May 1938 Explained
The following events happened in May 1938:
May 1, 1938 (Sunday)
May 2, 1938 (Monday)
May 3, 1938 (Tuesday)
May 4, 1938 (Wednesday)
- The Nationalist faction ordered the reinstatement of the Society of Jesus in Nationalist-held territory. The Jesuits had been ordered to dissolve and their property confiscated by the Spanish government in 1932.[7]
- Pope Pius XI was quoted in L'Osservatore Romano as saying that it was a "sad thing" for "another cross that is not the cross of Christ" to be erected in Rome. This was understood as referring to the swastikas on display around the city in honour of Adolf Hitler's visit.[8]
- The French passenger steamer Lafayette caught on fire in Le Havre and was a total loss.[9]
- Born: Tyrone Davis, blues and soul singer, in Greenville, Mississippi (d. 2005)
- Died: Carl von Ossietzky, 48, German journalist, political activist and Nobel laureate
May 5, 1938 (Thursday)
May 6, 1938 (Friday)
- The Soviet Union announced the appointment of Alexey Merekalov as the new Ambassador to Nazi Germany.[11]
- In the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, the date on the death certificate of the Wicked Witch of the East is May 6, 1938. This was the 19th anniversary of the death of L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz book, on May 6, 1919.[12]
- Born: Larry Gogan, broadcaster, in Dublin, Ireland (d. 2020); Haryono Suyono, Indonesian national Family Planning Coordination Body and the helper of 2nd president of Indonesia, Soeharto.
May 7, 1938 (Saturday)
May 8, 1938 (Sunday)
May 9, 1938 (Monday)
May 10, 1938 (Tuesday)
- The Japanese began the Amoy Operation to blockade China.
- An underground explosion at the Markham Colliery in Duckmanton, England killed 79 men.[21]
May 11, 1938 (Wednesday)
May 12, 1938 (Thursday)
May 13, 1938 (Friday)
- Mexico severed diplomatic ties with Britain over London's demands for a settlement of claims arising from the Mexican nationalization of foreign-owned oil properties.[24]
- Died: Charles Édouard Guillaume, 77, Swiss physicist and Nobel laureate
May 14, 1938 (Saturday)
May 15, 1938 (Sunday)
May 16, 1938 (Monday)
- The Vatican and the Francoist State made arrangements to exchange diplomatic representatives, completing the Vatican's formal recognition of Franco.[27]
- The U.S. Supreme Court decided NLRB v. Mackay Radio & Telegraph Co.
- Died: Lewis Bayly, 80, British admiral
May 17, 1938 (Tuesday)
May 18, 1938 (Wednesday)
May 19, 1938 (Thursday)
- 5,000 marched in an anti-Nazi demonstration through the streets of Prague.[28]
May 20, 1938 (Friday)
Czechoslovakian President Edvard Beneš ordered a partial mobilization in reaction to reports of suspicious German troop movements.[29]
May 21, 1938 (Saturday)
May 22, 1938 (Sunday)
- British Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax told the French ambassador not to count on British support in the event of a war over Czechoslovakia.[34] Poland's ambassador also told French Foreign Secretary Georges Bonnet that Poland would not move if France moved against Germany to defend Czechoslovakia.[35]
- The Stromboli volcano in the Tyrrhenian Sea erupted spectacularly.[3]
- Born: Richard Benjamin, actor and director, in New York City
- Died: William Glackens, 68, American painter
May 23, 1938 (Monday)
May 24, 1938 (Tuesday)
- A curfew was imposed in Jerusalem following riots.[3]
- Hungary enacted antisemitic legislation.
May 25, 1938 (Wednesday)
May 26, 1938 (Thursday)
- Hitler laid the cornerstone for a new Volkswagen plant in the Fallersleben district of Wolfsburg. Mass production was projected to begin there by the end of 1939.[36]
- Born: William Bolcom, composer and pianist, in Seattle, Washington; Pauline Parker, murderer, in Christchurch, New Zealand; Teresa Stratas, operatic soprano, in Toronto, Canada
- Died: John Jacob Abel, 81, American biochemist and pharmacologist
May 27, 1938 (Friday)
May 28, 1938 (Saturday)
- The 1,495 ton British steamer Greatend was bombed and sunk by Nationalist warplanes at the dock of Valencia. 10 were killed and 18 wounded in bombing of the city itself.[37]
- Born: Jerry West, basketball player, in Chelyan, West Virginia (d. 2024)
May 29, 1938 (Sunday)
May 30, 1938 (Monday)
May 31, 1938 (Tuesday)
Notes and References
- Web site: Spanish Civil War: Chronology . Simkin . John . 2014 . . September 19, 2015 .
- News: Schultz . Sigrid . Sigrid Schultz . May 3, 1938 . Royalty Glows; Hohenzollern Weds Romanoff . Chicago Daily Tribune. 4 .
- Book: 1989 . Mercer . Derrik . Chronicle of the 20th Century . London . Chronicle Communications Ltd. . 496–497 . 978-0-582-03919-3 .
- Web site: Chronology 1938 . 2002 . indiana.edu . September 19, 2015 .
- Web site: 1938 . MusicAndHistory . September 19, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120828144945/http://www.musicandhistory.com/music-and-history-by-the-year/199-1938.html . August 28, 2012 .
- Book: Rosefielde, Steven . 2010 . Red Holocaust . Routledge . 266 . 978-1-135-19518-2 .
- News: May 5, 1938 . Franco Cabinet Restores Jesuit Society in Spain . Chicago Daily Tribune. 3 .
- News: May 9, 1938 . Pope Is Warned by Duce's Paper on Nazi Attack . . 1 .
- Web site: Tageseinträge für 4. Mai 1938 . chroniknet . September 19, 2015 .
- News: Small . Alex . May 6, 1938 . Il Duce Shows His Sea Might to Awe Hitler . Chicago Daily Tribune. 1 .
- News: May 7, 1938 . Moscow Names An Ambassador to Nazi Germany . . 4.
- Web site: Scarfone . Jay . Jay Scarfone . 10 Things You Never Noticed About 'The Wizard of Oz' . December 1, 2013 . . . November 3, 2021.
- Web site: Tageseinträge für 7. Mai 1938 . chroniknet . September 19, 2015 .
- News: May 8, 1938 . Supreme Court Head of Austria Ousted by Nazis . Chicago Daily Tribune. 6 .
- News: Lane . French . May 8, 1938 . Lawrin Wins Kentucky Derby; Dauber 2d . Chicago Daily Tribune. Part 2, p. 1 .
- Web site: The Red Devils Story . Salford Red Devils . September 19, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150704210902/http://www.thereddevils.net/club . July 4, 2015 . dead .
- Web site: Previous Winners . Ladbrokes Challenge Cup . September 19, 2015 .
- News: May 9, 1938 . Archduke Felix Sought by Nazis for Silver Theft . Chicago Daily Tribune. 6 .
- News: Small . Alex . May 10, 1938 . Mussolini Gives Hitler Surprise Fireworks Show . Chicago Daily Tribune. 5 .
- News: May 10, 1938 . Hapsburg Takes a Teacher for Bride and Loses Royal Status . Chicago Daily Tribune. 5 .
- Web site: 1938 Markham Colliery Disaster – On Record! . Bates . Tom . June 7, 2007 . About Derbyshire . September 19, 2015 .
- Book: 1982 . Cortada . James W. . Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939 . Westport, Connecticut . Greenwood Press . 511 . 0-313-22054-9 .
- Web site: I Married an Angel . . September 19, 2015 .
- News: May 14, 1938 . Mexico Cuts Tie With Britain . Chicago Daily Tribune. 1 .
- News: May 15, 1938 . German Net Star Sent to Prison on Sex Charge . Chicago Daily Tribune. 7 .
- News: May 15, 1938 . Dauber Wins Preakness; Cravat Second . Chicago Daily Tribune. Part 2, p. 1 .
- News: May 17, 1938 . Vatican Exchanges Diplomatic Officials with Spanish Rebels . Chicago Daily Tribune. 10 .
- News: May 20, 1938 . Germans Clash with Czechs in Prague Streets . Chicago Daily Tribune. 2 .
- Book: Agnew, Hugh LeCaine . 2004 . The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown . Hoover Institution Press . 197 . 978-0-8179-4492-6 .
- Book: Matthäus . Jürgen . Roseman . Mark . 2010 . Jewish Responses to Persecution: 1933–1938 . AltaMira Press . 449 . 978-0-7591-1910-9 .
- News: May 21, 1938 . Bernstein Pinks Colleague; Wins Duel Over Slurs . Chicago Daily Tribune. 12 .
- News: May 22, 1938 . Presbyterian Church Votes Out Predestination View . Chicago Daily Tribune. 1 .
- Book: Brecht, Bertolt . 2000 . Brecht on Performance: Messingkauf and Modelbooks . Bloomsbury . 69 . 978-1-4081-5455-7 .
- Book: Adamthwaite, Anthony P. . 1992 . The Making of the Second World War . Routledge . 184–185 . 978-0-415-90716-3 .
- Book: Hehn, Paul N. . 2005 . A Low, Dishonest Decade: The Great Powers, Eastern Europe and the Economic Origins of World War II . Bloomsbury Academic . 89 . 978-0-8264-1761-9 .
- News: Schultz . Sigrid . Sigrid Schultz . May 27, 1938 . Hitler Launches Greatest Auto Plant in Europe . Chicago Daily Tribune. 9 .
- News: May 29, 1938 . Spanish Rebels Bomb Valencia; Sink British Ship . Chicago Daily Tribune. 3 .
- Web site: Henry Armstrong . . September 19, 2015 .