References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2008 June 28.

1937 January 1 Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua. [1] Count Claus von Stauffenberg promoted to captain. [1] US Army Air Corps physiological research laboratory completed, Ohio. [1] January 2 Ross Alexander actor (Captain Blood, Boulder Dam), dies at age 29. [1] January 5 Only unicameral state legislature in US opens first session (Nebraska). [1] January 8 -50 degrees F (-45.6 degrees C), San Jacinto Nevada (state record). [1] John Felix August Korling composer, dies at age 72. [1] January 9 Italian regime bans marriages between Italians and Abyssinians. [1] Maxwell Anderson's "High Tor" premieres in New York City, New York. [1] January 12 Plow for laying submarine cable patented. [1] January 16 German cardinals and bishops meet with the ailing Pope, Pius XI seeking help in withstanding the aggression of the Nazi party. Pius XI agrees to issue an encyclical on the plight of the Church in Germany. [37] January 19 Millionaire Howard Hughes sets transcontinental air record (7h28m25s). [1] January 20 -45 degrees F (-43 degrees C), Boca California (state record). [1] First Inauguration day on January 20th, (held every fourth years thereafter). [1] January 23 Karl Radek and 16 others go on trial in Stalin's great purge. [1] January 25 Miami-to-Tampa bus overturned in a canal, kills 13. [1] Soap Opera Guiding Light premieres on NBC radio. [1] January 30 Second of Stalin's purge trials; Pyatakov and 16 others sentenced to death. [1] February 1 Marguerite Audoux writer, dies. [1] Stapleton, Staten Island becomes a customs-free port. [1] February 5 First Charlie Chaplin talkie, "Modern Times", is released. [1] Franklin Roosevelt proposes enlarging Supreme Court, "court packing" plan failed. [1] Lou [Andreas-]Salomé Russian/German author (Eroticism), dies at age 75. [1] February 6 K Elizabeth Ohi becomes first Japanese-US female lawyer. [1] February 7 Elihu Root US Minister of War/Foreign affairs (Nobel Prize 1912), dies at age 91. [1] February 8 Maxwell Anderson's "Masque of Kings" premieres in New York City, New York. [1] Scato Gocko de Vries Dutch paleographer/librarian, dies at age 75. [1] February 11 44-day sit-down strike at General Motors in Flint Michigan ends. [1] February 13 "Prince Valiant" comic strip appears; known for historical detail. [1] C A Bernoulli writer, dies. [1] February 14 Erkki Gustav Melartin composer, dies at age 62. [1] February 16 DuPont Corp patents nylon, developed by employee Wallace H Carothers. [1] Jean Anouilh's "Le Voyageur Sans Baggage" premieres in Paris. [1] February 20 First automobile/airplane combination tested, Santa Monica California. [1] February 24 First US group hospital-medical cooperative authorized, Washington DC. [1] February 26 C Isherwood/WH Auden's "Ascent of F6" premieres in London. [1] March 1 First permanent automobile license plates issued (Connecticut). [1] Governor Wouters innaugrates the radio station on the Dutch Antilles. [1] US Steel raises workers' wages to $5 a day. [1] March 2 Gustav Wohlgemuth composer, dies at age 73. [1] Mexico nationalizes oil. [1] March 3 Australia snatch series against England 3-2 after being 2-0 down. [1] March 6 Frank Vosper actor/writer (Jew Suss), dies at age 37. [1] March 7 Bucharin, Jagoda and Rykov pushed out of CPSU in USSR. [1] March 8 Albert Verwey Dutch poet/literature historian (Motion), dies at age 71. [1] March 11 Paul Scheinpflug composer, dies at age 61. [1] March 12 Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor French organist/composer, dies at age 93. [1] Jeno Hubay composer, dies at age 78. [1] March 14 Battle of the Century: Fred Allen and Jack Benny meet on radio. [1] Pope Pius XI publishes anti-Nazi-encyclical Mit brennender Sorge. [1] March 15 First blood bank is established (Chicago Illinois). [1] First state contraceptive clinic opens (Raleigh North Carolina). [1] March 16 All but one senior fouls out of a scrimmage game between seniors and sophomores, but he holds on to win the game 35-32. [1] J Austen Chamberlain English Minister of Foreign Affairs (Nobel), dies at age 73. [1] March 18 Gas explosion in school in New London Texas; 296 die. [1] The human-powered aircraft, Pedaliante, flies 1 kilometre outside Milan, Italy. [5] March 19 Horacio Quiroga Uruguayan author/poet, commits suicide at age 58. [1] Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Divini redemptoris against communism. [1] March 20 Franco-offensive at Guadalajara Spain. [1] March 21 Ponce massacre, police kill 19 at Puerto Rican Nationalist parade. [1] March 23 Helge Rode Danish poet/essayist, dies at age 66. [1] Los Angeles Railway Co starts using PCC streetcars. [1] March 24 Bus blew a tire, going out of control, killing 18 (Salem Illinois). [1] Léopold Courouble Belgian writer (Pauline Flatbread), dies at age 76. [1] National Gallery of Art established byUS Congress. [1] March 25 It's revealed Quaker Oats pays Babe Ruth $25,000 per year for ads. [1] Italy and Yugoslavia sign no-attack treaty (Pact of Belgrade). [1] John Drinkwater English poet/playwright (Bird in Hand), dies at age 54. [1] Washington Daily News is first US newspaper with perfumed advertising page. [1] March 26 Joe DiMaggio takes Ty Cobb's advice and replace his 40 with 36 ounce bat. [1] Spinach growers of Crystal City Texas, erect statue of Popeye. [1] William H Hastie becomes first black federal judge (Virgin Islands). [1] March 29 Karol Szymanowski Polish/Ukraine composer (Stabat Mater), dies at age 54. [1] April 1 Aden becomes British crown colony. [1] April 2 Nathan Birnbaum Austria philosopher (Zionism), dies at about age 72. [1] April 4 Frantisek X Salda Czechoslovakia, writer/critic, dies at age 69. [1] April 8 Arthur William Foote US organist/composer, dies at age 84. [1] William Henry Hadow composer (Studies in Modern Music), dies at age 77. [1] April 10 Algernon Ashton composer, dies at age 77. [1] April 15 Nikolai Artzibushev composer, dies at age 79. [1] April 17 Cartoon characters Daffy Duck, Elmer J Fudd and Petunia Pig, debut. [1] April 19 William M Conway English historian/explorer (Spitzbergen), dies at age 81. [1] April 22 New York City college students stage fourth annual peace strike. [1] April 25 Clem Sohn air show performer dies at age 26 when his chute fails to open. [1] April 26 German Luftwaffe destroys Basque town of Guernica in Spain. [1] April 27 Antonio Gramsci Italian philosopher/marxist theorist, dies at age 46. [1] US Social Security system makes its first benefit payment. [1] April 28 First animated cartoon electric sign displayed (New York City, New York). [1] First commercial flight across the Pacific, Pan Am. [1] April 30 General Douglas MacArthur marries Jean Faircloth. [1] May 1 Franklin Roosevelt signs act of neutrality. [1] Snitz Edwards actor (Phantom of the Opera, College), dies at age 75. [1] May 2 Arthur Somervell composer, dies at age 73. [1] May 3 Margaret Mitchell wins Pulitzer Prize for Gone With the Wind. [1] May 6 (1825 hours) Airhsip Hindenburg attempts landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, USA. A sudden explosion and fire destroys the ship, killing 36 people. The Hindenburg was the largest rigid airship ever built; the largest aircraft of any type ever to fly. The US Department of Commerce official investigation finds the cause of the accident to be ignition of hydrogen and air, most likely set off by atmospheric discharge. [1] [32.17] May 9 Walter Mittelholzer Swiss aviation pioneer, dies in crash at age 43. [1] May 10 Busmen strike in London. [1] Johannes Walter German geologist (Die Denudation in Wüste), dies. [1] May 11 Viliam Figus composer, dies at age 62. [1] May 12 King George VI's coronation in Great Britain. [1] May 17 Juan Negrin succeeds Largo Caballero as Spain's premier. [1] May 19 John Murray/Allen Boretz' "Room Service" premieres in New York City. [1] May 23 John Davison Rockfeller industrialist, dies at age 97 in Ormond Beach Florida. [1] May 25 First airmail letter to circle the globe returns to New York. [1] Henry O Tanner artist, dies. [1] May 26 Dutch Rail Nevada at law forms. [1] San Francisco Bay's Golden Gate Bridge opens. [1] May 27 Carl Hubbell wins his 24th consecutive game (since July 17, 1936). [1] In California, the Golden Gate Bridge opens to pedestrian traffic. [1] [5] May 28 Alfred Adler Austrian psychiatrist (Individual Psychology), dies at age 67. [1] Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco opens to vehicular traffic. [1] Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister of England. [1] May 30 Memorial Day Massacre - Chicago police shoot on union marchers at Republic Steel Plant in Chicago, 10 die. [1] May 31 First quadruplets to finish college (Baylor University). [1] German battleships bomb Almeria Spain. [1] June 3 Duke of Windsor (Edward 8) weds Mrs Wallis Warfield Simpson in France. [1] June 5 A Bohrmann discovers asteroid #1455 Mitchella. [1] June 8 World's largest flower blooms in New York Botonical Garden, 12' calla lily. [1] June 11 Marx Brothers' "A Day At The Races" released. [1] June 12 USSR executes 8 army leaders as Stalin's purge continued. [1] June 13 Joe DiMaggio hits three consecutive home runs against Saint Louis Browns. [1] June 16 Marx Brothers' "A Day At The Races" opens in Louisiana. [1] In London, England, Canadian Prime Minister William King meets with the Japanese ambassador. King accepts Japan's intentions in southern Asia as peaceful. [10] June 17 Marx Brothers' "A Day At The Races" opens in New York. [1] July 2 Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan disappear over Pacific Ocean. [1] C Jackson discovers asteroids #1429 Pemba and #1456 Saldanha. [1] July 5 117 degrees F (47 degrees C), Medicine Lake, Montana (state record). [1] C Jackson discovers asteroids #1428 Mombasa and #1430 Somalia. [1] July 7 Japanese and Chinese troops clash, which will become WW II. [1] July 11 George Gershwin composer (American in Paris), dies at age 38. [1] July 15 Japanese attack Marco Polo Bridge, invade China. [1] July 22 US Senate rejects Franklin Roosevelt proposal to enlarge Supreme Court. [1] July 23 Isolation of pituitary hormone announced (Yale University). [1] July 28 Joseph Lee father of Playgrounds movement, dies. [1] August 8 Bonneville Dam on Columbia River begins producing power. [1] August 26 Pumping to build Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay is finished. [1] August 27 George E.T. Eyston sets world auto speed record at 345.49 MPH. [1] August 28 Toyota Motors becomes an independent company. [5] September 15 WPA extends the L-Taraval streetcar to the San Francisco Zoo (at Sloat Boulevard). [1] September 21 J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" is published. [1] [5] September 22 Forest fire kills 14 and injures 50 in Cody Wyoming. [1] September 26 Bessie Smith singer, dies of injuries sustained in car crash. [1] September 27 First Santa Claus school opens (Albion New York). [1] September 28 Franklin Roosevelt dedicates Bonneville Dam on Columbia River (Oregon). [1] October 1 Pullman Co formally recognizes Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. [1] October 2 Franklin Roosevelt visits Grand Coulee Dam construction site in Washington State. [1] October 13 The German Government pledges to respect the neutrality and territorial integrity of Belgium. [10] October 15 Ernest Hemingway novel "To Have and Have Not" published. [1] November 5 The Disney Silly Symphony film The Old Mill is released to theaters in the USA. This is the first animated film using a multiplane camera. The camera alone cost US$70,000 to build, and stands 14 feet high. [6] Adolf Hitler meets with Minister of War Field Marshal von Blomberg, General von Fritsch, Admiral Erich Raeder, General Hermann Göring. He speaks of Germany's objectives in the world, to secure and preserve racial community. He announces his plans for an expansion of Germany over the next five years, in particular, into Austria and Czechoslovakia. [10] November 6 Italy signs the Anti-Cominterm Pact, joining Germany and Japan. [10] November 13 NBC forms first full-sized symphony orchestra exclusively for radio. [1] November 15 First congressional session in air-conditioned chambers. [1] November 17 Britain's Lord Halifax visits Germany, beginning of appeasement. [1] November 27 Pro-labor musical revue "Pins and Needles" opens, produced by ILGWU. [1] December 1 Japan recognizes Franco government. [1] December 3 Prosper Poullet Belgian mayor, dies. [1] December 7 Dutch Minister Romme proclaims married women are forbidden to work. [1] Russian chess player Aljechin recaptures world title from Max Euwe. [1] December 11 Italy withdraws from League of Nations. [1] December 12 Alfred Abel actor (Dr Mabuse, Metropolis), dies at age 57. [1] Japanese aircraft shell and sink US gunboat Panay on Yangtze River in China. (Japan apologized and eventually paid US $2.2 million in reparations). [1] NBC and RCA sends first mobile-TV vans onto the streets of New York. [1] December 14 Japanese troops conquer/plunder Nanjing. [1] December 17 Gerard Vissering banker/president of Dutch Bank, dies at age 72. [1] December 20 Bill O'Reilly takes 9-41 for New South Wales against South Australia. [1] Erich Ludendorff German general (WWI), dies at age 72. [1] December 21 The German General Staff's strategy plan, Plan Green, is completed, anticipating an aggressive war with Czechoslovakia. [10] RKO Radio Pictures world premieres Disney's first full-length animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Hollywood. It is the industry's first full-length animated movie. The US$1.5 million needed to complete the film nearly bankrupted the company. Two million drawings make up the 83 minute film. (Worldwide gross theater ticket sales of the original release: US$8.5 million.) [1] [6] Frank Kellog US foreign minister (Nobel Prize 1929), dies at age 80. [1] December 22 Daito Kokushi Zen founder of Daitokuji, dies in Kyoto at age 55. [1] Lincoln Tunnel (New York City, New York) opens to traffic. [1] December 24 Dutch government recognizes Italian king Emanuel III as emperor of Abyssinia. [1] December 25 Arturo Toscanini conducts first Symphony of the Air over NBC Radio. [1] December 26 Ivor Gurney composer, dies at age 47. [1] December 27 Mae West performs Adam and Eve skit that gets her banned from NBC radio. [1] December 28 Fascist Octavian Goga becomes Prime Minister of Romania/begins spread of Judaism. [1] Maurice J Ravel Swiss/French composer (Bolero), dies in Paris at age 62. [1] December 29 Ireland adopts constitution (Irish Free State becomes Eire). [1] Pan Am starts San Francisco CA-to-Auckland, New Zealand service. [1]