1938
| Millennium: | 2nd millennium |
|---|---|
| Centuries: | 19th century – 20th century – 21st century |
| Decades: | 1900s 1910s 1920s – 1930s – 1940s 1950s 1960s |
| Years: | 1935 1936 1937 – 1938 – 1939 1940 1941 |
1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1938th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 938th year of the 2nd millennium, the 38th year of the 20th century, and the 9th year of the 1930s decade.
Events
- January 3 – The March of Dimes is established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
- January 11 – Frances Moulton is the first woman to become president of a US national bank.
- January 20 – Wedding of King Farouk I of Egypt and Queen Farida Zulficar in Cairo
- January 28 – The first ski tow in America begins operation in Vermont.
- January 31 – Crown princess Beatrix is born in Netherlands
- February 4 – Thornton Wilder's play Our Town opens (New York City).
- February 10 – Carol II of Romania takes dictatorial powers
- February 12 – World War II: German troops enter Austria
- February 24 – A nylon bristle toothbrush becomes the first commercial product to be made with nylon yarn.
- March 3 – Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
- March 12 – Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.
- March 15 – Soviet Union announces officially that Nikholai Bukharin has been executed
- March 18 – Mexico nationalizes all foreign-owned oil properties within its borders.
- April 12 – Edouard Daladier becomes president of France
- April 28 – The towns of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott in Massachusetts are disincorporated to make way for the Quabbin Reservoir.
- May 5 – Vatican recognizes Franco's government in Spain
- June 1 – Action Comics issues the first Superman comic.
- June 11 – Fire destroys 212 buildings in Ludes, Latvia
- June 23 – The Civil Aeronautics Act is signed into law, forming the Civil Aeronautics Authority in the United States.
- June 23 – Marineland opens near St. Augustine, Florida.
- June 25 – Dr Douglas Hyde is elected the first President of Ireland.
- June 28 – A 450-tonne meteorite struck the earth in an empty field near Chicora, Pennsylvania
- November 9-10: Kristallnacht happens in Nazi Germany. The Nazis deport about 30,000 Jews to concentration camps, and destroy over 1,500 synagogues.
Births
January
- January 1 - Frank Langella, American actor
- January 5 - Juan Carlos I of Spain
- January 31 - Beatrix of the Netherlands
February
- February 21 - Lester Bird, former Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda (d. 2021)
March
April
- April 26 – Duane Eddy, American guitarist
May
- May 22 - Richard Benjamin, American actor and director
- May 31 - John Prescott, British politician
June
July
- July 13 - David Mitton, English model-maker (d. 2008)
- July 20 – Natalie Wood, American actress (d. 1981)
- August 21 – Kenny Rogers, American singer (d. 2020)
August
- August 29 – Elliott Gould, American actor
September
October
- October 23 – H. John Heinz III, American Senator (d. 1991)
- October 29 - Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia
November
- November 17 – Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian singer
- November 19 - Hank Medress, American singer (The Tokens) (d. 2007)
December
- December 29 - Jon Voight, American actor
Deaths
- January 20 – Émile Cohl, French caricaturist and animator (b. 1857)
- January 21 – Georges Méliès, French movie director (b. 1861)
- January 28 – Bernd Rosemeyer, German racing driver (b. 1909)
- February 2 – Frederick William Vanderbilt, American railway magnate (b. 1856)
- February 7 – Harvey Firestone, American manufacturer (b. 1868)
- February 18 – David King Udall, American politician (b. 1851)
- February 19 – Edmund Landau, German mathematician (b. 1877)
- March 1 – Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italian writer, war hero, and politician (b. 1863)
- March 2 – Ben Harney, American composer and pianist (b. 1871)
- March 13 – Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin, Soviet politician (b. 1888)
- March 13 – Clarence Darrow, American attorney (b. 1857)
- March 21 - Oscar Apfel, American actor, director, screenwriter, producer (b. 1878)
- April 8 – Joe "King" Oliver, American musician (b. 1885)
- April 12 – Feodor Chaliapin, Russian bass (b. 1873)
- April 16 – Steve Bloomer, English footballer (b. 1874)
- April 21 – Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistani philosopher and poet (b. 1877)
- April 26 – Edmund Husserl, Austrian philosopher (b. 1859)
- May 4 – Carl von Ossietzky, German pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1889)
- May 9 – Thomas B. Thrige, Danish industrialist (b. 1866)
- May 13 – Charles Edouard Guillaume, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1861)
- May 26 – John Jacob Abel, American pharmacologist (b. 1857)
- August 1 – Edmund Charles Tarbell, American artist (b. 1862)
- 18 July - Marie of Romania Queen of Romania wife of King Ferdinand I of Romania
- August 7 – Konstantin Stanislavski, Russian actor (b. 1863)
- August 14 – Hugh Trumble, Australian Test Cricketer (b. 1876)
- August 16 – Robert Johnson, American musician (b. 1911)
- September 17 – Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet (b. 1901)
- October 22 – May Irwin, Canadian actress and singer (b. 1862)
- October 24 – Ernst Barlach, German sculptor and poet (b. 1870)
- October 27 – Lascelles Abercrombie, English poet and critic (b. 1881)
- October 31 - Robert Woolsey, American actor and Comedian in a Double Act with Bert Wheeler (b. 1888).
- November 9 – Vasily Blyukher, Soviet military commander (b.1889)
- November 10 – Kemal Atatürk, President of Turkey (b. 1881)
- November 30 – Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, Romanian fascist, leader of the Iron Guard (executed along other Guard activists) (b. 1899)
- December 11 – Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1869)
- December 25 – Karel Čapek, Czech writer (b. 1890)
- December 28 – Florence Lawrence, Canadian actress (b. 1886)