Category Archives: 1930s

‘Duck Soup’ released in U.S. theaters 80 years ago today (1933)


Video: 'Duck Soup' trailer

(Friday, November 17, 1933)Duck Soup, a Marx Brothers anarchic comedy film about the mythical country of Freedonia which is broke and on the verge of revolution, was released today in U.S. theaters.

Directed by Leo McCarey, the film starred Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern, Raquel Torres and Edgar Kennedy.

United States and Soviet Union establish diplomatic relations 80 years ago this hour (1933)


Video: 'Soviet Russia Recognized by US 1933/11/20'

(Thursday, November 16, 1933, 11:50 p.m. EST) — The United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations tonight as President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a telegram to the Soviet leader Maxim Litvinov, expressing hope that United States-Soviet relations would “forever remain normal and friendly.” Continue reading United States and Soviet Union establish diplomatic relations 80 years ago this hour (1933)

Albert Einstein arrives in U.S. as refugee from Nazi Germany 80 years ago today (1933)


Video: 'Albert Einstein Comes to America (1933) - Leaving Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany'

(Tuesday, October 17, 1933) — Scientist Albert Einstein arrived in the United States today on board the ocean liner Westmoreland as a refugee from Nazi Germany and took up a position at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey. Continue reading Albert Einstein arrives in U.S. as refugee from Nazi Germany 80 years ago today (1933)

‘Dinner at Eight’ premieres in New York City 80 years ago tonight (1933)


Video: 'Dinner at Eight' trailer

(Thursday, March 9, 1933)Dinner at Eight, a comedy/drama film about a high-society dinner party that masks a hotbed of scandal and intrigue, premiered today at the Rivoli in New York City.

Directed by George Cukor, the film starred Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Lionel Barrymore, Lee Tracy, Edmund Lowe and Billie Burke.

Wiley Post completes first solo flight around the world 80 years ago this hour (1933)


Video: '1933 Wiley Post makes First solo flight around the world newsreel archival footage'

(Saturday, July 22, 1933, 11:59:30 p.m. local time) — Wiley Post became the first person to fly solo around the world tonight, traveling 15,596 miles in 7 days 18 hours 45 minutes and landing 30 seconds before midnight at New York’s Floyd Bennett Field, where he had departed on July 15.

Nazi eugenics begins with ‘Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring’ 80 years ago today (1933)

(Friday, July 14, 1933) — The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring (Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses) was decreed today in Nazi Germany, initially providing for the compulsory sterilization of persons with mental retardation (“hereditary feeblemindedness”), bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, epilepsy, and persons born with handicaps.