| January 1 | Anastasio Somoza becomes president of Nicaragua |
| January 1 | Count Claus von Stauffenberg promoted to captain |
| January 1 | U.S. Army Air Corps physiological research laboratory completed, Ohio |
| January 5 | Fingleton and Bradman make record stand of 346 for 6th wkt |
| January 5 | Only unicameral state legislature in U.S. opens 1st session (Nebr) |
| January 6 | Bradman scores 270 Australia vs. England at the MCG, incl 110 singles |
| January 8 | -50 degrees F (-45.6 degrees C), San Jacinto, Nevada (state record) |
| January 9 | Italian regime bans marriages between Italians and Abyssinians |
| January 9 | Maxwell Anderson's "High Tor" premieres in New York City |
| January 12 | Plow for laying submarine cable patented |
| January 19 | Cy Young, Tris Speaker and Nap Lajorie elected to Baseball Hall of Fame |
| January 19 | Millionaire Howard Hughes sets transcontinental air record (7h28m25s) |
| January 20 | 1st Inauguration day on Jan 20th, (held every 4th years there-after) |
| January 20 | -45 degrees F (-43 degrees C), Boca, California (state record) |
| January 23 | Karl Radek and 16 others go on trial in Stalin's great purge |
| January 25 | 1st broadcast of Soap Opera "Guiding Light" on NBC radio |
| January 25 | Miami-to-Tampa bus overturned in a canal, kills 13 |
| January 30 | 2nd of Stalin's purge trials; Pyatakov and 16 others sentenced to death |
| February 1 | Stapleton, Staten Island becomes a customs-free port |
| February 3 | Bradman scores 212 (in 441 minutes!) in 5th Test Cricket vs. England |
| February 4 | Jim Margie, Philadelphia, bowls 900 in 3 (unsanctioned) games |
| February 5 | 1st Charlie Chaplin talkie, "Modern Times," released |
| February 5 | Franklin D. Roosevelt proposes enlarging Supreme Court, "court packing" plan failed |
| February 6 | K Elizabeth Ohi becomes 1st Japanese-U.S. female lawyer |
| February 8 | Maxwell Anderson's "Masque of Kings," premieres in New York City |
| February 10 | Ragnhild Hveger swims world free style record 400m (5:14.2) |
| February 11 | 44-day sit-down strike at General Motors in Flint, Michigan ends |
| February 12 | Cleveland (now Los Angeles) Rams granted an NFL franchise |
| February 13 | Bradman scores 123 SA vs. Queensland, 165 minutes, 10-4s 1-6 in cricket |
| February 13 | Maribel Vinson wins her 9th U.S. figure skating championship |
| February 13 | NFL Boston Redskins move to Washington D.C. |
| February 13 | "Prince Valiant" comic strip appears; known for historical detail |
| February 13 | U.S. Female Figure Skating championship won by Maribel Vinson |
| February 13 | U.S. Male Figure Skating championship won by Robin Lee |
| February 16 | DuPont Corp patents nylon, developed by employee Wallace H Carothers |
| February 16 | Jean Anouilh's "Le Voyageur Sans Baggage," premieres in Paris |
| February 20 | 1st automobile/airplane combination tested, Santa Monica, Ca |
| February 24 | 1st U.S. group hospital-medical cooperative authorized, Washington, D.C. |
| February 26 | C Isherwood/WH Auden's "Ascent of F6," premieres in London |
| February 27 | Bradman scores 169 in 5th Test Cricket vs. England in 223 minutes |
| March 1 | 1st permanent automobile license plates issued (Connecticut) |
| March 1 | Governer Wouters inaugurates the radio station on the Dutch Antilles |
| March 1 | U.S. Steel raises workers' wages to $5 a day |
| March 2 | Mexico nationalizes oil |
| March 3 | Australia snatch series against England 3-2 after being 2-0 down |
| March 7 | Bucharin, Jagoda and Rykov pushed out of CPSU in U.S.S.R. |
| March 14 | Battle of the Century: Fred Allen and Jack Benny meet on radio |
| March 14 | Pope Pius XI publishes anti-nazi-encyclical Mit brennender Sorge |
| March 15 | 1st blood bank forms (Chicago, Illinois) |
| March 15 | 1st state contraceptive clinic opens (Raleigh North Carolina) |
| 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 |
| March 18 | Gas explosion in school in New London Texas: 294 die |
| March 19 | Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Divini redemptoris against communism |
| March 20 | Franco-offensive at Guadalajara Spain |
| March 21 | Ponce massacre, police kill 19 at Puerto Rican Nationalist parade |
| March 23 | Los Angeles Railway Co. starts using PCC streetcars |
| March 24 | Bus blew a tire, going out of control, killing 18 (Salem Illinois) |
| March 24 | National Gallery of Art established by Congress |
| March 25 | It's revealed Quaker Oats pays Babe Ruth $25,000 per year for ads |
| March 25 | Italy and Yugoslavia sign no-attack treaty (Pact of Belgrade) |
| March 25 | Lionel Conacher misses on 1st Stanley Cup penalty shot |
| March 25 | Washington Daily News is 1st U.S. newspaper with perfumed advertising page |
| March 26 | Joe DiMaggio takes Ty Cobb's advice and replace his 40 with 36 oz bat |
| March 26 | Spinach growers of Crystal City, Texas, erect statue of Popeye |
| March 26 | William H. Hastie becomes 1st black federal judge (Virgin Islands) |
| March 27 | Feyenoord-stadium official opens in Rotterdam |
| April 1 | Aden becomes British crown colony |
| April 4 | 4th Golf Masters Championship: Byron Nelson wins, shooting a 283 |
| April 15 | Stanley Cup: Detroit Red Wings beat New York Rangers, 3 games to 2 |
| April 17 | Cartoon characters Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and Petunia Pig, debut |
| April 19 | 41st Boston Marathon won by Walter Young of Canada in 2:33:20 |
| April 22 | New York City college students stage 4th annual peace strike |
| April 26 | German Luftwaffe destroys Basque town of Guernica in Spain |
| April 27 | U.S. Social Security system makes its 1st benefit payment |
| April 28 | 1st animated cartoon electric sign displayed (New York City) |
| April 28 | 1st commercial flight across Pacific, Pan Am |
| April 30 | General Douglas MacArthur marries Jean Faircloth |
| May 1 | Franklin D. Roosevelt signs act of neutrality |
| May 3 | Margaret Mitchell wins Pulitzer Prize for 'Gone With the Wind' |
| May 6 | Dirigible Hindenburg explodes in flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey (36 die) |
| May 8 | 63rd Kentucky Derby: Charley Kurtsinger on War Admiral wins 2:03.2 |
| May 9 | Reds beat Phillies 21-10 (Ernie Lombardi goes 6 for 6) |
| May 10 | Busmen strike in London |
| May 12 | George VI crowned King of England |
| May 12 | St. Louis Cardinals beat Philadelphia Phillies, 15-3 |
| May 15 | 63rd Preakness: Charley Kurtsinger aboard War Admiral wins in 1:58.4 |
| May 17 | Juan Negrin succeeds Largo Caballero as Spain's premier |
| May 19 | John Murray/Allen Boretz' "Room Service," premieres in New York City |
| May 25 | 1st airmail letter to circle globe returns to New York |
| May 26 | Dutch Rail NV at law forms |
| May 26 | San Francisco Bay's Golden Gate Bridge opens |
| May 27 | Carl Hubbell wins his 24th consecutive game (since July 17, 1936) |
| May 27 | Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, dedicated |
| May 28 | Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco opens to vehicular traffic |
| May 28 | Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister of England |
| May 30 | 20th PGA Championship: Denny Shute at Pittsburgh FC Aspinwall PA |
| May 30 | 61,756, 2nd-largest crowd in Polo Grounds history, sees Dodgers ends Carl Hubbell's consecutive-game winning streak at 24 |
| May 30 | Memorial Day Massacre - Chicago police shoot on union marchers, 10 die |
| May 30 | Pitcher Carl Hubbell's 24th consecutive victory |
| May 30 | Police kill 10 strikers at Republic Steel Plant in Chicago |
| May 31 | 1st quadruplets to finish college (Baylor University) |
| May 31 | Brooklyn Dodgers snap New York Giant Carl Hubbell's 24-game winning streak |
| May 31 | German battleships bomb Almeria, Spain |
| June 1 | Chicago White Sox Bill Dietrich no-hits St. Louis Browns, 8-0 |
| June 1 | Prince Konoye becomes Japanese premier |
| June 3 | Duke of Windsor (Edward 8) weds Mrs. Wallis Warfield Simpson in France |
| June 3 | Josh Gibson home run just 2 feet below rim of Yankee Stadium, 580' drive |
| June 4 | Leon Blum becomes premier of People's front government of France |
| June 5 | 69th Belmont: Charley Kurtsinger aboard War Admiral wins in 2:28.6 |
| June 5 | Henry Ford initiates 32 hour work week |
| June 6 | Phillies trailing 8-2 to St. Louis, forfeit game |
| June 8 | World's largest flower blooms in New York Botanical Garden, 12' calla lily |
| June 11 | Marx Brothers' "A Day At The Races" released |
| June 12 | 41st U.S. Golf Open: Ralph Guldahl shoots a 281 at Oakland Hills, Michigan |
| June 12 | U.S.S.R. executes 8 army leaders as Stalin's purge continues |
| June 13 | Joe DiMaggio hits 3 consecutive home runs against St. Louis Browns |
| June 13 | Stalin executes Rus officers Tuchachevski, Jakir, Putna and Uberevitch |
| June 16 | Marx Brothers' "A Day At The Races" opens in LA |
| June 17 | Marx Brothers' "A Day At The Races" opens in New York |
| June 19 | Franco-troops conquer Bilbao Basques |
| June 21 | French People's front government-Blum falls |
| June 22 | Joe Louis KOs James J. Braddock in 18 for heavyweight boxing title |
| June 25 | Cub Augie Galan becomes 1st player to switch hit home runs in a game |
| June 26 | Test cricket debut of Len Hutton vs. New Zealand at Lord's, scores 0 and 1 |
| July 1 | Britian begins using an emergency phone number (999) |
| July 1 | Reverend Martin Niemoller (Bekennende Kirche) arrested in Germany |
| July 1 | Spanish bishops support Franco and fascists |
| July 2 | 57th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Don Budge beats G von Cramm (63 64 62) |
| July 2 | Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan disappear over Pacific Ocean |
| July 5 | 117 degrees F (47 degrees C), Medicine Lake, Montana (state record) |
| July 5 | Chicago Cub Frank Demaree gets 6 hits in 1st game and 2 in 2nd game |
| July 5 | Joe DiMaggio's 1st grand slammer |
| July 5 | Republican offensive by Brunete in Spain |
| July 7 | 5th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 8-3 at Griffith Stadium, Wash |
| July 7 | Japanese and Chinese troops clash, (Marco Polo Bridge), becomes WW II |
| July 10 | Dutch Django Reinhardts "Quintette, premieres in du Hot Club" |
| July 15 | Buchenwald Concentration Camp opens |
| July 15 | Japanese attack Marco Polo Bridge, invade China |
| July 19 | Entartete Art Fair opens in Munich |
| July 19 | Joris Ivens' "Spanish Earth" premieres in Hollywood |
| July 22 | Irish premier Eamon de Valera wins elections |
| July 22 | Senate rejects Franklin D.. Roosevelt proposal to enlarge Supreme Court |
| July 23 | Isolation of pituitary hormone announced (Yale University) |
| July 27 | 32nd Davis Cup: USA beats Great Britain in Wimbledon (4-1) |
| July 28 | Eddie Paynter scores 322 for Lancashire against Sussex |
| July 28 | Richard Moore scores 316 for Hampshire against Warwickshire |
| July 29 | Japanese troops occupies Peking and Tientsin |
| July 30 | Phillies Dolph Camilli, plays 1st base and registers no put outs |
| July 31 | Politburo enables Operative Order 00447: execute 193,000 Russians |
| August 5 | Ranger (U.S.) beats Endeavour II (England) in 17th America's Cup |
| August 6 | Franco-artillery fire on Madrid |
| August 6 | Indians overturn Yankees' 7-6 win by a protest |
| August 6 | U.S. and U.S.S.R. sign trade treaty |
| August 8 | Bonneville Dam on Columbia River begins producing power |
| August 13 | Japanese attack Shanghai |
| August 14 | China declares war on Japan |
| August 14 | Detroit Tigers score 36 runs in double header vs St. Louis Browns |
| August 18 | 1st FM radio construction permit issued (W1X0J (WGTR) in Boston MA) |
| August 24 | Republican offensive near Belchite Spain |
| August 25 | Japanese fleet blockades Chinese coast |
| August 26 | Franco's troops conquer Santander |
| August 26 | Pumping to build Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay is finished |
| August 27 | Bkln Dodger Fred Frankhouse no-hits Cin, 5-0 in 7 2/3 inn game |
| August 27 | George E T Eyston sets world auto speed record at 345.49 MPH |
| August 29 | Philadelphia A's Bob Johnson is 2nd to get 6 RBIs in an inning (1st) |
| August 30 | Joe Louis beats Tommy Farr in 15 for heavyweight boxing title |
| August 31 | Det's rookie Rudy York sets record for home runs of 18 home runs in August |
| September 1 | 4th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: All-Stars 6, Green Bay 0 (84,560) |
| September 1 | Battle of Gijon in Spain begins |
| September 2 | U.S. Housing Authority created by National Housing Act |
| September 4 | Doris Kopsky, becomes 1st NABA woman cycling champion (4:22.4) |
| September 8 | Pan Arab conference about Palestine opens |
| September 8 | Yankees trailing 6-1 in 9th, score 8 to beat Boston 9-6 |
| September 10 | 2nd American Football League plays 1st game (LA 21, Pittsburgh 0) |
| September 10 | Cleveland (Los Angeles) Rams plays their 1st NFL game, lose 28-0 |
| September 11 | 51st U.S. Womens Tennis: Anita Lizana beats Jadwiga Jedrzejowska (64 62) |
| September 11 | 57th U.S. Mens Tennis: J D Budge beats G vs. Cramm (61 79 61 36 61) |
| September 15 | WPA extends L-Taraval streetcar to San Francisco Zoo (at Sloat Blvd) |
| September 17 | 1st NFL game in Washington, D.C.; Redskins beat New York Giants 13-3 |
| September 21 | J R R Tolkien, publishes "Hobbit" |
| September 22 | Forest fire kills 14 and injures 50 in Cody Wyoming |
| September 23 | Yankees lose 9-5 but clinch pennant when Red Sox beat Detroit |
| September 25 | Battle of of P'ing-hsin-kuan Wutai Mountain |
| September 25 | "il duce" visits Berlin/named "the Fuhrer" to corporal 1st class |
| September 27 | 1st Santa Claus Training School opens in Albion, New York |
| September 28 | Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates Bonneville Dam on Columbia River (Oregon) |
| September 28 | Martha Raye divorces Bud Westmore |
| September 29 | Frans Slaats bicycles world record time (45,563 km) |
| September 30 | 6th Ryder Cup: U.S., 8-4 at Southport and Ainsdale, England |
| October 1 | Pullman Co formally recognizes Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters |
| October 2 | Franklin D. Roosevelt visits Grand Coulee Dam construction site in Washington State |
| October 5 | Minister Romme says unemployment is 25% "quarter of Romme" |
| October 7 | Johan Wagenaar's "Feestmars" premieres in Amsterdam |
| October 10 | New York Yankees beat Giants 4 games to 1 in 34th World Series |
| October 13 | A recorded trace of snow in Central Park New York City |
| October 15 | Ernest Hemingway novel "To Have and Have Not" published |
| October 15 | Rather than accept any trade offers, the Yankees release Tony Lazzeri |
| October 21 | Dmitri Shostakovich's 5th Symphony premieres |
| October 21 | Franco-troops occupies Gijon |
| October 25 | Belgian government of Zealand falls due to black money |
| October 25 | Casey Stengel signs to manage Boston Bees |
| October 31 | Spanish government moves from Valencia to Barcelona |
| November 2 | AL batting champ Charlie Gehringer wins MVP |
| November 3 | Archambaud bicycles world record time (45,796 km) |
| November 3 | NHL Howie Morenz Memorial Game: All-Stars beat Montreal 6-5 in Mont |
| November 5 | Hitler informs his military leader of his intentions of going to war |
| November 9 | Japans army conquers Shanghai |
| November 9 | St. Louis Cardinals Triple Crown winner Joe Medwick is named NL MVP |
| November 10 | Brazilian dictator Getulio Vargas proclaims "Estado novo" |
| November 11 | Messerschmidt ME-109V13 flies world record 610.4 kph |
| November 11 | Nobel prize for physics awarded to C. J. Davisson and G. P. Thomson |
| November 13 | NBC forms 1st full-sized symphony orchestra exclusively for radio |
| November 15 | 1st congressional session in air-conditioned chambers |
| November 17 | Britains Lord Halifax visits Germany, beginning of appeasement |
| November 21 | Dmitri Shostakovich's 5th Symphony premieres in Lenningrad |
| November 23 | Clifford Odets' "Golden Boy," premieres in New York City |
| November 23 | Emile Janson becomes Belgian premier |
| November 23 | John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men," premieres in New York City |
| November 25 | World's fair of Paris closes (31.2 million visitors) |
| November 27 | Pro-labor musical revue "Pins and Needles" opens, produced by ILGWU |
| November 29 | Prince Bernhard injured in auto accident in Netherlands |
| November 30 | 3rd Heisman Trophy Award: Clint Frank, Yale (HB) |
| December 1 | Japan recognizes Franco government |
| December 7 | Dutch Minister Romme proclaims married women are forbidden to work |
| December 7 | Red Sox acquire the contract of 19-year-old Ted Williams |
| December 7 | Russian chess player Aljechin recaptures world title from Max Euwe |
| December 11 | 25th CFL Grey Cup: Toronto Argonauts defeats Winn Blue Bombers, 30-7 |
| December 11 | Italy withdraws from League of Nations |
| December 12 | Japanese aircraft shell and sink U.S. gunboat Panay on Yangtze River in China. (Japan apologized and eventually paid U.S. $2.2M in reparations) |
| December 12 | NBC and RCA sends 1st mobile-TV vans onto the streets of NY |
| December 12 | Washington Redskins win NFL championship |
| December 14 | Japanese troops conquer/plunder Nanjing |
| December 20 | Bill O'Reilly takes 9-41 for NSW against South Australia |
| December 21 | 1st feature-length color and sound cartoon premieres (Snow White) |
| December 21 | O'Reilly completes 14-98 for cricket match, NSW vs. South Australia |
| December 22 | Lincoln Tunnel, in New York City, opens to traffic |
| December 24 | Dutch government recognizes Italian king Emanuel III as emperor of Abyssinia |
| December 25 | Arturo Toscanini conducts 1st Symphony of the Air over NBC Radio |
| December 25 | Queensland all out for 93 vs. SA in front of 10,436 |
| December 27 | Bradman scores 246 SA vs. Queensland, 364 minutes, 20 fours |
| December 27 | German immigration officials with no explanation bar Juan Carlos Zabala (Arg), 1932 Olympic marathon champion, from entering Germany |
| December 27 | Mae West performs Adam and Eve skit that gets her banned from NBC radio |
| December 28 | Fascist Octavian Goga becomes Prime Minister of Romania/begins spread of Judaism |
| December 29 | 2nd Irish constitution goes into effect; Irish Free State renamed Erie |
| December 29 | Ireland adopts constitution (Irish Free State becomes Eire) |
| December 29 | Lou Thesz beats E Marshall in St. Louis, to become wrestling champ |
| December 29 | Pan Am starts San Francisco-to-Auckland, New Zealand service |
BrainyHistory
