1938 in the United States

Events from the year 1938 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal government">Federal government of the United States">Federal government

President: D. Roosevelt
[Vice President of the United States|President of the United States|Vice President]: John Nance Garner
Chief Justice: Charles Evans Hughes
Speaker of the House of Representatives: William B. Bankhead
Senate Majority Leader: Alben W. Barkley
Congress: 75th

Events

January–March

January 1
* The California Golden Bears defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide in this year's Rose Bowl Game in college football, with a final score of 13–0.
* The Merrie Melodies cartoon short Daffy Duck & Egghead is released, being the first cartoon to give Daffy Duck his continuing name, as well as his second appearance.
January 3 - The March of Dimes is established as a foundation to combat infant polio by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
January 11 - Leading Korean dancer Choi Seung-hee arrives in San Francisco to begin her international tour in the United States. She is the first Korean Wave entertainer.
January 16 - The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert is recorded live when Benny Goodman and his orchestra become the first jazz musicians to headline a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
January 22 - Thornton Wilder's play Our Town is performed for the first time anywhere in Princeton, New Jersey. It premieres in New York City on February 4.
January 27 - The Niagara Bridge at Niagara Falls, New York collapses due to an ice jam.
January 28 - The first ski tow in America begins operation in Vermont.
February 4 - Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first cel-animated feature in motion picture history, is released in the U.S. following last year's premiere.
March 3 - The Santa Ana River in California spills over its banks during a rainy winter, killing 58 people in Orange County and causing trouble as far inland as Palm Springs.
March 10 - The 10th Academy Awards, hosted by Bob Burns, are presented at Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, with William Dieterle's The Life of Emile Zola winning the most awards with three, including the Academy Award for Outstanding Production, and receiving the most nominations with ten. Leo McCarey wins Best Director for The Awful Truth.

April–June

April 15
* Huey, Dewey and Louie make their first appearance, in the Disney animated short Donald's Nephews.
* Vine Street a television soap opera series is first broadcast in Los Angeles.
April 18 - First appearance of comic book superhero Superman, in Action Comics #1.
April 25 - Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins: The Supreme Court of the U.S. holds that federal courts do not have the judicial power to create general federal common law when hearing state law claims under diversity jurisdiction, overturning almost a century of federal civil procedure case law.
April 28 - The towns of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott in Massachusetts are disincorporated to make way for the Quabbin Reservoir.
April 30 - The first cartoon to feature a prototypical Bugs Bunny, Porky's Hare Hunt, is released.
May 12
* U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull rejects the Soviet Union's offer of a joint defence pact, to counter the rise of Nazi Germany.
* USS Enterprise is commissioned.
May 17 - Information Please debuts on NBC Radio.
June 22 - Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis knocks out Max Schmeling in the first round of their rematch at Yankee Stadium in New York City.
June 23
*The Civil Aeronautics Act is signed into law, forming the Civil Aeronautics Authority in the U.S..
*Marineland opens near St. Augustine, Florida.
June 24 - A meteorite explodes about above the earth near Chicora, Pennsylvania.
June 25 - Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act is signed into law by president Franklin D. Roosevelt.
June 29 – Olympic National Park is established in Washington state.

July–September

July 3 - The last reunion of the Blue and Gray commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
July 5 - The Non-Intervention Committee reaches an agreement to withdraw all foreign volunteers from the Spanish Civil War. The agreement is respected by most Republican foreign volunteers, notably by those from England and the United States, but is ignored by the governments of Germany and Italy.
July 6 - The Evian Conference on Refugees is convened in France. No country in Europe is prepared to accept Jews fleeing persecution, and the United States will take only 27,370.
July 14 - Howard Hughes sets a new record, by completing a 91-hour airplane flight around the world.
July 18 - Wrong Way Corrigan takes off from New York City, ostensibly heading for California. He lands in Ireland instead.
July 28 - Pan Am flying boat Hawaii Clipper disappears with 6 passengers and 9 crew members en route from Guam to Manila.
August 6 - The Looney Tunes animated short Porky & Daffy is released.
August 18 - The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting the United States with Canada, is dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
August 31 - Winston Churchill, still believing France and Britain mean to honor their promises to defend Czechoslovakia against Nazi aggression, suggests in a personal note to Neville Chamberlain that His Majesty's Government may want to set up a broad international alliance including the United States and the Soviet Union.
September 4 - During the ceremony marking the unveiling of a plaque at Pointe de Grave, France celebrating Franco-American friendship, U.S. Ambassador William Bullitt in a speech states, "France and the United States were united in war and peace", leading to much speculation in the press that if war did break out over Czechoslovakia, then the United States would join the war on the Allied side.
September 9 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt disallows the popular interpretation of Bullitt's speech at a press conference at the White House. Roosevelt states it is “100% wrong” the U.S. would join a “stop-Hitler bloc” under any circumstances, and makes it quite clear that in the event of German aggression against Czechoslovakia, the U.S. would remain neutral.
September 12 - Hitler makes his much-anticipated closing address at Nuremberg, in which he vehemently attacks the Czech people and President Beneš. American news commentator H. V. Kaltenborn begins his famous marathon of broadcast bulletins over the CBS Radio Network with a summation of Hitler's address.
September 20 - The first patents for nylon are granted in the name of Wallace Carothers to DuPont, which on October 27 announces the new product's name. The first items produced in the new material are toothbrush bristles.
September 21 - The New England Hurricane of 1938 strikes Long Island and southern New England, killing over 300 along the Rhode Island shoreline and approximately 600 in total.
September 22 - Olsen and Johnson's musical comedy revue Hellzapoppin' begins its 3-year run on Broadway.

October–December

October 3 - Production of the Jefferson nickel begins, replacing the buffalo nickel. The new nickel is released on November 15.
October 9 - The New York Yankees defeat the Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 0, to win their 7th World Series Title.
October 10 - The Blue Water Bridge opens, connecting Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario.
October 16 - Winston Churchill, in a broadcast address to the United States, condemns the Munich Agreement as a defeat and calls upon America and western Europe to prepare for armed resistance against Adolf Hitler.
October 17 - The American stunt performer Evel Knievel was born in Butte, Montana.
October 24 - The minimum wage is established by law in the U.S.
October 30 - Orson Welles's radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds is broadcast, causing panic in various parts of the United States.
October 31 - Great Depression: In an effort to try restore investor confidence, the New York Stock Exchange unveils a 15-point program intended to upgrade protection for the investing public.
November 1 - Horse racing: Seabiscuit defeats War Admiral by four lengths in their famous match race at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.
November 8 - Frank M. Dixon is elected the 40th governor of Alabama defeating W. A. Clardy.
November 10 - On the eve of Armistice Day, Kate Smith sings Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" for the first time on her weekly radio show.
November 18 - Trade union members elect John L. Lewis as the first president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
December 15 - President Franklin Roosevelt agrees to lend $25 million to Chiang Kai-shek to help fund his war efforts against Japan. The loan marks the beginning of the relationship between the two leaders.
December 16 - MGM releases its successful film version of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

Undated

The Dictionary of Occupational Titles is established; it will run until 1998, when it is replaced with the online Occupational Information Network.
Herbert E. Ives and G. R. Stilwell execute the Ives–Stilwell experiment, showing that ions radiate at frequencies affected by their motion.

Ongoing

Births

January 1 - Frank Langella, actor
January 2
* Lynn Conway, transgender activist and computer scientist
* Dana Ulery, computer scientist
January 4 - Eddie Southern, hurdler
January 6 - William E. Connolly, political scientist, theorist and academic
January 7
* Lou Graham, golfer
* Fred Whitfield, baseball player
January 9
* Peter Edelman, lawyer and educator
* Stuart Woods, author and critic
January 14
* Bill Plante, journalist
* Allen Toussaint, R&B musician, songwriter/composer and record producer
January 18 - Paul G. Kirk, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts from 2009 to 2010
January 21
* Sandy Barr, wrestler and referee
* Wolfman Jack, radio host
January 22 - Peter Beard, zookeeper, photographer and diarist
January 31 - James G. Watt, lawyer and politician
February 4 - Donald Riegle, U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1976 to 1995
February 12 - Jim Dennison, sports coach and adminidtrator
March 3 - Patricia MacLachlan, children's writer
March 4 - Paula Prentiss, actress
March 5
* Lynn Margulis, biologist
* Fred Williamson, football player and actor
March 7 - David Baltimore, biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1975
March 12 - Ken Spears, writer
March 16 - Cal Browning, American baseball player
March 17 - Fred Akers, football player and coach
March 19 - Joe Kapp, football player and coach
March 25 - Hoyt Axton, country music singer-songwriter and actor
March 26 - Nancy Milford, biographer
March 31 - Jimmy Johnson, football player
April 2
* Richard Ellis, marine biologist
* Oscar Lofton, American football player and coach
April 3 - John M. Darley, social psychologist
April 5 - Ronnie White, American musician
April 7
* Jerry Brown, governor of California
* Freddie Hubbard, jazz trumpeter
April 9 - Tom Metzger, politician, white supremacist, neo-Nazi leader and Klansman
April 13
* Russell Ober, member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
* Frederic Rzewski, composer
April 14 - Lilly Ledbetter, employment discrimination activist
April 16 - Rich Rollins, baseball player
April 22 - Barrie R. Cassileth, alternative medicine researcher
April 23 - Steve Symms, U.S. Senator from Idaho from 1981 to 1993
April 25
* Roger Boisjoly, rocket engineer
* Jim Simons, investor, mathematician and philanthropist
April 26 - Duane Eddy, rock guitarist
April 29 - Bernie Madoff, financier and convicted fraudster
April 30 - Larry Niven, science fiction writer
May 9 - Carroll Cole, serial killer
May 10
* Henry Fambrough, soul singer
* James Hedges, politician
May 11 - Bruce Langhorne, folk guitarist
May 15 - Nancy Garden, author
May 17 - Marcia Freedman, American-born Israeli social activist
May 21 - Ross Hagen, screen and voice actor, director, screenwriter and producer
May 22
* Richard Benjamin, actor
* Susan Strasberg, actress
May 26 - William Bolcom, composer and pianist
May 28 - Jerry West, basketball player and executive
May 31 - Peter Yarrow, singer/songwriter
June 3
* Morton Meyerson, computer industry executive
* David L. Mills, computer scientist and engineer
June 7 - Goose Gonsoulin, American football player
June 16 - Joyce Carol Oates, novelist
June 20 - John Johnson, reporter
June 21
* Barbara Carlson, politician
* Ron Ely, actor
June 24 - Lawrence Block, crime writer
June 27 - Jake Crouthamel, American football player and coach
June 28
* John Byner, American actor
* Leon Panetta, 23rd United States Secretary of Defense
June 30
* Billy Mills, Olympic athlete
* Jeri Taylor, television scriptwriter and producer
July 4 - Bill Withers, African American singer-songwriter
July 5 - Ronnie Self, singer
July 6 - Manny Mashouf, Iranian-born businessman and philanthropist
July 20 - Natalie Wood, actress
July 21 - Janet Reno, United States Attorney General from 1993 to 2001
July 26
* Bobby Hebb, singer-songwriter
* Joanne Brackeen, jazz pianist and music educator
July 29
* Peter Jennings, journalist
* Don Wert, baseball player
August 3 - Maxie Baughan, American football player
August 7 - Verna Bloom, actress
August 8 - Connie Stevens, actress, singer and businesswoman
August 12 - Thomas J. Donohue, business executive
August 15
* Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. from 1994 to 2022
* Maxine Waters, politician
August 16 - Sherry Combs Johnson, barrel racer
August 17
* Wes Hildreth, geologist
* Trina Robbins, cartoonist
August 20 - Kaneaster Hodges, Jr., U.S. Senator from Arkansas from 1977 to 1979
August 21 - Kenny Rogers, country singer
August 25 - Iris Falcam, American-Micronesian librarian, researcher and public servant
August 29
* Elliott Gould, actor
* Robert Rubin, banker, 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury
August 31 - John Koerner, musician
September 1
* Alan Dershowitz, lawyer
* Merlin Nippert, baseball player
September 2 - Mary Jo Catlett, actress
September 3 - Dave Ritchie, gridiron football coach
September 5 - Warren J. Baker, academic administrator
September 6
* Dennis Oppenheim, artist
* Barbara Ann Rowan, attorney
September 7 - Susan Stamberg, radio journalist
September 8
* Bill Byrge, character actor and comedian
* Philip L. Clarke, voice actor
* Sam Nunn, U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1972 to 1997
September 15 - Gaylord Perry, baseball player
September 23 - Arie L. Kopelman, businessman and philanthropist
September 24 - George H. Carley, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia
September 26 - Jonathan Goldsmith, actor
September 28 - Ben E. King, singer-songwriter
October 1
* Mary McFadden, fashion designer
* Stella Stevens, actress
October 2 - Dorothy Pitman Hughes, feminist and child welfare activist
October 3
* Eddie Cochran, rock and roll singer
* Dave Obey, lawyer and politician
* Joseph F. Timilty, politician
October 6 - Peter F. Donnelly, arts patron, vice-chairman of Americans for the Arts
October 7 - Mary Ann Glendon, academic lawyer and bioethicist
October 15 - Brice Marden, painter
October 17 - Evel Knievel, motorcycle daredevil
October 18 - Dawn Wells, actress
October 22 - Christopher Lloyd, actor and entrepreneur
October 23 - Humpy Wheeler, motorsport executive and businessman
October 30 - Ed Lauter, actor and comedian
November 2
* Pat Buchanan, political commentator
* Richard Serra, abstract sculptor
November 3 - Terrence McNally, playwright, librettist and screenwriter
November 8 - Satch Sanders, basketball player
November 12
* Terry "Buzzy" Johnson, singer-songwriter and music producer
* Delano Lewis, diplomat
November 13 - Jean Seberg, actress
November 16 - Robert Nozick, philosopher
November 19 - Ted Turner, entrepreneur
November 24
*Oscar Robertson, African American basketball player
*Charles Starkweather, spree killer
November 26 - Elizabeth Bailey, economist
November 29 - George Yanok, screenwriter and producer
December 1 - Ralph Smith, American football player
December 4 - Billy Bryan, baseball player
December 5 - J. J. Cale, singer-songwriter and guitarist
December 11 - McCoy Tyner, jazz pianist
December 13 - Gus Johnson, basketball player
December 15 - Wes Watkins, politician
December 16 - Angelo Mozilo, banker
December 23 - Robert Kahn, Internet pioneer
December 29 - Jon Voight, actor

Deaths

January 1 - George H. Collin, politician
January 9 - Johnny Gruelle, cartoonist and children's book author
January 10 - William McCall, actor
January 24 - Rosamond Pinchot, socialite and actress
January 26 - Zitkala-Sa, Yankton Dakota writer
February 2 - Frederick William Vanderbilt, railway magnate
February 7 - Harvey Firestone, tire manufacturer
February 10 - Richard A. Whiting, composer
February 17 - T. D. Crittenden, silent film actor
February 18 - David King Udall, politician
February 21 - George Ellery Hale, solar astronomer
March 2 - Ben Harney, composer and pianist
March 6 - Walt McDougall, cartoonist
March 13 - Clarence Darrow, attorney
March 21 - Oscar Apfel, film actor and director
March 27 - Helen M. Winslow, editor, author, and publisher
April 5 - Reine Davies, actress
April 8 - Joe "King" Oliver, jazz cornet player
April 24 - George Grey Barnard, sculptor
May 14 - Aaron Daggett, general during the American Civil War
May 16
* Fred Baker, physician and naturalist
* Joseph Strauss, bridge engineer
May 22 - William Glackens, realist painter
May 23 - Frederick Ruple, painter
May 26 - John Jacob Abel, pharmacologist
June 3 - Carrie Langston Hughes, African-American writer and actress
June 13 - Beverly Thomas Galloway, plant pathologist
June 17 - George E. Barnett, economist
June 26 - James Weldon Johnson, author, politician and diplomat
June 29 - Frederick William Vanderbilt, railway magnate
July 7 - Magdalena Hergert Becker, pioneer Mennonite missionary
July 9
*Benjamin N. Cardozo, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
*Mary E. Smith Hayward, businesswoman and suffragist
July 19 - Harvey Clark, actor
July 21 - Owen Wister, Western fiction writer and historian
August 1 - Edmund C. Tarbell, impressionist painter
August 4 - Pearl White, film actress
August 9 - W. W. Conner, politician
August 16 - Robert Johnson, blues singer
August 17 - Jane Toppan, serial killer
August 30 - James Scott, ragtime composer
September 10 - Andrew Breen, Roman Catholic priest and reverend
September 12 - Robert L. Bacon, politician
September 15 - Thomas Wolfe, author
September 19 - Pauline Frederick, stage and film actress
September 21 - Andrew Arbuckle, actor
September 25 - Anna Laurens Dawes, author and suffragist
September 28
* Con Conrad, songwriter
* Charles Duryea, engineer and manufacturer of motor vehicles
October 1 - Conway Tearle, actor
October 3 - Richard Teller Crane II, diplomat
October 13 - E. C. Segar, comics artist, creator of Popeye
October 21 - Dorothy Hale, socialite, suicide
October 27 - Alma Gluck, soprano
October 28 - Fred Kohler, actor
October 30 - Robert Woolsey, film comedian
November 1 - Charles Weeghman, restaurateur and owner of Chicago Cubs
November 4 - Samuel W. Bryant, admiral
November 11 - Mary Mallon, first known asymptomatic carrier of the pathogen associated with typhoid fever
November 15 - Harry Grant Dart, cartoonist
December 16 - Ed Davis, criminal
December 20
* Annie Armstrong, missionary leader
* Edwin Hall, physicist
* Matilda Howell, archer
December 25 - Richard Henry Cummings, actor
December 31 - Lucien Grant Berry, general