Events
January

*
January 1
January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in the Gregorian Calendar; 364 days remain until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the year. __TOC__
Events ...
–
Anastasio Somoza García becomes
President of Nicaragua.
*
January 5
Events Pre-1600
* 1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.
1601–1900
* 1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French ...
– Water levels begin to rise in the
Ohio River in the United States, leading to the
Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into February, leaving 1 million people homeless and 385 people dead.
*
January 15 –
Spanish Civil War: The
Second Battle of the Corunna Road ends inconclusively.
*
January 23
Events Pre-1600
* 393 – Roman emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor.
* 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao.
* 1229 ...
–
Moscow Trials: Trial of the Anti-Soviet Trotskyist Center – In the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
17 leading
Communists go on trial, accused of participating in a plot led by
Leon Trotsky to overthrow
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
's regime, and assassinate its leaders.
*
January 30
Events Pre-1600
* 1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.
* 1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.
1601–1900
* 1607 – An es ...
– The Moscow Trial initiated on January 23 is concluded. Thirteen of the defendants are
sentenced to death (including
Georgy Pyatakov,
Nikolay Muralov and
Leonid Serebryakov), while the rest, including
Karl Radek and
Grigory Sokolnikov are sent to
labor camps and later murdered. They were initially spared for implicating others, including
Rykov,
Bukharin and
Tukhachevsky, setting the stage for further trials
February
*
February 8 –
Spanish Civil War: Falangist troops take
Málaga
Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
.
*
February 8–
27 – Spanish Civil War –
Battle of Jarama: Nationalist and Republican troops fight to a stalemate.
*
February 16
Events Pre-1600
* 1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire.
* 1270 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battl ...
–
Wallace H. Carothers receives a patent for
nylon in the United States.
*
February 19
Events Pre-1600
* 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats Roman usurper, usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
* 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the w ...
** Airliner VH-UHH (''Stinson'') goes down over
Lamington National Park, bound for Sydney, killing 5 people.
**
Yekatit 12: During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...
,
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
, two
Eritrea
Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...
n nationalists attempt to kill viceroy
Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades. Italian security guards fire into the crowd of Ethiopian onlookers. Authorities exact further reprisals, which include indiscriminately slaughtering native Ethiopians over the next 3 days, detaining thousands of Ethiopians at
Danan and slaughtering almost 300 monks at the
Debre Libanos Monastery.
** The red, white and blue colours of the
flag of the Netherlands
The national flag of the Netherlands () is a horizontal tricolour (flag), tricolour of red, white, and blue. The current design originates as a variant of the late 16th century orange-white-blue ''Prince's Flag, Prinsenvlag'' ("Prince's Fla ...
are confirmed by royal decree.
*
February 21
Events Pre-1600
* 452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine.
* 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.
* 1440 – The ...
– The
League of Nations
The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
Non-Intervention Committee prohibits foreign nationals from fighting in the Spanish Civil War.
*
February 25 –
Hergé's
Tintin adventure ''
The Broken Ear'' (''L'Oreille cassée'') concludes serialization in the Belgian weekly newspaper supplement ''
Le Petit Vingtième'', and soon afterwards is published as a book in black and white.
March
*
March 10 (dated
March 14 (
Passion Sunday)) – The
encyclical ''
Mit brennender Sorge'' ("With burning concern") of
Pope Pius XI is published in Germany in the German language. Largely the work of Cardinals
von Faulhaber and
Pacelli, it condemns breaches of the
1933 Reichskonkordat agreement signed between the Nazi government and the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, and criticises
Nazism's views on race and other matters incompatible with Catholicism.
*
March 18 –
New London School explosion: In the worst school disaster in American history in terms of lives lost, the New London School in
New London, Texas, suffers a catastrophic
natural gas explosion, killing in excess of 295 students and teachers.
Mother Frances Hospital opens in
Tyler, Texas, a day ahead of schedule, in response to the explosion.
*
March 19 – The encyclical ''
Divini Redemptoris'' of
Pope Pius XI, critical of
communism
Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
, is published.
*
March 21 –
Ponce massacre: A police squad, acting under orders from
Governor of Puerto Rico Blanton Winship, opens fire on peaceful demonstrators protesting at the arrest of
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party leader
Pedro Albizu Campos, killing 17 people and injuring over 200.
April
*
April 1
**
Aden becomes a British
crown colony
A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by Kingdom of England, England, and then Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English overseas possessions, English and later British Empire. There was usua ...
.
** The
Bombing of Jaén is carried out in Spain, by the
Condor Legion of the
Nazi German Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
.
*
April 9 – The ''
Kamikaze'' arrives at
Croydon Airport in London; it is the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe.
*
April 12 –
Frank Whittle ground-tests the world's first
jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at
Rugby, England.
*
April 20 – A fire in an elementary school in
Kilingi-Nõmme,
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
, kills 17 students and injures 50.
*
April 26 –
Spanish Civil War: The
Bombing of Guernica is carried out in Spain, by the
Condor Legion of the
Nazi German Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
, in support of the
Francoists. Three-quarters of the town is destroyed and hundreds killed.
May

*
May 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.
* 1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Sp ...
–
''Hindenburg'' disaster: In the United States, the German
airship ''Hindenburg'' bursts into flame when mooring to a mast in
Lakehurst, New Jersey. Of the 36 passengers and 61 crew on board, 13 passengers and 22 crew die, as well as one member of the ground crew.
*
May 7 –
Spanish Civil War: The German
Condor Legion Fighter Group, equipped with
Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrives in Spain to assist
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
's forces.
*
May 8 –
Wydad Athletic Club (WAC)(Arabic: نادي الوداد الرياضي; Berber: ''Wydad Dar al-Beida''; commonly: ''Wydad al ouma'') is established in
Casablanca
Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...
, Morocco; it will be best known for its Casablanca
Association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
team.
*
May 12 –
George VI and Elizabeth are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor and Empress of India at
Westminster Abbey, London.
*
May 21
** A
Russian manned ice station becomes the first scientific research settlement to operate on the
drift ice of the Arctic Ocean.
** As one of the reprisals for the attempted assassination of Italian viceroy
Rodolfo Graziani, a detachment of Italian troops massacres the entire community of
Debre Libanos in Ethiopia, killing 297 monks and 23 laymen.
*
May 28 –
Neville Chamberlain becomes
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, following the retirement of
Stanley Baldwin.
*
May 30
**
Spanish Civil War: Spanish ship ''Ciudad de Barcelona'' is torpedoed.
**
Memorial Day massacre of 1937: The
Chicago Police Department shoot and kill 10 unarmed demonstrators in Chicago.
June
*
June –
Picasso completes his painting ''
Guernica''.
*
June–
July – The
Dáil Éireann debates and passes the new draft
Constitution of Ireland, which is then submitted for public approval by
plebiscite.
*
June 3 –
Wallis Simpson marries the Duke of Windsor, the former
Edward VIII, in France.
*
June 8
** The
Dáil Éireann passes the Executive Authority (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1937, which abolishes the office of Governor-General of the Irish Free State, retrospectively dated to
December 1936.
** The first total
solar eclipse to exceed 7 minutes of totality, in over 800 years, is visible in the Pacific and Peru.
*
June 21 – The
coalition government of
Léon Blum resigns in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
July

*
July 1
** The
Gestapo
The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
arrests pastor
Martin Niemöller in Germany.
** In a referendum the people of the
Irish Free State accept the new Constitution by 685,105 votes to 527,945.
*
July 2 –
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...
and navigator
Fred Noonan disappear after taking off from
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
, during Earhart's attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world.
*
July 7
** In the
Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Japanese and Chinese forces exchange fire near Beijing, beginning the
Second Sino-Japanese War.
** The
Peel Commission proposes partition of the
British Mandate of Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states.
*
July 9 –
1937 Fox vault fire: The silent film archives of
Fox Film Corporation are destroyed
*
July 20 – The
Geibeltbad Pirna water sports facility is opened in
Dresden, Germany.
*
July 21 –
Éamon de Valera is elected
President of the Executive Council (prime minister) of the
Irish Free State, by the
Dáil (parliament).
*
July 22 –
New Deal: The
United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
votes down President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
's proposal to add more justices to the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
.
*
July 25–
31 –
Sino-Japanese War:
Battle of Beiping–Tianjin, a series of actions fought around
Beiping and
Tianjin
Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...
, result in Japanese victory.
*
July 29 –
Tongzhou Mutiny: Units of the
East Hebei Army mutiny and kill Japanese troops and civilians in
Tongzhou.
*
July 31 –
NKVD Order No. 00447 "Об операции по репрессированию бывших кулаков, уголовников и других антисоветских элементов" ("The operation for repression of former
kulaks, criminals and other anti-Soviet elements") is approved by the
decision of the Politbureau of the CC of the VKP(b) of the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, initially as a 4-month plan for 75,950 people to be executed and an additional 193,000 to be sent to the
Gulag
The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...
.
August
*
August 2 – The
Marijuana Tax Act in the United States is a significant bill on the path that will lead to the criminalization of cannabis. It was introduced to the U.S. Congress by Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger.
*
August 5 – The
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
commences one of the largest campaigns of the
Great Purge, to "eliminate anti-Soviet elements". Within the following year, at least 724,000 people are fired on order of the
troikas, directed by
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
. This is an offensive that targets social classes (such as the
kulaks or nobles) and Stalin's personal opponents from the
Communist Party and their sympathizers.
*
August 6 –
Spanish Civil War: Falangist artillery bombards
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
.
*
August 8 – Japan occupies Beijing.
*
August 9 – The
Polish Operation of the NKVD (1937–38) is signed by
Nikolai Yezhov, as a continuation of the
Great Purge.
*
August 13 –
Second Sino-Japanese War: The
Battle of Shanghai opens.
*
August 24 –
Spanish Civil War: The government of the autonomous
Basque Country agrees to surrender to the nationalists.
*
August 26 –
Second Sino-Japanese War: Japanese aircraft attack the car carrying the ambassador of Great Britain, during a raid on Shanghai.
September
*
September 2 – The
Great Hong Kong Typhoon kills an estimated 11,000 persons.
*
September 5
**
Roberto Ortiz is elected president of
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
.
**
Spanish Civil War: The city of
Llanes falls to the Falangists.
*
September 7 –
CBS broadcasts a two-and-a-half hour memorial concert nationwide on radio in memory of George Gershwin, live from the
Hollywood Bowl. Many celebrities appear, including
Oscar Levant,
Fred Astaire,
Otto Klemperer,
Lily Pons and members of the original cast of ''
Porgy and Bess''. The concert is recorded and released complete years later in what is excellent sound for its time, on
CD. The
Los Angeles Philharmonic is the featured orchestra.
*
September 10 – Nine nations meet in the
Nyon Conference, led by the United Kingdom and France, to address international
piracy in the Mediterranean.
*
September 17 –
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
's head is dedicated at
Mount Rushmore.
*
September 19 – Swiss professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
club
HC Ambrì-Piotta is founded.
*
September 21 – George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. of London publishes the first edition of
J. R. R. Tolkien's ''
The Hobbit''.
*
September 25 –
Second Sino-Japanese War -
Battle of Pingxingguan: The Communist Chinese
Eighth Route Army
The Eighth Route Army (), officially titled as the List of Army Groups of the National Revolutionary Army, 18th Group Army, was a Field army, group army nominally under the banner of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of Ch ...
defeats the Japanese.
*
September 27 – The last recorded
Bali tiger dies.
*
September 30 – Austrian born actress of Jewish descent,
Hedy Lamarr arrives in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to flee from her possessive husband
Friedrich Mandl who made arms agreements with the Nazis, and to begin her Hollywood career.
October
*
October 1 – The
Marihuana Tax Act becomes law in the United States.
*
October 2–
8 –
Parsley Massacre: Under the orders of President
Rafael Trujillo, Dominican troops kill thousands of
Haitians living in the
Dominican Republic.
*
October 3 –
Second Sino-Japanese War: Japanese troops advance toward
Nanjing, capital of the
Republic of China.
*
October 5 –
Roosevelt gives his famous ''
Quarantine Speech'' in Chicago.
*
October 9 –
Jimmie Angel lands his plane on top of Devil's Mountain; however, the plane gets damaged, and he has to trek through the rainforest for help.
*
October 11 –
Duke and Duchess of Windsor's 1937 tour of Germany: The
Duke and
Duchess of Windsor arrive in Berlin to begin a 12-day tour of Nazi Germany, meeting Adolf Hitler on the 22nd.
*
October 13 – Germany, in a note to
Brussels, guarantees the inviolability and integrity of Belgium, so long as the latter abstains from military action against Germany.
*
October 15 –
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...
's novel ''
To Have and Have Not'' is first published, in the United States.
*
October 18–
21 –
Spanish Civil War: The whole Spanish northern seaboard falls into the Falangists' hands;
Republic
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
an forces in
Gijón, Spain, set fire to petrol reserves, prior to retreating before the advancing
Falangists.
*
October 23 –
1937 Australian federal election:
Joseph Lyons'
UAP/
Country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
Coalition government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
is re-elected with a slightly increased majority, defeating the
Labor Party led by
John Curtin.
*
October 25 –
Celâl Bayar forms the new (ninth) government of Turkey.
November
*
November 5 –
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
: In the
Reich Chancellery,
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
holds a secret meeting and states his plans for acquiring "living space" for the German people (recorded in the
Hossbach Memorandum).
*
November 6 – Italy joins the
Anti-Comintern Pact.
*
November 9 –
Second Sino-Japanese War: Japanese troops take Shanghai.
*
November 10 – Brazilian president
Getúlio Vargas announces the
Estado Novo ("New State"), thence becoming
dictator of
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
until
1945.
*
November 11 – The Kogushi Sulfur Mine collapse, in western
Gunma, Japan, kills at least 245 people.
December
*
December 1 –
Second Sino-Japanese War: The
Battle of Nanjing begins.
*
December 4 – ''
The Dandy''
comic is first published in Scotland; it continued until 2012 as a physical publication, then online until 2013.
*
December 11 – Italy withdraws from the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
.
*
December 12
**
USS ''Panay'' incident: Japanese bombers sink the American gunboat on the
Yangtze in China; the United States accepts the Japanese statement that this was unintentional.
**
Mae West makes a risqué guest appearance on
NBC's ''
Chase and Sanborn Hour'', which eventually results in her being banned from radio.
*
December 13 –
Second Sino-Japanese War: The
Battle of Nanjing ends with the Japanese occupying the city. In the
Nanjing Massacre which follows, Japanese soldiers kill over 200,000 Chinese in 3 months. A few days previously, the
Nationalist government of China had moved its capital to the southwestern city
Chongqing
ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...
.
*
December 16 – The original production of the musical ''
Me and My Girl'' opens at the
Victoria Palace Theatre, in London's
West End. A later revival will win an award.
*
December 21 –
Walt Disney's ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', the world's first feature-length
cel animated film, premieres at the
Carthay Circle Theatre in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
.
*
December 25 – At the age of 70, conductor
Arturo Toscanini conducts the
NBC Symphony Orchestra on radio for the first time, beginning his successful 17-year tenure with that orchestra. This first concert consists of music by
Vivaldi (at a time when he is seldom played),
Mozart, and
Brahms. Millions tune in to listen, including U.S. President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
*
December 29 – The new
Constitution of Ireland (''Bunreacht na hÉireann'') comes into force. The
Irish Free State becomes "
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
", and
Éamon de Valera becomes the first
Taoiseach (prime minister) of the new state. A
Presidential Commission (made up the Chief Justice, the Speaker of Dáil Éireann, and the President of the High Court) assumes the powers of the new presidency, pending the popular election of the first
President of Ireland in June 1938. The new constitution prohibits
divorce.
Date unknown
* Switzerland begins construction of its
Border Line defences.
* The
Vibora Luviminda sugar plantation trade unions strike on
Maui
Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...
island, Hawaii.
* Italian psychiatrist
Amarro Fiamberti is the first to document a transorbital approach to the brain, which becomes the basis for the controversial medical procedure of
transorbital lobotomy.
*
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
industry produces about four times as much as it had in
1928.
* The Allen Organ Company, builder of church, home and theatre organs, is founded in Macungie, Pennsylvania.
*
Slavery in Bahrain is abolished.
Births
January

*
January 1
January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in the Gregorian Calendar; 364 days remain until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the year. __TOC__
Events ...
–
Philip Akot Akok Kiir, South Sudanese pastor, former educator and politician
*
January 3
Events Pre-1600
*AD 69, 69 – The Roman legions on the Rhine refuse to declare their allegiance to Galba, instead proclaiming their legate, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor.
* 250 – Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (ex ...
**
Nadia Lutfi, Egyptian actress (d.
2020)
*
January 4
Events Pre-1600
*46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina.
* 871 – Battle of Reading (871), Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred the Great, Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasi ...
**
Grace Bumbry, African American opera singer (d.
2023)
**
Dyan Cannon, American actress, film director and screenwriter
*
January 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will ...
** Paolo Conte, Italian singer, pianist and composer
** Harri Holkeri, 36th Prime Minister of Finland (d. 2011)
* January 8 – Dame Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer
* January 13 – Ati George Sokomanu, President of Vanuatu
*
January 15 – Margaret O'Brien, American child actress
* January 16 – Francis George, American cardinal (d. 2015)
* January 18
** Yukio Endō, Japanese gymnast (d. 2009)
** John Hume, Northern Irish politician, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d.
2020)
* January 19
** Princess Birgitta of Sweden (d. 2024)
** Joseph Nye, American political scientist (d. 2025)
* January 21 – Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria, heir to the Bavarian Royal House
* January 22 – Joseph Wambaugh, American author (d. 2025)
* January 25 – Ange-Félix Patassé, 5th President of Central African Republic (d. 2011)
*
January 30
Events Pre-1600
* 1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.
* 1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.
1601–1900
* 1607 – An es ...
** Vanessa Redgrave, British actress
** Boris Spassky, Russian chess grandmaster (d. 2025)
* January 31
** Philip Glass, American composer
** Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (d. 2008)
February

* February 1 – Don Everly, American rock and roll singer and musician (d. 2021)
* February 2
** Tom Smothers, American musician, comedian (The Smothers Brothers) (d.
2023)
** Eric Arturo Delvalle, Panamanian lawyer (d. 2015)
* February 4 – Magnar Solberg, Norwegian biathlete
* February 5 – Gaston Roelants, Belgian Olympic athlete
*
February 8 – Harry Wu, Chinese human rights activist (d. 2016)
* February 9 – Fazle Haque, Bengali state minister
* February 10 – Roberta Flack, African-American singer (d. 2025)
* February 11 – Bill Lawry, Australian cricketer
* February 12 – Charles Dumas, American athlete (d. 2004)
* February 13 – Rupiah Banda, 4th President of Zambia (d. 2022)
* February 20
** Robert Huber, German chemist and Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel laureate
** Nancy Wilson (jazz singer), Nancy Wilson, African-American singer and actress (d. 2018)
*
February 21
Events Pre-1600
* 452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine.
* 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.
* 1440 – The ...
** Ron Clarke, Australian runner (d. 2015)
** King Harald V of Norway
** Jilly Cooper, English writer
*
February 25
** Sir Tom Courtenay, English actor
** Nazario Pardini, Italian poet, essayst and journalist
March

* March 2 – Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of Algeria (d. 2021)
* March 3 – Bobby Driscoll, American child actor and voice actor (d. 1968)
* March 4
** Graham Dowling, New Zealand cricketer
** Yuri Senkevich, Russian cosmonaut (d. 2003)
* March 5 – Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria
* March 6 – Valentina Tereshkova, Russian cosmonaut, first woman in space
* March 8 – Juvénal Habyarimana, 3rd President of Rwanda (d. 1994)
* March 9 – Paciano Aniceto, Archbishop-emeritus of Archdiocese of San Fernando.
*
March 14 – Benny Paret, Cuban welterweight boxer (d. 1962)
* March 15 – Valentin Rasputin, Russian writer (d. 2015)
*
March 18
** Aleksei Zasukhin, Soviet boxer (d. 1996)
** Rudi Altig, German road racing cyclist (d. 2016)
* March 22
** Armin Hary, German athlete
** Foo Foo Lammar, British drag queen (d. 2003)
** Peter Vogel (actor), Peter Vogel, German film actor (d. 1978)
* March 23 – Tony Burton, American actor (d. 2016)
* March 24 – Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, 4th Prime Minister of Barbados (d.
2023)
* March 26 – Prince Karl of Hesse, German prince (d. 2022)
* March 29
** Billy Carter, American farmer, businessman, brewer, and politician (d. 1988)
** Smarck Michel, 6th Prime Minister of Haiti (d. 2012)
* March 30 – Warren Beatty, American actor and director
* March 31 - Robert Ackerman (politician), Robert Ackerman, American lawyer and politician (d. 2022)
April

*
April 1
** Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Indian politician, 12th Vice President of India
** Yılmaz Güney, Palme d'Or award-winning Kurdish film director, scenarist, actor, novelist and activist (d. 1984)
* April 4 – Obed Dlamini, 6th Prime Minister of Swaziland (d. 2017)
* April 5
** Maryanne Trump Barry, American attorney (d.
2023)
** Colin Powell, American politician (d. 2021)
** Guido Vildoso, 59th President of Bolivia
* April 6
** Merle Haggard, American country musician (d. 2016)
** Billy Dee Williams, African-American actor
* April 10 – Bella Akhmadulina, Russian poet (d. 2010)
* April 17 – Ferdinand Piëch, Austrian engineer, business magnate (d. 2019)
* April 19
** Antonio Carluccio, Italian-born restaurateur (d. 2017)
** Joseph Estrada, Filipino actor and politician, 13th President of the Philippines
*
April 20 – George Takei, Japanese-American actor, director and author (''Star Trek'')
* April 22 – Jack Nicholson, American film actor and director
* April 24
** Viktor Zubkov, Russian basketball player (d. 2016)
** Joe Henderson, American jazz tenor saxophonist (d. 2001)
*
April 26 – Jean-Pierre Beltoise, French racing driver (d. 2015)
* April 27 – Sandy Dennis, American actress (d. 1992)
* April 28 – Saddam Hussein, 5th President of Iraq (d. 2006)
May
* May 2 – Lorenzo Music, American actor, voice actor, writer, producer and musician (d. 2001)
* May 4 – Dick Dale, American guitarist (d. 2019)
* May 5 – Trần Đức Lương, 5th President of Vietnam (d. 2025)
*
May 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.
* 1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Sp ...
– Rubin Carter, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, African-American boxer (d. 2014)
*
May 8
** Carlos Gaviria Díaz, Colombian justice, politician
** Thomas Pynchon, American writer
* May 9 – Rafael Moneo, Spanish architect
* May 11 – Ildikó Újlaky-Rejtő, Hungarian Olympic and world champion foil fencer
*
May 12 – George Carlin, American stand-up comedian (d. 2008)
* May 13 – Roger Zelazny, American writer (d. 1995)
* May 15
** Madeleine Albright, Czech-born American politician and diplomat (d. 2022)
** Trini Lopez, American singer, guitarist, and actor (d.
2020)
* May 16
** Yvonne Craig, American actress (''Batman (TV series), Batman'') (d. 2015)
** Robert B. Wilson, American economist, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Nobel Prize laureate
* May 18 – Jacques Santer, Luxembourg politician, 20th Prime Minister of Luxembourg
* May 20 – Peter von Matt, Swiss philologist and author (d. 2025)
*
May 21
** Ricardo Alarcón, Cuban politician (d. 2022)
** Sofiko Chiaureli, Georgian actress (d. 2008)
** Mengistu Haile Mariam, President of Ethiopia
* May 22 – Facundo Cabral, Argentine singer (d. 2011)
* May 26– Henry I. Smith, American inventor and physicist
June

* June 1
** Morgan Freeman, African-American actor
** Colleen McCullough, Australian author (d. 2015)
** Ezio Pascutti, Italian footballer (d. 2017)
* June 7 – Neeme Järvi, Estonian conductor
*
June 8 – Bruce McCandless II, American astronaut (d. 2017)
* June 11 – Robin Warren, Australian pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2024)
* June 12 – Vladimir Arnold, Soviet-Russian mathematician (d. 2010)
* June 13 – Raj Reddy, Indian computer scientist
* June 15 – Waylon Jennings, American country singer (d. 2002)
* June 16
** Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Tsar of Bulgaria (1943–1946), 48th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (2001–2005)
** Erich Segal, American author, screenwriter, and educator (d. 2010)
* June 18
** Ronald Venetiaan, 6th and 8th President of Suriname
** Vitaly Zholobov, Soviet cosmonaut
* June 19 – André Glucksmann, French philosopher, author (d. 2015)
* June 23 – Martti Ahtisaari, 10th President of Finland, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d.
2023)
* June 25
** Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (d.
2023)
** Keizō Obuchi, 54th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2000)
* June 26 – Robert Coleman Richardson, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
July
*
July 2 – Richard Petty, American stock car racer, 7-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion
* July 3
** Hacen Mefti, Algerian politician
** Hiroko Mori, Micronesian politician
** Tom Stoppard, Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter
* July 4 – Queen Sonja of Norway
* July 5 – Jo de Roo, Dutch road racing cyclist
* July 6
** Vladimir Ashkenazy, Russian pianist
** Ned Beatty, American actor (d. 2021)
** Michael Sata, 5th President of Zambia (d. 2014)
*
July 7
** Lars-Erik Larsson (rower), Lars-Erik Larsson, Swedish rowing coxswain
** Nanami Shiono, Japanese author, novelist
** Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong businessman and politician
** Giovanni Arrighi, Italian economist, sociologist and world-systems analyst (d. 2009)
*
July 9 – David Hockney, English-born artist
* July 12
** Bill Cosby, African-American actor, comedian, educator and convicted sex offender
** Lionel Jospin, Prime Minister of France
** Abdul Karim Ahmad, Indonesian ulama and politician (d. 2021)
* July 14 – Yoshirō Mori, 55th Prime Minister of Japan
* July 17 – Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, Ugandan politician, businessman
* July 18
** Roald Hoffmann, Polish-born chemist and Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel laureate
** Hunter S. Thompson, American author and journalist (d. 2005)
*
July 22 – Adrienne Hill, British actress appeared in 199 Park Lane and Doctor Who (d. 1997)
* July 24 – Manoj Kumar, Indian actor and director (d. 2025)
* July 27 – Mirko Marjanović, 63rd Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 2006)
*
July 29
** Ryutaro Hashimoto, 53rd Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2006)
** Daniel McFadden, American economist and Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Nobel laureate
August

*
August 2 – María Duval (Mexican actress), María Duval, Mexican actress and singer
* August 3 – Andrés Gimeno, Spanish tennis player (d. 2019)
*
August 5 – Manuel Pinto da Costa, Santoméan politician, 1st List of Presidents of São Tomé and Príncipe, President of São Tomé and Príncipe
*
August 6 – Charlie Haden, American jazz bassist (d. 2014)
*
August 8
** Dustin Hoffman, American actor, director (''The Graduate'')
** S. Dhanabalan, Singaporean politician
* August 11 – Dieter Kemper, German cyclist (d. 2018)
* August 15 – Bounnhang Vorachith, 14th Prime Minister, 6th President of Laos
* August 18 – Jean Alingué Bawoyeu, Chadian politician, former Prime Minister
* August 21
** Donald Dewar, First Minister of Scotland (d. 2000)
** Gustavo Noboa, President of Ecuador (d. 2021)
* August 22
** Rima Melati, Indonesian actress and singer (d. 2022)
** Francesco Musso, Italian Olympic boxer
*
August 26 – Gennady Yanayev, former Soviet leader (d. 2010)
* August 27 – Alice Coltrane, African-American jazz harpist, organist, pianist and composer (d. 2007)
* August 30 – Bruce McLaren, New Zealand founder of McLaren Racing (d. 1970)
September

* September 1 – Francisco Pinto Balsemão, Portuguese politician, 111th Prime Minister of Portugal
* September 4 – Dawn Fraser, Australian swimmer
*
September 5 – Antonio Angelillo, Italian-Argentine footballer (d. 2018)
* September 6 – Jo Anne Worley, American Actress, Comedienne and singer
*
September 7 – John Phillip Law, American actor (d. 2008)
* September 9 – Alí Rodríguez Araque, Venezuelan politician, lawyer and diplomat (d. 2018)
*
September 10 – Jared Diamond, American geographer, anthropologist, and author
* September 11 – Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Italian-born Queen of the Belgians
* September 12 – Henri Lopes, Republic of the Congo, Congolese politician, 5th List of heads of government of the Republic of the Congo, Prime Minister of Congo-Brazzaville (d.
2023)
* September 15
** Robert Lucas Jr., American economist and Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Nobel laureate (d.
2023)
** Fernando de la Rúa, Argentine politician, 43rd President of Argentina (d. 2019)
* September 20 – Monica Zetterlund, Swedish singer and actress (d. 2005)
* September 26 – Jerry Weintraub, American film producer and talent agent (d. 2015)
* September 28 – Bob Schul, American Olympic athlete (d. 2024)
*
September 30 – Daniel Filho, Brazilian film producer, director, actor, and screenwriter
October

*
October 2 – Johnnie Cochran, African-American attorney (d. 2005)
* October 4
** Jackie Collins, English author (d. 2015)
** Franz Vranitzky, 19th Chancellor of Austria
*
October 11 – Bobby Charlton, English footballer (d.
2023)
* October 19 – Teresa Ciepły, Polish Olympic athlete (d. 2006)
* October 20 – Wanda Jackson, American singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist
* October 21 – Édith Scob, French film and theatre actress (d. 2019)
* October 22 – Kader Khan, Afghan-born Indian-Canadian film actor, screenwriter, comedian, and director (d. 2018)
* October 28 – Lenny Wilkens, American basketball player and coach
* October 30
** Claude Lelouch, French film director, writer, cinematographer, actor and producer.
** Ashaari Mohammad, Malaysian spiritual leader (d. 2010)
* October 31 – Tom Paxton, American folk singer, songwriter
November
* November 4 – Loretta Swit, American actress (''M*A*S*H (TV series), M*A*S*H'') (d. 2025)
*
November 5 – Chan Sek Keong, third Chief Justice of Singapore
* November 8 – Dragoslav Šekularac, Serbian footballer and manager (d. 2019)
* November 15 – Little Willie John, African-American R&B singer (d. 1968)
* November 17 – Peter Cook, English comedian, writer and actor (d. 1995)
* November 20 – Eero Mäntyranta, Finnish Olympic cross-country skier (d. 2013)
* November 21
** Ingrid Pitt, Polish-born British actress (d. 2010)
** Marlo Thomas, American actress, producer and social activist (''That Girl'')
**Ferenc Kósa, Hungarian film director (d. 2018)
* November 25 – Serikbolsyn Abdildin, Kazakh economist and politician (d. 2019)
* November 26 – Boris Yegorov, Russian cosmonaut (d. 1994)
* November 30 – Ridley Scott, British film director, producer
December

*
December 1 – Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, President of Latvia
* December 3 – Francisco Xavier do Amaral, 1st President of East Timor (d. 2012)
* December 6 – Ramon Torrents, Spanish artist
* December 8
** James MacArthur, American actor (d. 2010)
** Arne Næss Jr., Norwegian mountaineer, businessman (d. 2004)
*
December 12
** Connie Francis, American singer
** Michael Jeffery (Australian Army officer), Michael Jeffery, 24th Governor-General of Australia (d.
2020)
* December 17 – Sergio Jiménez, Mexican actor (d. 2007)
* December 18 – Sami-ul-Haq, Pakistani cleric, politician (d. 2018)
*
December 21 – Jane Fonda, American actress and activist
* December 26 – John Horton Conway, English-born mathematician (d.
2020)
* December 28 – Ratan Tata, Indian industrialist (d. 2024)
*
December 29 – Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of the Maldives (1978–2008)
* December 30 – Gordon Banks, English footballer (d. 2019)
* December 31
** Avram Hershko, Israeli biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
** Anthony Hopkins, Welsh actor
** Milutin Šoškić, Serbian footballer (d. 2022)
Deaths
January

*
January 1
January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in the Gregorian Calendar; 364 days remain until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the year. __TOC__
Events ...
** Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, Indian spiritual teacher (b. 1874)
** John Gresham Machen, American Presbyterian theologian (b. 1881)
* January 2 – Ross Alexander, American actor (b. 1907)
*
January 5
Events Pre-1600
* 1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.
1601–1900
* 1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French ...
** Alberto de Oliveira, Brazilian poet (b. 1857)
** Ernst Löfström, Finnish general of World War I (b. 1865)
*
January 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will ...
** André Bessette, Canadian religious leader, saint (b. 1845)
** Albert Gleaves, American admiral (b. 1858)
* January 13 – Martin and Osa Johnson, Martin Johnson, American adventurer, documentary filmmaker (plane crash) (b. 1884)
*
January 15
** Pietro Biginelli, Italian chemist (b. 1860)
** Georges Hilaire Bousquet, French scholar (b. 1845)
* January 16 – Pyotr Bark, Soviet statesman (b. 1869)
* January 17 – Richard Boleslawski, Polish film director (b. 1889)
* January 18 – Jaime Hilario Barbal, Spanish Roman Catholic religious professed and saint (executed) (b. 1889)
* January 21
** Yasin al-Hashimi, Iraqi politician and 4th Prime Minister of Iraq (b. 1884)
** Marie Prevost, Canadian actress (b. 1896)
*
January 23
Events Pre-1600
* 393 – Roman emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor.
* 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao.
* 1229 ...
– Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist, politician (b. 1876)
February

* February 1 – Asano Nagakoto, Japanese diplomat, politician (b. 1842)
* February 2 – Reinhold Hanisch, Austrian politician, worker (b. 1884)
* February 5
** Lou Andreas-Salomé, Russian-born writer (b. 1861)
** José Nicoletti Filho, Italian revolutionary hero (b. 1871)
* February 7 – Elihu Root, American statesman, diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize recipient (b. 1845)
* February 11
** Walter Burley Griffin, American architect, town planner (b. 1876)
** Vasily Gurko, Russian general (b. 1864)
** Maria Luisa Josefa, Mexican Roman Catholic nun and venerable (b. 1866)
** Peter of Jesus Maldonado, Mexican priest, martyr and saint (b. 1892)
* February 14
** Vicente Vilar David, Spanish Roman Catholic priest, saint and martyr (killed in battle) (b. 1889)
** Erkki Melartin, Finnish composer (b. 1875)
* February 17 – George Hassell (actor), George Hassell, English actor (b. 1881)
*
February 19
Events Pre-1600
* 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats Roman usurper, usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
* 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the w ...
– Horacio Quiroga, Uruguayan writer (b. 1878)
* February 20 – Percy Cox, Sir Percy Cox, British army general and colonial administrator (b.1864)
* February 24
** Vladimir Lipsky, Soviet scientist, botanist (b. 1863)
** Beyene Merid, Ethiopian military commander (b. 1897)
** Guy Standing (actor), Sir Guy Standing, British actor (b. 1873)
* February 27
** Douglas Carnegie, British politician (b. 1870)
** Charles Donnelly (poet), Charles Donnelly, Irish poet (killed in battle) (b. 1915)
March

* March 6 – John Ellis Martineau, American politician (b. 1873)
* March 7 – Concepción Cabrera de Armida, Mexican Roman Catholic mystic and blessed (b. 1862)
* March 8
** Yuriy Kotsiubynsky, Soviet politician, activist (b. 1896)
** Howie Morenz, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
* March 9 – Paul Elmer More, American critic, essayist (b. 1864)
* March 11 – Joseph S. Cullinan, American oil industrialist, founder of ''Texaco'' (b. 1860)
* March 12
** Jenő Hubay, Hungarian composer, violinist (b. 1858)
** Charles-Marie Widor, French organist, composer (b. 1844)
* March 13 – Elihu Thomson, English-American engineer and inventor, co-founder of General Electric (b. 1853)
* March 15 – H. P. Lovecraft, American writer (b. 1890)
* March 16 – Austen Chamberlain, Sir Austen Chamberlain, British statesman, Nobel Peace Prize recipient (b. 1863)
*
March 18
** Mélanie Bonis, French composer (b. 1858)
** Felix Graf von Bothmer, German general (b. 1852)
** Julio Sanchez Gardel, Argentine dramatist (b. 1870)
* March 20
** Arthur Bernède, French writer, poet and playwright (b. 1870)
** Harry Vardon, English golf professional (b. 1870)
* March 22
** Thorvald Aagaard, Danish composer (b. 1877)
** Alfred Dyke Acland, British military officer (b. 1858)
** Vladimir Maksimov (actor), Vladimir Maksimov, Soviet actor (b. 1880)
** Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford, British aviator, ornithologist (plane crash) (b. 1865)
* March 25 – John Drinkwater (playwright), John Drinkwater, British poet, dramatist (b. 1882)
* March 27 – Victor Gustav Bloede (chemist), Victor Gustav Bloede, Swedish chemist (b. 1849)
* March 28 – Josef Klička, Czechoslovak organist, violinist and composer (b. 1855)
* March 29
** Fyodor Keneman, Soviet pianist, composer (b. 1873)
** Karol Szymanowski, Polish composer (b. 1882)
** Kim You-jeong, Korean novelist (b. 1908)
* March 31 – Ahmed Izzet Pasha, Turkish general (b. 1864)
April

* April 2 – Nathan Birnbaum, Austrian writer, journalist (b. 1864)
* April 4
** Sultan Abd al-Hafid of Morocco (b. 1875)
** Maria Teresa Casini, Italian Roman Catholic nun and blessed (b. 1864)
* April 5 – Jose Benlliure y Gil, Spanish painter (b. 1858)
* April 6 – Gyula Juhász (poet), Gyula Juhász, Hungarian poet (b. 1883)
* April 7 – Helen Burgess, American actress (b. 1916)
* April 8 – Billy Bassett, English association footballer (b. 1869)
* April 10
** Ralph Ince, American film director (b. 1887)
** Shridhar Venkatesh Ketkar, Indian sociologist, historian (b. 1884)
* April 14 – Ned Hanlon (baseball), Ned Hanlon, American baseball manager, MLB Hall of Famer (b. 1857)
* April 16 – Jay Johnson Morrow, American military engineer, politician and 3rd Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (b. 1870)
* April 19
** Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington, British art critic, mountaineer (b. 1856)
** William Morton Wheeler, American entomologist (b. 1865)
*
April 20
** Gaston Chérau, French journalist (b. 1872)
** Josef Mařatka, Czech sculptor (b. 1874)
* April 21 – Saima Harmaja, Finnish poet (b. 1913)
* April 22 – Arthur Edmund Carewe, Armenian-American actor (b. 1884)
* April 23 – Caroline Harris, American actress (b. 1867)
* April 24 – Lucy Beaumont (actress), Lucy Beaumont, British actress (b. 1869)
* April 25 – Michał Drzymała, Polish rebel (b. 1857)
* April 27 – Antonio Gramsci, Italian Communist writer, politician (b. 1891)
* April 29
** Wallace Carothers, American chemist, inventor of nylon (b. 1896)
** William Gillette, American actor (b. 1853)
May

* May 1
** Snitz Edwards, Hungarian actor (b. 1868)
** Herbert Hughes (composer), Herbert Hughes, Irish composer (b. 1882)
* May 2 – Takuji Iwasaki, Japanese meteorologist (b. 1869)
* May 4 – Noel Rosa, Brazilian songwriter (b. 1910)
* May 5
** Camillo Berneri, Italian philosopher, anarchist (b. 1897)
** C.K.G. Billings, American horseman (b. 1861)
*
May 7 – Ernst A. Lehmann, German captain of the ''LZ 129 Hindenburg, Hindenburg'' (b. 1886)
* May 9
** Harry Barton (architect), Harry Barton, American architect (b. 1876)
** Maurice Conner, Canadian politician (b. 1868)
* May 10 – James Blindell, Sir James Blindell, British politician (b. 1884)
* May 11
** Afonso Costa, Portuguese lawyer, professor, politician and 3-time Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1871)
** Ellen Hansell, American tennis champion (b. 1869)
* May 15 – Percy Lee Gassaway, American politician (b. 1885)
* May 23 – John D. Rockefeller, American industrialist, philanthropist (b. 1839)
* May 24
** Luis F. Álvarez, Spanish physician (b. 1853)
** Francis Bird (architect), Francis Bird, Australian architect (b. 1845)
* May 25 – Henry Ossawa Tanner, American artist (b. 1859)
* May 26 – Bertha May Crawford, Canadian opera singer (b. 1886)
*
May 28 – Alfred Adler, Austrian psychologist (b. 1870)
* May 29 – Lizardo García, 17th President of Ecuador (b. 1844)
June

* June 2 – Louis Vierne, French composer (b. 1870)
*
June 3 – Emilio Mola, Spanish Nationalist commander (plane crash) (b. 1887)
* June 4
** Fernand Cabrol, French theologian (b. 1855)
** Keke Geladze, mother of
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
, Leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1858)
* June 7 – Jean Harlow, American actress (b. 1911)
* June 10
** Jane Foss Barff, American activist (b. 1863)
** Robert Borden, Sir Robert Borden, Canadian lawyer, politician and 8th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1854)
** Malcolm Williams (actor), Malcolm Williams, American actor (b. 1870)
* June 12 – Mikhail Tukhachevsky, Soviet Army officer, Red Army commander-in-chief and military theoretician (executed) (b. 1893)
* June 16 – Alexander Chervyakov, Leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1892)
* June 18
** Pierre Bodard, French painter (b. 1881)
** Gaston Doumergue, 60th Prime Minister of France, 13th President of France (b. 1863)
* June 19 – J. M. Barrie, British novelist, dramatist (b. 1860)
* June 20 – Andreu Nin Pérez, Spanish politician (b. 1892)
* June 22 – Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, Malagasy poet (b. 1901)
* June 25
** Colin Clive, British actor (b. 1900)
** Marta Cunningham, American opera singer (b. 1869)
* June 26 – Minoru Murata, Japanese actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1894)
* June 27 – Sandro Akhmeteli, Soviet director (b. 1866)
* June 28 – Max Adler (Marxist), Max Adler, Austrian Marxist theorist (b. 1873)
July

*
July 1
** Ilya Garkavyi, Soviet general (b. 1888)
** Matvei Vasilenko, Soviet komkor (b. 1888)
*
July 2 –
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...
, American aviator (missing on this date) (b. 1897)
* July 3 – Boris Gorbachyov, Soviet general (b. 1892)
* July 6
** Bohdan Ihor Antonych, Soviet poet (b. 1909)
** Ernesto Badini, Italian opera singer (b. 1876)
*
July 7 – Åke Hammarskjöld, Swedish diplomat, lawyer (b. 1893)
* July 8 – Diana Abgar, Armenian diplomat (b. 1859)
*
July 9 – Oliver Law, American labor organizer, Army officer (killed in Spanish Civil War) (b. 1899)
* July 10 – Arthur Edmund Seaman, American professor and museum curator (b. 1858)
* July 11
** George Gershwin, American composer (b. 1898)
** Rodrigues Ottolengui, American writer (b. 1861)
* July 12 – Hugo Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss, British politician, public servant (b. 1857)
* July 13
** Mykhailo Boychuk, Soviet painter (b. 1882)
** Victor Laloux, French architect (b. 1850)
* July 14
** Julius Meier, American businessman, politician (b. 1874)
** Joseph Taylor Robinson, American politician (b. 1872)
* July 15 – Walter Gay, American painter (b. 1856)
* July 16 – Vladimir Kirillov, Soviet poet (b. 1889)
* July 17
** Annie Furuhjelm, Finnish feminist activist, politician (b. 1859)
** Percy Gardner, British archaeologist (b. 1846)
* July 18
** Julian Bell, British poet (killed in Spanish Civil War) (b. 1908)
** Grigol Giorgadze, Soviet historian, jurist and politician (b. 1879)
*
July 20 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian-born American inventor (b. 1874)
*
July 22
** Nazzareno Formosa, American Roman Catholic priest and reverend (b. 1901)
** Paolo Iashvili, Soviet poet (b. 1894)
* July 23 – Varnava, Serbian Patriarch (b. 1880)
*
July 31 – Noë Bloch, Soviet producer (b. 1875)
August

*
August 5 – Jean Louis Conneau, French aviator (b. 1880)
*
August 6
** Adeodato Barreto, Portuguese poet (b. 1905)
** F. C. S. Schiller, German-British philosopher (b. 1864)
*
August 8 – Martin Rázus, Slovak poet, writer and politician (b. 1888)
*
August 9 – Na Woon-gyu, Korean actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1902)
* August 11 – Edith Wharton, American writer (b. 1862)
*
August 13 – Sigizmund Levanevsky, Soviet aircraft pilot (b. 1902)
* August 19
** Alexander Hotovitzky, Russian Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox priest, missionary and saint (b. 1872)
** Asaichi Isobe, Japanese army officer (b. 1905)
** Ivan Kataev, Russian novelist, writer (b. 1902)
* August 22
** Owen Burns (developer), Owen Burns, American entrepreneur (b. 1869)
** Gelegdorjiin Demid, Russian political military figure (b. 1900)
*
August 24 – Gervase Beckett, British politician (b. 1866)
*
August 26
** Christos Christovasilis, Greek journalist, author (b. 1861)
** Andrew Mellon, American banker, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1855)
* August 30
** Gaetano Bisleti, Italian cardinal (b. 1856)
** Tomás António Garcia Rosado, Portuguese general (b. 1854)
*August 31 – Ruth Baldwin (died 1937), Ruth Baldwin, British socialite (b. 1905)
September

*
September 2
** Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, Indian revolutionary hero (b. 1880)
** Pierre de Coubertin, 2nd President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1863)
* September 3 – François Guiguet, French painter (b. 1860)
* September 4
** Daniel Alexander Cameron, Canadian politician (b. 1870)
** Juan Campisteguy, Uruguayan lawyer, soldier and 25th President of Uruguay (b. 1859)
*
September 5 – David Hendricks Bergey, American bacteriologist (b. 1860)
* September 6 – Harry Charles Purvis Bell, British civil servant, commissioner (b. 1851)
* September 8 – Frank Alexander (actor), Frank Alexander, American actor (b. 1879)
* September 9
** Mikhail Diterikhs, Russian general (b. 1874)
** Géza Horváth, Hungarian doctor, entomologist (b. 1847)
* September 11 – Nazmi Ziya Güran, Turkish painter (b. 1881)
* September 13 – Ellis Parker Butler, American humorist (b. 1869)
* September 14 – Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, Czechoslovak politician, sociologist, philosopher and 1st President of Czechoslovakia (b. 1850)
* September 15
** Anders Bundgaard, Danish sculptor (b. 1864)
** Clifford Heatherley, British actor (b. 1888)
* September 20
** Maksymilian Horwitz, Polish socialist, communist activist (b. 1877)
** Lev Karakhan, Soviet revolutionary hero, diplomat (b. 1889)
* September 23 – Cleto González Víquez, 18th and 26th President of Costa Rica (b. 1858)
* September 22 – Ruth Roland, American actress (b. 1892)
* September 26
** Bessie Smith, African-American blues singer (b. 1894)
** Edward Filene, United States, American businessman, philanthropist (b. 1860)
*
September 27 – Alikhan Bukeikhanov, Kazakh statesman, politician, publicist, teacher, writer and Prime Minister of Alash Autonomy (b. 1866)
* September 29 – Ray Ewry, American Olympic athlete (b. 1873)
October

*
October 1 – Prince Kuni Taka of Japan (b. 1875)
*
October 2 – Granville Ryrie, Australian Army general, politician, and diplomat (b. 1865)
*
October 3
** Baden Baden-Powell, American aviator pioneer (b. 1860)
** Richard Hertwig, German zoologist (b. 1850)
* October 6 – Angelo Musco (actor), Angelo Musco, Italian actor (b. 1872)
* October 8 – Nisar Muhammad Yousafzai, Afghan revolutionary war hero (b. 1897)
*
October 9
** August de Boeck, Flemish composer (b. 1865)
** Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, German prince (b. 1868)
* October 10 – Peter of Krutitsy, Soviet Orthodox priest, martyr and metropolitan (b. 1862)
*
October 11 – Emma E. Bower, American physician, club-woman, and newspaperwoman (b. 1852)
*
October 13 – Kazimierz Nowak, Polish traveller (b. 1897)
* October 14
**Agustín de Luque y Coca, Spanish general and politician (b. 1850)
**Salvatore Micalizzi, Italian Roman Catholic priest and venerable (b. 1856)
*
October 15 – James Marcus (American actor), James Marcus, American actor (b. 1867)
* October 16
** Jean de Brunhoff, French writer (b. 1899)
** William Sealy Gosset, English chemist and statistician (b. 1876)
* October 17
** J. Bruce Ismay, English businessman (b. 1862)
** Antônio Parreiras, Brazilian painter, illustrator (b. 1860)
* October 19
** Pedro Chutró, Argentine physician (b. 1880)
** Ernest Rutherford, New Zealand physicist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry recipient (b. 1871)
*
October 23 – Nikolai Klyuev, Russian poet (b. 1884)
* October 26 – Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki, Polish general (b. 1867)
* October 27
** Joseph-Félix Bouchor, French painter (b. 1853)
** Abdul Karim Khan, Indian classical singer (b. 1872)
* October 29 – Kazimierz Cichowski, Polish-born Soviet politician (b. 1887)
* October 30
** Mendel Khatayevich, Soviet politician (b. 1893)
** Ivan Zhukov, Soviet politician (b. 1889)
November

* November 1 – Ivar Bauck, Norwegian general (b. 1863)
* November 2 – Félix Gaffiot, French philologist (b. 1870)
* November 4
** William Bennett (English politician), William Bennett, British politician (b. 1873)
** Alfred Walter Campbell, Australian neurologist (b. 1868)
** Gustav Gärtner, Austrian pathologist (b. 1855)
** Emil Hassler, Swiss physician, botanist (b. 1864)
*
November 5 – Naoe Kinoshita, Japanese Christian socialist (b. 1869)
*
November 6 – Johnston Forbes-Robertson, Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson, British stage actor (b. 1853)
* November 8 – Francis de Croisset, Belgian-born French playwright (b. 1877)
*
November 9 – Ramsay MacDonald, British statesman, 2-time
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1866)
*
November 10 – Nikolai Batalov, Soviet actor (b. 1899)
*
November 11 – Uryū Sotokichi, Japanese admiral (b. 1857)
* November 13 – Mrs. Leslie Carter, American actress (b. 1857)
* November 15 – Eero Järnefelt, Finnish realist painter (b. 1863)
* November 16
** Némèse Garneau, Canadian politician (b. 1847)
** Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark, wife of Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse, Hereditary Grand Duke Georg Donatus of Hesse, and sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (b. 1911)
* November 17 – Jack Worrall, Australian cricketer, coach (b. 1860)
* November 20 – Metropolitan Joseph (Petrovykh) of the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
(b. 1872)
* November 23
** Miklós Kovács (poet), Miklós Kovács, Hungarian-born Yugoslav poet (b. 1857)
** Jagadish Chandra Bose, Indian physicist (b. 1858)
** George Albert Boulenger, Belgian naturalist (b. 1858)
* November 25
** Aleksandr Glagolev, Russian Orthodox priest, religious philosopher and saint (b. 1872)
** Alessandro Padoa, Italian mathematician (b. 1868)
** Raymond Stanton Patton, American admiral, engineer and second Director of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (b. 1882)
* November 26 – Peljidiin Genden, Mongolian political figure, 9th Prime Minister of Mongolia and 2nd President of Mongolia (b. 1892)
* November 27
** Vsevolod Balitsky, Leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1892)
** Eero Haapalainen, Finnish Communist leader, activist (b. 1880)
** Felix Hamrin, 22nd Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1875)
** Vasyl Lypkivsky, Soviet Orthodox priest, metropolitan (b. 1864)
** Wilhelm Weinberg, German physician (b. 1862)
* November 28 – Magnús Guðmundsson, Icelandic politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1879)
December

*
December 1 – Rao Guohua, Chinese general of the National Revolutionary Army (b. 1894)
* December 2 – Josep Comas i Solà, Andorran astronomer (b. 1868)
* December 3
** Attila József, Hungarian poet (b. 1905)
** Prosper Poullet, Belgian politician, 26th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1868)
** Yue Yiqin, Chinese flying ace (b. 1914)
*
December 4
** Ralph Lewis (actor), Ralph Lewis, American actor (b. 1872)
** Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum, Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum, Indian politician and educationist (b. 1863)
* December 8
** Hans Molisch, Czech-Austrian botanist (b. 1856)
** Akhmet Baitursynov, Kazakh poet, politician, turkologist (b. 1872)
* December 9
** Lilias Armstrong, British phonetician (b. 1882)
** Gustaf Dalén, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
* December 10 – Robert Bolder, British actor (b. 1859)
*
December 12 – Alfred Abel, German actor (b. 1879)
* December 14 – Fabián de la Rosa, Filipino painter (b. 1869)
*
December 16 – Giorgi Mazniashvili, Soviet general (b. 1870)
* December 17 – Dimitrie Călugăreanu, Romanian physician, naturalist and physiologist (b. 1868)
* December 18 – Robert Worth Bingham, American politician (b. 1871)
* December 20 – Erich Ludendorff, German general (b. 1865)
*
December 21
** Meliton Balanchivadze, Soviet composer (b. 1862)
** Ted Healy, American actor (b. 1896)
** Frank B. Kellogg, United States Secretary of State, Nobel Peace Prize recipient (b. 1856)
* December 22 – Joseph Darby (jumper), Joseph Darby, British jumper (b. 1861)
* December 23 – Osman Nuri Hadžić, Bosnian writer (b. 1869)
*
December 25 – Newton D. Baker, 37th Mayor of Cleveland, Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, United States Secretary of War (b. 1871)
* December 27
** Coote Hedley, Sir Coote Hedley, British army officer and sportsman (b. 1865)
** William N. Andrews, American politician and member of the United States House of Representatives from 1919 to 1921 (b. 1876)
* December 28
** Herbert Bullmore, Scottish Rugby Union international player, grandfather of Kerry Packer (b. 1874)
** Maurice Ravel, French composer (''Boléro'') (b. 1875)
** Algernon Thomas, Sir Algernon Thomas, New Zealand scientist (b. 1857)
*
December 29
** Frederik Beichmann, Norwegian jurist (b. 1859)
** Don Marquis, American poet (b. 1878)
* December 30 – Hans Niels Andersen, Danish businessman, founder of the East Asiatic Company (b. 1852)
* December 31 – Dezső Czigány, Hungarian painter (b. 1883)
Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Clinton Joseph Davisson, George Paget Thomson
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Walter Haworth, Paul Karrer
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Physiology or Medicine – Albert Szent-Györgyi, Albert von Szent-Györgyi Nagyrapolt
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Roger Martin du Gard
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, Robert Cecil
References
External links
1937 WWII Timeline– from American Studies Programs at The University of Virginia
{{DEFAULTSORT:1937
1937,
Articles containing video clips