1939 87 years ago Historical Events August 2 5 sources

Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon.

On August 2, in the year 1939, Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon. This event is recorded as a Historical Events event in the history of August 2, one of 455 recorded events on this date across all of history.

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum theory. His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from special relativity, has been called "the world's most famous equation". He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for "his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect".

Key Facts

  • This event took place on August 2, 1939 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Historical Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 5 Wikipedia articles.
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 28 July 2026.

On This Date in History 455

Type Year Date Event
Notable Deaths 2023 Aug 2 Nitin Chandrakant Desai, Indian art director, production designer, and film and television producer (born 1965)
Notable Deaths 2022 Aug 2 Vin Scully, American sportscaster and game show host (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2020 Aug 2 Suzanne Perlman, Hungarian-Dutch visual artist (born 1922)
Notable Deaths 2017 Aug 2 Judith Jones, American literary and cookbook editor (born 1924)
Notable Deaths 2016 Aug 2 Terence Bayler, New Zealand actor (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2016 Aug 2 David Huddleston, American actor (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2016 Aug 2 Franciszek Macharski, Polish cardinal (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2016 Aug 2 Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1946)
Notable Deaths 2015 Aug 2 Forrest Bird, American pilot and engineer (born 1921)
Notable Deaths 2015 Aug 2 Giovanni Conso, Italian jurist and politician, Italian Minister of Justice (born 1922)
Notable Deaths 2015 Aug 2 Piet Fransen, Dutch footballer (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2015 Aug 2 Jack Spring, American baseball player (born 1933)
Historical Events 2014 Aug 2 At least 146 people were killed and more than 114 injured in a factory explosion in Kunshan, Jiangsu, China.
Notable Deaths 2014 Aug 2 Ed Joyce, American journalist (born 1932)
Notable Deaths 2014 Aug 2 Billie Letts, American author and educator (born 1938)
Notable Deaths 2014 Aug 2 Barbara Prammer, Austrian social worker and politician (born 1954)
Notable Deaths 2014 Aug 2 James Thompson, American-Finnish author (born 1964)
Notable Deaths 2013 Aug 2 Julius L. Chambers, American lawyer and activist (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2013 Aug 2 Richard E. Dauch, American businessman, co-founded American Axle (born 1942)
Notable Deaths 2013 Aug 2 Alla Kushnir, Russian–Israeli chess player (born 1941)
Notable Deaths 2012 Aug 2 Gabriel Horn, English biologist and academic (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2012 Aug 2 Magnus Isacsson, Canadian director and producer (born 1948)
Notable Deaths 2012 Aug 2 Jimmy Jones, American singer-songwriter (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2012 Aug 2 John Keegan, English historian and journalist (born 1934)
Notable Deaths 2012 Aug 2 Bernd Meier, German footballer (born 1972)
Notable Deaths 2012 Aug 2 Marguerite Piazza, American soprano (born 1920)
Notable Deaths 2011 Aug 2 José Sanchis Grau, Spanish author and illustrator (born 1932)
Notable Deaths 2008 Aug 2 Fujio Akatsuka, Japanese illustrator (born 1935)
Selected Events 2008 Aug 2 A taxi driver is murdered in Bangkok by a teenager addicted to video games leading to the Thai government banning the…
Notable Deaths 2007 Aug 2 Chauncey Bailey, American journalist (born 1950)
Selected Events 2007 Aug 2 Raúl Iturriaga, a former deputy director of the Chilean secret police, was captured in Viña del Mar after having been…
Notable Births 2006 Aug 2 Héctor Fort, Spanish footballer
Historical Events 2005 Aug 2 Air France Flight 358 lands at Toronto Pearson International Airport and runs off the runway, causing the plane to…
Notable Deaths 2005 Aug 2 Steven Vincent, American journalist and author (born 1955)
Notable Deaths 2004 Aug 2 Ferenc Berényi, Hungarian painter and academic (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2004 Aug 2 François Craenhals, Belgian illustrator (born 1926)
Notable Deaths 2004 Aug 2 Heinrich Mark, Estonian lawyer and politician, 5th prime minister of Estonia in exile (born 1911)
Notable Deaths 2003 Aug 2 Peter Safar, Austrian-American physician and academic (born 1924)
Notable Births 2000 Aug 2 Varvara Gracheva, Russian tennis player
Notable Births 2000 Aug 2 Mohammed Kudus, Ghanaian footballer
Historical Events 1999 Aug 2 The Gaisal train disaster claims 285 lives in Assam, India.
Notable Births 1999 Aug 2 Mark Lee, Korean-Canadian singer
Notable Deaths 1999 Aug 2 Willie Morris, American writer (born 1934)
Notable Deaths 1998 Aug 2 Shari Lewis, American television host and puppeteer (born 1933)
Notable Births 1997 Aug 2 Austin Theory, American wrestler
Notable Deaths 1997 Aug 2 William S. Burroughs, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (born 1914)
Notable Deaths 1997 Aug 2 Harald Kihle, Norwegian painter and illustrator (born 1905)
Notable Deaths 1997 Aug 2 Fela Kuti, Nigerian singer-songwriter and activist (born 1938)
Notable Births 1996 Aug 2 Keston Hiura, American baseball player
Notable Births 1996 Aug 2 Simone Manuel, American swimmer

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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