1937
The Public Order Act went into effect, banning the wearing of political uniforms and empowering the police to stop political marches when there was risk of disorder. Anne Aubrey born in London. Freda Harriet Harrison born in Belper, Derbyshire.
Great Britain and Italy signed a 'gentleman's agreement' pledging to mutually respect one another's rights and interests in the Mediterranean as well as Spain's independence and integrity. Terence Christopher Gerald Rigby born in Birmingham.
During the Second Battle of the Corunna Road, the Nationalists captured Villafranca del Castillo west of Madrid.
Robert Johnson's 'Terraplane Blues'/'Kind Hearted Woman Blues' 78 released on Vocalion Records in the US.
The first episode of George Formby's A Lancashire Lad In London broadcast on The National Programme. Australia won the third Ashes test at Melbourne by three hundred and sixty five runs. Don Bradman scored two hundred and seventy runs and Jack Fingleton one hundred and thirty six in Australia's second innings. Maurice Leyland also scored a century.
Shirley Veronica Bassey born in Cardiff.
Britain warned its citizens that anyone volunteering to fight for either side in the Spanish Civil War would be subject to prosecution under the Foreign Enlistment Act of 1870.
The BBC produced a performance of scenes from Jerome K Jerome's The Soul Of Nicholas Snyder and, in doing so, give birth to the genre of Telefantasy.
Shirley Jean Eaton born in Edgware.
Michael Curtiz's Black Legion - starring Humphrey Bogart - premiered. Colin Campbell born in Twickenham.
J Bissell Thomas's The Underground Murder Mystery broadcast - believed to be the first drama specifically written for television - as part of the Theatre Parade strand. Hugo Haas and Otakar Vávra's Velbloud Uchem Jehly (aka Camel Through The Eye Of A Needle - starring Antonie Nedosinská and Jirina Stepnicková - premiered.
The Count Basie Orchestra made their first recordings - four tunes including 'Honeysuckle Rose' and 'Pennies From Heaven' - in New York.
The first episode of The White Coons Concert Party broadcast.
George Formby recorded 'With My Little Stick Of Blackpool Rock' for Regal Zonophone Records.
The Duke of Norfolk married Lavinia Mary Strutt at Brompton Oratory in London. Pauline Devaney born in Stoke On Trent.
John Normington born in Dukinfield, Cheshire. Janet Ruth Waters born in Bournemouth.
Magic, Mirth & Music - featuring the TV debut of Jasper Maskelyne - and the drama Heard In Camera broadcast. The Good Earth - starring Paul Muni - premiered.
Vanessa Redgrave born in Blackheath.
Willie Gallacher, the lone Communist Member of Parliament, caused an uproar in the House when he asserted that the Regency Bill under discussion was clearly 'directed towards the occupant of the Throne at the present time' because he was 'suspect.' Conservative Earl Winterton declared that not even a member 'who represents so small an amount of opinion in the country' as Gallacher 'should be permitted to get away with the monstrous assertion which he has just made' and said it 'could only have come from someone who approaches the subject with a distorted brain.' Joachim von Ribbentrop committed a social gaffe when he gave the Nazi salute to George VI, nearly knocking over the King who was stepping forward to shake Ribbentrop's hand. 'The depredations in Aldershot of four young scamps, who had escaped from a remand school, were recounted to Magistrates sitting in the Juvenile Court,' according to the Aldershot News & Farnborough Chronicle. 'The four boys made themselves as comfortable as thieving and ingenuity would permit in an old shack on waste land near Cranmore-lane. Rugs, stolen from unattended motor-cars, milk, butter and bread stolen from the doorsteps of houses, and other stolen goods and foodstuffs formed their beds and sustenance till the police, notified of their escape and the thefts, tracked them down. Raids on shops were their undoing, for the police kept watch on Marks & Spencers and Woolworths as being the most likely to attract the young scamps and in one of these stores they were eventually caught. The youthful gang did not seem to feel any remorse when charged.' The Daily Mirror subsequently reported that after ordering three of the boys - aged ten, eleven and twelve - to be 'birched hard,' Harry Ainger, chairman of the Aldershot Juvenile Court magistrates, watched the birching - and then invited the victims to tea on Sunday. 'Today these boys had it properly and I stood by to see they did. We had a new birch to do it with and I told the sergeant not to be in a hurry. I am very fond of children but I do believe in mixing kindness with a little authority.' Australia won the fourth Ashes test at Adelaide by one hundred and forty eight runs. Match highlights included centuries for Charlie Barnett and Don Bradman.
Stuart Michael Zonis born in Brooklyn.
Alan Rothwell born in Oldham.
Robert Johnson's 'Thirty Two-Twenty Blues'/'Last Fair Deal Gone Down' released in the US.
Robert Riskin's When You're In Love - starring Grace Moore and Cary Grant and Frank Lloyd's Maid Of Salem - starring Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, Harvey Stephens, Gale Sondergaard, Louise Dresser and Bonita Granville - premiered.
American chemist Wallace Carothers received a patent for nylon.
Ralph Ince's The Vulture - starring Claude Hulbert, Hal Walters and Lesley Brook - premiered. It was the last film directed by Ince before his death in a road accident on 10 April. Benjamin John Whitrow born in Oxford. George Formby's 'With My Little Stick Of Blackpool Rock'/'Oh, Dear Mother' released.
Benjamin Stoloff's Sea Devils - starring Victor McLaglen, Ida Lupino, Preston Foster and Barbara Pepper - premiered.
The first flying car, the Waterman Arrowbile, made its first flight.
Gypsie Mary Kemp born in Bellingen, New South Wales.
The John Steinbeck novella Of Mice & Men was published. Thomas Daniel Courtenay born in Hull.
Norma Ronald born in Northumberland.
Antony Tudor's Fugue For Four Cameras broadcast. The Frank Capra-directed Lost Horizon - starring Ronald Colman - premiered. Henry Thomas Stamper born in Edinburgh.
Australia won the fifth Ashes test at Melbourne by an innings and two hundred runs. Don Bradman, Stan McCabe and Jack Badcock all scored centuries in Australia's six hundred and four.
David MacDonald's It's Never Too Late To Mend - starring Tod Slaughter, Jack Livesey and Marjorie Taylor - premiered.
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova born in Bolshoye Maslennikovo, Yaroslavl Oblast.
Anne Kristen born in Strathclyde.
George Orwell's The Road To Wigan Pier published. The Battle of Guadalajara began. Jennifer Schooling born in Bromley.
Heinrich Himmler ordered the arrest of 'professional criminals' who had committed two or more crimes but were now free after serving their sentences. Over the next few days some two thousand people were arrested without charge and sent to concentration camps.
German and Italian POWs who fought for the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War were interviewed in Valencia by a correspondent of The Times. The captured fighters confirmed they were regular soldiers of their country's army and not civilian volunteers. Robert Johnson's 'I Believe I'll Dust My Broom'/'Dead Shrimp Blues' released in the US.
Edward Charles Morice Fox born in Chelsea. B Reeves Eason's Land Beyond The Law - starring Dick Foran and Linda Perry - premiered.
Author HP Lovecraft died, aged forty six. Bridget Armstrong born in Dunedin.
Benjamin Patrick Aris born in London.
Thirty three-to-one shot Marmaduke Jicks beat Laureat II by a head in the Lincolnshire Handicap. Michael Patrick Napier Brown born in Bournemouth.
Extracts from HM Tennent 's production of George & Margaret broadcast in the Regional Programme's From The London Theatre strand.
Royal Mail won the Grand National. John Maurice Roëves born in Sunderland.
Amelia Earhart's plane crashed and burst into flames as she attempted to take off in Honolulu. Earhart and her two passengers escaped injury.
Sheffield Wednesday's two-one defeat against Liverpool saw the five hundred and seventh (and final) appearance for the club of Jack Brown in a career for The Owls which began in 1923. He remains second on Wednesday's all-time appearance list, behind Andrew Wilson's five hundred and sixty matches (1907 to 1920).
Seventh Heaven - starring Simone Simon and James Stewart - premiered.
George Stevens's Quality Street - starring Katharine Hepburn - and Maytime - starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy - premiered.
Norma Pownall born in Liverpool.
Henry Warren Beaty born in Richmond, Virginia.
The Bombing of Durango by Nationalist forces resulted in the city's destruction. George Formby's 'The Lancashire Toreador'/'The Window Cleaner Number Two (Further Adventures Of The Window Cleaner)' released.
William Charles Anthony Gaunt born in Pudsey, West Yorkshire.
A South Shields police officer who was told by Colonel Brook, Inspector of Constabulary, that in future he must 'exercise more care' in birching boys, was informed that the Home Office accepted there was 'no undue severity' and no need for disciplinary action. This was revealed in a report by South Shields Town Clerk, Harold Ayrey, on the birching of a nine-year-old boy on a magistrates' order. After seeing a demonstration of how the birching was administered, Colonel Brook expressed the opinion that the marks on the boy were caused through the officer 'standing a little too near' when he inflicted the punishment. He was satisfied, however, that the officer had been guilty merely of 'an error of judgement.'
Terrence Hardiman born in Newham, London. Katy Cashfield born in London.
The Pennsylvania chocolate workers' strike ended when the strikers were forcibly removed from the factory. Justices at the West Riding Juvenile Court in Doncaster ordered that nine boys who had stolen oranges, nuts and sweets, the property of a blind man, should receive three strokes each with the birch. The Chairman, W Anderson, described the theft as a 'very, very dirty trick.' Inspector Redfern said that a policeman saw some of the boys eating oranges in a street and from his inquiries found that twenty two oranges, eighty one bags of sweets and twenty seven bags of nuts had been stolen from a store in Mexborough. It was found that the boys who went into the store had squeezed through a small space above the door. A policeman said 'the streets of Mexborough were strewn with nutshells' on the night of the crime. Mothers of some of the boys protested in court against the sentence and were ordered out of court. The Clerk asked one of the mothers whether the boy's father had whipped him. 'Yes, he's whipped both of us,' she replied.
Claire Isbister born in Scotland.
Valerie Singleton born in Hitchin. A woman school teacher's appeal against a conviction for assault on a schoolboy by caning him, was successful at Birkenhead Quarter Sessions. Vita Maria Wilson, assistant teacher at St Anne's Roman Catholic School, had been fined two pounds and ordered to pay costs, at Birkenhead Police Court, on 8 February, when she was summoned for assault on Frank Ford, aged ten, a pupil at the school. Wilson stated that she had no personal animosity against the boy, but had to draw his attention continually to the manner in which he did his work.
Thomas & Sally Or The Sailor's Return and the first episode of Queue For Song broadcast. Lloyd Bacon's Marked Woman - starring Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart - premiered. Anne Cunningham born in Leeds.
Jill Viola Gascoine born in Lambeth.
Frank Whittle and his Power Jets Ltd team successfully tested a prototype jet engine.
The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal was launched. Edward Charles Morice Fox born in Chelsea.
The musical comedy Babes In Arms by Rodgers and Hart opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway. The show spawned several hit songs including 'My Funny Valentine' and 'The Lady Is A Tramp'.
James W Horne's Way Out West - starring Laurel and Hardy and Ladislav Brom's Harmonika premiered.
Tommy Handley's adaptation of The Disorderly Room broadcast. The character of Daffy Duck first appeared in the animated short film Porky's Duck Hunt. Scotland defeated England three-one in the Home International championship at Hampden Park. Freddie Steele scored for England but goals from Frank O'Donnell of Preston North End and two from Rangers' Bob McPhail gave the Scots victory. Chelsea's Vic Woodley had his debut as England's search for a regular goalkeeper continued. One hundred and forty nine thousand, five hundred and forty seven squeezed into the stadium, a new world record attendance for a football match. In the first Division, Denis Compton scored twice in Arsenal's four-nil defeat of Portsmouth. League leaders Mancheser City won five-two at Preston North End (Peter Doherty scoring three) having been two down at half-time. It was their sixth successive victory and a twentieth consecutive league match without defeat. Second Division leaders Blackpool and second-placed Leicester City both won (two-one at Coventry City and five-two at Chesterfield respectively).
The rehearsal for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth's coronation began at 6:30am with the procession of the horse-drawn Gold State Coach (without the royal couple on this occasion). Though it was early on a Sunday morning and the first day of British Summer Time, thousands of people lined the route to watch the proceedings.
The first episode of Up To London broadcast on The Regional Programme.
A Star Is Born - starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March - premiered. Hosato Takei born in Los Angeles. Robert Johnson's 'Cross Road Blues'/'Ramblin' On My Mind' released in the US.
John Joseph Nicholson born in Neptune City, New Jersey.
For The Children first broadcast. Manchester City's four-one win over Sheffield Wednesday meant they were First Division champions for the first time ahead of Charlton Athletic and Arsenal. Wednesday and Manchester United were relegated, replaced in the top flight by Leicester City and Blackpool. The league's top scorer were Mansfield Town's Ted Hartson who scored fifty five in the Third Division North and Joe Payne of Luton who scored the same number in the Third Division South.
The Bombing of Guernica - the German Condor Legion in famously bombed the fek out of the gaff. Over a thousand civilians died. Michael Sydney Knowles born in Derby.
Francoist Spain claimed that Guernica had been destroyed by Communist 'demolition teams.' One or two people even believed them.
Richard Thorpe's Night Must Fall - starring Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell - premiered.
London's bus drivers went on strike. Sunderland defeated Preston North End three-one in the FA Cup Final at Wembley. Una Stubbs born in Welwyn Garden City.
Six days of civil violence known as The May Days began in Catalonia.
Delia Ann Derbyshire born in Coventry. Sonny Boy Williamson recorded 'Good Morning, School Girl' and 'Sugar Mama Blues' for Bluebird Records in Aurora, Illinois.
The Hindenburg disaster occurred in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing thirty six people. Newsreel footage of the tragedy would be shown around the world, shattering the public's confidence in the dirigible as a method of mass transportation. Radio reporter Herbert Morrison's live report of the disaster ('Oh, the humanity!') remains one of the most famous broadcasts in history.
George More O'Ferrall's adaptation of Anna Christie - starring Flora Robson - broadcast.
Shall We Dance - starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers - premiered. This film introduced the
George and Ira Gershwin songs 'Let's Call The Whole Thing Off' and 'They Can't Take That Away From Me'.
Italy recalled its news correspondents from London and banned all British newspapers except for the Daily Mail, the Observer and the Evening News. The move was believed to have been taken in reaction to the British press mocking the recent defeats of Italian troops in the Spanish Civil War. And claiming that Mussolini had a very small penis. Probably. The Prince & The Pauper starring Errol Flynn and Billy and Bobby Mauch was released.
A Symphony Concert broadcast in which the BBC Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Bolt, made the first public performance of William Walton's ceremonial march Crown Imperial.
George VI met all the representatives of Britain's Dominions and colonies and pledged to carry on his father's work 'for the welfare of our great empire.' The speech made no mention of his brother Edward. Captains Courageous - starring Freddie Bartholomew and Spencer Tracy - premiered.
The coronation of George VI broadcast. The newly formed social research organisation Mass Observation made its first survey of social attitudes. Susan Hampshire born in Kensington. Miriam Stern born in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
England beat Norway six-nil in a friendly international in the Ullevål Stadion, Oslo. Freddie Steele scored twice, Øivind Holmsen put through his own net and England other three goals came from their debutants, Arsenal's Alf Kirchen, Tom Galley of Wolves and Len Goulden of West Ham United. Eight men were killed on HMS Hunter when it hit a mine off the Spanish coast, whilst patrolling the area to enforce the arms blockade during the Spanish Civil War. The Royal Navy destroyer returned to service two years later, following repairs, but it was then sunk by German destroyers in a Norwegian fjord in 1940.
A Tour Of The London Television Station broadcast. 'September In The Rain' by Guy Lombardo topped the American music charts. Trinidad López III born in Dallas.
Jocelyn Olga Bolton born in Vienna. A twenty nine-year-old widow, Laetitia Toureaux, mysteriously became the first person to die on the Paris Métro underground. She was stabbed in the neck and found alone in a first-class carriage. The murderer would have had less than a minute to commit the crime between stations and disappear, the carriages had windows all around and only the staff had keys to pass between carriages. When it was revealed that Toureaux had worked as a spy and had links to a far-right organisation, it was suggested this may have been an assassination, but in 1962, a doctor anonymously confessed to the crime in great detail in a letter to police. He had been in a relationship with the woman, he said. When she told him that she would see other men, he secretly followed her into the carriage, stabbed her and then slipped back onto it in a second-class carriage. His identity was never discovered.
Råsunda Stadium was formally inaugurated in Stockholm by King Gustav. England defeated Sweden in a friendly international, four-nil. Stoke's Freddie Steele scored a hat-trick and his Sotke City team-mate Joe Johnson added a fourth.
Stanley Baldwin made his last speech as Prime Minister, in which he asked the youth of Britain to guard against the threats of fascism and communism and said that the League of Nations was of 'doubtful' value. Archbishop of Chicago George Mundelein made a speech attacking 'malicious' Nazi propaganda against the Catholic church. Mundelein called Joseph Goebbels 'crooked' and referred to Adolf Hitler as 'an Austrian paper-hanger. And a poor one at that, I am told.'
Francis Patrick Roach born in Birmingham.
Tommy Woodrooffe's infamous - 'tired and emotional' - description of The Illumination Of The Fleet at The Spithead Review was broadcast on The London Regional Network. 'They're all lit up!' Questions were asked in the House of Commons. Again. England defeated Finald eight-nil in a friendly international at the Töölön Pallokenttä, Helsinki. Freddie Steele scored twice, Al Kirchen, Joe Johnson, netted as did debutants Ken Willingham of Huddersfield Town, Sheffield Wednesday's Jackie Robinson and Luton Town's Joe Payne, who hit two. Harry Betmead of Grimbsy Town also made his debut. Bricklayer Albert Boddy stood trial for the murder of thirty six-year-old Mrs May Godby, a woman that he had professed his love for. They had disagreed whilst playing darts in a public house in High Wycombe. Boddy left the pub and returned with a borrowed shotgun, shooting her in the face. He insisted that it was an accident and that he was showing her that he was going to go poaching with it when it discharged. Boddy claimed that he did not know it was loaded. On the second day of the trial, he was found not guilty of murder, but sentenced to three years in prison for manslaughter.
A headmaster said at Epsom Juvenile Court that he thought old-fashioned discipline and corporal punishment 'was best.' He was giving evidence in a case in which a twelve-year-old boy was summoned for stealing a bicycle. It was stated that the boy was 'continually committing acts of dishonesty.' According to the Evening Standard, the chairman said that when he went to school boys received 'a jolly good hiding' every time such a thing took place and it gradually grew upon him that it was better to refrain from such conduct. The headmaster said that, so far as his own school was concerned, that system of punishment was maintained, 'although, of course, with discretion.' The boy's father said he believed in chastising the boy for such offences, but his wife did not.
Michael Curtiz's Kid Galahad - starring Edward G Robinson, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart and Wayne Morris - premiered.
Neville Chamberlain became Prime Minister when Stanley Baldwin retired. In the final act of the Baldwin government, the London Gazette announced that Wallis Simpson would not be elevated to royal status upon her marriage to the Duke of Windsor and would only be entitled to be addressed in the forms appropriate to a woman who was married to a duke but was not of royal blood. The Volkswagen company was founded.
Robert Johnson's 'Come On In My Kitchen'/'They're Red Hot' released in the US.
The Tudor Touch broadcast. The Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson were married at the Château de Candé in Monts, France.
The Kriegsmarine held its first manoeuvres off Heligoland since the island was refortified in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles. Only a skeleton fleet participated because so many ships were deployed in Spain.
Shaun Curry born in Lambeth.
The Carl Orff composition Carmina Burana premiered in Frankfurt. Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion premiered.
The funeral of Jean Harlow was held at a chapel in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. William Powell, Lionel Barrymore, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and Norma Shearer were among the mourners in attendance. She had died from kidney failure two days earlier.
Sam Wood's A Day At The Races - starring the Marx Brothers - premiered.
The second part of Hassan - featuring Greer Garson - broadcast.
Ernest Edwin Black, headmaster of Durham Hill School, Downham, won an appeal at the County of London Quarter Sessions against conviction by Frank J Powell, the Greenwich magistrate, for assaulting a thirteen-year-old pupil. Mervyn Griffiths-Jones, for the respondent, said that it was suggested the punishment meted out to the boy was 'immoderate' and that Black 'became enraged' and lost his temper. The boy, giving evidence, said that he had been at the school three years and had been caned 'three or four times' before the occasion complained of. On 16 March he was caught cheating by his form master. The master caned him on both hands. He told the master that he'd had enough and broke the cane. The next morning Black told him to stand in front of the school. Black then told him to touch his toes and gave him four strokes with the cane. He was taken to the headmaster's study and Black showed him a cane and reportedly said: 'Now break that one.' Doctor Sidney Aldridge said that he found severe bruises on the boy's bottom. Aldridge added that he held 'rather strong views' against corporal punishment and that the boy had 'a sensitive skin.' Black, giving evidence, said that for the purpose of discipline he decided the boy 'must be dealt with in front of the school.' He gave him four strokes 'on the seat.' Toby Tarnow born in Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan.
Michael Kilgarriff born in Brighton.
King Solomon's Mines premiered in the UK.
The Battle of Bilbao ended with the Nationalist capturing of the city. Author JM Barrie died. Robert Johnson entered a recording studio for the second - and last - time, in San Antonio, Texas. Over two days his recordings included 'Stones In My Passway', 'Hellhound On My Tail', 'Little Queen of Spades', 'Me & The Devil Blues', 'Stop Breakin' Down Blues', 'Travelling Roadside Blues' and 'Love In Vain'.
The Wimbledon Championships were televised for the first time.
Joe Louis won boxing's World Heavyweight Championship with an eighth-round knockout of James J Braddock at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
Paul Robeson made a speech on the Spanish Civil War at the Royal Albert Hall in London during a benefit concert to raise funds for Basque refugee children. 'There is no standing above the conflict on Olympian heights. There are no impartial observers,' Robeson said. 'The liberation of Spain from the oppression of fascist reactionaries is not a private matter of the Spaniards, but the common cause of all advanced and progressive humanity.' Liechtenstein added a crown to its national flag so it would no longer be identical to the flag of Haiti.
Neville Chamberlain made his first major foreign policy speech in the House of Commons, in which he asked 'influential members of British society' to 'exercise caution' when talking about Germany's policy toward Spain to avoid a larger European war. 'I have read that in the high mountains there are sometimes conditions to be found when an incautious move or even a sudden loud exclamation may start an avalanche,' Chamberlain weaselled. 'That is just the condition in which we are finding ourselves to-day. I believe, although the snow may be perilously poised it has not yet begun to move, and if we can all exercise caution, patience and self-restraint we may yet be able to save the peace of Europe.' John Ford's Wee Willie Winkie - starring Shirley Temple and Victor McLaglen - premiered in Los Angeles.
England drew the first of a three test series against New Zealand at Lord's. England's debutant openers, Len Hutton and Jim Parks, did not last long, but Joe Hardstaff and Wally Hammond both hit centuries and shared a third wicket partnership of two hundred and forty five. Only Eddie Paynter of the other batsmen made runs. New Zealand lost wickets regularly, with Jack Kerr and Walter Hadlee making thirties and Merv Wallace reaching fifty two. An eighth wicket partnership of one hundred and four between Denis Moloney, who made sixty four and Albert Roberts, unbeaten on sixty six, avoided the follow-on. The new openers failed again in England's second innings, but Hardstaff made sixty four and Charlie Barnett an undefeated eighty three to set up the declaration. Resolute batting by Wallace, with fifty six and Kerr saved the match for New Zealand.
The number nine-nine-nine was introduced in the UK, the first emergency telephone number of its kind in the world. Eileen Helsby born in Blackpool.
Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared somewhere over the Pacific Ocean during an attempt to fly around the world. Robert Johnson's 'Sweet Home Chicago'/'Walkin' Blues' released in the US.
The National Programme's My Own Poetry - featuring WB Yeats - broadcast. Dorothy Round Little defeated Jadwiga Jędrzejowska of Poland in the ladies' singles final at Wimbledon. Tomáš Sträussler born in Zlín, Czechoslovakia.
Benny Goodman & His Orchestra's recording of 'Sing, Sing, Sing' released.
The Peel Commission published a report on the situation in Mandatory Palestine, recommending an end to the British mandate and that the territory be partitioned into an Arab state and a Jewish state. The Count Baise Orchestra recorded 'One O'Clock Jump' in New York.
David Hockney born in Bradford.
The Spanish pavilion opened at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne in Paris, featuring Pablo Picasso's mural-sized painting Guernica hanging in the entrance hall. Brian Grellis born in Liverpool.
Norman McLeod's Topper - starring Constance Bennett and Cary Grant - premiered. Jeremy John Dornhurst De Saram born in London.
Derbyshire dismissed Warwickshire for twenty eight in just under sixteen overs in the first innings of their county championship match at Derby. Bill Copson took eight for eleven including five wickets in six balls. Derbyshire won the game by five wickets.
The outside broadcast Girls & Boys Come Out To Play was scheduled. Providing there was no rain, obviously.
Adrienne Hill born in Plymouth.
Jack Conway's Saratoga - starring Clark Gable and, in her final movie, Jean Harlow - premiered.
Wilmer Clifton's controversial Slaves In Bondage - starring Lona Andre, Donald Reed and Louise Small - premiered.
Clifton Jones born in St Andrew, Jamaica.
England won the second test at Old Trafford by one hundred and thirty runs. Len Hutton made his maiden test century in his second test and shared an opening partnership of one hundred with Charlie Barnett, who made sixty two and a second wicket partnership of one hundred and twenty eight with Joe Hardstaff, who made fifty eight. From two hundred and ninety six for three, rash batting against Jack Cowie and Norman Gallichan led to six wickets falling for a further sixty two runs. New Zealand, despite fifty eight from Giff Vivian, were reduced to one hundred and nineteen for five before Walter Hadlee, scoring ninety three, put on ninety nine with Curly Page. England were reduced to seventy five for seven on the final morning, just one hundred and fifty ahead, mainly through fine seam bowling by Cowie. Freddie Brown, though, cajoled the tail into a further one hundred and twelve runs. Cowie finished with ten wickets in the match. New Zealand's second innings, started well and Vivian and Denis Moloney put on fifty for the first wicket before Moloney was run out. Vivian went on to his second fifty of the match, but only Martin Donnelly of the other batsmen reached double figures and Tom Goddard, achieving a lot of turn with his off-breaks, took six for twenty nine to win the match. Arthur Wellard made his test debut.
Alexander Ian Hogg born in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Robert Johnson's 'Hell Hound On My Trail'/'From Four Until Late' released in the US.
Leslie Steven Berks born in Stepney.
David Holliday born in Illinois. Margaret Evelyn Lyndon born in Islington.
Alan MacKenzie Howard born in Croydon.
Barbara Ann Deeks born in Shoreditch. King Vidor's Stella Dallas - starring Barbara Stanwyck - premiered.
Lloyd Bacon's San Quentin - starring Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart and Ann Sheridan - premiered.
Dustin Lee Hoffman born in Los Angeles. Tom Georgeson born in Liverpool.
Henry Hathaway's Souls At Sea - starring Gary Cooper and George Raft - premiered.
The Life Of Emile Zola - starring Paul Muni - premiered. Anna Raymond Massey born in Thakeham, Sussex.
The third test at The Oval was drawn. Only half-an-hour's play was possible on the first day because of rain. New Zealand struggled to forty seven for four before fifties from Martin Donnelly, Curly Page and Albert Roberts rescued them. England in turn lost three quick wickets, but Denis Compton, aged nineteen in his first test, made sixty five and Joe Hardstaff one hundred and three. The declaration came at lunchtime on the final day and a result appeared possible when New Zealand, despite fifty seven from Giff Vivian, lost wickets regularly across the afternoon. But a late rally by Denis Moloney and Eric Tindill took the match out of England's reach. Cyril Washbrook and Austin Mitchell made their test debuts.
William George Rushton born in Chelsea.
William Clemens's The Footloose Heiress - starring Ann Sheridan and Craig Reynolds - premiered.
Harry Fraser's 1935 movie The Last Of The Clintons became the first film to be shown on BBC TV.
William Wyler's Dead End - starring Sylvia Sidney, Joel McCrea and Humphrey Bogart - and Make A Wish - starring Basil Rathbone - premiered.
British ambassador to China Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen was wounded when a Japanese plane strafed his limousine.
Sydney Wooderson set a new world record at Motspur Park, running a mile in four minutes six seconds. Forty four First Division goals were scored in eleven matches on the first day of the football season. There were big wins for Chelsea (six-one against Liverpool with George mills scoring a hat-trick), Arsenal (four-one at Everton, Ted Drake hitting three) and Preston North End (four-one over Grimsby Town). Gordon Clayton also neeted a hat-trick in Wolves three-one victory against Manchester City. There were also high-scoring matched in the Second Division, with both Bradford Park Avenue and Nrowich City victors in seven-goal thrillers (against Barnsley and otuhampton respectively). Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic's one-nil defeat at Southend United in the Third Division (South) saw the lkeague debut of Joe Harvey, the first of over three hundred appearances for Bournemouth, Bradford City and Newcastle United in a career that would last until 1953 and see him captain The Magpies to successfive FA Cup triumphs in 1951 and 1952.
Yorkshire won their final county championship game of the season (by ten wickets against Hampshire at Bournemouth) having already secured their nineteenth title. Middlesex were runners-up with the 1936 champions, Derbyshire in third and Gloucestershire fourth. Jim Parks was the leading run-scorer in the championship with two thousand five hundred and seventy eight. In all first class matches, Parks achieved the unique double of over three thousand runs and one hundred wickets. Wally Hammond again topped the first class batting averages with three thousand five hundred and fifty two runs and 65.04. Hammond's Gloucester team-mate, Tom Goddard, was the leading wicket-taker (two hundred and fifteen) whilst Hedley Verity topped the bowling averages (two hundred and two wickets at 15.68).
Frank Capra's Lost Horizon - starring Ronald Colman - premiered.
Bukka White recorded 'Shake 'Em On Down' and 'Pinebluff, Arkansas' in Chicago for Vocalion Records, shortly before beginning a two year sentence at Parchman Farm Penitentiary in Mississippi for a shooting incident. The Prisoner of Zenda - starring Ronald Colman, Madeleine Carroll and Douglas Fairbanks Jnr - premiered. Derek James Fowlds born in Wandsworth.
George Formby recorded a cover of Noel Gay's 'Leaning On A Lamppost' for Regal Zonophone Records. Henry Koster's One Hundred Men & A Girl - starring Deanna Durbin - premiered. Dick Clement born in Westcliff-On-Sea.
Robert Johnson's 'Milkcow's Calf Blues'/'Malted Milk' released in the US.
Football At The Arsenal broadcast. Sybil Dyke born in Brighton. George Formby's 'Leaning On A Lamp Post'/'Hi-Tiddly-Hi-Ti Island' released.
Anthony Eden spoke at the League of Nations Assembly, telling Italy and Japan they were ruining themselves financially by their policies of territorial conquest and informing Germany that the way to obtain raw materials was to buy them instead of demanding colonies. Zephyrine Frances Gladstone born in Norwood.
JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit was published.
Anthony Patrick Caunter born in Southampton.
Gwendolyn Watts born in Carhampton, Somerset.
Glenn Tryon's Small Town Boy - starring Stuart Erwin, Joyce Compton, Clara Blandick and Dorothy Appleby - premiered.
Valerie Winifred Gearon born in Newport.
Donald Gee born in Stockport.
William Nigh's A Bride For Henry - starring Anne Nagel and Warren Hull - premiered.
Victor Schertzinger's Something To Sing About - starring James Cagney and Evelyn Daw - premiered.
Thousands of members of the British Union of Fascists marched through Bermondsey to mark the fifth anniversary of the sinister and wicked organisation's founding. Anti-fascists jeered and threw eggs, bricks and other objects at the fascist scumbags.
The first episode of Round The Film Studios broadcast.
Clive Graham born in Swansea. Jacqueline Jill Collins born in London.
Sir Oswald Mosley was knocked unconscious by a stone that struck him in the head when he stood on a truck to address a rally in Liverpool. Stage Door - starring Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers- premiered.
Robert Charlton born in Ashington. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor began a visit to Nazi Germany, arriving at Berlin Friedrichstraße station from Paris. The duke was taken on a tour of a factory by German Labour Front leader Robert Ley. Charles Lindbergh and wife Anne began their own second visit to Germany. Over the next two weeks Colonel Lindbergh would be shown the Focke-Wulf, Henschel and Daimler-Benz factories and permitted to examine the Dornier Do 17 bomber and Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter.
Gawn Grainger born in Glasgow.
Ernest Hemingway'sd novel To Have & Have Not was published. The Girl Said No - starring Irene Hervey and Paula Stone - premiered.
The TV debuts of Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson in an episode of Round The Film Studios.
The TV début of Jack Warner in an episode of Cabaret.
Emlyn Williams's Night Must Fall broadcast. Leo McCarey's The Awful Truth - starring Irene Dunne, Cary Grant and Ralph Bellamy - premiered.
The Duke of Windsor and his wife met Adolf Hitler at the Berghof. As they departed Hitler made the Nazi salute, which the Duke returned. Conquest - starring Greta Garbo and Charles Boyer - premiered.
England beat Ireland five-one in the Home International championship at Windsor Park. Chelsea's George Mills scored a hat-trick on his England debut, with further goals from Willie Hall and Eric Brook. Everton's Alex Stevenson replied for the hosts. Stan Cullis of Wolverhampton Wanderers made his international debut. For the first time in international matches between home countries the teams of both sides wore numbered shirts. Even without Mills and Vic Woodley, Chelsea remained top of the First Division with a two-one win against Brentford. Riach Carter scored three in Sunderland's six-one victory at West Bromwich Albion. Three men died after they all fell into a well separately at Rushton, near Leek in Staffordshire. William Jackson and his son, Arthur, were sinking the well into a fifty-foot shaft when Arthur fell and died from head injuries. William climbed down a ladder to try to rescue him, but he was suddenly overcome by carbon dioxide fumes. It was only when the third man, volunteer rescuer Jim Cotterill, fell to his death that it was realised there was a poisonous gas in the well.
Ferencvárosi TC won the 1937 Mitropa Cup, beating in SS Lazio five-four in Rome.
The weekly magazine Night & Day included a notorious review by its co-editor, Graham Greene, of the movie Wee Willie Winkie. Greene wrote of nine-year old Shirley Temple's 'dubious coquetry' and 'well-shaped and desirable little body' which appealed to 'middle-aged men and clergymen.' This provoked Twentieth Century Fox to successfully sue for three thousand five hundred smackers, plus costs. Greene left the UK to live in Mexico until the trial was over. Whilst there, Greene developed the ideas for the novel often considered his masterpiece, The Power & The Glory.
Hugh Futcher born in Portsmouth.
The Nine Power Treaty Conference opened in Brussels to consider means of ending the war between Japan and China.
George Nicholls' Portia On Trial premiered.
John Ford's The Hurricane - starring Dorothy Lamour - premiered.
Pierre Caron's La Fessée - starring Albert Préjean, Marguerite Moreno, Armand Bernard and Mireille Perrey - premiered.
The first TV adaptation of RC Sherriff's Journey's End broadcast. The British commissioner in Mandatory Palestine set up military courts to try suspected terrorists. Anyone carrying unauthorised firearms, bombs or ammunition was to be subject to the death penalty. During Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Whitehall Cenotaph, an ex-serviceman who had escaped from a mental asylum interrupted the two minutes of silence by screaming 'All this hypocrisy!' and something that sounded like 'Preparing for war!' The police chased him down and silenced him. Harshly. The incident opened a dialogue in the British press about whether the annual tradition of the silence should continue.
The Nine Power Treaty Conference adopted a declaration condemning Japan. Only Italy voted against the motion. Robert Johnson's 'Stones In My Passway'/'I'm A Steady Rollin' Man' released in the US.
A Junkers Ju 52 aircraft flying from Cologne to London crashed in Ostend, Belgium, killing all eleven aboard including the Duke and Duchess of Hesse. The Air-Raid Precautions Bill was passed in the House of Commons, vigorously supported by Winston Churchill, though there was concern about the cost to local authorities of building air-raid shelters in towns and cities. The government announced the appointment of Robert Hodgson as agent to the Franco regime in Burgos. Although this fell short of diplomatic recognition, it was a form of de facto recognition which was a diplomatic coup for Franco and his vicious fascist bully-boy thugs.
Peter Edward Cook born in Torquay. England defeated Wales two-one in the Home International championship at Ayresome Park. Stanley Matthews and Willie Hall scored for the hosts, Eddie Parry of Doncaster Rovers replying for Wakles.
George Stevens's A Damsel in Distress - starring Fred Astaire, George Burns, Gracie Allen and Joan Fontaine - premiered.
Brian Charles Hall born in London.
Lord Halifax ended a visit to Nazi Germany. He returned to London believing that Hitler could be bargained with. This development marked the beginning of Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy toward Germany. Ingoushka Petrov born in Częstochowa, Poland.
Rodney Bewes born in Bingley, West Yorkshire.
Ridley Scott born in South Shields. In the FA Cup First Round, Southern League Guildford City beat Third Division Reading one-nil and Midland League Scarborough won two-nil at Darlington. Yeovil & Petters United defeated fellow Southern League side Ipswich Town two-one. Lancashire Combination South Liverpool beat Cheshire Counties League Wigan Athletic four-one. Athenian League Walthamstow Avenue won three-one at Wiltshire League Westbury United and fellow Athenian Leaguers Bromley won four-nil at Eastern Counties League King's Lynn. Bradford City drew one-all at North Eastern League Walker Celtic, Midland League Burton Town drew by the same score with Rotherham United as did Lancaster Town at Accrington Stanley. Birmingham League Kidderminster Harriers drew two-two with Newport County and United Counties League Kettering Town also shared a two-two draw with Crystal Palace. Mansfield Town had a two-one victory at Birmingham League Wellington Town, Brighton & Hove Albion defeated Tunbriodge Wells Rangers five-one, Watford beat Cheltenham Town three-nil, New Brighton thrashed North Eastern League Workington five-nil, Hull City defeated Midland League Scunthorpe & Lindsey United four-nil, Aldershot won two-one at Isthmian League Dulwich Hamlet, Doncaster Rovers hammered Blyth Spartans seven-nil, Southend United won two-nil against Corinthians at the White City Stadium and Queens Park Rangers thumped Bristol Rovers eight one.
Walker Celtic lost their FA Cup replay at Bradofrd City eleven-three. Jack Deakin and Ron Bartholomew scored four each. Gainsborough Trinity of the Midland League defeated Port Vale after extra-time in the big shock of the day. Lancaster City of the Lancashire Combination held Accrington Stanley for a second time, before finally succumbing in a second replay at Preston, five days later. Meanwhile, Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic won six-nil at Dartford. England beat Czechoslovakia five-four in a friendly international at White Hart Lane. John Crayston, West Ham United's John Morton on his debut and a Stanley Matthews hat-trick secured the victory for England though they had quite a battle against a tough Czech side, mainly made up of members of the crack Sparta Prague and Slavia Prague sides. Oldřich Nejedlý scored twice, once direct from a corner-kick. The battle for the Chinese capital of Nanjing began. Japanese forces had already captured Shanghai and it took them eleven days to capture Nanjing before the soldiers were given free rein to massacre thousands of innocent civilians, raping and murdering as many females as they could find. There were wild celebrations in Japan, but China did not surrender.
Entertainment At St George's (1837-1937) broadcast on The National Programme.
The Dandy was first published, marking the first appearance of the character of Desperate Dan. David Bailie born in Springs, South Africa. Donnelly Rhodes Henry born in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Kenneth Colley born in Manchester.
Stephen Vincent Moore born in Brixton.
The Vic-Wells ballet company's production of Le Lac Des Cygnes broadcast.
Tele-Ho! broadcast. Mannequin - starring Joan Crawford and Spencer Tracy - premiered.
The Noel Gay musical Me & My Girl opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London's West End including the hit songs 'The Lambeth Walk' and 'The Sun Has Got His Hat On'.
Francis Durbridge's The Melody Man - starring Leslie Hutchinson - broadcast on The London Regional Network.
The first of several BBC adaptations of Arnold Ridley's The Ghost Train broadcast.
Disney's Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs premiered. Sheila Reid born in Glasgow.
Polite Wine Drinking brodcast.
Francis Beeding's The Erring Under-Secretary broadcast on The National Programme.
George VI delivered his first Royal Christmas Message. More O'Farrell's adaptation of Alice In Wonderland - starring Ursuala Hanray - broadcast. At the age of seventy, Arturo Toscanini conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra on US radio for the first time, beginning a successful seventeen-year tenure with the orchestra. The first concert consists of music by Vivaldi (at a time when he's work was seldom played), Mozart and Brahms. Millions tuned in to listen, including President Roosevelt.
Contraband - 'a historical reconstruction of the old struggle between smugglers and the King's Customs' - broadcast on The National Programme.
'Television's first grand pantomime', Dick Whittington & The Cat - written by Arthur Askey - broadcast.
JM Barrie's The Old Lady Shows Her Medals broadcast.
Reginald Foort At The BBC Theatre Organ broadcast. Barbara Steele born in Birkenhead.
Gordon Bank born in Sheffield.
From Alexandra Palace 1936-37 broadcast. Frank Lloyd's Wells Fargo - starring Joel McCrea - premiered.
The Public Order Act went into effect, banning the wearing of political uniforms and empowering the police to stop political marches when there was risk of disorder. Anne Aubrey born in London. Freda Harriet Harrison born in Belper, Derbyshire.
Great Britain and Italy signed a 'gentleman's agreement' pledging to mutually respect one another's rights and interests in the Mediterranean as well as Spain's independence and integrity. Terence Christopher Gerald Rigby born in Birmingham.
During the Second Battle of the Corunna Road, the Nationalists captured Villafranca del Castillo west of Madrid.
Robert Johnson's 'Terraplane Blues'/'Kind Hearted Woman Blues' 78 released on Vocalion Records in the US.
The first episode of George Formby's A Lancashire Lad In London broadcast on The National Programme. Australia won the third Ashes test at Melbourne by three hundred and sixty five runs. Don Bradman scored two hundred and seventy runs and Jack Fingleton one hundred and thirty six in Australia's second innings. Maurice Leyland also scored a century.
Shirley Veronica Bassey born in Cardiff.
Britain warned its citizens that anyone volunteering to fight for either side in the Spanish Civil War would be subject to prosecution under the Foreign Enlistment Act of 1870.
The BBC produced a performance of scenes from Jerome K Jerome's The Soul Of Nicholas Snyder and, in doing so, give birth to the genre of Telefantasy.
Shirley Jean Eaton born in Edgware.
Michael Curtiz's Black Legion - starring Humphrey Bogart - premiered. Colin Campbell born in Twickenham. J Bissell Thomas's The Underground Murder Mystery broadcast - believed to be the first drama specifically written for television - as part of the Theatre Parade strand. Hugo Haas and Otakar Vávra's Velbloud Uchem Jehly (aka Camel Through The Eye Of A Needle - starring Antonie Nedosinská and Jirina Stepnicková - premiered.
The Count Basie Orchestra made their first recordings - four tunes including 'Honeysuckle Rose' and 'Pennies From Heaven' - in New York.
The first episode of The White Coons Concert Party broadcast.
George Formby recorded 'With My Little Stick Of Blackpool Rock' for Regal Zonophone Records.
The Duke of Norfolk married Lavinia Mary Strutt at Brompton Oratory in London. Pauline Devaney born in Stoke On Trent.
John Normington born in Dukinfield, Cheshire. Janet Ruth Waters born in Bournemouth.
Magic, Mirth & Music - featuring the TV debut of Jasper Maskelyne - and the drama Heard In Camera broadcast. The Good Earth - starring Paul Muni - premiered.
Vanessa Redgrave born in Blackheath.
Willie Gallacher, the lone Communist Member of Parliament, caused an uproar in the House when he asserted that the Regency Bill under discussion was clearly 'directed towards the occupant of the Throne at the present time' because he was 'suspect.' Conservative Earl Winterton declared that not even a member 'who represents so small an amount of opinion in the country' as Gallacher 'should be permitted to get away with the monstrous assertion which he has just made' and said it 'could only have come from someone who approaches the subject with a distorted brain.' Joachim von Ribbentrop committed a social gaffe when he gave the Nazi salute to George VI, nearly knocking over the King who was stepping forward to shake Ribbentrop's hand. 'The depredations in Aldershot of four young scamps, who had escaped from a remand school, were recounted to Magistrates sitting in the Juvenile Court,' according to the Aldershot News & Farnborough Chronicle. 'The four boys made themselves as comfortable as thieving and ingenuity would permit in an old shack on waste land near Cranmore-lane. Rugs, stolen from unattended motor-cars, milk, butter and bread stolen from the doorsteps of houses, and other stolen goods and foodstuffs formed their beds and sustenance till the police, notified of their escape and the thefts, tracked them down. Raids on shops were their undoing, for the police kept watch on Marks & Spencers and Woolworths as being the most likely to attract the young scamps and in one of these stores they were eventually caught. The youthful gang did not seem to feel any remorse when charged.' The Daily Mirror subsequently reported that after ordering three of the boys - aged ten, eleven and twelve - to be 'birched hard,' Harry Ainger, chairman of the Aldershot Juvenile Court magistrates, watched the birching - and then invited the victims to tea on Sunday. 'Today these boys had it properly and I stood by to see they did. We had a new birch to do it with and I told the sergeant not to be in a hurry. I am very fond of children but I do believe in mixing kindness with a little authority.' Australia won the fourth Ashes test at Adelaide by one hundred and forty eight runs. Match highlights included centuries for Charlie Barnett and Don Bradman.
Stuart Michael Zonis born in Brooklyn.
Alan Rothwell born in Oldham.
Robert Johnson's 'Thirty Two-Twenty Blues'/'Last Fair Deal Gone Down' released in the US.
Robert Riskin's When You're In Love - starring Grace Moore and Cary Grant and Frank Lloyd's Maid Of Salem - starring Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, Harvey Stephens, Gale Sondergaard, Louise Dresser and Bonita Granville - premiered.
American chemist Wallace Carothers received a patent for nylon.
Ralph Ince's The Vulture - starring Claude Hulbert, Hal Walters and Lesley Brook - premiered. It was the last film directed by Ince before his death in a road accident on 10 April. Benjamin John Whitrow born in Oxford. George Formby's 'With My Little Stick Of Blackpool Rock'/'Oh, Dear Mother' released.
Benjamin Stoloff's Sea Devils - starring Victor McLaglen, Ida Lupino, Preston Foster and Barbara Pepper - premiered.
The first flying car, the Waterman Arrowbile, made its first flight.
Gypsie Mary Kemp born in Bellingen, New South Wales.
The John Steinbeck novella Of Mice & Men was published. Thomas Daniel Courtenay born in Hull.
Norma Ronald born in Northumberland.
Antony Tudor's Fugue For Four Cameras broadcast. The Frank Capra-directed Lost Horizon - starring Ronald Colman - premiered. Henry Thomas Stamper born in Edinburgh.
Australia won the fifth Ashes test at Melbourne by an innings and two hundred runs. Don Bradman, Stan McCabe and Jack Badcock all scored centuries in Australia's six hundred and four.
David MacDonald's It's Never Too Late To Mend - starring Tod Slaughter, Jack Livesey and Marjorie Taylor - premiered.
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova born in Bolshoye Maslennikovo, Yaroslavl Oblast.
Anne Kristen born in Strathclyde.
George Orwell's The Road To Wigan Pier published. The Battle of Guadalajara began. Jennifer Schooling born in Bromley.
Heinrich Himmler ordered the arrest of 'professional criminals' who had committed two or more crimes but were now free after serving their sentences. Over the next few days some two thousand people were arrested without charge and sent to concentration camps.
Edward Charles Morice Fox born in Chelsea. B Reeves Eason's Land Beyond The Law - starring Dick Foran and Linda Perry - premiered.
Author HP Lovecraft died, aged forty six. Bridget Armstrong born in Dunedin.
Benjamin Patrick Aris born in London.
Thirty three-to-one shot Marmaduke Jicks beat Laureat II by a head in the Lincolnshire Handicap. Michael Patrick Napier Brown born in Bournemouth.
Extracts from HM Tennent 's production of George & Margaret broadcast in the Regional Programme's From The London Theatre strand.
Royal Mail won the Grand National. John Maurice Roëves born in Sunderland.
Amelia Earhart's plane crashed and burst into flames as she attempted to take off in Honolulu. Earhart and her two passengers escaped injury.
Sheffield Wednesday's two-one defeat against Liverpool saw the five hundred and seventh (and final) appearance for the club of Jack Brown in a career for The Owls which began in 1923. He remains second on Wednesday's all-time appearance list, behind Andrew Wilson's five hundred and sixty matches (1907 to 1920).
Seventh Heaven - starring Simone Simon and James Stewart - premiered.
George Stevens's Quality Street - starring Katharine Hepburn - and Maytime - starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy - premiered.
Norma Pownall born in Liverpool.
Henry Warren Beaty born in Richmond, Virginia.
The Bombing of Durango by Nationalist forces resulted in the city's destruction. George Formby's 'The Lancashire Toreador'/'The Window Cleaner Number Two (Further Adventures Of The Window Cleaner)' released.
William Charles Anthony Gaunt born in Pudsey, West Yorkshire.
A South Shields police officer who was told by Colonel Brook, Inspector of Constabulary, that in future he must 'exercise more care' in birching boys, was informed that the Home Office accepted there was 'no undue severity' and no need for disciplinary action. This was revealed in a report by South Shields Town Clerk, Harold Ayrey, on the birching of a nine-year-old boy on a magistrates' order. After seeing a demonstration of how the birching was administered, Colonel Brook expressed the opinion that the marks on the boy were caused through the officer 'standing a little too near' when he inflicted the punishment. He was satisfied, however, that the officer had been guilty merely of 'an error of judgement.'
Terrence Hardiman born in Newham, London. Katy Cashfield born in London.
The Pennsylvania chocolate workers' strike ended when the strikers were forcibly removed from the factory. Justices at the West Riding Juvenile Court in Doncaster ordered that nine boys who had stolen oranges, nuts and sweets, the property of a blind man, should receive three strokes each with the birch. The Chairman, W Anderson, described the theft as a 'very, very dirty trick.' Inspector Redfern said that a policeman saw some of the boys eating oranges in a street and from his inquiries found that twenty two oranges, eighty one bags of sweets and twenty seven bags of nuts had been stolen from a store in Mexborough. It was found that the boys who went into the store had squeezed through a small space above the door. A policeman said 'the streets of Mexborough were strewn with nutshells' on the night of the crime. Mothers of some of the boys protested in court against the sentence and were ordered out of court. The Clerk asked one of the mothers whether the boy's father had whipped him. 'Yes, he's whipped both of us,' she replied.
Valerie Singleton born in Hitchin. A woman school teacher's appeal against a conviction for assault on a schoolboy by caning him, was successful at Birkenhead Quarter Sessions. Vita Maria Wilson, assistant teacher at St Anne's Roman Catholic School, had been fined two pounds and ordered to pay costs, at Birkenhead Police Court, on 8 February, when she was summoned for assault on Frank Ford, aged ten, a pupil at the school. Wilson stated that she had no personal animosity against the boy, but had to draw his attention continually to the manner in which he did his work.
Thomas & Sally Or The Sailor's Return and the first episode of Queue For Song broadcast. Lloyd Bacon's Marked Woman - starring Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart - premiered. Anne Cunningham born in Leeds.
Jill Viola Gascoine born in Lambeth.
Frank Whittle and his Power Jets Ltd team successfully tested a prototype jet engine.
The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal was launched. Edward Charles Morice Fox born in Chelsea.
The musical comedy Babes In Arms by Rodgers and Hart opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway. The show spawned several hit songs including 'My Funny Valentine' and 'The Lady Is A Tramp'.
James W Horne's Way Out West - starring Laurel and Hardy and Ladislav Brom's Harmonika premiered.
Tommy Handley's adaptation of The Disorderly Room broadcast. The character of Daffy Duck first appeared in the animated short film Porky's Duck Hunt. Scotland defeated England three-one in the Home International championship at Hampden Park. Freddie Steele scored for England but goals from Frank O'Donnell of Preston North End and two from Rangers' Bob McPhail gave the Scots victory. Chelsea's Vic Woodley had his debut as England's search for a regular goalkeeper continued. One hundred and forty nine thousand, five hundred and forty seven squeezed into the stadium, a new world record attendance for a football match. In the first Division, Denis Compton scored twice in Arsenal's four-nil defeat of Portsmouth. League leaders Mancheser City won five-two at Preston North End (Peter Doherty scoring three) having been two down at half-time. It was their sixth successive victory and a twentieth consecutive league match without defeat. Second Division leaders Blackpool and second-placed Leicester City both won (two-one at Coventry City and five-two at Chesterfield respectively).
The rehearsal for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth's coronation began at 6:30am with the procession of the horse-drawn Gold State Coach (without the royal couple on this occasion). Though it was early on a Sunday morning and the first day of British Summer Time, thousands of people lined the route to watch the proceedings.
The first episode of Up To London broadcast on The Regional Programme.
A Star Is Born - starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March - premiered. Hosato Takei born in Los Angeles. Robert Johnson's 'Cross Road Blues'/'Ramblin' On My Mind' released in the US.
John Joseph Nicholson born in Neptune City, New Jersey.
For The Children first broadcast. Manchester City's four-one win over Sheffield Wednesday meant they were First Division champions for the first time ahead of Charlton Athletic and Arsenal. Wednesday and Manchester United were relegated, replaced in the top flight by Leicester City and Blackpool. The league's top scorer were Mansfield Town's Ted Hartson who scored fifty five in the Third Division North and Joe Payne of Luton who scored the same number in the Third Division South.
The Bombing of Guernica - the German Condor Legion in famously bombed the fek out of the gaff. Over a thousand civilians died. Michael Sydney Knowles born in Derby.
Francoist Spain claimed that Guernica had been destroyed by Communist 'demolition teams.' One or two people even believed them.
Richard Thorpe's Night Must Fall - starring Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell - premiered.
London's bus drivers went on strike. Sunderland defeated Preston North End three-one in the FA Cup Final at Wembley. Una Stubbs born in Welwyn Garden City.
Six days of civil violence known as The May Days began in Catalonia.
Delia Ann Derbyshire born in Coventry. Sonny Boy Williamson recorded 'Good Morning, School Girl' and 'Sugar Mama Blues' for Bluebird Records in Aurora, Illinois.
The Hindenburg disaster occurred in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing thirty six people. Newsreel footage of the tragedy would be shown around the world, shattering the public's confidence in the dirigible as a method of mass transportation. Radio reporter Herbert Morrison's live report of the disaster ('Oh, the humanity!') remains one of the most famous broadcasts in history.
George More O'Ferrall's adaptation of Anna Christie - starring Flora Robson - broadcast.
Shall We Dance - starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers - premiered. This film introduced the
Italy recalled its news correspondents from London and banned all British newspapers except for the Daily Mail, the Observer and the Evening News. The move was believed to have been taken in reaction to the British press mocking the recent defeats of Italian troops in the Spanish Civil War. And claiming that Mussolini had a very small penis. Probably. The Prince & The Pauper starring Errol Flynn and Billy and Bobby Mauch was released.
A Symphony Concert broadcast in which the BBC Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Bolt, made the first public performance of William Walton's ceremonial march Crown Imperial.
George VI met all the representatives of Britain's Dominions and colonies and pledged to carry on his father's work 'for the welfare of our great empire.' The speech made no mention of his brother Edward. Captains Courageous - starring Freddie Bartholomew and Spencer Tracy - premiered.
The coronation of George VI broadcast. The newly formed social research organisation Mass Observation made its first survey of social attitudes. Susan Hampshire born in Kensington. Miriam Stern born in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
England beat Norway six-nil in a friendly international in the Ullevål Stadion, Oslo. Freddie Steele scored twice, Øivind Holmsen put through his own net and England other three goals came from their debutants, Arsenal's Alf Kirchen, Tom Galley of Wolves and Len Goulden of West Ham United. Eight men were killed on HMS Hunter when it hit a mine off the Spanish coast, whilst patrolling the area to enforce the arms blockade during the Spanish Civil War. The Royal Navy destroyer returned to service two years later, following repairs, but it was then sunk by German destroyers in a Norwegian fjord in 1940.
A Tour Of The London Television Station broadcast. 'September In The Rain' by Guy Lombardo topped the American music charts. Trinidad López III born in Dallas.
Jocelyn Olga Bolton born in Vienna. A twenty nine-year-old widow, Laetitia Toureaux, mysteriously became the first person to die on the Paris Métro underground. She was stabbed in the neck and found alone in a first-class carriage. The murderer would have had less than a minute to commit the crime between stations and disappear, the carriages had windows all around and only the staff had keys to pass between carriages. When it was revealed that Toureaux had worked as a spy and had links to a far-right organisation, it was suggested this may have been an assassination, but in 1962, a doctor anonymously confessed to the crime in great detail in a letter to police. He had been in a relationship with the woman, he said. When she told him that she would see other men, he secretly followed her into the carriage, stabbed her and then slipped back onto it in a second-class carriage. His identity was never discovered.
Råsunda Stadium was formally inaugurated in Stockholm by King Gustav. England defeated Sweden in a friendly international, four-nil. Stoke's Freddie Steele scored a hat-trick and his Sotke City team-mate Joe Johnson added a fourth.
Stanley Baldwin made his last speech as Prime Minister, in which he asked the youth of Britain to guard against the threats of fascism and communism and said that the League of Nations was of 'doubtful' value. Archbishop of Chicago George Mundelein made a speech attacking 'malicious' Nazi propaganda against the Catholic church. Mundelein called Joseph Goebbels 'crooked' and referred to Adolf Hitler as 'an Austrian paper-hanger. And a poor one at that, I am told.'
Francis Patrick Roach born in Birmingham.
Tommy Woodrooffe's infamous - 'tired and emotional' - description of The Illumination Of The Fleet at The Spithead Review was broadcast on The London Regional Network. 'They're all lit up!' Questions were asked in the House of Commons. Again. England defeated Finald eight-nil in a friendly international at the Töölön Pallokenttä, Helsinki. Freddie Steele scored twice, Al Kirchen, Joe Johnson, netted as did debutants Ken Willingham of Huddersfield Town, Sheffield Wednesday's Jackie Robinson and Luton Town's Joe Payne, who hit two. Harry Betmead of Grimbsy Town also made his debut. Bricklayer Albert Boddy stood trial for the murder of thirty six-year-old Mrs May Godby, a woman that he had professed his love for. They had disagreed whilst playing darts in a public house in High Wycombe. Boddy left the pub and returned with a borrowed shotgun, shooting her in the face. He insisted that it was an accident and that he was showing her that he was going to go poaching with it when it discharged. Boddy claimed that he did not know it was loaded. On the second day of the trial, he was found not guilty of murder, but sentenced to three years in prison for manslaughter.
Michael Curtiz's Kid Galahad - starring Edward G Robinson, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart and Wayne Morris - premiered.
Neville Chamberlain became Prime Minister when Stanley Baldwin retired. In the final act of the Baldwin government, the London Gazette announced that Wallis Simpson would not be elevated to royal status upon her marriage to the Duke of Windsor and would only be entitled to be addressed in the forms appropriate to a woman who was married to a duke but was not of royal blood. The Volkswagen company was founded.
Robert Johnson's 'Come On In My Kitchen'/'They're Red Hot' released in the US.
The Tudor Touch broadcast. The Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson were married at the Château de Candé in Monts, France.
The Kriegsmarine held its first manoeuvres off Heligoland since the island was refortified in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles. Only a skeleton fleet participated because so many ships were deployed in Spain.
Shaun Curry born in Lambeth.
The Carl Orff composition Carmina Burana premiered in Frankfurt. Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion premiered.
The funeral of Jean Harlow was held at a chapel in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. William Powell, Lionel Barrymore, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and Norma Shearer were among the mourners in attendance. She had died from kidney failure two days earlier.
Sam Wood's A Day At The Races - starring the Marx Brothers - premiered.
The second part of Hassan - featuring Greer Garson - broadcast.
Ernest Edwin Black, headmaster of Durham Hill School, Downham, won an appeal at the County of London Quarter Sessions against conviction by Frank J Powell, the Greenwich magistrate, for assaulting a thirteen-year-old pupil. Mervyn Griffiths-Jones, for the respondent, said that it was suggested the punishment meted out to the boy was 'immoderate' and that Black 'became enraged' and lost his temper. The boy, giving evidence, said that he had been at the school three years and had been caned 'three or four times' before the occasion complained of. On 16 March he was caught cheating by his form master. The master caned him on both hands. He told the master that he'd had enough and broke the cane. The next morning Black told him to stand in front of the school. Black then told him to touch his toes and gave him four strokes with the cane. He was taken to the headmaster's study and Black showed him a cane and reportedly said: 'Now break that one.' Doctor Sidney Aldridge said that he found severe bruises on the boy's bottom. Aldridge added that he held 'rather strong views' against corporal punishment and that the boy had 'a sensitive skin.' Black, giving evidence, said that for the purpose of discipline he decided the boy 'must be dealt with in front of the school.' He gave him four strokes 'on the seat.' Toby Tarnow born in Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan.
Michael Kilgarriff born in Brighton.
King Solomon's Mines premiered in the UK.
The Battle of Bilbao ended with the Nationalist capturing of the city. Author JM Barrie died. Robert Johnson entered a recording studio for the second - and last - time, in San Antonio, Texas. Over two days his recordings included 'Stones In My Passway', 'Hellhound On My Tail', 'Little Queen of Spades', 'Me & The Devil Blues', 'Stop Breakin' Down Blues', 'Travelling Roadside Blues' and 'Love In Vain'.
The Wimbledon Championships were televised for the first time.
Joe Louis won boxing's World Heavyweight Championship with an eighth-round knockout of James J Braddock at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
Neville Chamberlain made his first major foreign policy speech in the House of Commons, in which he asked 'influential members of British society' to 'exercise caution' when talking about Germany's policy toward Spain to avoid a larger European war. 'I have read that in the high mountains there are sometimes conditions to be found when an incautious move or even a sudden loud exclamation may start an avalanche,' Chamberlain weaselled. 'That is just the condition in which we are finding ourselves to-day. I believe, although the snow may be perilously poised it has not yet begun to move, and if we can all exercise caution, patience and self-restraint we may yet be able to save the peace of Europe.' John Ford's Wee Willie Winkie - starring Shirley Temple and Victor McLaglen - premiered in Los Angeles.
England drew the first of a three test series against New Zealand at Lord's. England's debutant openers, Len Hutton and Jim Parks, did not last long, but Joe Hardstaff and Wally Hammond both hit centuries and shared a third wicket partnership of two hundred and forty five. Only Eddie Paynter of the other batsmen made runs. New Zealand lost wickets regularly, with Jack Kerr and Walter Hadlee making thirties and Merv Wallace reaching fifty two. An eighth wicket partnership of one hundred and four between Denis Moloney, who made sixty four and Albert Roberts, unbeaten on sixty six, avoided the follow-on. The new openers failed again in England's second innings, but Hardstaff made sixty four and Charlie Barnett an undefeated eighty three to set up the declaration. Resolute batting by Wallace, with fifty six and Kerr saved the match for New Zealand.
The number nine-nine-nine was introduced in the UK, the first emergency telephone number of its kind in the world. Eileen Helsby born in Blackpool.
Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared somewhere over the Pacific Ocean during an attempt to fly around the world. Robert Johnson's 'Sweet Home Chicago'/'Walkin' Blues' released in the US.
Benny Goodman & His Orchestra's recording of 'Sing, Sing, Sing' released.
The Peel Commission published a report on the situation in Mandatory Palestine, recommending an end to the British mandate and that the territory be partitioned into an Arab state and a Jewish state. The Count Baise Orchestra recorded 'One O'Clock Jump' in New York.
David Hockney born in Bradford.
The Spanish pavilion opened at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne in Paris, featuring Pablo Picasso's mural-sized painting Guernica hanging in the entrance hall. Brian Grellis born in Liverpool.
Norman McLeod's Topper - starring Constance Bennett and Cary Grant - premiered. Jeremy John Dornhurst De Saram born in London.
Derbyshire dismissed Warwickshire for twenty eight in just under sixteen overs in the first innings of their county championship match at Derby. Bill Copson took eight for eleven including five wickets in six balls. Derbyshire won the game by five wickets.
The outside broadcast Girls & Boys Come Out To Play was scheduled. Providing there was no rain, obviously.
Adrienne Hill born in Plymouth.
Jack Conway's Saratoga - starring Clark Gable and, in her final movie, Jean Harlow - premiered.
Clifton Jones born in St Andrew, Jamaica.
England won the second test at Old Trafford by one hundred and thirty runs. Len Hutton made his maiden test century in his second test and shared an opening partnership of one hundred with Charlie Barnett, who made sixty two and a second wicket partnership of one hundred and twenty eight with Joe Hardstaff, who made fifty eight. From two hundred and ninety six for three, rash batting against Jack Cowie and Norman Gallichan led to six wickets falling for a further sixty two runs. New Zealand, despite fifty eight from Giff Vivian, were reduced to one hundred and nineteen for five before Walter Hadlee, scoring ninety three, put on ninety nine with Curly Page. England were reduced to seventy five for seven on the final morning, just one hundred and fifty ahead, mainly through fine seam bowling by Cowie. Freddie Brown, though, cajoled the tail into a further one hundred and twelve runs. Cowie finished with ten wickets in the match. New Zealand's second innings, started well and Vivian and Denis Moloney put on fifty for the first wicket before Moloney was run out. Vivian went on to his second fifty of the match, but only Martin Donnelly of the other batsmen reached double figures and Tom Goddard, achieving a lot of turn with his off-breaks, took six for twenty nine to win the match. Arthur Wellard made his test debut.
Alexander Ian Hogg born in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Robert Johnson's 'Hell Hound On My Trail'/'From Four Until Late' released in the US.
Leslie Steven Berks born in Stepney.
David Holliday born in Illinois. Margaret Evelyn Lyndon born in Islington.
Alan MacKenzie Howard born in Croydon.
Barbara Ann Deeks born in Shoreditch. King Vidor's Stella Dallas - starring Barbara Stanwyck - premiered.
Lloyd Bacon's San Quentin - starring Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart and Ann Sheridan - premiered.
Dustin Lee Hoffman born in Los Angeles. Tom Georgeson born in Liverpool.
Henry Hathaway's Souls At Sea - starring Gary Cooper and George Raft - premiered.
The Life Of Emile Zola - starring Paul Muni - premiered. Anna Raymond Massey born in Thakeham, Sussex.
The third test at The Oval was drawn. Only half-an-hour's play was possible on the first day because of rain. New Zealand struggled to forty seven for four before fifties from Martin Donnelly, Curly Page and Albert Roberts rescued them. England in turn lost three quick wickets, but Denis Compton, aged nineteen in his first test, made sixty five and Joe Hardstaff one hundred and three. The declaration came at lunchtime on the final day and a result appeared possible when New Zealand, despite fifty seven from Giff Vivian, lost wickets regularly across the afternoon. But a late rally by Denis Moloney and Eric Tindill took the match out of England's reach. Cyril Washbrook and Austin Mitchell made their test debuts.
William Clemens's The Footloose Heiress - starring Ann Sheridan and Craig Reynolds - premiered.
Harry Fraser's 1935 movie The Last Of The Clintons became the first film to be shown on BBC TV.
William Wyler's Dead End - starring Sylvia Sidney, Joel McCrea and Humphrey Bogart - and Make A Wish - starring Basil Rathbone - premiered.
British ambassador to China Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen was wounded when a Japanese plane strafed his limousine.
Sydney Wooderson set a new world record at Motspur Park, running a mile in four minutes six seconds. Forty four First Division goals were scored in eleven matches on the first day of the football season. There were big wins for Chelsea (six-one against Liverpool with George mills scoring a hat-trick), Arsenal (four-one at Everton, Ted Drake hitting three) and Preston North End (four-one over Grimsby Town). Gordon Clayton also neeted a hat-trick in Wolves three-one victory against Manchester City. There were also high-scoring matched in the Second Division, with both Bradford Park Avenue and Nrowich City victors in seven-goal thrillers (against Barnsley and otuhampton respectively). Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic's one-nil defeat at Southend United in the Third Division (South) saw the lkeague debut of Joe Harvey, the first of over three hundred appearances for Bournemouth, Bradford City and Newcastle United in a career that would last until 1953 and see him captain The Magpies to successfive FA Cup triumphs in 1951 and 1952.
Yorkshire won their final county championship game of the season (by ten wickets against Hampshire at Bournemouth) having already secured their nineteenth title. Middlesex were runners-up with the 1936 champions, Derbyshire in third and Gloucestershire fourth. Jim Parks was the leading run-scorer in the championship with two thousand five hundred and seventy eight. In all first class matches, Parks achieved the unique double of over three thousand runs and one hundred wickets. Wally Hammond again topped the first class batting averages with three thousand five hundred and fifty two runs and 65.04. Hammond's Gloucester team-mate, Tom Goddard, was the leading wicket-taker (two hundred and fifteen) whilst Hedley Verity topped the bowling averages (two hundred and two wickets at 15.68).
Frank Capra's Lost Horizon - starring Ronald Colman - premiered.
Bukka White recorded 'Shake 'Em On Down' and 'Pinebluff, Arkansas' in Chicago for Vocalion Records, shortly before beginning a two year sentence at Parchman Farm Penitentiary in Mississippi for a shooting incident. The Prisoner of Zenda - starring Ronald Colman, Madeleine Carroll and Douglas Fairbanks Jnr - premiered. Derek James Fowlds born in Wandsworth.
George Formby recorded a cover of Noel Gay's 'Leaning On A Lamppost' for Regal Zonophone Records. Henry Koster's One Hundred Men & A Girl - starring Deanna Durbin - premiered. Dick Clement born in Westcliff-On-Sea.
Robert Johnson's 'Milkcow's Calf Blues'/'Malted Milk' released in the US.
Football At The Arsenal broadcast. Sybil Dyke born in Brighton. George Formby's 'Leaning On A Lamp Post'/'Hi-Tiddly-Hi-Ti Island' released.
Anthony Eden spoke at the League of Nations Assembly, telling Italy and Japan they were ruining themselves financially by their policies of territorial conquest and informing Germany that the way to obtain raw materials was to buy them instead of demanding colonies. Zephyrine Frances Gladstone born in Norwood.
JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit was published.
Anthony Patrick Caunter born in Southampton.
Gwendolyn Watts born in Carhampton, Somerset.
Glenn Tryon's Small Town Boy - starring Stuart Erwin, Joyce Compton, Clara Blandick and Dorothy Appleby - premiered.
Valerie Winifred Gearon born in Newport.
Donald Gee born in Stockport.
William Nigh's A Bride For Henry - starring Anne Nagel and Warren Hull - premiered.
Victor Schertzinger's Something To Sing About - starring James Cagney and Evelyn Daw - premiered.
Thousands of members of the British Union of Fascists marched through Bermondsey to mark the fifth anniversary of the sinister and wicked organisation's founding. Anti-fascists jeered and threw eggs, bricks and other objects at the fascist scumbags.
The first episode of Round The Film Studios broadcast.
Clive Graham born in Swansea. Jacqueline Jill Collins born in London.
Sir Oswald Mosley was knocked unconscious by a stone that struck him in the head when he stood on a truck to address a rally in Liverpool. Stage Door - starring Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers- premiered.
Robert Charlton born in Ashington. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor began a visit to Nazi Germany, arriving at Berlin Friedrichstraße station from Paris. The duke was taken on a tour of a factory by German Labour Front leader Robert Ley. Charles Lindbergh and wife Anne began their own second visit to Germany. Over the next two weeks Colonel Lindbergh would be shown the Focke-Wulf, Henschel and Daimler-Benz factories and permitted to examine the Dornier Do 17 bomber and Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter.
Gawn Grainger born in Glasgow.
Ernest Hemingway'sd novel To Have & Have Not was published. The Girl Said No - starring Irene Hervey and Paula Stone - premiered.
The TV début of Jack Warner in an episode of Cabaret.
Emlyn Williams's Night Must Fall broadcast. Leo McCarey's The Awful Truth - starring Irene Dunne, Cary Grant and Ralph Bellamy - premiered.
The Duke of Windsor and his wife met Adolf Hitler at the Berghof. As they departed Hitler made the Nazi salute, which the Duke returned. Conquest - starring Greta Garbo and Charles Boyer - premiered.
England beat Ireland five-one in the Home International championship at Windsor Park. Chelsea's George Mills scored a hat-trick on his England debut, with further goals from Willie Hall and Eric Brook. Everton's Alex Stevenson replied for the hosts. Stan Cullis of Wolverhampton Wanderers made his international debut. For the first time in international matches between home countries the teams of both sides wore numbered shirts. Even without Mills and Vic Woodley, Chelsea remained top of the First Division with a two-one win against Brentford. Riach Carter scored three in Sunderland's six-one victory at West Bromwich Albion. Three men died after they all fell into a well separately at Rushton, near Leek in Staffordshire. William Jackson and his son, Arthur, were sinking the well into a fifty-foot shaft when Arthur fell and died from head injuries. William climbed down a ladder to try to rescue him, but he was suddenly overcome by carbon dioxide fumes. It was only when the third man, volunteer rescuer Jim Cotterill, fell to his death that it was realised there was a poisonous gas in the well.
Ferencvárosi TC won the 1937 Mitropa Cup, beating in SS Lazio five-four in Rome.
The weekly magazine Night & Day included a notorious review by its co-editor, Graham Greene, of the movie Wee Willie Winkie. Greene wrote of nine-year old Shirley Temple's 'dubious coquetry' and 'well-shaped and desirable little body' which appealed to 'middle-aged men and clergymen.' This provoked Twentieth Century Fox to successfully sue for three thousand five hundred smackers, plus costs. Greene left the UK to live in Mexico until the trial was over. Whilst there, Greene developed the ideas for the novel often considered his masterpiece, The Power & The Glory.
Hugh Futcher born in Portsmouth.
The Nine Power Treaty Conference opened in Brussels to consider means of ending the war between Japan and China.
George Nicholls' Portia On Trial premiered.
John Ford's The Hurricane - starring Dorothy Lamour - premiered.
Pierre Caron's La Fessée - starring Albert Préjean, Marguerite Moreno, Armand Bernard and Mireille Perrey - premiered.
The first TV adaptation of RC Sherriff's Journey's End broadcast. The British commissioner in Mandatory Palestine set up military courts to try suspected terrorists. Anyone carrying unauthorised firearms, bombs or ammunition was to be subject to the death penalty. During Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Whitehall Cenotaph, an ex-serviceman who had escaped from a mental asylum interrupted the two minutes of silence by screaming 'All this hypocrisy!' and something that sounded like 'Preparing for war!' The police chased him down and silenced him. Harshly. The incident opened a dialogue in the British press about whether the annual tradition of the silence should continue.
The Nine Power Treaty Conference adopted a declaration condemning Japan. Only Italy voted against the motion. Robert Johnson's 'Stones In My Passway'/'I'm A Steady Rollin' Man' released in the US.
Peter Edward Cook born in Torquay. England defeated Wales two-one in the Home International championship at Ayresome Park. Stanley Matthews and Willie Hall scored for the hosts, Eddie Parry of Doncaster Rovers replying for Wakles.
George Stevens's A Damsel in Distress - starring Fred Astaire, George Burns, Gracie Allen and Joan Fontaine - premiered.
Brian Charles Hall born in London.
Lord Halifax ended a visit to Nazi Germany. He returned to London believing that Hitler could be bargained with. This development marked the beginning of Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy toward Germany. Ingoushka Petrov born in Częstochowa, Poland.
Rodney Bewes born in Bingley, West Yorkshire.
Ridley Scott born in South Shields. In the FA Cup First Round, Southern League Guildford City beat Third Division Reading one-nil and Midland League Scarborough won two-nil at Darlington. Yeovil & Petters United defeated fellow Southern League side Ipswich Town two-one. Lancashire Combination South Liverpool beat Cheshire Counties League Wigan Athletic four-one. Athenian League Walthamstow Avenue won three-one at Wiltshire League Westbury United and fellow Athenian Leaguers Bromley won four-nil at Eastern Counties League King's Lynn. Bradford City drew one-all at North Eastern League Walker Celtic, Midland League Burton Town drew by the same score with Rotherham United as did Lancaster Town at Accrington Stanley. Birmingham League Kidderminster Harriers drew two-two with Newport County and United Counties League Kettering Town also shared a two-two draw with Crystal Palace. Mansfield Town had a two-one victory at Birmingham League Wellington Town, Brighton & Hove Albion defeated Tunbriodge Wells Rangers five-one, Watford beat Cheltenham Town three-nil, New Brighton thrashed North Eastern League Workington five-nil, Hull City defeated Midland League Scunthorpe & Lindsey United four-nil, Aldershot won two-one at Isthmian League Dulwich Hamlet, Doncaster Rovers hammered Blyth Spartans seven-nil, Southend United won two-nil against Corinthians at the White City Stadium and Queens Park Rangers thumped Bristol Rovers eight one.
Walker Celtic lost their FA Cup replay at Bradofrd City eleven-three. Jack Deakin and Ron Bartholomew scored four each. Gainsborough Trinity of the Midland League defeated Port Vale after extra-time in the big shock of the day. Lancaster City of the Lancashire Combination held Accrington Stanley for a second time, before finally succumbing in a second replay at Preston, five days later. Meanwhile, Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic won six-nil at Dartford. England beat Czechoslovakia five-four in a friendly international at White Hart Lane. John Crayston, West Ham United's John Morton on his debut and a Stanley Matthews hat-trick secured the victory for England though they had quite a battle against a tough Czech side, mainly made up of members of the crack Sparta Prague and Slavia Prague sides. Oldřich Nejedlý scored twice, once direct from a corner-kick. The battle for the Chinese capital of Nanjing began. Japanese forces had already captured Shanghai and it took them eleven days to capture Nanjing before the soldiers were given free rein to massacre thousands of innocent civilians, raping and murdering as many females as they could find. There were wild celebrations in Japan, but China did not surrender.
Entertainment At St George's (1837-1937) broadcast on The National Programme.
The Dandy was first published, marking the first appearance of the character of Desperate Dan. David Bailie born in Springs, South Africa. Donnelly Rhodes Henry born in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Kenneth Colley born in Manchester.
Stephen Vincent Moore born in Brixton.
The Vic-Wells ballet company's production of Le Lac Des Cygnes broadcast.
Tele-Ho! broadcast. Mannequin - starring Joan Crawford and Spencer Tracy - premiered.
The Noel Gay musical Me & My Girl opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London's West End including the hit songs 'The Lambeth Walk' and 'The Sun Has Got His Hat On'.
The first of several BBC adaptations of Arnold Ridley's The Ghost Train broadcast.
Disney's Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs premiered. Sheila Reid born in Glasgow.
Polite Wine Drinking brodcast.
Francis Beeding's The Erring Under-Secretary broadcast on The National Programme.
George VI delivered his first Royal Christmas Message. More O'Farrell's adaptation of Alice In Wonderland - starring Ursuala Hanray - broadcast. At the age of seventy, Arturo Toscanini conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra on US radio for the first time, beginning a successful seventeen-year tenure with the orchestra. The first concert consists of music by Vivaldi (at a time when he's work was seldom played), Mozart and Brahms. Millions tuned in to listen, including President Roosevelt.
Contraband - 'a historical reconstruction of the old struggle between smugglers and the King's Customs' - broadcast on The National Programme.
'Television's first grand pantomime', Dick Whittington & The Cat - written by Arthur Askey - broadcast.
JM Barrie's The Old Lady Shows Her Medals broadcast.
Reginald Foort At The BBC Theatre Organ broadcast. Barbara Steele born in Birkenhead.
Gordon Bank born in Sheffield.
From Alexandra Palace 1936-37 broadcast. Frank Lloyd's Wells Fargo - starring Joel McCrea - premiered.
