- March 1
- Governor Wouters innaugrates the radio station on the Dutch Antilles. [1]
- March 2
- Mexico nationalizes oil. [1]
- March 7
- Bucharin, Jagoda and Rykov pushed out of CPSU in USSR. [1]
- March 14
- Pope Pius XI publishes anti-Nazi-encyclical Mit brennender Sorge. [1]
- March 18
- Gas explosion in school in New London, Texas, USA; 296 die. [1]
- The human-powered aircraft, Pedaliante, flies 1 kilometre outside Milan, Italy. [5]
- March 19
- 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 25
- Italy and Yugoslavia sign no-attack treaty (Pact of Belgrade). [1]
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- April 1
- Burma splits from India as self-governing unit of British Commonwealth. [700.1266]
- Aden becomes British crown colony, and issues its first postage stamps. [1] [700.248] [1135] [1377.1]
- April 26
- German Luftwaffe destroys Basque town of Guernica in Spain. [1]
- April 28
- First commercial flight across the Pacific, by Pan Am. [1]
- May 1
- US President Franklin Roosevelt signs act of neutrality. [1]
- May 3
- Margaret Mitchell wins Pulitzer Prize for Gone With the Wind. [1]
- May 6
- (1825 hours) Airship 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 12
- King George VI's coronation at Westminster Abbey in England. [1] [1456.119]
- May 17
- Juan Negrin succeeds Largo Caballero as Spain's premier. [1]
- May 25
- First airmail letter to circle the globe returns to New York. [1]
- May 27
- In California, the Golden Gate Bridge officially opens to pedestrian traffic. The bridge is the world's longest span to date, between San Francisco and Marin County. [1] [5] [129] [443.40]
- May 28
- Neville Chamberlain becomes the Prime Minister of Great Britain. [1] [5]
- May 30
- Memorial Day Massacre - Chicago police shoot on union marchers at Republic Steel Plant in Chicago, Illinois, USA; ten die. [1]
- May 31
- German battleships bomb Almeria, Spain. [1]
- June 3
- Duke Edward of Windsor and Wallis Warfield marry at the Château de Candé in France's Loire Valley. [1] [129] [1382.8] [1394.40] [1456.121]
- June 8
- World's largest flower blooms in New York Botonical Garden, 12-inch calla lily. [1]
- June 12
- USSR executes eight army leaders as Josef Stalin's purge continues. [1]
- June 16
- In London, England, Canadian Prime Minister William King meets with the Japanese ambassador. King accepts Japan's intentions in southern Asia as peaceful. [10]
- July 2
- Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan disappear over Pacific Ocean. [1]
- July 7
- Japanese and Chinese troops clash, which will become part of World War II. [1]
- July 15
- Japanese attack Marco Polo Bridge, invade China. [1]
- July 23
- Isolation of pituitary hormone announced (Yale University). [1]
- August 1
- The ship Normandie crosses the Atlantic westbound in record time, 3 days, 23 hours, 2 minutes. [274.200]
- August 8
- The ship Normandie crosses the Atlantic eastbound in record time, 3 days, 22 hours, 7 minutes. [274.200]
- 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 17
- The head of Abraham Lincoln on Mount Rushmore is dedicated in Black Hills, South Dakota. [437.80]
- September 21
- J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Hobbit is published. [1] [5]
- September 22
- Forest fire kills 14 and injures 50 in Cody Wyoming. [1]
- October 13
- The German Government pledges to respect the neutrality and territorial integrity of Belgium. [10]
- October 22
- Duke Edward of England meets with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgarden. [1456.133]
- 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 17
- Britain's Lord Halifax visits Germany, beginning of appeasement. [1]
- December 1
- Japan recognizes Franco government of Spain. [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 10
- Dollar Line's SS President Hoover runs aground off Japanese island of Formosa. All passengers are transferred to the SS President Pierce after four days. The ship is scavenged by the Japanese in 1939. [93.40]
- December 11
- Italy withdraws from League of Nations. [1]
- December 12
- Japanese aircraft shell and sink US gunboat Panay on Yangtze River in China. (Japan apologizes and eventually pays US $2.2 million in reparations). [1]
- December 14
- Japanese troops conquer/plunder Nanjing. [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]
- December 24
- Dutch government recognizes Italian king Emanuel III as emperor of Abyssinia. [1]
- December 28
- Fascist Octavian Goga becomes Prime Minister of Romania; begins spread of Judaism. [1]
- December 29
- Ireland adopts constitution (Irish Free State becomes Eire). [1]
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