January 1938

[January 1], 1938 (Saturday)

• A new constitution went into effect in Estonia.
• According to Japanese government an official confirmed report, 69 persons died, 92 persons were hurt when a roof and wooden structure of Kugaiza Cinema collapsed, due to heavy snowfall in Tokamachi, Niigata Prefecture, Japan.
• George VI gave out six peerages in the New Year Honours list. Gracie Fields and Harriet Cohen were both bestowed the honor of Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
• Fukuin Electronics Manufacturing, later to become Pioneer Corporation, a Japanese electronics company that would become known for its superior audio equipment and its 1990 introduction of the first automotive navigation system, was founded in Tokyo.
• The second-ranked California Golden Bears defeated the fourth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, 13-0, in the Rose Bowl. The University of Pittsburgh Panthers, which had been selected by the Associated Press poll of sportswriters as the number one college football team in the U.S. at the end of the 1937 season, had turned down an invitation to play in the Rose Bowl. At the time, no poll was taken after the regular season. On the same day, the #8 Santa Clara Broncos outscored the #9 LSU Tigers, 6-0, in the Sugar Bowl, and the #18 Rice Owls defeated the #17 Colorado Buffaloes, 28-14, to win the Cotton Bowl Classic. The Auburn Tigers and the Michigan State Spartans, both unranked, met in the Orange Bowl and Auburn won, 6 to 0.
• Born: Robert Jankel, British coach builder, in London, England ; Frank Langella, actor, in Bayonne, New Jersey
• Died: Alice Bailly, 65, Swiss painter

  [January 2], 1938 (Sunday)

• Chinese officials in Canton threatened to carry out a scorched earth policy before surrendering the city to the Japanese.
• Born: David Bailey, fashion and portrait photographer, in Leytonstone, England; Farouk El-Baz, Egyptian-born American space scientist, in Mansoura; Hans Herbjørnsrud, author, in Heddal, Norway ; Goh Kun, politician, in Keijo, Korea; Dana Ulery, computer scientist, in East St. Louis, Illinois
• Died: Henry Victor Deligny, 82, French general

  [January 3], 1938 (Monday)

• The BBC made its first non-English broadcast, in Arabic. Listeners throughout the Middle East tuned in to a one-hour broadcast mostly consisting of a news bulletin on regional events. The audience reportedly expressed disappointment that the broadcast was not interspersed with love songs like Italy's programming was.
• Egyptian Prime Minister Muhammad Mahmoud Pasha prorogued the fractious parliament for one month. As the President of the Chamber read King Farouk's message of prorogation, the parliamentary deputies held a closed-door session in which they passed a motion of no-confidence against the government, 180-17. However, the government considered the motion illegal and ignored it.
• U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered the annual State of the Union address to Congress. Acknowledging that the world was in a state of "high tension and disorder," the president stated that "we must keep ourselves adequately strong in self-defense." Roosevelt also called for legislation to "end starvation wages and intolerable hours" as "an essential part of economic recovery."
• The musical play The Cradle Will Rock written by Marc Blitzstein and directed by Orson Welles made its Broadway debut at the Windsor Theatre.
• The March of Dimes was founded.

  [January 4], 1938 (Tuesday)

• The British government postponed the Peel Commission and appointed the new Woodhead Commission to investigate the proposed partition of Mandatory Palestine.
• All Jews in Romania were banned from employing women under the age of 40.

  [January 5], 1938 (Wednesday)

• Japanese warplanes bombed Hankou.
• Nazi Germany forbade Jews from changing their names to hide their ancestry.
• Born: King Juan Carlos I of Spain, in Rome, Italy

  [January 6], 1938 (Thursday)

• The Octavian Goga government in Romania recognized the Italian conquest of Ethiopia.
• The drama film In Old Chicago starring Tyrone Power, Alice Faye and Don Ameche was released.
• Born: Mario Rodríguez Cobos, writer, in Mendoza, Argentina ; Larisa Shepitko, filmmaker, in Artemovsk, Ukrainian SSR
• Died: John Gavin, 62 or 63, Australian film director

  [January 7], 1938 (Friday)

• Italy announced a massive new naval construction program. Two battleships were to be constructed by 1941.
• Born: Roland Topor, illustrator, writer and actor, in Paris, France

  [January 8], 1938 (Saturday)

• The United States House Committee on Ways and Means disclosed the salaries of all persons who made more than $15,000 in 1936. Alfred P. Sloan of General Motors was revealed to be the highest-paid CEO in the country, making $561,311. Gary Cooper was the highest-paid actor in Hollywood, making $370,214. Claudette Colbert was the top actress at $350,833.
• Born: Bob Eubanks, television and radio personality and game show host, in Flint, Michigan; Vasyl Stus, poet and publicist, in Rakhnivka, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukrainian SSR
• Died: Johnny Gruelle, 57, American artist, children's book author and creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy

  [January 9], 1938 (Sunday)

• Battle of Teruel: The Republicans completed the capture of Teruel.
• Crown Prince Paul of Greece married Frederica of Hanover.

  [January 10], 1938 (Monday)

• The Japanese captured the strategic port of Qingdao.
• Born: Donald Knuth, computer scientist and mathematician, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Frank Mahovlich, ice hockey player, in Timmins, Ontario, Canada; Willie McCovey, baseball player, in Mobile, Alabama
• Died: Ivan Kleymyonov, 39, Russian scientist

  [January 11], 1938 (Tuesday)

• The Dutch freighter Hannah was torpedoed and sunk by an unidentified submarine seven miles off Cape San Antonio, Spain. All crew were saved.
• Japan held a conference in Tokyo in the presence of Emperor Hirohito. A harsh ultimatum was prepared for China, including payment of reparations and formalization of the separation of northern Chinese territory under Japanese control.
• Adolf Hitler received the newly appointed Japanese Ambassador to Germany Shigenori Tōgō.
• Born: Fischer Black, economist, in Washington, D.C. ; Alastair Morton, railway executive, in Johannesburg, South Africa

  [January 12], 1938 (Wednesday)

• The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union opened for the first time.
• German War Minister Werner von Blomberg married his secretary Erna Gruhn at the War Ministry building in Berlin. Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring served as witnesses.
• Austria and Hungary recognized Francoist Spain.
• Born: Teresa del Conde, art critic, in Mexico City, Mexico ; Lewis Fiander, actor, in Melbourne, Australia ; Noel McNamara, justice campaigner, in Australia

  [January 13], 1938 (Thursday)

• A snap election was called in Northern Ireland to be held February 9. Prime Minister Lord Craigavon called the election so his government would be in a strong position to contend an expected attempt by Éamon de Valera to apply the new Irish Constitution to Ulster.
• Born: Paavo Heininen, composer and pianist, in Järvenpää, Finland ; Nachi Nozawa, actor and theatre director, in Tokyo, Japan ; Shivkumar Sharma, Santoor player, in Jammu, British India

  [January 14], 1938 (Friday)

• Norway laid claim to part of the Antarctic including Peter I Island.
• Camille Chautemps resigned as Prime Minister of France when the Socialists withdrew their support.
• Born: Jack Jones, jazz and pop singer, in Hollywood ; Allen Toussaint, musician and record producer, in Gert Town, New Orleans
• Died: Jaakko Mäki, Finnish politician

  [January 15], 1938 (Saturday)

• The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union announced an expanded naval program and passed a war emergency measure allowing the Presidium to proclaim martial law or a state of war.
• Died: Harold R. Atteridge, 51, American composer, librettist and lyricist; Paul Raphael Montford, 69, English sculptor

  [January 16], 1938 (Sunday)

• While the Chinese government was still considering how to respond to the Japanese ultimatum, Japan announced it was ending diplomatic relations with China. In Japanese, this was known as the aite ni sezu declaration.
• In the U.S., the Benny Goodman Orchestra became the first jazz music band to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City, which had hitherto been reserved for classical music concerts from symphony orchestras. The live recording of the session would be released in 1950 under the title The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert.

  [January 17], 1938 (Monday)

• The Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme opened in Paris.
• Born: John Bellairs, fantasy novelist, in Marshall, Michigan

  [January 18], 1938 (Tuesday)

• 47 perished in a fire at the College of the Sacred Heart in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada.
• Camille Chautemps returned as French Prime Minister with the formation of a new cabinet.
• Grover Cleveland Alexander was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Born: Curt Flood, baseball player, in Houston, Texas

  [January 19], 1938 (Wednesday)

• German bombers of the Condor Legion killed more than 100 people in an air raid on Barcelona.
• Died: Branislav Nušić, 73, Serbian writer

  [January 20], 1938 (Thursday)

• King Farouk of Egypt married his first wife Farida in Cairo.
• Born: Derek Dougan, footballer, in Belfast, Northern Ireland
• Died: Émile Cohl, 81, French caricaturist and animator

  [January 21], 1938 (Friday)

• A law was passed in Romania that stripped 270,000 Jews of their citizenship.
• Acting on a tipoff from MI5 agent Olga Gray, British police arrested two men performing a handoff of documents in Charing Cross tube station. The documents had been stolen from Woolwich Arsenal.
• Born: Wolfman Jack, disc jockey, in Brooklyn, New York
• Died: Georges Méliès, 76, French illusionist and filmmaker