- January 18
- The Church of England accepts theory of evolution. [500.E10]
- January 19
- General Motors begins mass production of diesel engines. [1]
- January 21
- Dutch government starts obligatory unemployment insurance. [1]
- February 4
- Adolf Hitler announces a reorganization of the German army, abolishing the post of war minister, appointing General Wilhelm Keitel as chief of the armed forces high command (OKW), and appointing Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch as Commander-in-Chief of the Army. [10]
- RKO Radio Pictures generally releases the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to theatres in the USA. [6]
- February 10
- King Carol II of Romania drives out dictator Goga. [1]
- February 11
- Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg meets with Adolf Hitler in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria. Adolf Hitler demands that Austria become a protectorate of Germany, governed by him. Schuschnigg signs in agreement. [10]
- February 12
- German troops enter Austria. [1]
- February 16
- Austria's Schuschnigg accepts Adolf Hitler's ultimatum, puts pro-Nazi ministers in control of police and foreign affairs. [500.E10]
- February 17
- First public experimental demonstration of Baird color TV (London, England). [1]
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- February 19
- Soviet arctic ice research station North Pole 1 evacuated, Denmark. [1]
- February 20
- Adolf Hitler tells the Reichstag that 10 million Germans in Austria and Czechoslovakia must have self-determination. [500.E10]
- United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden resigns, in protest of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasing dictators. [1] [500.E10]
- February 24
- Du Pont begins commercial production of nylon toothbrush bristles. [1]
- February 25
- British Lord Halifax becomes Foreign Minister. [1]
- February 26
- First passenger ship equipped with radar. [1]
- February 27
- Britain and France recognize Franco government in Spain. [1]
- March 1
- Detective Comics pays Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster $130 to transfer exclusive rights to the use of the comic character "Superman". [837.36]
- March 2
- Landslides and floods in Los Angeles, California, USA cause over 200 deaths. [1]
- Trials of Soviet leaders begins in the Soviet Union. [1]
- March 7
- The US signs reciprocal trade treaty with Czechoslovakia. [500.E10]
- March 10
- Spanish insurgents launch offensive on Spain's eastern front, capturing Belchite. [500.E10]
- March 11
- Artur Seyss-Inquart replaces Kurt von Schuschnigg as Chancellor of Austria. [1]
- March 12
- German troops march into Austria, annexing the country. [10] (March 11 [500.E10])
- March 13
- The Union of Austria and Germany is proclaimed in Vienna. [500.E10]
- Léon Blum forms new French Cabinet. [500.E10]
- 18 of 21 defendants in Soviet treason trial are sentenced to death for Trotskyite conspiracy; other three are sentenced to prison terms. [500.E10]
- March 18
- Mexico expropriates property of 17 American and British oil companies for failure to comply with wage decisions. [1] [500.E10]
- March 24
- Russian Army Commander B.M. Shaposhnikov produces a war plan, proposing a Red Army offensive or counter-offensive either north or south of the Pripet marshes, with a strong defence in the other sector. [10]
- March 31
- In Kasamatsu, Japan, a meteorite pierces the roof of a ship. [521]
- April 5
- Anti-Jewish riots break out in Dabrowa, Poland. [1]
- April 6
- Teflon is invented by Roy J Plunkett. [1]
- April 8
- Chinese victory at Taierhchwang in Shantung, trapping thousands of Japanese troops. [500.E10]
- Second French government of Léon Blum replaced by War Minister Edouard Daladier. [500.E10]
- April 10
- Austria becomes a state of Germany. [1]
- April 15
- Spanish insurgents reach the Mediterranean at Vinaroz, cutting the Loyalists in two. [500.E10]
- April 16
- Anglo-Italian pact signed in Rome; UK recognizes Italian annexation of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), Italy agrees to withdraw troops from Spain. [1] [500.E10]
- April 21
- Protestant Douglas Hyde is chosen as President of Ireland. [500.E10]
- April 23
- Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia demand self-government. [1]
- April 25
- First use of seeing eye dog. [1]
- April 26
- Austrian Jews required to register property above 5,000 Reichsmarks. [1]
- April 28
- An Anglo-French defensive alliance is formed in London, England. [500.E10]
- King Zog of Albania marries Countess Geraldine of Hungary. [1]
- May 2
- Pulitzer prize awarded to Thornton Wilder (Our Town). [1]
- May 3
- Concentration camp at Flossenbürg goes into use. [1]
- Vatican recognizes Francesco Franco as head of Spain. [1]
- May 4
- Douglas Hyde (a Protestant) becomes first president of Eire. [1]
- May 6
- Dutch writer Maurits Dekker sentenced to 50 days for "offending a friendly head of state" (Adolf Hitler). [1]
- May 7
- Dutch Minister of Justice Goseling calls fugitives of Germany "undesired strangers". [1]
- May 10
- Demonstration in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on banning anti-fascism speech. [1]
- May 12
- Sandoz Labs manufactures LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide). [1]
- May 13
- US Congress passes the $1.156 billion Naval Expansion Bill. [500.E10]
- May 15
- Paul-Henri Spak forms red coalition of Belgium. [1]
- May 16
- 38 die in Terminal Hotel fire (Atlanta, Georgia, USA). [1]
- May 20
- Czech president Eduard Benes orders partial mobilization of the Czech army. [10]
- May 21
- Czechoslovakia garrisons its border with Germany. [500.E10]
- May 27
- Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Norway enact a declaration on neutrality. [7]
- May 28
- Foundation for Tel Aviv harbor is laid. [1]
- June 1
- Superman comic book is launched. [1]
- June 7
- Boeing 314 Clipper flying boat first flown (Eddie Allen). [1]
- June 14
- Chlorophyll patented by Benjamin Grushkin. [1]
- Dorothy Lathrop wins the first Caldecott Medal (kid books author). [1]
- June 16
- In Pantar, Phillipines, several buildings are struck by falling meteorites. [521]
- June 19
- Olympian Flyer express train crashes in Montana, USA, killing 47. [1]
- June 21
- All major powers agree in London, England to evacuate volunteers from Spain. [500.E10]
- June 22
- The German government initiates civil defense measures. [10]
- June 23
- Marineland opens in Florida, USA; first aquarium. [1]
- June 24
- In Chicora, Pennsylvania, USA, a cow is struck and injured by a 450-ton falling meteorite. [5] [521]
- (month unknown)
- The Ivuna carbonaceous chondrite meteorite (type CI1) falls in Tanzania. [523.90]
- July 3
- The world speed record for a steam railway locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 203 km/h (126 mph). [5]
- July 9
- British troops are dispatched from Cairo Egypt to suppress an Arab uprising in Palestine. [500.E10]
- July 13
- First paid television theatre, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 200 spectators pay 25 cents to witness a variety show with dancing and song, lasting 45 minutes. The acts are performed on a floor above the theatre and transmitted downstairs by TV. [457]
- July 14
- Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91-hour airplane flight around the world. [5] [500.E10]
- July 17
- Douglas Corrigan takes off from New York for California, accidentally flies the "wrong way" to Ireland, becoming known as "Wrong Way" Corrigan. [1] [5] [500.E10]
- July 22
- Great Britain and France reject German proposal for four-power settlement of Sudeten problem. [500.E10]
- July 26
- Spanish Loyalists launch counteroffensive, cross the Ebro River, capture many towns. [500.E10]
- July 29
- Japanese forces attack Soviet border guards on the Manchurian side of Broad Drum Peak, in a disputed area near the Soviet Union. They push several kilometres into Siberia. [10] (July 21 [500.E10])
- August 1
- The Japanese-Soviet incident at Broad Drum Peak is resolved, with a return to the border of July 29. [10] (August 10 [500.E10])
- August 8
- The ship Queen Mary crosses the Atlantic westbound in record time, 3 days, 21 hours, 48 minutes. [274.200]
- August 11
- German commercial plane flies non-stop 25 hours from Berlin to New York. [500.E10]
- August 14
- Czechoslovak government declares martial law in Sudeten districts. [500.E10]
- The ship Queen Mary crosses the Atlantic eastbound in record time, 3 days, 20 hours, 42 minutes. [260.57] [274.200]
- August 18
- Canadian Prime Minister William King and US President Franklin Roosevelt dedicate the Thousand Islands Bridge connecting US and Canada. [1] [250.4]
- US President Franklin Roosevelt in Ontario, Canada, says "the United States will not stand idly by" if Canada is attacked. [500.E10]
- August 27
- German General Ludwig Beck resigns as Chief of General Staff, in opposition to a planned invasion of Czechoslovakia. [10]
- September 7
- (evening) Theodor Kordt, a counselor in the German embassy in London meets secretly with British Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax at 10 Downing Street. He appeals desperately to British government to stand firm against Hitler's planned aggression into Czechoslovakia. He promises action by German army leaders opposed to Nazis. [10]
- September 12
- German Chancellor Adolf Hitler says the Sudeten problem is an internal matter to the German minority in Bohemia and the Czechoslovak government. [10]
- September 14
- Graf Zeppelin II, world's largest airship, makes maiden flight. [1]
- September 15
- British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain meets with Adolf Hitler in the Berghof in Germany. Chamberlain agrees to Hitler's demand to annex the Sudetenland. [10] [500.E10]
- John Cobb sets world auto speed record at 350.2 MPH (lasts one day). [1]
- September 16
- George E.T. Eyston sets world auto speed record at 357.5 MPH. [1]
- Czechoslovakia mobolizes its army. [500.E10]
- September 17
- British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain meets with the Cabinet. He states that Adolf Hitler appears to be "a man who could be relied upon when he had given his word". [10]
- September 19
- Britain and France agree to Adolf Hitler's demands, and urge Czechoslovakia to give the Sudeten areas to Germany. [500.E10]
- September 20
- The Czech government refuses to accept the proposal to give up the Sudetenland. [10]
- September 21
- British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain replies to Czech President Eduard Benes saying the British-French proposal is the only way to avoid war, the Czech reply places full responsibility for war on the Czechs, and that Britain would not fight for Czechoslovakia. The Czech government decides to capitulate. [10] [500.E10]
- Winston Churchill warns of the futility of appeasing Adolf Hitler: "The belief that security can be obtained by throwing a small state to the wolves is a fatal delusion.". [10]
- Hurricane (winds 183 MPH) in New England (Long Island, New York, New Jersey) kills 500-700, wrecking tens of millions of dollars in property. [1] [500.E10]
- September 22
- Adolf Hitler makes further demands of Czechoslovakia to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain at Godesberg. [500.E10]
- The Czechoslovakia government resigns. [500.E10]
- September 23
- Time capsule, to be opened in 6939, buried at World's Fair in New York City (capsule contained a woman's hat, man's pipe and 1,100 feet of microfilm). [1]
- British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain sends Adolf Hitler's demands to Czechoslovakia. [500.E10]
- Czechoslovakia orders general mobilization. [500.E10]
- France orders partial mobilization. [500.E10]
- September 24
- Adolf Hitler demands the Sudeten land by October 1. [500.E10]
- September 26
- The British Foreign Office issues a statement saying if Germany attacks Czechoslovakia, France would assist, and Great Britain and Russia would stand by France. [10]
- Adolf Hitler makes speech to the Nazi party in Berlin, saying that once the Czech/German problem is solved, there would be no more territorial problems for Germany. And once Czechs settle with minorities peacefully, he will have no more interest in the Czech state. Quote by Adolf Hitler, on the desire to annex part of Czechoslovakia: "It is the last territorial claim which I have to make in Europe, but it is the claim from which I will not recede.". [10]
- September 27
- British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain makes a national radio broadcast, announcing that Britain is ready to fight any power seeking to dominate the world by force, but essentially saying that Britain would not go to war over Czechoslovakian independence. [10]
- Ocean liner Queen Elizabeth is launched at Glasgow, Scotland. [1] [274.201]
- September 29
- In Germany, a two-day conference begins, held by Adolf Hitler, Italy's Premier Benito Mussolini, Britain's Neville Chamberlain, and France's Édouard Daladier, to discuss German demands on Czechoslovakian territory. Hitler renounces plans to destroy Czechoslovakia; Chamberlain and Daladier agree to allow the German annexation of the Sudetenland. [10]
- In Benld, Illinois, a garage and car are struck by a 4-pound meteorite. [521]
- September 30
- (shortly after 0100 hours) The Munich Agreement, allowing Germany to annex the Sudetenland portion of Czechoslovakia, is signed, by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, French Premier Édouard Daladier, Italian Premier Benito Mussolini, and German Chancellor Adolf Hitler. [10]
- In Munich, Germany, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and German Chancellor Adolf Hitler sign a document noting the desire of the two peoples to never go to war with another again, and resolve to consult each other on issues of concern, and to contribute to peace in Europe. [10]
- October 1
- British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returns to London, England, to a hero's welcome. Quote on the Munich Agreement: "This is the second time there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time.". [10]
- German troops begin occupying the Sudeten area. [500.E10]
- Czechoslovakia yields to Polish demand for the Teschen area. [500.E10]
- October 5
- Czechoslovakian President Eduard Benes resigns. [500.E10]
- October 7
- Germany demands all Jewish passports stamped with the letter J. [1]
- October 10
- Germany completes annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. [1]
- October 21
- Adolf Hitler instructs the German armed forces to prepare "the liquidation of Czechoslovakia". [10]
- Japanese troops capture Canton, main southern China port. [500.E10]
- October 22
- First Xerox copy made. [1]
- October 23
- Hungary makes territorial demands of Czechoslovakia. [500.E10]
- October 27
- DuPont announces its new synthetic fiber will be called "nylon". [1]
- October 30
- Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, causing a nationwide (USA) panic. About a million radio listeners believe that a real Martian invasion is underway. [1] [5] [129]
- November 5
- Hungary begins occupying ceded section of Slovakia. [500.E10]
- November 7
- Herschel Grynszpan, son of Polish Jew deported from Germany, shoots German diplomat Ernst vom Rath in Paris, France. [500.E10]
- November 9
- (evening) Nazis terrorize Jews in Germany and Austria. Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues are looted and burned. 91 Jews are killed, and 20,000 are taken to concentration camps. This becomes known as Reichskristallnacht, Crystal Night, or Night of Broken Glass. [10] [500.E10]
- November 10
- Adolf Hitler makes a long speech to several hundred German newspaper editors and publishers in Berlin. He instructs the press to prepare the public for further moves of expansion. He tells them that Germany has the world's largest single group of any race: 80 million, that Germany was the greatest of Empires, became a small power, but now is in a period of regeneration. [10]
- November 12
- Hermann Goering announces he wants Madagascar as a Jewish homeland. [1]
- Germany imposes 1 billion mark fine on Jews and forbids them to engage in trade. [500.E10]
- November 16
- Great Britain recognizes Italian empire over Ethiopia. [500.E10]
- November 17
- US Secretary of State Cordell Hull signs trade pacts with Great Britain and Canada. [500.E10]
- Italy passes their own version of the anti-Jewish Nuremberg laws. [1]
- November 30
- Italians demand Tunisia, Corsica, Nice, and Savoy from France. [500.E10]
- December 1
- School bus and train collide in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. [1]
- December 6
- 117 Spanish knights under Captain Piet Laros return to Netherlands. [1]
- France and Germany sign Ribbentrop-Bonnet Pact, disclaiming territorial designs. [1] [500.E10]
- December 8
- LP Beria follows Nikolai Jezjov as head of Russian secret police. [1]
- December 9
- 8th Pan American Conference opens in Lima, Peru. [500.E10]
- December 10
- Ruth Fuller Sasaki, Zen teacher, Rinzai line, enters Zen priesthood. [1]
- December 20
- Vladimir K Zworykin (Pennsylvania, USA) receives patent on the Iconoscope TV system. [1]
- December 31
- Dr R N Harger's "drunkometer", first breath test, introduced in Indiana, USA. [1]
- Dutch national debt hits 3,986,629,805.70 gulden. [1]
- Dr. Gerhard Schacher, former economic adviser to the German Reichbank, warns that the next European crisis will arise January 11 when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain goes to Rome, Italy; if Premier Benito Mussolini is pemitted to take the territory he demands, then Adolf Hitler will claim Alsace-Lorraine, and move into Soviet Ukraine, involving France and Russia in war. [500.16]
- Syrian Parliament unanimously adopts a resolution calling for the government to revolt against rule of France under League of Nations mandate. [500.17]
- British pound sterling closes at US$4.640625; French franc closes at US$2.623125. [500.F1]
- The 8th International Conference of American States issues the Declaration of Lima, that the American countries agree to stand united against any threat. [500.E6]
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