Recent Event Highlights: (S) Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, (P) Radio Performance of "The War of the Worlds", (T) New Flight Record, (T) World Record for Steam Railway Locomotive, (T) World's Longest Comic, (A) FDR's Proposal is Voted Down, and 88 more...
Created by foghorn on Apr 1, 2011
Last updated: 05/15/11 at 08:00 PM
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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is introduced by Montgomery Ward Stores. Rudolph didn't appear on television until 1947 and the popular song about him didn't exist until 1948.
Gone with the Wind premiered in Atlanta, Georgia. It wa based on a romantic novel written by Margaret Mitchell only a few years previous. Scarlett O'Hara starred in the film.
This first mass-produced helicopter begins test flights. It was designed by Igor Sikorsky. The helicopter is very similar to most helicopters today. Sikorsky was a "pioneer" in aviation.
The Heinkel He 178 was the world's first turbojet powered plane. Erich Warsitz was the test pilot of this plane. About the end of World War 2, in 1944, turbojet powered planes were used.
This is the day the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated in Cooperstown, New York. One of the museum's purposes was to attract tourists to the area.
The US Navy's submarine, the USS Squalus sinks off the coast of New Hampshire. It sinks during a test dive. 26 sailors die in the mishap. However, 32 crewman and one passenger are rescued the next day.
The Northern and Southern Methodists churches of America reunite after 105 years of seperation over slavery. The newly named Methodist Church is the largest Protestant Church in America.
Lou Gehrig, a baseball star, ends his 15 year consecutive game streak with a total of 2130 games.This is because he withdraws from the New York Yankees starting lineup. However, is record of the most number of consecutive MLB games stands for 56 years before Cal Ripken Jr. breaks it.
On this day, the University of Oregon plays Ohio State University, both teams hope to win the first NCAA Basketball Tournament. In the end, the University of Oregon wins.
Before this day, African American law students had an unequal education compared to white law students. The US Supreme Court ordered Missouri to provide equal education for African American law students.
Nazis organized mobs of many Germans who attacked Jews in both Germany and Austria. Jewish synagogues, homes, and businesses were destroyed and burned. It was called Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass.
A famous, fictional story by H.G. Wells is performed on the radio by Orson Wells. In the story, people from Mars land in New Jersey. Many radio listeners tuned in after Wells announced it was a fictional story. These listeners then thought Martians were really invading New Jersey.
This copy is made by Chester F. Carlson. His copy machine goes through a process called xerography, which uses no liquid chemicals.The process is used today in most photocopying machines and LED and laser printers.
The famous movie is premiered at the Strand Theatre in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. It is about a girl from Kansas who journeys to the Emerald City, with help from friends. It is still a well-known movie today.
Howard Hughes sets a new flight record on this date. He completes a 91 hour airplane flight around the world (3 days and 19 hours). He beat the previous record by 4 hours.
The world record for steam railway locomotive is set in England. It is set by the "Mallard", which reaches a speed of 126 mph. Steam railway locomotives had been used for the last century, but this was the fastest one yet.
A 450 metric ton meteorite strikes in Chicora, Pennsylvania. It lands in an empty field. It is named the Chicora Meteor. No one is injured. Some of the remains were split between the Smithsonian Institution and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
This act limits the work week to 44 hours and says that after a worker puts in 44 hours, they must be paid for overtime. The minimum wage is set at 25 cents an hour. 12.5 million Americans are affected by the changes.
Baseball players wear protective helmets for the very first time. Players today still wear helmets as a saftey precaution, but they have been revised over the course of time.
Hitler annexs Austria with the approval of France and Britian. The motive of Britian and France to allow this is because of World War 1's terror and they wanted to keep peace with Hilter.
This movie premieres at Carthay Circle Theater. It is based on a German fairy tale. It is the first animated film in America and the first movie to be produced by Walt Disney.
The Dandy was first published on this date. It was the world's longest running comic. It was published weekly until 1941. Now, however, it is the 3rd longest running comic. Second place is the comic which introduced Batman.
Toyota Motors Corporation is renamed from Toyoda. The owner and his family, who were Japanese, decided it was simpler to read and write in Japanese characters than Toyoda was.
The USA senate decides not to approve FDR's approval to add more justices to the Supreme Court. This would've helped make the New Deal more favorable among government officials.
Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan disappear over the Pacific Ocean. Earhart and Noonan were trying to make the first around-the-world flight at the equator.
Joe Louis starts his long reign as a heavyweight boxing champion. It starts when he knocks Jim Braddock out in Comiskey Park, Chicago. He is the champion until 1949.
Policemen in Chicago, Illinois start shooting at unarmed Republic Steel workers, who were protesting against a contract. Ten people are killed and eighty-four others are injured.
200,000 people celebrate the opening of the bridge in San Fransisco, California. They walk across it as their way of celebration. The bridge connects San Fransisco and Marin County.
The Hindenberg, A German zeppelin is caught on fire and destroyed almost instantly. It was trying to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. 36 people were killed.
President Herbert Hoover dedicates the Empire State Building. It is 1250 feet tall and was the world's tallest building for over 40 years from it's completion in 1931.
William H. Hastie becomes a federal judge for the USA and is the first African American to fill the position. Hastie was born in Knoxville, Tennesse. He served for 2 years before he resigned.
The first modern blood bank is set up. It is located in Cook County Hospital, Chicago. It was set up after news of the Soviet Union's national system of blood banks got to the USA.
Waldo Waterman's Aerobile is the first successul flying car. Only 5 were made and one is now on display at the Smithsonian Museum and is the one pictured.
Wallace H. Carothers recieves a patent for nylon. He was a chemistry instructor at Harvard who reasearched nylon. However, he commited suicide shortly after he got the patent.
Franklin D. Roosevelt proposes a plan to add more justices to serve on the United State's Supreme Court. The purpose was to make the New Deal he proposed more favorable.
In Moscow, 17 Communist leaders go on trial. They are accused of participating in a plot to overthrow Joseph Stalin and assiassinate other leaders. The plot was led by Leon Trotsky.
Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated on January 20th, the first president to be inaugurated on this day because of the 20th Amendment. Prior to this, inaugurations took place on March 4th.
Howard Hughes makes the flight and sets a new air record. His trip takes a total of 7 hours, 28 minutes, and 25 seconds. Hughes is known for other aviation awards and records as well.
The First Cotton Bowl game is played in Dallas, Texas.Texas Christian University (TCU) played Marquette. TCU beat Marquette by 10 points,with the final score being 16 to 6.
Edward VIII is the only British monarch to have voluntarily given up the throne. He steps down so that he can marry an American woman who has 2 ex-husbands. The British government wouldn't approve of the marriage.
The Oakland Bay Bridge is opened to the public. It is located in San Francisco, California. Now, in 2011, it is approxiamated that 270,000 cars drive across the bridge every day. It has two decks to carry cars across from Oakland to San Francisco.
The first issue of Look Magazine is sold in the USA. The first five issues are monthly, but then the company switches to bi-weekly. It publishes magazines until 1971. They are published in Des Moines, Iowa.
Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected for a second term in the American presidential election of 1936. He wins in a huge victory over Alf Landon. He is very popular among the American citizens of the time.
Rainey Bethea is the last person to be publicly exectued. He is convicted of murder and rape. His penalty is being hung publicly in Owensboro, Kentucky.
Jesse Owens, an African American wins four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics, in front of Hitler. This shows everybody that Germans aren't superior to the rest of the world.
The Berlin Summer Olympics starts. It is officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad. Forty-nine nations from around the world competed. Just under 4000 athletes competed for the different countries.
This document is signed in Montreux, Switzerland. It authorizes Turkey to fortify the Dardanelles and Bosphorus Straights, but guarantees free passage to ships of all nations in peacetime.
Ann Armed Forces rebellion starts the Spanish Civil War on July 17. They are rebelling against Spain's recently-elected leftist Popular Front government.
A major heat wave hits the Midwestern USA. On this day, due to the heat wave, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana's temperatures are the all-time highest in each state.
At first called the Boulder Canyon Dam, is completed. The resevoir it creates, called Lake Mead, is the largest in the world. It is located on the border of Arizona and Nevada.
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