istoryworld
Events relating to europe
French troops rush to defend France's border with Germany, along the heavily fortified Maginot Line
A British Expeditionary Force (BEF) of about 150,000 infantry crosses the Channel to help defend France's border with Belgium
In spite of the Axis agreement of 1936, Mussolini declines to bring Italy into the war on Hitler's side
Alan Turing joins the code-breaking team working on Enigma at Bletchley Park
A German U-boat sinks the British aircraft carrier Courageous off the coast of Ireland
Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark jointly declare their neutrality
Warsaw falls, after a brave resistance, whereupon Germany and Russia carve up Poland
Nazi murder squads (Einsatzgruppen) kill Poland's elite
A German U-boat sinks the British battleship Royal Oak at anchor in Scapa Flow
Soviet troops cross the borders of Finland, beginning the brief Russo-Finnish War, in keeping with the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Finns win spectacular victories in counter-attacks against the Russian invaders, destroying four Soviet divisions
The USSR is expelled from the League of Nations because of the Soviet invasion of Finland
T.S. Eliot gives cats a poetic character in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
German bombers attack the barracks at Aldershot, in the first aerial raid of what becomes the Battle of Britain
English potter Bernard Leach publishes an influential manual, A Potter's Book
Mohammed Ali Jinnah puts forward the concept of independent Muslim states within India
Richard Addinsell writes the Warsaw Concerto as music for the film Dangerous Moonlight
British biologists Ernst Chain and Howard Florey develop penicillin as a safe and useful antibacterial drug
Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman is rejected by numerous publishers before becoming, decades later, his best-known novel
British actors Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier marry
Roger Schutz establishes an ecumenical religious order at Taiz&eachute; in France
Radar masts along the coasts of Britain give early warning of German air attacks
An assassin sent by Stalin kills the exiled Trotsky in his home in Mexico City
Schoolboys, out hunting, discover paintings in a cave at Lascaux after their dog falls into a hole
Civilian heroism is rewarded in Britain with a new medal, the George Cross
