US History 1930 to 1939 Chronology

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1930
Feb 10Grain Stabilization Corporation authorized by Congress.Ref: 5
Mar 04Coolidge Dam in Arizona dedicated.Ref: 5
Mar 16USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) floated out to become a national shrine.Ref: 5
Mar 26Congress appropriates $50,000 for Inter-American highway.Ref: 5
Mar 27First US radio broadcast from a ship at sea.Ref: 5
Apr 21Fire (set as part of an escape attempt) at Ohio State Penitentiary kills 320.Ref: 5
Jun 11Congress authorized the BOI's National Division of Identification and Information to collect and compile uniform crime statistics for the entire United States. Previously, this program was handled by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.Ref: 14
Jun 17The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill becomes law, placing the highest tariff on imports to the United States.Ref: 2
Jul 03Congress creates the US Veterans Administration.Ref: 70
Jul 07Construction began on Boulder Dam on the Colorado River. It is now known as Hoover Dam.Ref: 70
Jul 21The Veterans’ Administration of the United States is established.Ref: 4
Sep 10Charles E Mitchell, named minister to Liberia.Ref: 5
1931
Jan 03Hundreds of farmers storm a small town in depression-plagued Arkansas demanding food.Ref: 2
Jan 19The Wickersham Committee issues a report asking for revisions in the dry law, but no repeal.Ref: 2
Jan 30The United States awards civil government to the Virgin Islands.Ref: 2
Feb 03Arkansas legislature passes motion to pray for soul of H L Mencken after he calls the state the "apex of moronia".Ref: 5
Mar 03President Herbert Hoover signs a bill that makes Francis Scott Key's "Star Spangled Banner," the national anthem.Ref: 17
Mar 14First theater built for rear movie projection (New York NY).Ref: 5
Mar 19State of Nevada legalizes gambling to ease hard times of the Great Depression.Ref: 5
May 01First Baha'i temple opens at Wilmette, Ill.Ref: 10
Jul 01Ice vending machines introduced in LA 25 lbs, 15˘.Ref: 5
1932
Jan 28First US state unemployment insurance act enacted-Wisconsin.Ref: 5
Feb 22Purple Heart award re-instituted.Ref: 5
Mar 01The Bureau (FBI) initiated the international exchange of fingerprint data with friendly foreign governments. Due to the rise of tension in Europe, this program was halted in the late 1930's. It was not re-instituted until well after World War II.Ref: 14
May 17Congress changes the name "Porto Rico" to "Puerto Rico".Ref: 5
May 19US Congressman Claude Fuller introduced a resolution that required all Civil Service employees to "sing, write or recite the words to the Star-Spangled Banner" by memory.Ref: 4
Jun 14Representative Edward Eslick dies on the floor of the House of Representatives while pleading for the passage of the bonus bill.Ref: 2
Jun 17The U.S. Senate defeats the Bonus Bill as 10,000 veterans mass around the Capitol.Ref: 2
Jun 22In response to the Lindbergh kidnapping case and other high profile kidnappings, Congress passed the Federal Kidnaping Act. The act gave the BOI authority to investigate kidnappings that were perpetrated across state borders.Ref: 14
Jul 01The BOI (predecessor of the FBI) became United States BOI or USBOI. Within a year it was named the Division of Investigation (DOI) when the Bureau of Prohibition was placed under the supervision of Director Hoover. The Prohibition Bureau was quickly phased out over the next several years; it was not merged into the USBOI.Ref: 14
Jul 28Federal troops forcibly dispersed the so-called "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans who had gathered in Washington, D.C., to demand money they weren't scheduled to receive until 1945.Ref: 70
Nov 24The BOI established a Technical Laboratory in the Southern Railway Building at 13th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest, Washington, DC It provided services to the FBI and other federal, state, local, and even foreign law enforcement agencies.Ref: 14
1933
Jan 02US troops leave Nicaragua.Ref: 5
Jan 18White Sands National Monument, NM established.Ref: 5
Jan 2320th amendment changes date of Presidential Inaugurations to January 20th.Ref: 5
Feb 03First interstate legislative conference in US opens, Washington DC.Ref: 5
Feb 06The 20th Amendment to the Constitution was declared in effect. It moved the start of presidential, vice-presidential and congressional terms from March to January.Ref: 70
Feb 17(Prohibition) US Senate accept Blaine Act ending prohibition.Ref: 5
Feb 17Newsweek Magazine first published at 10˘; founded by former Time staff member Thomas Martyn.Ref: 17
Feb 20(Prohibition) The House of Representatives completed congressional action on an amendment to repeal Prohibition.Ref: 70
Feb 25The first genuine aircraft carrier, the "USS Ranger" is launched.Ref: 5
Mar 01Bank holidays declared in 6 states, to prevent run on banks.Ref: 5
Mar 03Mount Rushmore dedicated.Ref: 5
Mar 04Frances Perkins becomes Secretary of Labor, first US woman cabinet member.Ref: 5
Mar 05Newly inaugurated President Franklin D. Roosevelt halts the trading of gold and declares a ten-day bank holiday.Ref: 2
Mar 06A nationwide bank holiday delcared by FDR goes into effect. (XDG, p 4A, 3/6/2003)Ref: 83
Mar 09Congress, called into special session by President Roosevelt, began its "hundred days" of enacting New Deal legislation.Ref: 5
Mar 13Banks began to re-open after a "holiday" declared by President Roosevelt.Ref: 5
Mar 14Civilian Conservation Corp, begins tree conservation.Ref: 5
Mar 17Bill establishing the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico was approvedRef: 62
Mar 18Unita Blackwell first black mayor in Mississippi, is born.Ref: 5
Mar 27Farm Credit Administration (US) authorized.Ref: 5
Mar 31Congress authorizes the Civilian Conservation Corps to relieve rampant unemployment.Ref: 2
Mar 311st newspaper published on pine pulp paper, "Soperton News" (Georgia).Ref: 5
Apr 07(Prohibition) President Franklin Roosevelt signs legislation ending Prohibition in the United States.Ref: 2
Apr 07University Bridge, Seattle opens for traffic.Ref: 5
Apr 07(Prohibition) Prohibition ends, Utah becomes 38th state to ratify 21st Amendment.Ref: 5
Apr 12Moffatt Field commissioned.Ref: 5
May 03The United States Mint was under the direction of a woman for the first time. Mrs. Nellie Ross assumed command.Ref: 4
May 12Federal Emergency Relief Administration & Agricultural Adjustment Administration form to help the needy & farmers.Ref: 5
May 15First voice amplification system to be used in US Senate.Ref: 5
May 18The Tennessee Valley Act (TVA) Act signed by FDR, to build dams.Ref: 5
May 21Mount Davidson Cross lit by FDR via telegraph.Ref: 5
May 27Federal Securities Act signed.Ref: 5
Jun 13Federal Home Owners Loan Corporation authorized.Ref: 5
Jun 13First sodium vapor lamps installed (Schenectady NY).Ref: 5
Jun 16US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) created.Ref: 5
Jun 16President Roosevelt opened his New Deal recovery program, signing bank, rail, and industry bills and initiating farm aid.Ref: 70
Jun 21First Great Lakes-to-Gulf of Mexico barge trip completed, New Orleans.Ref: 5
Jun 30US Assay Offices in Helena Mon, Boise Id & Salt Lake City Utah closes.Ref: 5
Jul 01The Department of Justice experiments for almost two years with a Division of Investigation that included the Bureau of Prohibition. Public confusion between Bureau of Investigation Special Agents and Prohibition Agents led to a permanent name change in 1935 for the agency composed of Department of Justice's investigators: the Federal Bureau of Investigation was thus born.Ref: 14
Jul 08Public Works Administration becomes effective.Ref: 5
Jul 24During his fourth Fireside Chat, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt showed why the homey, warm, comfortable discussion was, indeed, a fireside chat. The President stopped the discussion on the air (remember folks, this was radio) and asked for a glass of water, which he then sipped. Newsman Robert Trout is credited with coming up with the name, Fireside Chat, because of real moments like this.Ref: 4
Aug 01NRA (National Recovery Administration) established.Ref: 5
Sep 10(day unspecified) Gangster "Machine Gun" Kelly reputedly coined the nickname "G-Men" for FBI Agents while being interrogated by DOI agents. The legend that Kelly shouted "Don't Shoot G-men, Don't Shoot," while he was being arrested is doubtful. The heroic "G-Man," short for Government Man, quickly became synonymous with FBI Special Agents in the public's imagination.Ref: 14
Oct 10At Rio de Janeiro, nations of the Western Hemisphere sign a non-aggression and conciliation treaty. President Roosevelt adopts a "good neighbor" policy toward Latin America and announces a policy of nonintervention in Latin American affairs at the December 7th International American Conference at Montevideo, Uruguay.Ref: 2
Oct 12Alcatraz becomes a federal prison (unofficially).Ref: 5
Nov 07Pennsylvania voters overturn blue law, by permitting Sunday sports.Ref: 5
Nov 08President Franklin Roosevelt and Henry Hopkins, one of the architects of the New Deal, unveil the Civil Works Administration (CWA), a program designed to secure temporary work for people who would otherwise have to endure a winter of unemployment.Ref: 3
Nov 16The United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations. President Roosevelt sent a telegram to Soviet leader Maxim Litvinov, expressing hope that United States-Soviet relations would "forever remain normal and friendly." (Go to article.)Ref: 70
Nov 21First US ambassador to USSR, W.C. Bullitt, begins service.Ref: 5
Nov 23President Franklin D. Roosevelt recalls the American ambassador from Havana, Cuba, and urges stability in the island nation.Ref: 2
Nov 29First state liquor stores authorized (Pennsylvania).Ref: 5
Dec 04(Prohibition) Prohibition in the U.S. ended at 5:32 p.m., when Utah became the last of 36 states to ratify the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (repealing the 18th Amendment, which had prohibited all booze).Ref: 4
Dec 04(Prohibition) FDR creates Federal Alcohol Control Administration.Ref: 5
Dec 05(Prohibition) Prohibition repealed at 3:32 p.m. Mountain Time when Utah ratifies 21st Amendment; bars re-open.Ref: 2
Dec 19Electric Home & Farm Authority Inc, authorized.Ref: 5
Dec 26USSR forswears armed intervention in the Western Hemisphere.Ref: 5
Dec 28President Franklin D. Roosevelt states, "The definite policy of the United States, from now on, is one opposed to armed intervention."Ref: 2
Dec 30Government disallows NSB-membership for civil service.Ref: 5
1934
Jan 02First state liquor stores open, in Pennsylvania.Ref: 5
Jan 17Electric Home & Farm Authority incorporated.Ref: 5
Feb 07First contract for TVA power, Tupelo MS.Ref: 5
Feb 08Export-Import Bank organizes in Washington DC.Ref: 5
Feb 15U.S. Congress passes the Civil Works Emergency Relief Act, allotting new funds for Federal Emergency Relief Administration.Ref: 2
Mar 05Mother-in-law's day first celebrated (Amarillo TX).Ref: 5
Mar 15US Information Service opens.Ref: 5
Mar 16Congress passes Migratory Bird Conservation Act.Ref: 5
Mar 23US Congress accepts Philippines independence in 1945.Ref: 5
Mar 24President Roosevelt signs a bill granting future independence to the Philippines.Ref: 5
Apr 13US Congress passes Johnson Debt Default Act.Ref: 5
Apr 18First "Washateria" (laundromat) opens (Fort Worth TX).Ref: 5
Apr 28FDR signs Home Owners Loan Act.Ref: 5
May 21Oskaloosa IA, becomes first US city to fingerprint its citizens.Ref: 5
Jun 15Great Smokey Mountains National Park dedicated.Ref: 5
Jun 18Congress enacted a series of anti-crime legislation over the months of May and June 1934 in response to crimes like the September 1933 Kansas City Massacre where gangsters killed DOI Agent Raymond Caffrey, Jr. and other law enforcement officials. These May/June Crime Bills gave Special Agents the power of arrest and the authority to carry firearms. Previously, Special Agents could only make a "citizen's arrest," otherwise the agent had to call on a U.S. Marshal or local police officer to take custody of a suspect.Ref: 14
Jun 19The US Congress established the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The task of the commission was to regulate radio and (later) TV broadcasting.Ref: 4
Jun 19The National Archives and Records Administration is established.Ref: 2
Jul 01The Federal Communications Commission, as mandated in the Communications Act of 1934, replaced the Federal Radio Commission as the regulator of broadcasting in the United States.Ref: 4
Jul 11The first appointments to the newly created Federal Communications Commission were made. The governing body of the American broadcasting industry was first served by seven men named as commissioners.Ref: 4
Jul 12US Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz Island abandoned.Ref: 5
Aug 06US troops leave Haiti, which had been occupied since 1915.Ref: 5
Aug 07In Washington, the US Court of Appeals rules that the govenment can neither confiscate nor ban James Joyce's novel Ulysses.Ref: 2
Aug 11The first federal prisoners arrived at the island prison Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.Ref: 70
Aug 16US ends the occupation of Haiti that started in 1915.Ref: 5
Dec 27First youth hostel in US opens (Northfield MA).Ref: 5
Dec 28First youth hostel in US opens (Northfield MA).Ref: 5
1935
Jan 04President Franklin D. Roosevelt claims in his State of the Union message that the federal government will provide jobs for 3.5 million Americans on welfare.Women in the workplace.Ref: 2
Jan 04Fort Jefferson National Monument, Florida established.Ref: 5
Feb 01Water begins backing up at Hoover DamRef: 62
Feb 01First "March of Time" newsreel premieres at the Capitol.Ref: 5
Apr 08The Works Progress Administration (WPA) is approved by Congress.Ref: 2
May 01Boulder Dam completed.Ref: 5
May 06The Works Progress Administration began operating.Ref: 70
Jun 16President Roosevelt's New Deal legislation is passed by the House of Representatives.Ref: 2
Jul 01The DOI officially became the Federal Bureau of Investigation at the beginning of Fiscal Year 1936.Ref: 14
Jul 05President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act, which authorized labor to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining.Ref: 70
Jul 16First automatic parking meter in US installed, Oklahoma City, Ok.Ref: 5
Jul 22Lester Walton appointed minister to Liberia.Ref: 5
Jul 29The FBI established a national police training program, the forerunner of the FBI National Academy, when it welcomed a class of 23 police officers for a 12-week course of instruction in scientific and practical law enforcement methods.Ref: 14
Aug 14The U.S. Congress passed, and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law, the Social Security Act, creating unemployment insurance and pension plans for the elderly. also RefRef: 4
Sep 30FDR dedicates Boulder Dam. (Ref 
Nov 08United Mine Workers chief John L. Lewis joins forces with a dozen fellow labor leaders to announce the creation of the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO), an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor (AFL).Ref: 3
Dec 18A $1 silver certificate was issued. It was the first currency to depict the front and back sides of the Great Seal of the United States.Ref: 4
1936
Jan 09The United States Army adopts the M1 semiautomatic rifle.Ref: 4
Jan 11Charles Anderson enters Kentucky House of Representatives.Ref: 5
Jan 15The first all glass, windowless building was completed in Toledo, Ohio as the home of the Owens-Illinois Glass Company Laboratory.Ref: 4
Feb 05National Wildlife Federation forms.Ref: 5
Feb 09Semi-automatic rifles adopted by US army.Ref: 5
Feb 13The Lutheran Army and Navy Commission was organized by the Missouri Synod for the purpose of commissioning chaplains for military service and to minister to Lutheran personnel among the military overseas. In 1947 its name was changed to the Armed Services Commission.Ref: 5
Feb 29FDR signs 2nd neutrality act.Ref: 5
Mar 14The Federal Register, the first magazine of the US government, publishes its first issue.Ref: 5
May 24President Roosevelt called Director J Edgar Hoover to a morning meeting to discuss his concerns about subversive activity in the United States. He asked Hoover to report on the activities of Nazi and communist groups. After receiving approval from the Attorney General and authority from the Secretary of State to conduct the investigation, Hoover notified his Special Agents in Charge of the assignment.Ref: 14
Jun 18First bicycle traffic court in America established, Racine, WI.Ref: 5
Jun 22Virgin Islands receives a constution from US (Organic Act).Ref: 5
Aug 03The US State Department urges US citizens to leave Spain because of that country's civil war. (XDG, p 4A, 8/3/2000)Ref: 83
Aug 07The United States declares non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War.Ref: 2
Sep 07Boulder Dam (now Hoover Dam) begins operation.Ref: 5
Oct 02First alcohol power plant established, Atchison, KS.Ref: 5
Oct 28President Roosevelt rededicates the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary.Ref: 5
Nov 23The United States abandons the American embassy in Madrid, Spain, which is engulfed by civil war.Ref: 2
Dec 22First common carrier license issued by ICC, Scranton PA.Ref: 5
1937
Jan 01US Army Air Corps physiological research laboratory completed, Ohio.Ref: 5
Jan 05Only unicameral state legislature in US opens first session (Nebraska).Ref: 5
Jan 06The United States bans the shipment of arms to war-torn Spain.Ref: 2
Jan 13The United States bars Americans from serving in the Civil War in Spain.Ref: 2
Feb 01Stapleton, Staten Island becomes a customs-free port.Ref: 5
Feb 24First US group hospital-medical cooperative authorized, Washington DC.Ref: 5
Mar 24National Gallery of Art established by Congress.Ref: 5
Mar 25Washington Daily News is first US newspaper with perfumed advertising page.Ref: 5
Apr 26The publisher of LIFE magazine just about passed out when he looked at his just-off-the-press publication and noticed that someone had forgotten to put the word “LIFE” in the upper left-hand corner! It was the only time that LIFE was nameless. Since hundreds of thousands of copies were already printed, the magazine hit the streets with no name on the cover! The reason? A picture of a rooster would have had an obscured comb if the logotype had been used in the upper left-hand corner as usual.Ref: 4
Apr 27The nation's first Social Security checks were distributed.Ref: 70
Jun 14Pennsylvania became the first state in the United States to observe Flag Day as a legal holiday. PA is still the only state doing so (see Flag Day [above]).Ref: 4
Aug 08Bonneville Dam on Columbia River begins producing power.Ref: 5
Aug 18The first FM radio construction permit is issued to W1X0J (later to become WGTR) in Boston, MA. The station went on the air two years later.Ref: 4
Sep 28FDR dedicates Bonneville Dam on Columbia River (Oregon).Ref: 5
Oct 02FDR visits Grand Coulee Dam construction site in Washington State.Ref: 5
Nov 15Eighteen lawsuits are brought against the Tennessee Valley Authority, calling for its dissolution.Ref: 2
Nov 15Air conditioning was enjoyed in both the House and Senate chambers for the first time as the second session of the 75th U.S. Congress convened.Ref: 4
1938
May 16The first animal breeding society was organized in three New Jersey counties.Ref: 4
May 17Congress approves Vinson Naval Act, which funds a two-ocean navy.Ref: 5
May 26The House Committee on Un-American Activities begins its work of searching for subversives in the United States.Ref: 2
Jun 23Marineland (1st aquarium) opens near St. Augustine, Florida.Ref: 4
Jun 28Congress creates the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to insure construction loans.Ref: 2
Jun 29Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, and Olympic National Park, Washington, are founded.Ref: 2
Jul 23The first federal game preserve, some 2,000 acres of land located in Utah, was approved by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.Ref: 4
Jul 29Olympic National Park established.Ref: 5
Aug 18President Franklin Roosevelt dedicates the Thousand Islands Bridge connecting the United States and Canada.Ref: 5
Nov 12Mexico agrees to compensate the United States for land seizures.Ref: 2
Dec 15Groundbreaking ceremonies for the Jefferson Memorial take place in Washington DC.Ref: 70
Dec 27The first skimobile course in America opened -- in North Conway, New Hampshire.Ref: 4
1939
Jan 03Gene Cox becomes first girl page in US House of Representatives.Ref: 5
Jan 16Franklin D. Roosevelt asks for an extension of the Social Security Act to include more women and children.Ref: 2
Jan 26Federal Hall National Monument established.Ref: 5
Mar 02The Massachusetts legislature voted to ratify the Bill of Rights, 147 years after the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution had gone into effect.Ref: 70
Mar 18Georgia finally ratifies the Bill of Rights, 150 years after the birth of the federal government. Connecticut and Massachusetts, the only other states to hold out, also ratify the Bill of Rights in this year.Ref: 2
Apr 01US recognizes Franco government in Spain at end of Spanish civil war Pope Pius XII congratulates Generalissimo Franco's victory in Spain.Ref: 5
Apr 19Connecticut finally approves Bill of Rights (148 years late).Ref: 5
Jun 07King George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth, arrived at Niagara Falls, N.Y., from Canada on the first visit to the United States by a reigning British monarch.Ref: 70
Jun 19Atlanta, Georgia enacted legislation that disallowed pinball machines in the city, beginning this day.Ref: 4
Aug 02Hatch Act prohibits political activity by federal workers.Ref: 5
Aug 13Sabotage suspected in crash of the 'City of San Francisco' which fell into the Humboldt River killing 24. (Elko, Nevada).Ref: 5
Nov 15President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.Ref: 70
Nov 15Social Security Administration approves first unemployment check.Ref: 5
1983
Jul 07Eleven-year-old Samantha Smith of Manchester, Maine, left for a visit to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov.Ref: 70
Last Update: October 27th, 2005
© 2000-2005   Kenneth Fussichen