under Pressure
October 11, 1939: The Atomic Age Begins
October 12, 1939: England Rejects Hitler's Peace Offer
October 13, 1939: Charles Lindbergh Speaks Out
October 14 1939: Royal Oak Sunk
October 15, 1939: Cuban Rockets
October 16, 1939: First Aircraft Shot Down Over UK
October 17, 1939: Marshall Mannerheim Returns
October 18, 1939: Prien Receives His Award
October 19, 1939: Preliminary Plan for Fall Gelb
October 20, 1939: Hitler Grapples with the Jews
October 21, 1939: Hurricanes to the Rescue!
October 22, 1939: Goebbels Lies Through His Teeth
October 23, 1939: Norway the Center of Attention
October 24, 1939: German "Justice" Gets Rolling
October 25, 1939: Handley Page Halifax Bomber First Flies
October 26, 1939: Jozef Tiso Takes Slovakia
October 27, 1939: King Leopold Stands Firm
October 28, 1939 - First Luftwaffe Raid on Great Britain
October 29, 1939: Tinkering with Fall Gelb
October 30, 1939: Defective Torpedoes
October 31, 1939: Molotov Issues an Ultimatum

2019