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The following events occurred in April 1937:


April 1, 1937 (Thursday)

*The
Government of India Act 1935 The Government of India Act 1935 (25 & 26 Geo. 5. c. 42) was an Act of Parliament (UK), act passed by the British Parliament that originally received royal assent in August 1935. It was the longest act that the British Parliament ever enact ...
came into effect, reorganizing the colonial structure of British India.
Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
was made a
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 ...
of the United Kingdom, separate from the rest of British India, with
Ba Maw Ba Maw (, ; 8 February 1893 – 29 May 1977), known honorifically as Dr. Ba Maw, was a Burmese lawyer and politician, active during the interwar period and Second World War. He was the first Burma Premier (1937–1939) and head of State of Bu ...
as the first
Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...
and Sir Archibald Cochrane continuing as Governor. *The Act provided for six of British India's 11 provinces to have their own legislative bodies. Bicameral parliaments and a local
prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
began operation in the
Bombay State Bombay State was a large Indian state created in 1950 from the erstwhile Bombay Province, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Province (in British India roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Mah ...
(Prime Minister
Dhanjishah Cooper Sir Dhanjishah Bomanji Cooper (2 January 1878 – 29 July 1947) was an Indian Parsi industrialist, politician and the first Prime Minister of Bombay Presidency. Cooper was made a Knight Bachelor in the 1937 New Year Honours. Early life Dhanjis ...
and a capital at
Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
, now Mumbai); the Province of Madras (Prime Minister
Kurma Venkata Reddi Naidu Rao Bahadur Sir Kurma Venkatareddi Naidu KCSI (1875–1942), also known as K. V. Reddi Naidu, was an Indian politician, lawyer, diplomat, and academic. He served as the Premier of Madras Presidency and was one of only two Indians to hold the p ...
with a capital at
Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
, now Chennai); the
Province of Bengal The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...
(Prime Minister
Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq (26 October 1873 – 27 April 1962), popularly known as Sher-e-Bangla, was a Bengali lawyer and politician who served as the first and longest prime minister of Bengal during the British Raj. He is well-known to present t ...
with a capital at
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
, now Kolkata);
Bihar Province Bihar Province was a province of British India, created in 1936 by the partition of the Bihar and Orissa Province. History In 1756, Bihar was part of Bengal. On 14 October 1803, Orissa was occupied by the British Raj. On 22 March 1912, both Bih ...
(Premier Mohammad Yunus, with a capital at
Pataliputra Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, Bihar, was a city in ancient India, originally built by Magadha ruler Ajatashatru in 490 BCE, as a small fort () near the Ganges river.. Udayin laid the foundation of the city of Pataliput ...
;
Assam Province Assam Province was a province of British India, created in 1912 by the partition of the Eastern Bengal and Assam Province. Its capital was in Shillong. The Assam territory was first separated from Bengal in 1874 as the 'North-East Frontier' ...
(Prime Minister
Muhammed Saadulah Sir Syed Muhammad Saadulla KCIE (; 21 May 1885 – 8 January 1955) was the 1st Prime Minister of Assam in British India from 1937 to 1946. He was also the member of Constituent Assembly of India from 1946 to 1950. Saadulla was knighted the ...
, with a capital at
Shillong Shillong (, ) is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in India, 330th most populous city ...
); and the United Provinces (Chief Minister
Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan Chhatari Lieutenant Colonel Saeed ul-Mulk Nawab Sir Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan, Nawab of Chhatari also generally referred to as Nawab of Chhatari (12 December 1888 – 6 January 1982) was Governor of the United Provinces, Chief Minister of United ...
, with a capital at
Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...
). *The Act also established
Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...
, formerly a part of British India located on the
Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...
and now part of the
Republic of Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the northeast, the south-eastern part of the Arabian Sea to the east, the Gulf of Aden to the south ...
, as a Crown colony, with Sir Bernard Reilly as the first Governor. *The
Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial warfare, aerial military service, service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Perm ...
(RNZAF) became an independent branch of New Zealand's military forces, after having existed initially as a command within the New Zealand Army. *Six German bombers of the
Condor Legion The Condor Legion () was a unit of military personnel from the air force and army of Nazi Germany’s Wehrmacht which served with the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War. The legion developed methods of strategic bombing that were ...
carried out the bombing of Jaén, a Spanish city with no legitimate military value or anti-aircraft defenses, and killed 159 civilians. In retaliation, the city administrators of the Spanish Republic government executed 128 Nationalist prisoners. *The 36-story tall
Time-Life Building 1271 Avenue of the Americas (formerly known as the Time & Life Building) is a 48-story skyscraper on Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas), between 50th and 51st streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed ...
, now called "1 Rockefeller Plaza", opened in Manhattan. *Born:
Mohammad Hamid Ansari Mohammad Hamid Ansari (; born 1 April 1937) is an Indian bureaucrat and retired Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer who was the vice president of India from 2007 to 2017. Ansari joined the IFS in 1961. In a diplomatic career spanning 38 year ...
, Vice President of India from 2007 to 2017, formerly India's Ambassador to the United Nations from 1993 to 1995; in
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
,
Province of Bengal The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...
,
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...


April 2, 1937 (Friday)

*The Kingdom of Albania, ruled by King
Zog I Zog I (born Ahmed Muhtar Zogolli; 8 October 18959 April 1961) was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27, he first served as Albania's youngest ever Prime Minister (1922–1924), then as president (1925–1928), and finally as King ...
, established a policy of official recognition of its
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
minority, which at the time consisted of 300 Albanians, living primarily in
Vlorë Vlorë ( ; ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, third most populous city of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surr ...
, and of becoming the only European nation to welcome Jewish refugees. *A sitdown strike began at the
Hershey Chocolate The Hershey Company, often called just Hershey or Hershey's, is an American multinational confectionery company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hersheypark and Hershey's Chocolate World. The Hershey Company is one ...
factory in
Hershey, Pennsylvania Hershey is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to the Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey ...
. It would only last for six days. *A rebellion by the of 1,500 Uighur Muslims began in the
Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
(at the time referred to as Sinkiang) province of China with the support of the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
's
New 36th Division The New 36th Division was a cavalry division in the National Revolutionary Army. It was created in 1932 by the Kuomintang for General Ma Zhongying, who was also its first commander. It was made almost entirely out of Hui Muslim troops, all of ...
. *The collision of two trains killed 10 people and injured 80 others, mostly commuters in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, because of an error by a signalman on Britain's Southern Railway. All but one of the dead had been in the rear car of a train traveling from
London Bridge station London Bridge is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Southwark, south-east London. It occupies a large area on three levels immediately south-east of London Bridge, from which it takes its name. The m ...
to
London Victoria station Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street, the mai ...
and which was stopped in the
Battersea Park Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea, London, Chelsea and was opened in 1858. The park occupies ...
station when another train from
Coulsdon Coulsdon (, traditionally pronounced ) is a town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. Coulsdon was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey that included the settlements of Purley and Kenley. It was merged with Sand ...
was cleared to enter at 8:02 in the morning.


April 3, 1937 (Saturday)

* Manchukuan Prince
Pujie Pujie (; 16 April 1907 – 28 February 1994) was a Qing dynasty imperial prince of the Aisin-Gioro. Pujie was the younger brother of Puyi, the last Emperor of China. After the fall of the Qing dynasty, Pujie went to Japan, where he was educated ...
and Japanese princess
Hiro Saga was a Japanese noblewoman and memoir writer. She was the daughter of Marquis Saneto Saga and a distant relative of Hirohito, Emperor Shōwa. She was married in 1937 to Pujie, the younger brother of Puyi, the last monarch of the Qing dynasty of Ch ...
were married in a simple
Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...
ceremony in Tokyo. *The
operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...
'' Polnische Hochzeit'' (''Polish Wedding''), by Joseph Beer, was given its first performance, premiering at the
Zürich Opera House The Zurich Opera House () is an opera house in the Swiss city of Zurich. Located at the Sechseläutenplatz, it has been the home of the Zurich Opera since 1891, and also houses the Bernhard-Theater Zürich. It is also home to Ballett Zürich. I ...
in Switzerland. *Born: **
Joseph Albright Joseph P. Albright (November 8, 1938 – March 20, 2009) was an American jurist who first served on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia from 1995 to 1996. In November 2000, he was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals for a full ...
, American journalist and investigative reporter; in
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
**
Ivone Dias Lourenço Ivone Dias Lourenço was a Portuguese communist and an opponent of the ''Estado Novo (Portugal), Estado Novo'' regime in Portugal. She spent almost seven years as a political prisoner. A report of her imprisonment in a British newspaper led to he ...
, Portuguese Communist and dissident whose imprisonment indirectly led to the 1961 founding of
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
; in
Vila Franca de Xira Vila Franca de Xira (), officially the City of Vila Franca de Xira (), is a city and municipality in the Lisbon District in Portugal. The population in 2021 was 137,659, in an area of 318.19 km2. Situated on both banks of the Tagus River, ...
(d. 2008) **
John Arrillaga John Arrillaga (April 3, 1937 – January 24, 2022) was an American billionaire real estate developer and Philanthropy, philanthropist who was one of the largest landowners in Silicon Valley. He was also a college basketball player when he atten ...
, American real estate magnate and billionaire philanthropist known for developing
Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...
in northern
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
; in
Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...
(d. 2022) **
Samuel Ginn Samuel Lou Ginn (born 3 April 1937), is an American businessman. Early life Samuel Lou Ginn was born on April 3, 1937, in Anniston, Alabama. He is a 1959 graduate of Auburn University's College of Engineering, and was awarded the institution's hono ...
, American engineer known for launching the early cellular phone company
AirTouch Communications AirTouch Communications, Inc. was an American wireless telephone service provider, created as a spin-off of Pacific Telesis on April 1, 1994. Its headquarters were located in the One California building in the Financial District of San Francis ...
, and philanthropist who created the Ginn Family Foundation; in
Anniston, Alabama Anniston is a city and the county seat of Calhoun County, Alabama, Calhoun County in Alabama, United States, and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston–Oxford metropolitan area, Anniston–Oxford Metropo ...


April 4, 1937 (Sunday)

*
Byron Nelson John Byron Nelson Jr. (February 4, 1912 – September 26, 2006) was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time. Nelson and two other legendary champions of the time, Ben Hog ...
won the fourth annual
Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...
with a score of 283 strokes in 72 holes;
Ralph Guldahl Ralph J. Guldahl (November 22, 1911 – June 11, 1987) was an American professional golfer, one of the top five players in the sport from 1936 to 1940. He won sixteen PGA Tour-sanctioned tournaments, including three majors (two U.S. Opens and one ...
finished second with 285. *The first
slalom skiing Slalom is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline, involving skiing between poles or gates. These are spaced more closely than those in giant slalom, super-G, super giant slalom and Downhill (ski competition), downhill, necessitating ...
championship in Sweden was held at
Frösön Frösön (, ; " Frey's island") is the largest island in the lake Storsjön, Jämtland, Sweden. Part of the city Östersund is located on the island. During most of recorded history Frösön was the regional centre of Jämtland, and it is the loc ...
island at
Östersund Östersund (; ) is an Urban areas in Sweden, urban area (Stad (Sweden), city) in Jämtland in northern Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-larg ...
after being organized by Olle Rimfors and
Ivar Holmquist Lieutenant General Carl Axel Fredrik ''Ivar'' Holmquist (22 February 1879 – 24 September 1954) was a senior Swedish Army officer and sports official. He was president of the International Ski Federation from 1924 to 1934 and served as Chief of t ...
. Rimfors co-founded the Swedish Ski Association two months later on June 27, 1937. *Born: Teresa Trujillo, Uruguayan choreographer; in
Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
*Died: ** Abd al-Hafid, 62,
Sultan of Morocco This is a list of rulers of Morocco since 789. The common and formal titles of these rulers has varied, depending on the time period. Since 1957, the designation King has been used. The present King of Morocco is Mohammed VI of Morocco, Mohammed ...
from 1908 to 1912, known for signing the
Treaty of Fez The Treaty of Fes (, ), officially the Treaty Concluded Between France and Morocco on 30 March 1912, for the Organization of the French Protectorate in the Sharifian Empire ( French: ), was signed by Sultan Abd al-Hafid of Morocco under duress a ...
on March 30, 1912, making Morocco a French protectorate. After signing the treaty, al-Hafid abdicated and was granted a pension, living for the rest of his life in France. **
Charles Henry Smyth, Jr. Charles Henry Smyth Jr. (; March 31, 1866 – April 4, 1937) was an American geologist. Born to a prominent family in Upstate New York, he studied geology at Columbia University before becoming a professor of geology at Hamilton College and Pri ...
, 71, American geologist **
Henry Goldman Henry Goldman (September 21, 1857 – April 4, 1937) was an American heir, banker, philanthropist and art collector. A member of the Goldman–Sachs family, he was instrumental in the making of the financial conglomerate Goldman Sachs in the early ...
, 79, American philanthropist and businessman who built the
Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...
financial conglomerate


April 5, 1937 (Monday)

*The first
postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...
s bearing the face of
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 ...
went on sale in Germany to commemorate the Führer's 48th birthday. *The first elections in British India for the new Punjab Provincial Assembly were held for 175 seats, of which 42 were for any candidate, 84 were limited to
Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
, 31 for
Sikhs Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...
, and 18 others for representatives of different groups (four for women, five for landholders, three for trade union representatives, two for Indian Christians, and one apiece for a European, a British-born Indian, a university representative and representative of industry. Overall, candidates of the Unionist Party won a majority of 98 of 175 seats. *The French liner '' Normandie'' crossed the Atlantic Ocean in record time, with an average speed of . *Born: **U.S. Army General
Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...
, the first African-American Secretary of State; in New York City (died of complications from
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
, 2021) **General
Guido Vildoso General Guido Hernán Vildoso Calderón (born 5 April 1937) is a Bolivian retired military officer who served as the 59th president of Bolivia from July to October 1982. He was the last president installed by the military. Biography Born in ...
,
President of Bolivia The president of Bolivia (), officially known as the president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (), is head of state and head of government of Bolivia and the captain general of the Armed Forces of Bolivia. According to the Bolivian C ...
for four months in 1982 and the last military ruler prior to the restoration of democracy in the South American nation; in
La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...
**
Maryanne Trump Barry Maryanne Trump Barry (April 5, 1937 – November 13, 2023) was an American attorney and United States federal judge. She became an assistant United States attorney in 1974 and was first appointed to the United States District Court for the Dist ...
, U.S. federal appellate judge from 1983 to 2019, older sister of former U.S. President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
; in New York City (d. 2023) ** Juan Lezcano, Paraguayan footballer with 26 caps for the Paraguay national team; in
Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...
(d. 2012)


April 6, 1937 (Tuesday)

*Four U.S. Navy flyers were killed in a collision of two bomber planes during maneuvers off the coast of California. *Born: **
Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in country music, he was a central pioneer of the Bakersfield ...
, American country musician; in
Oildale, California Oildale is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, Kern County, California, United States. Oildale is located north-northwest of downtown Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield, at an elevation of . The population was 32,684 a ...
(d. 2016) **
Billy Dee Williams William December Williams Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American retired actor, novelist and painter. He has appeared in over 100 films and television roles over six decades. He is best known for portraying Lando Calrissian in the ''Star Wars ...
, African-American singer and actor; in New York City **
Peter Maivia Fanene Leifi Pita Maivia (born Fanene Pita Anderson; April 6, 1937 – June 13, 1982), better known as Peter Maivia, was a Samoan-American professional wrestler, actor and stunt coordinator. Maivia was the grandfather of Dwayne Johnson, Dwayne ...
(ring name for Fanene Pita Anderson), Samoan-American professional wrestler and grandfather of
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...
'; in
American Samoa American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. Centered on , it is southeast of the island count ...
(died of cancer, 1982)


April 7, 1937 (Wednesday)

*The Pennsylvania chocolate workers' sitdown strike ended abruptly when at least 3,000 people— other Hershey employees, workers at neighboring dairies affected by the strike, and local residents—arrived at the factory and gave the strikers until 1:00 to leave the factory or to be forcibly evicted. When the deadline arrived with no exit, the strikebreaking group entered the factory with bats, clubs and hammers and beat several people, with the worst assault on three union organizers. As of milk daily was destroyed as a result of the strike, farmers armed with sticks and clubs assaulted the strikers, many of whom were taken to hospitals. *In British India, the bicameral
Assam Legislative Assembly The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral Assam Legislature, legislature of the List of states and union territories of India, Indian state of Assam. It is housed in Dispur, the capital city of Assam, geographically situated in present L ...
, the first parliament of native Indians in the
Assam Province Assam Province was a province of British India, created in 1912 by the partition of the Eastern Bengal and Assam Province. Its capital was in Shillong. The Assam territory was first separated from Bengal in 1874 as the 'North-East Frontier' ...
, was opened by the British governor, Sir Robert Reid in
Shillong Shillong (, ) is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in India, 330th most populous city ...
with a 108-member House of Representatives and a 21-member Legislative Council. Babu Basanta Kumar Das was sworn in as the first Speaker of the House of the new Assembly on the same day. *Born: **
Graeme Davies Sir Graeme John Davies (7 April 1937 – 30 August 2022) was a New Zealand engineer, academic and administrator. During his career, he was Vice-Chancellor of three universities: the University of Liverpool, the University of Glasgow and the ...
, New Zealand engineer and academic known for establishing the
Higher Education Funding Council for England The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engl ...
; in
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
(d. 2022) ** Mircea Dridea, Romanian footballer for the Romania national football team from 1959 to 1967; in
Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...


April 8, 1937 (Thursday)

*Austrian Chancellor
Kurt Schuschnigg Kurt Alois Josef Johann von Schuschnigg (; 14 December 1897 – 18 November 1977) was an Austrian politician who was the Chancellor of Austria, Chancellor of the Federal State of Austria from the 1934 assassination of his predecessor Engelbert D ...
retracted his announcement of February 14 and said that the
Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...
could not be restored in the foreseeable future due to the tense international situation. *Englishman
John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst John de Vere Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst, (5 February 1895 – 30 October 1970) was a British Army officer, politician and colonial administrator. After serving in the army, the Foreign Office, and as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) in t ...
took office as the new
Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...
in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, fillig a vacancy that had existed for more than five months after the death of Sir Murray Anderson on October 30. Baron Wakehurst was the last non-Australian governor of the New South Wales state. *The Oshawa Strike began in Canada when 4,000
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
workers walked off the job at the GM factory in
Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. *Born:
Seymour Hersh Seymour Myron Hersh (born April 8, 1937) is an American investigative journalist and political writer. He gained recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War, for which he received the 1970 Pulitzer ...
, American investigative journalist and author; in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
*Died:
Billy Bassett William Isiah Bassett (27 January 1869 – 8 April 1937) was an English association footballer, director, and club chairman who served West Bromwich Albion for over half a century. Biography Playing career Born in West Bromwich, the eldest of ...
, 68, English footballer who represented England in international play from 1888 to 1896


April 9, 1937 (Friday)

*In
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, 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 ...
carried out a nationwide raid all on all chapters of
B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International ( ; from ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit Jewish service organization and was formerly a cultural association for German Jewish immigrants to the United States. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the se ...
, the international Jewish social service organization. All property of the B'nai B'rith was confiscated by the German government and the German corporation was dissolved. * Mark R. Rein, a Russian-born German journalist, was kidnapped in
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
while in Spain, and taken to the Soviet Union by agents of the Soviet secret police, the
OGPU The Joint State Political Directorate ( rus, Объединённое государственное политическое управление, p=ɐbjɪdʲɪˈnʲɵn(ː)əjə ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əjə pəlʲɪˈtʲitɕɪskəjə ʊprɐˈv ...
. He was never seen in public again, and presumed to have been executed as part of an operation to round up opponents of the regime of Joseph Stalin. *The ''
Kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
'' became the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly from Japan to Europe, as pilot
Masaaki Iinuma was a Japanese aviator. Iinuma was born in Toyoshina (now part of Azumino, Nagano Prefecture), and was a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Army flying school at Tokorozawa. At age 24 he gained fame as the pilot on the , a Mitsubishi Ki-15 ' ...
and navigator
Kenji Tsukagoshi (1900–1943) was a Japanese aviator and explorer. He was navigator on the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly from Japan to Europe. Life Tsukagoshi was born in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture. His father was Japanese and his mother was British. He ...
arrived in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
51 hours and 17 minutes after departing from
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
. *Born: **
Valerie Singleton Valerie Singleton (born 9 April 1937) is an English television and radio presenter best known as a regular presenter of the popular children's series ''Blue Peter'' from 1962 to 1972. She also presented the BBC Radio 4 '' PM'' programme for te ...
, English television and radio presenter, known for the series ''
Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC ...
'' and ''The Money Programme''; in
Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...
,
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
**
Mahshid Amirshahi Mahshid Amirshahi (; surname also Romanized as Amir-Shahy or Amirshahy; born 9 April 1937) is an Iranian novelist, short story writer, humorist, literary critic, journalist, and translator. Biography Amirshahi was born on 9 April 1937 in Kermansh ...
, Iranian novelist **
Rollan Kadyev Rollan Kemalevich Kadyev (, ; 9 April 1937 – 15 May 1990) was a Crimean Tatar physicist and civil rights activist in the Soviet Union. A defendant in the Tashkent process, he became known as a firebrand opponent of marginalization and delimina ...
, Soviet Crimean Tatar physicist and activist for the rights of the Crimean Tatar people in the USSR; in Azek,
Crimean ASSR Several different governments controlled the Crimean Peninsula during the period of the Soviet Union, from the 1920s to 1991. The government of Crimea from 1921 to 1936 was the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic, which was an Autonomo ...
,
RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
(died during surgery for a brain tumor, 1990) *Died: Albert Paine, 75, American author and biographer


April 10, 1937 (Saturday)

*British Prime Minister
Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (3 August 186714 December 1947), was a British statesman and Conservative politician who was prominent in the political leadership of the United Kingdom between the world wars. He was prime ministe ...
announced that he would soon be retiring. *Born: **
Bella Akhmadulina Izabella Akhatovna Akhmadulina (, ; 10 April 1937 – 29 November 2010) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian poet, short story writer, and translator, known for her apolitical writing stance. She was part of the Russian New Wave literary movem ...
, Soviet Russian poet; in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
(d. 2010) ** Gennady Fadeyev, Russian Minister of Railways from 1992 to 1996 and 2002 to 2003, and the first president of the
Russian Railways Russian Railways or RZD () is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both managing infrastructure and operating freight and passenger train services and has a near-monopoly on long-distance train travel in Russia. ...
corporation; in
Shimanovsk Shimanovsk () is a town in Amur Oblast, Russia, located on the Bolshaya Pyora River (a right-hand tributary of the Zeya), northwest of Blagoveshchensk. Population: History It was founded in conjunction with the construction of the Amur railwa ...
,
Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
,
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 ...
**
Mark Petrokovets Mark Iosifovich Petrokovets (; 10 April 1937 – 18 November 2006) was a Soviet and Belarusian scientist prominent in the fields of tribology, the study of frictional interaction between surfaces, and well known for his classical influential han ...
, Soviet and Belarusan scientist known for his research on
tribology Tribology is the science and engineering of understanding friction, lubrication and wear phenomena for interacting surfaces in relative Motion (physics), motion. It is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on many academic fields, including physics, c ...
, the study of
friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. Types of friction include dry, fluid, lubricated, skin, and internal -- an incomplete list. The study of t ...
phenomena; in
Gomel Gomel (, ) or Homyel (, ) is a city in south-eastern Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Gomel Region and Gomel District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it is the List of cities and largest ...
,
Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...
,
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 ...
(now
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
) (d. 2006) **
Mohamed Hashim Mohd Ali Mohamed Hashim bin Mohd Ali (born 10 April 1937) is a Malaysian military officer who served as the Chief of Defence Forces (Malaysia), Chief of Defence Forces from 1987 to 1992, and as the Chief of Army (Malaysia), Chief of Army from 1985 to 1987 ...
, Malaysian Chief of Defence Forces from 1987 to 1992; in
Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...
, Sultanate of
Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...
,
Federated Malay States The Federated Malay States (FMS, , Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of four protectorate, protected states in the Malay Peninsula — Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang — established in 1895 by the British government, and whi ...
**
Faramarz Pilaram Faramarz Pilaram (; 1937–1983, or 1982) was an Iranian painter and educator. He is known for his abstract, and calligraphy-based modern paintings. Pilaram was a pioneer within the Saqqakhaneh school, a neo-traditionalist art movement. There wer ...
, Iranian painter and calligrapher; in
Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
(d. 1983) *Died: **
Ralph Ince Ralph Waldo Ince (January 16, 1887 – April 10, 1937) was an American pioneer film actor, director and screenwriter whose career began near the dawn of the silent film, silent film era. Ralph Ince was the brother of John Ince (actor), John E. I ...
, 50, American actor, director and screenwriter, was killed in an auto accident when his wife crashed the car in which he was riding into an iron pole in London's
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
district. **
Kenelm Lee Guinness Kenelm Edward Lee Guinness MBE (14 August 1887 – 10 April 1937) was a British racing driver of the 1910s and 1920s mostly associated with Sunbeam racing cars. He set a new Land Speed Record in 1922. Also an automotive engineer, he invented ...
, 49, Irish racing driver and inventor, known for creating the KLG
spark plug A spark plug (sometimes, in British English, a sparking plug, and, colloquially, a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/air ...
, and for setting the last land speed records measured on a racetrack rather than a beach or salt flat, committed suicide at his home. Guinness had suffered head trauma on September 27, 1924, at the San Sebastian Grand Prix and became increasingly despondent in the years that followed.


April 11, 1937 (Sunday)

*The British cabinet held a rare Sunday meeting in which it decided to afford the fullest protection to British shipping outside the
three-mile limit The three-mile limit refers to a traditional and now largely obsolete conception of the international law of the seas which defined a country's territorial waters, for the purposes of trade regulation and exclusivity, as extending as far as the re ...
in northern Spanish waters. This was understood to include authorizing the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
to open fire on any Spanish vessels interfering with British cargo ships. *The
Junkers Ju 89 The Junkers Ju 89 was a heavy bomber designed for the ''Luftwaffe'' prior to World War II. Two prototypes were constructed, but the project was abandoned without the aircraft entering production. Elements of its design were incorporated into lat ...
prototype Nazi German bomber had its first flight, piloted by Peter Hesselbach. The project was discontinued 18 days later because the fuel consumption of the Ju 89 and another heavy bomber, the Dornier Do 19, was too high. *Died: John Richard Morgan, 83, Welsh international footballer who represented the
Wales national football team The Wales national football team () represents Wales in international Association football, football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the governing body for football in Wales. They have been a member of FIFA since ...
from 1877 to 1883


April 12, 1937 (Monday)

*British engineer
Frank Whittle Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, (1 June 1907 – 8 August 1996) was an English engineer, inventor and Royal Air Force (RAF) air officer. He is credited with co-creating the turbojet engine. A patent was submitted by Maxime Guillaume in 1921 fo ...
and his team successfully tested a prototype
jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine, discharging a fast-moving jet (fluid), jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition may include Rocket engine, rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and ...
, the Power Jets W.1, at his factory in
Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, its population was 78,117, making it the List of Warwickshire towns by population, secon ...
. *The
U.S. Supreme Court 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 U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
decided '' National Labor Relations Board v Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation'', ruling 5 to 4 that the U.S. Congress had the power under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution to regulate labor relations within a particular U.S. state for industries that impacted
interstate commerce The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...
, even if only indirectly. Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes wrote the majority opinion, stating that "Employees have as clear a right to organize and select their representatives for lawful purposes as the respondent has to organize its business and select its own officers and agents," and added that "Although activities may be intrastate in character when separately considered," the federal government could regulate them "if they have such a close and substantial relation to interstate commerce that their control is essential or appropriate to protect that commerce from burdens and obstructions." *Born: ** Marian Marzynski, Polish-born American documentary filmmaker; in
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
(d. 2023) **
Joseph Akahan Joseph Akahan (12 April 1937 – May 1968) born Joseph Akaahan Agbo, was a Nigerian military officer and Chief of Army Staff (Nigeria) from May 1967 until May 1968, when he was killed in a helicopter crash during the Nigerian Civil War. Birth and ...
, Chief of Staff of the Nigerian Army; in
Gboko Gboko is a Local Government Area in Benue state, North-central Nigeria. It is headquartered in the town of Gboko. Gboko LGA was created on11 May 1970 with a landmass of 2,264 sq km. Wielding a population of 358,936 according to 2006 census, it ...
,
British Nigeria Colonial Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1st of October 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884. British influen ...
(killed in helicopter crash, 1968) *Died:
Abdülhak Hâmid Tarhan Abdülhak Hâmid Tarhan (born Abdülhak Hâmid; January 2, 1852 – April 12, 1937)Some sources state Feb 2,1852 was an early 20th-century Ottoman Empire, Ottoman playwright and poet. He was one of the leading lights of the Turkish Romantic ...
, 85, Ottoman Turkish playwright and poet


April 13, 1937 (Tuesday)

*The lynching of Roosevelt Townes and Robert McDaniels, the first to be covered extensively by the United States media, took place in
Duck Hill, Mississippi Duck Hill is a town in Montgomery County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 619 at the 2020 census, down from 732 in 2010. Duck Hill is located on U.S. Route 51, midway between Grenada and Winona. Big Bogue Creek flows east and nor ...
, after the two men were accused of the December 30 murder of a white shopkeeper. After the two appeared in court in
Winona, Mississippi Winona is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 4,505 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 5,043 in 2010 United States census, 2010. Winona is known in the local ar ...
, and entered a plea of not guilty, a mob of about 100 men overpowered the sheriff and five deputy sheriffs and seized Townes and McDaniels at the Montgomery County Courthouse. The two men were then transported in a school bus by members of the lynch mob, taken to a wooded area near Duck Hill, chained to trees, and tortured with a
blowtorch A blowtorch, also referred to as a blowlamp, is an ambient air fuel-burning tool used for applying flame and heat to various applications, usually in metalworking, but occasionally for foods like crème brûlée. Description Early blowtorches ...
. McDaniels was shot to death, and Townes was burned to death. Days later, ''
Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
'' magazine became the first U.S. publication to print photographs that had been taken at the scene of the crime, bringing the practice of
lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of i ...
of African-Americans to worldwide attention. *
Fuad Hamza Fuad Hamza (), also known as Fuad Bey Hamza, (1899–1951) was a Palestinian who served as ambassador of Saudi Arabia to France and as King Abdulaziz's adviser and representative. Hafiz Wahba and he were the first ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, th ...
,
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
's ambassador to Egypt, welcomed
David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...
, the Chairman of the Zionist and Jewish Agency Executive and future Prime Minister of Israel, to Hamza's home in
Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
in
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
, as Ben-Gurion attempted to find out Saudi King
Ibn Saud Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', ...
's views on the formation of a Jewish state in the Middle East. Hamza arranged for Ben-Gurion to meet with King Ibn Saud and Crown Prince Saud. *The Royal Navy aircraft carrier was launched. *Born: **Edward Fox (actor), Edward Fox, British film actor and BAFTA Award winner **Osman Mirzayev, Soviet Azerbaijani journalist; in Baku (killed in shootdown of aircraft, 1991) **Stan Stasiak, Canadian professional wrestler; in Arvida, Quebec (d. 1997) **Col Joye (stage name for Colin Jacobsen), Australian rock singer and entrepreneur; in Sydney


April 14, 1937 (Wednesday)

*The musical stage comedy ''Babes in Arms''. with music and lyrics by the team of Rodgers and Hart, opened at the Shubert Theatre (New York City), Shubert Theatre on Broadway. The show spawned several hit songs including "My Funny Valentine" and "The Lady is a Tramp". *The Bruderhof Communities, Bruderhof community, a settlement of Anabaptist Christian Hutterites near Fulda in Germany, Nazi dissolution of the Bruderhof, was raided by the Gestapo, assisted by the German SS and local police. The three members of the executive committee (Hans Meier, Hans Boller, and Karl Keiderling) were arrested and the property of the residents was confiscated. Two visitors from the Hutterian Brethren in America, Michael Waldner and David Hofer, happened to be present, and told police that they would report the persecution to their organization upon their return home. The Nazi government relented, released the committee members after three months, and allowed the Bruderhof members to leave Germany. *Donald Somervell, Baron Somervell of Harrow, Lord Somervell, the Attorney-General for England, issued his official opinion to the Home Secretary, John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, Viscount Simon, that although the former King Edward VIII "could not have claimed the right to be described as a Royal Highness" under British law, and that Edward's fiancée, Wallis Simpson, would have no right to claim the title "on any legal basis", it was "within the prerogative of His Majesty", King George VI, to continue to refer to Edward as "His Royal Highness" and to regulate the title by Letters patent (United Kingdom), Letters Patent. *Mitchell Hepburn, Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, forced two of his cabinet ministers to resign after they had opposed his handling of the Oshawa Strike. *Born: **Sepp Mayerl, Austrian mountaineer who was the first to ascend the Mount Jitchu Drake; in Göriach (killed in climbing accident, 2012) **Anatoly Lysenko, Russian television executive; in Vinnytsia, Ukrainian SSR,
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 ...
. (d. 2021) *Died: Ned Hanlon (baseball), Ned Hanlon, 79, American baseball player and manager, 1996 inductee to the Baseball Hall of Fame, known for his innovations during his managerial career from 1899 to 1907, and for winning the National League pennant three consecutive years managing the NL Baltimore Orioles (1882–1899), Baltimore Orioles (1894, 1895, and 1896) and two consecutive years for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Brooklyn Superbas (1899 and 1900)


April 15, 1937 (Thursday)

*The Detroit Red Wings defeated the New York Rangers 3–0 to win the 1937 Stanley Cup Finals, Stanley Cup, three games to two. *Born: **Robert W. Gore, American inventor and businessman best known for adapting polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to create the synthetic fabric Gore-Tex; in Salt Lake City (d. 2020) **Bill Ballantine (biologist), Bill Ballantine, British-born New Zealand marine biologist; in Leicester, Leicestershire (d. 2015) **Sterling Seagrave, American historian and book author; in Columbus, Ohio (d. 2017)


April 16, 1937 (Friday)

*The Battle of Pozoblanco ended in Spain in a Republican victory after a six-week siege by the rebel Nationalist forces. *The Southern Negro Youth Congress, a left-wing civil rights organization of African-American students, was organized in Richmond, Virginia, to address racial discrimination in the southern United States. *Born: **George Steele, George "The Animal" Steele, American professional wrestler and film actor known for ''Ed Wood'', and inductee to the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame; in Detroit (d. 2017) **Constance Ahrons, American psychotherapist and author of numerous works on the concept of collaborative divorce, including the 1994 book ''The Good Divorce: Keeping your family together when your marriage comes apart''; In Brooklyn, New York (d.2021)


April 17, 1937 (Saturday)

*The -long Moscow Canal, connecting Russia's capital to the Volga River and the Caspian Sea for shipping purposes, was opened after the Ivankovo Reservoir was filled. *The Warner Bros. cartoon character of Daffy Duck was introduced, making his first appearance in the Porky Pig animated short film ''Porky's Duck Hunt''. *The U.S. city of Fruitdale, Dallas, Fruitdale, Texas, with a population of 432, was incorporated by act of the Texas legislature after residents voted in favor of its creation to avoid being annexed by neighboring Dallas. After the independent city became completely surrounded by Dallas and local wells dried up, residents voted in 1964 to disincorporate the 27-year old town and the area is now part of the city of Dallas. *Born: **Don Buchla, American musician and engineer who invented a musical synthesizer independently of Robert Moog; in South Gate, California (d. 2016) **Ferdinand Piëch, Austrian business magnate; in Vienna (d. 2019)


April 18, 1937 (Sunday)

*Several hundred residents of the town of Schüttorf in Nazi Germany gathered at the town hall to protest the arrest of :de:Friedrich Middendorff, Friedrich Middendorff, the Lutheran pastor of the town's Evangelical-Reformed Church, after Middendorff had been jailed for publishing the article "Ein Weniges zur Judenfrage" ("About the Jewish Question"), defying Nazi policy. Rather than overtly protesting, the persons gathered reportedly sang hymns for several hours until 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 ...
released their pastor. Mittendorf and his family fled Germany after he was freed. *Ontario's Premier Hepburn threatened to pass legislation to keep the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) out of Ontario, saying of CIO President John L. Lewis that "he and his gang will never get their greedy paws on Ontario as long as I'm prime minister." *Born: **Jan Kaplický, Czechoslovakian architect known for founding Future Systems; in Prague (d. 2009) **Bruno Freschi, Canadian architect and chief of design for Expo 86 in Vancouver; in Trail, British Columbia **Svetlana Nemolyaeva, Soviet Russian stage and film actress known for the comedy film ''Office Romance'' (1977 ''Sluzhebny roman''), ''The Garage (1979 film), The Garage'' (1979, ''Garazh'') and ''Quarantine (1983 film), Quarantine'' (1983, ''Karantin''); in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
**E. P. Sanders, American New Testament scholar; in Grand Prairie, Texas (d. 2022) **Florence Sally Horner, American kidnap victim held captive from 1948 to 1950); in Camden, New Jersey (killed in auto accident, 1952) *Died: **Julia Nussenbaum, 25, American violinist who performed professionally under the name "Tania Lubova", was beaten to death with a hammer by her booking agent, Mischa Rosenbaum. **Anna Åbergsson, 66, Swedish founder of the Allotment (gardening), allotment garden movement


April 19, 1937 (Monday)

*Generalissimo Francisco Franco, leader of the Nationalists who would soon overthrow the Spanish Second Republic in the Spanish Civil War, issued the Unification Decree (Spain, 1937), Unification Decree (''Decreto de Unificación''), merging the Falangism, Falangists and the Carlism, Carlists into a single political party called the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (in English, the 'Traditionalist Spanish Phalanx of the Councils of the National Syndicalist Offensive'), commonly abbreviated to the "FET" or "FE JONS". After winning the War and becoming the leader of all of Spain, Franco issued a further decree outlawing all political parties except for the FET. *Construction of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge was completed. *The League of Nations Non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War, Non-Intervention Committee agreed to establish patrols of Spain's coasts to determine the destination of vessels, but not to carry out search and seizure operations. Germany and Italy were to monitor Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republican ships while Britain and France would monitor the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. This scheme proved to be ineffective since the Germans could use ships flying the Panamanian or Liberian flags and unload their cargo in Portugal with the complicity of authorities there. *Anthony Eden told the British House of Commons that the government would investigate reports that poison gas had been shipped from Germany to Spain. *Walter Young (athlete), Walter Young of Canada won the Boston Marathon. *On Opening Day of the 1937 Major League Baseball season, Earle Brucker Sr., Earle Brucker, at 35 one of the oldest rookies in the majors as he made his MLB debut at a game for the 1937 Philadelphia Athletics season, Philadelphia Athletics in a 4 to 3 win over the 1937 Washington Senators season, Washington Senators. Brucker took the field as the Athletics' catcher after U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt threw out the traditional first pitch, and then hit a double to win the game in the 10th inning. *Born: **Joseph Estrada, President of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001; in Tondo, Manila **Elinor Donahue, American actress, best known today for playing the role of Betty Anderson on the 1950s U.S. sitcom ''Father Knows Best''; in Tacoma, Washington. **Klaus Thunemann, German bassoon player; in Magdeburg *Died: **Billy Higgins (vaudeville), Billy Higgins, 48, African-American vaudeville entertainer and one of the most popular stage comedians of the 1920s, died of a long illness. **Edward Meeker, 63, American singer and performer, and one of the earliest recording artists, known for his appearances on the phonographic recordings of Thomas Edison performing songs such as "Chicken Reel", "Go Easy Mabel", "Harrigan" and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". **Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington, Sir Martin Conway, 81, English explorer, mountaineer and cartographer **William Morton Wheeler, 72, American entomologist, myrmecologist and Harvard professor


April 20, 1937 (Tuesday)

*In Berlin, Adolf Hitler reviewed 14,000 troops parading in honour of his 48th birthday. Albert Speer presented Hitler with renderings and a first model of the Volkshalle. *On the occasion of Hitler's birthday, the first of 12 Adolf Hitler Schools (''Adolf-Hitler-Schulen''), operated by the ''Schutzstaffel, SS'' Nazi paramilitary organization, was founded, initially for boys aged 14 to 18 years old to indoctrinate German youth about the Nazi Party ideologies. *A fire and poisonous fumes in an elementary school in the Estonian city of Kilingi-Nõmme :et:Kilingi-Nõmme II algkooli põleng, killed 17 students and injured 50 after film inside of a school movie projector caught fire and set fire to other open canisters of film. *On Budget Day in the United Kingdom, Chancellor of the Exchequer Neville Chamberlain raised income and business taxes to achieve a small projected surplus of £282,000. *The Jewish organization B'nai B'rith was banned in
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
on the basis of accusations that its individual members were spreading "communist propaganda". *The drama film ''A Star Is Born (1937 film), A Star Is Born'', starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, premiered at TCL Chinese Theatre, Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. *The Key Food chain of supermarkets in the U.S. Atlantic coast was founded as a cooperative among several grocery stores in Brooklyn, New York City. *Gee Walker, Gerald "Gee" Walker of the Detroit Tigers Hitting for the cycle, hit for the cycle during a 4–3 win over the Cleveland Indians. He is the only player to ever hit for the cycle on Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season. *Born: **George Takei, American actor and activist best known for the role of "Mr. Sulu" in ''Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek'' and for the film ''The Green Berets (film), The Green Berets''; as Hosato Takei in Los Angeles **Kamal Ahmed (music director), Kamal Ahmed, Pakistani film score composer and winner of seven Nigar Awards; in Gurgaon, Punjab Province (British India), Punjab Province, British India (d. 1997) **Kamal Hossain, Bangladeshi government official who served as the nation's first Justice Minister (1972–1973) and then as Foreign Minister from 1973 to 1975; in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, Bengal Province, British India **Harvey Quaytman, American geometric abstract painter; in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York City (d.2002) *Died: Gus Hill (stage name for Gustave Metz), 79, American vaudeville entrepreneur and former juggling, juggler who founded the Columbia Amusement Company in the 19th century and was president of the American Burlesque Association


April 21, 1937 (Wednesday)

*A Remington Rand strike of 1936–37, labor strike against six factories of the Remington Rand typewriter company by the Council of Office Equipment Workers labor union, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, ended after 11 months when union members approved a settlement allowing them to return to their jobs. *Born: David Lucas (composer), David Lucas (pen name for David Helfman), American composer, songwriter and vocalist, known for composing several memorable commercial jingles; in Buffalo, New York *Died: Saima Harmaja, 23, Finnish poet and writer, died of tuberculosis.


April 22, 1937 (Thursday)

*Italian premier Benito Mussolini hosted Austrian Chancellor
Kurt Schuschnigg Kurt Alois Josef Johann von Schuschnigg (; 14 December 1897 – 18 November 1977) was an Austrian politician who was the Chancellor of Austria, Chancellor of the Federal State of Austria from the 1934 assassination of his predecessor Engelbert D ...
in Venice. Mussolini explained that since the Axis powers, Rome-Berlin Axis had been formed, Schuschnigg could no longer count on Italian military support if Hitler made a move against Austria. *Born: **Jack Nicholson, American film actor and winner of three Academy Awards for Best Actor, including for ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest''; in Neptune City, New Jersey **Jack Nitzsche, American film score composer known for the original music in ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest''; in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
(d. 2000) **Ruth Shoer Rappaport, American vaccine researcher (d. 2020) **Roger Slack, British-born Australian and New Zealand plant biologist known for his 1966 discovery, with Marshall Hatch, of C4 photosynthesis, also known as the "Hatch Slack Pathway"; in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire (d. 2016) *Died: **Simon W. Rosendale, 94, the first Jewish person to be elected to a statewide office in a U.S. state, as Attorney General for New York from 1892 to 1893 **Arthur Edmund Carewe, Arthur Carew (stage name for Hovsep Hovsepian), 52, Armenian-born American stage and film actor, committed suicide after having suffered a stroke the year before. **Iosif Adamovich, 40, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1924 to 1927, committed suicide.


April 23, 1937 (Friday)

*The Oshawa Strike ended in Canada when General Motors gave in to most of the strikers' demands, though the company still refused to recognize the United Automobile Workers union. *The Madrid Defense Council (Junta de Defensa de Madrid), formed by the Second Spanish Republic to administer Madrid in November after the Spanish government had moved the capital to Valencia during the siege of Madrid by Francisco Franco's Nationalist Forces, was dissolved. *In Hungary, Ferenc Szálasi was sentenced to three months in prison and prohibited from holding office for three years after being convicted for inciting people against the state as well as against Jews. *Roosevelt Stadium opened in Jersey City, New Jersey. *Born: **Vladimir Velichko, Soviet Russian government official who served as Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union from January to November 1991; in Mozhayskoye, Voronezh Oblast, Russian SFSR **Sibghat Kadri, British barrister and the first Pakistani and Muslim lawyer to be designated as Queen's Counsel; in the United Provinces, British India (d. 2021) *Died: Yvonne Pitrois, 56, French author and activist for the welfare of deaf people in France


April 24, 1937 (Saturday)

*Britain and France allowed Belgium to withdraw from its security obligation under the Locarno Treaties, excusing Belgium from having to render assistance along with the British and French in the event of German aggression toward Poland. The leaders of both the UK and France publicly declared that Belgium's security was paramount to the Western Allies and that they would defend Belgium's borders against aggression of any sort, whether directed solely at Belgium, or to obtain bases to wage war against "other states". *British cryptographer and codebreaker Dilly Knox, Dillwyn "Dilly" Knox, who had been part of the Room 40 cryptanalysis group in the British Admiralty that had decoded the Zimmerman Telegram in 1917, was able to break the Enigma machine, Enigma code messages between Nazi Germany and Francisco Franco's Spanish Nationalists. News of the breakthrough was not shared with the Spanish Second Republic, which was fighting against the Nationalists. *Born: La Thoại Tân (stage name for Pham Van Tan), Vietnamese-born American actor and singer; in Saigon, French Cochinchina (now Ho Chi Minh City, Socialist Republic of Vietnam) *Died: Lucy Beaumont (actress), Lucy Beaumont, 63, English-born actress who performed on stage and in film in the UK and in the United States


April 25, 1937 (Sunday)

*The Soviet Union announced the completion of all goals of the Five-year plans for the national economy of the Soviet Union, five-year plan nine months to a year ahead of schedule. The announcement came despite numerous articles in the state-controlled press stating that many branches of the plan were lagging behind. *The Belarusian State Philharmonic, the national orchestra of the nation of
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
, was founded in Minsk in the
Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...
. *Died: **Clem Sohn, 26, American airshow daredevil known for his stunt of gliding while wearing a wingsuit, and frequently billed as "The Batman", fell to his death while performing at an airshow in Vincennes, France, in front of a large crowd, after neither his parachute nor his emergency parachute opened. **Michał Drzymała, 79, Polish folk hero


April 26, 1937 (Monday)

*Nazi Germany's
Condor Legion The Condor Legion () was a unit of military personnel from the air force and army of Nazi Germany’s Wehrmacht which served with the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War. The legion developed methods of strategic bombing that were ...
Bombing of Guernica, carried out the destructive aerial bombing of the small (population 7,000) Spanish town of Guernica, killing at least 170 civilians and perhaps as many as 300. The first wave of bombing occurred at 4:30 in the afternoon as a single German Dornier Do 17 dropped 12 50-kg bombs, with the most destructive wave starting at 6:30 p.m. with three bomber squadrons of three Junkers Ju52 planes carrying out heavy bombing for 15 minutes, followed by other airplanes strafing roads leading out of town. Franco claimed three days later that Guernica had been destroyed on the ground by Communist demolition teams. *The "Roman salute", a gesture in which the right arm is raised upward at an angle, fully extended, facing forward, with palm down and fingers touching, and revived in the 20th century as a symbol of support of Fascism, was formally approved in a decree by Francisco Franco as a form of salute among his Spanish nationalists. Franco issued his decree from his capital at Burgos. The salute, already used in Italy and Germany, was strictly used in Fascist rallies in insurgent-held Spain. The Spanish Nationalist military hierarchy continued to use the traditional military salutes. After World War II, use of the salute would be discontinued in September 1945. *The U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Herndon v. Lowry, ruling, 5 to 4, that the anti-insurrection law of the U.S. state of Georgia was unconstitutional and a violation of the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, as well as of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution applying the rights to proceedings in all U.S. states. *The long-running but now forgotten NBC Radio program ''Lorenzo Jones'' began a run of 18 seasons as a "comedy soap opera" about an inventor (portrayed by Karl Swenson) of strange gadgets, and with Bette Garde as his devoted wife Belle. The 15-minute show would be a late afternoon mainstay on NBC's daytime schedule until the end of the 1954–55 season.


April 27, 1937 (Tuesday)

*The first Social Security (United States), social security payments were made in the United States under the Social Security Act, Social Security Act of 1935. *Wallis Simpson's divorce from her second husband, U.S.-born British shipbroker Ernest Simpson, became permanent when the mandatory six months elapsed after the divorce decree was issued. The former Mrs. Simpson was now free to marry again and made plans to marry the former King Edward VIII, who had become the Duke of Windsor. *Born: **Sandy Dennis, American stage and film actress, winner of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1966 for ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' and Tony Awards for Best Featured Actress and Best Actress; in Hastings, Nebraska (d. 1992) **Zhang Jie (writer), Zhang Jie, Chinese novelist and short story author known for her works for teenagers; in Beijing (d. 2022) **Patricia Banks Edmiston, one of the first African-American flight attendant, stewardesses in the U.S., known for initiating a successful lawsuit against Capital Airlines (United States), Capital Airlines in 1960 for racial discrimination, leading to the start of airlines employing more black people in the United States. *Died: **Antonio Gramsci, 46, Italian Marxist politician and former leader of the Italian Communist Party, died after more than 10 years' imprisonment. **USMC Sergeant Major Daniel Daly, 63, United States Marine who was one of only 19 U.S. servicemen to be awarded the Medal of Honor twice, in 1900 and 1915


April 28, 1937 (Wednesday)

*Spain's Nationalists, commanded by Francisco Franco, captured Durango, Biscay, Durango and Guernica. *Born: Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq from 1979 to 2003; in Al-Awja, Kingdom of Iraq (official birth date) (d. 2006)


April 29, 1937 (Thursday)

*The Irish Brigade (Spanish Civil War), Irish Brigade fighting in Spain on behalf of the Nationalists announced that it was disbanding. *The Swedish language opera ''Prinsessan av Cypern (Larsson), Prinsessan av Cypern)'' (The Princess of Cyprus), by Lars-Erik Larsson, with libretto by Finnish playwright Zacharias Topelius, premiered at Stockholm. *Born: **Jill Paton Walsh, British author known for the novel ''Knowledge of Angels'' and for the Peter Wimsey–Harriet Vane mysteries that Continuation novel, continued the work of Dorothy L. Sayers; in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
(d. 2020) **Charles T. Tart, American psychologist and parapsychologist known for his work on altered states of consciousness, as one of the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology, and for his research in parapsychology; in Morrisville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Morrisville, Pennsylvania (d. 2025) **Hasil Adkins, American singer and songwriter known for his unusual playing and singing style, including playing guitar and drums at the same time; in Boone County, West Virginia (d. 2005) *Died: **Wallace Carothers, 41, American organic chemist credited with the invention of nylon in 1935, committed suicide by taking potassium cyanide. **William Gillette, 83, American actor, playwright, and stage-manager best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 1916 silent film **Carmelo Delgado Delgado, 24, Puerto Rican political leader and a member of the XV International Brigade, Abraham Lincoln Brigade, was executed by a firing squad after being captured by the Nationalists during the ongoing Battle of Madrid in the Spanish Civil War. **Bir Mitrodaya Singh Deo, 62, Sonepur State, Maharaja of Sonepur (now part of the Odisha State of India) since 1902 He was succeeded as Maharaja by his son, Somabushan Singh Deo.


April 30, 1937 (Friday)

*Women won the right to vote in the Philippines when Philippine women's suffrage plebiscite, 1937, a suffrage plebiscite passed with 90% approval. Under the legislation asking for a yes or no vote on the question "Are you in favor of granting suffrage to women?", the measure had to receive at least 300,000 votes in favor and more than those against. In all, 447,725 out of 492,032 men voted in favor of the measure. *1937 Japanese general election, Voting for all 466 seats of the House of Representatives (Japan), Japan House of Representatives was held after the parliament had been dissolved on March 31. The ruling Rikken Minseitō saw its share of seats drop from 205 to 179, only four more than the second place Rikken Seiyūkai, and the Prime Minister, General Senjūrō Hayashi, was unable to form a new government. *The BBC television programme ''Sports Review'', the first regular TV sports show anywhere in the world, premiered with radio sportscaster Howard Marshall (broadcaster), Howard Marshall presented film clips and live interviews with athletes and coaches. The monthly series would endure until Britain's entry into World War II on September 3, 1939. *The Wilderness Society (United States), The Wilderness Society, an American non-profit organization to promote land conservation, was founded by eight U.S. conservationists. *The first Azerbaijani language opera, ''Koroghlu (opera), Koroghlu'', by Uzeyir Hajibeyov with libretto by Habib Ismayilov, was given its first performance, premiering at the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater in Baku.Hajibeyov.com
Uzeyir Hajibeyov Bibliography
p. 4 (translated into English by Farida Sadikhova from the original published in Azeri by Elm, Baku, 1978)
*The Nationalist battleship ''Spanish battleship Alfonso XIII, España'' accidentally hit a naval mine laid by another Nationalist ship, and sank off Santander, Spain, Santander. All of the crew had been evacuated during the 75 minutes after the blast had occurred. *Born: **Uttam Nepali (Uttam Prasad Karmacharya), Nepalese abstract painter; in Kathmandu (d. 2021) **Katheryn Edmonds Rajnak, American theoretical physical chemist known for making Hartree–Fock method, Hartree–Fock calculations of the energy levels of lanthanide elements; in Kalamazoo, Michigan (d. 2005)


References

{{Events by month links April 1937, April by year, 1937 Months in the 1930s, *1937-04