January 5
January 5
Golden Gate Bridge is born
On January 5, 1933, construction begins on the Golden Gate Bridge, as workers began excavating 3.25 million cubic feet of dirt for the structure’s huge anchorages. Following the Gold Rush…
A Year In History: 1933
Also Within This Year in History:
1933
As the Great Depression continued worldwide, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. Nazis declared a national boycott of Jewish-owned businesses and opened their first concentration camp, Dachau. In the U.S., after President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt narrowly escaped assassination, he inaugurated his New Deal programs, ended Prohibition and began speaking directly to Americans with radio fireside chats. A “monster” appeared in Scotland’s Loch Ness, King Kong loomed large on movie screens and the first drive-in theater opened in New Jersey.
January 30
January 30
“The Lone Ranger” debuts on Detroit radio
With the stirring notes of the William Tell Overture and a shout of “Hi‑yo, Silver! Away!” The Lone Ranger debuts on Detroit’s WXYZ radio station. The creation of station‑owner George…
January 30
January 30
Adolf Hitler is named chancellor of Germany
On January 30, 1933, President Paul von Hindenburg names Adolf Hitler, leader or führer of the National Socialist German Workers Party (or Nazi Party), as chancellor of Germany. The year…
February 15
February 15
FDR escapes assassination attempt in Miami
On February 15, 1933, a deranged, unemployed brick layer named Giuseppe Zangara shouts “Too many people are starving!” and fires a gun at America’s president‑elect, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt had…
March 4
March 4
FDR inaugurated
On March 4, 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is inaugurated as the 32nd president of the United States. In his famous inaugural address, delivered…
March 12
March 12
FDR broadcasts first ‘fireside chat’ during the Great Depression
On March 12, 1933, eight days after his inauguration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gives his first national radio address—or “fireside chat”—broadcast directly from the White House. Roosevelt began that first…
March 18
March 18
Studebaker goes bankrupt
On this day in 1933, American automaker Studebaker, then heavily in debt, goes into receivership. The company’s president, Albert Erskine, resigned and later that year died by suicide. Studebaker eventually…
March 22
March 22
FDR legalizes sale of beer and wine
On March 22, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Beer and Wine Revenue Act. This law levies a federal tax on all alcoholic beverages to raise revenue for the…
April 4
April 4
Dirigible crash kills 73 in New Jersey
On April 4, 1933, a dirigible crashes in New Jersey, killing 73 people in one of the first air disasters in history. The Akron was the largest airship built in…
April 5
April 5
FDR creates precursor to Civilian Conservation Corps
On April 5, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order creating an agency called “Emergency Conservation Work.” This would later be subsumed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC),…
April 20
April 20
FDR suspends the gold standard for U.S. currency
On April 20, 1933, the United States went off the gold standard, a monetary system in which currency is backed by gold, when Congress enacted a joint resolution nullifying the…
May 2
May 2
Loch Ness “Monster” sighted for the first time, igniting the modern legend
The modern legend of the Loch Ness Monster is born when a sighting makes local news on May 2, 1933. The newspaper Inverness Courier relates an account of a local…
May 3
May 3
Funk master James Brown is born
James Joseph Brown, Jr., the revolutionary musical figure who come to be known as “Soul Brother #1,”The Godfather of Soul,” “Mr. Dynamite,” “Sex Machine” and “The Minister of the New…
June 6
June 6
First drive‑in movie theater opens
On June 6, 1933, eager motorists park their automobiles on the grounds of Camden Drive‑In, the first‑ever drive‑in movie theater, located on Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Pennsauken, New Jersey. Park‑In Theaters–the term “drive‑in” came to…
July 6
July 6
Major League Baseball’s first All‑Star Game is held
On July 6, 1933, Major League Baseball’s first All‑Star Game took place at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. The brainchild of a determined sports editor, the event was designed to bolster the…
July 12
July 12
First Dymaxion car produced
The first three‑wheeled, multi‑directional Dymaxion car—designed by the architect, engineer and philosopher Buckminster Fuller—is manufactured in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on July 12, 1933. Born in Massachusetts in 1895, Fuller set out…
July 22
July 22
Wiley Post flies solo around the world
American aviator Wiley Post returns to Floyd Bennett Field in New York, having flown solo around the world in 7 days, 18 hours, and 49 minutes. He was the first…
September 22
September 22
The Barker clan kills an officer in their fruitless robbery
On September 22, 1933, the notorious Barker gang robs a Federal Reserve mail truck in Chicago, Illinois, and kills Officer Miles Cunningham. Netting only a bunch of worthless checks, the…
September 23
September 23
Standard Oil geologists arrive in Saudi Arabia
On September 23, 1933, a party of American geologists lands at the Persian Gulf port of Jubail in Saudi Arabia and begins its journey into the desert. That July, with…
October 18
October 18
R. Buckminster Fuller tries to patent his Dymaxion Car
On October 18, 1933, the American philosopher‑inventor R. Buckminster Fuller applies for a patent for his Dymaxion Car. The Dymaxion—the word itself was another Fuller invention, a combination of “dynamic,”…
