General fact: 39 is the traditional number of times citizens of Ancient Rome hit their slaves when beating them, referred to as "Forty save one".
Mathematical fact: 39 is the sum of five consecutive primes (3 + 5 + 7 + 11 + 13) and the sum of the first three powers of 3 (31 + 32 + 33).
Trivia: 39 is the number of Scud missiles which Iraq fired at Israel during the Gulf War in 1991.
Historical date: February 8th is the day in 1693 that the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia is granted a charter by King William III and Queen Mary II.