Category Archives: 1930s

22,000 American Nazis rally in Madison Square Garden in New York City 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 20 1939)

1930s, U.S. Presidents


Video: 'A Night at The Garden - Field of Vision'

(Monday, February 20, 1939, 8:55-11:00 p.m. EST) — 22,000 members of the German American Bund, a pro-Nazi group, packed Madison Square Garden tonight in New York City to hear Bund leader Fritz Kuhn, known as the “American Hitler,” criticize U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt by repeatedly referring to him as “Frank D. Rosenfeld,” calling his New Deal the “Jew Deal” and denouncing what he believed to be Bolshevik-Jewish American leadership. Continue reading 22,000 American Nazis rally in Madison Square Garden in New York City 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 20 1939) →

28,000 people killed by earthquake in in south-central Chile 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 24 1939)

1930s


Video: 'Earthquake In Chile (1939)'

(Tuesday, January 24, 1939, 11:32 p.m. Chile Standard Time) — Some 28,000 people were killed tonight when the 1939 Chillán earthquake occurred in south-central Chile with a surface wave magnitude of 8.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Continue reading 28,000 people killed by earthquake in in south-central Chile 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 24 1939) →

‘Jeepers Creepers’ by Al Donahue peaks at #1 in USA 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 21 1939)

1930s, Popular Music 1930s

(Saturday, January 21, 1939) — “Jeepers Creepers” by Al Donahue and his Orchestra (vocal chorus by Paula Kelly) peaked at #1 on today’s Your Hit Parade weekly music chart for five non-consecutive weeks (Jan. 21, Feb. 4/11/18/25, 1939). Continue reading ‘Jeepers Creepers’ by Al Donahue peaks at #1 in USA 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 21 1939) →

Kate Smith performs Irving Berlin’s ‘God Bless America’ for first time 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 10 1938)

1930s


Video: 'God Bless America, First Radio performance, Armistice Day November 10, 1938, Kate Smith'

(Thursday, November 10, 1938, 8:00-9:00 p.m. EST) — Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” on her CBS radio program tonight. Continue reading Kate Smith performs Irving Berlin’s ‘God Bless America’ for first time 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 10 1938) →

Death of German diplomat sparks Kristallnacht 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 9 1938)

1930s, The Holocaust


Video: 'Night of Broken Glass - Decades TV Network'

(Wednesday, November 9, 1938, approximately 4:30 p.m. Western European Time) — German diplomat Ernst vom Rath, shot Nov. 7, 1938, at the German embassy in Paris by Herschel Grynszpan, 17, whose Jewish parents were among those recently deported from Germany to Poland, died this afternoon at the Clinique de l’Alma. Continue reading Death of German diplomat sparks Kristallnacht 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 9 1938) →

Jewish teen shoots German diplomat in Paris 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 7 1938)

1930s, The Holocaust


Video: 'Herschel - The Boy Who Started World War 2'

(Monday, November 7, 1938, approximately 9:45 a.m. Western European Time) — German diplomat Ernst vom Rath was shot today at the German embassy in Paris by Herschel Grynszpan, 17, whose Jewish parents were among those recently deported from Germany to Poland. Continue reading Jewish teen shoots German diplomat in Paris 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 7 1938) →

‘War of the Worlds’ radio broadcast causes panic 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 30 1938)

1930s


Video: 'War Of The Worlds - Original 1938 Radio Broadcasts (2011 Remastered Version)'

(Halloween Eve, Sunday, October 30, 1938, 8:00-9:00 p.m. EST) — A wave of mass hysteria seized thousands of  listeners throughout the nation tonight when a radio adaptation of H. G. Wells’s 1898 novel “The War of the Worlds” led people to believe that an interplanetary conflict had started with invading Martians spreading widespread death and destruction in New Jersey and New York. Continue reading ‘War of the Worlds’ radio broadcast causes panic 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 30 1938) →

Du Pont names new synthetic yarn ‘nylon’ 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 27 1938)

1930s


Video: 'Nylon: First Synthetic Fiber - Decades TV Network'

(Thursday, October 27, 1938) — Du Pont announced today its new synthetic yarn would be called “nylon” at the final session of the Herald Tribune‘s yearly “Forum on Current Problems” on the site of the approaching New York City world’s fair. Continue reading Du Pont names new synthetic yarn ‘nylon’ 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 27 1938) →

Yankees beat Cubs to win World Series 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 9 1938)

1930s, World Series


Video: 'A Championship Legacy: 1938'

(Sunday, October 9, 1938, approximately 2:00 p.m.-4:11 p.m. EST) — The New York Yankees won the 1938 World Series today, beating the Chicago Cubs 8-3 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, in the fourth and deciding game. Continue reading Yankees beat Cubs to win World Series 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 9 1938) →

German troops begin to occupy the Sudetenland 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 1 1938)

1930s


Video: 'The World At War 1973(World War II Documentary) 01.A New Germany (1933–1939)' (German troops pour into Sudetenland at 38:29)

(Saturday, October 1, 1938, 2:00 p.m. CET) — Five gray-green columns of German troops poured across the Czechoslovak frontier this afternoon on a twenty-mile front, beginning the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in accordance with the Munich Agreement. Continue reading German troops begin to occupy the Sudetenland 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 1 1938) →