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1938

Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

Decades: 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s - 1930s - 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s

Years: 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 - 1938 - 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943

Events

January 3 - The March of Dimes[?] is established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
January 11 - Frances Moulton[?] is the first woman to become president of a US national bank.
January 28 - The first ski tow[?] begins operation (Vermont).
February 4 - Thornton Wilder's play Our Town opens (New York City).
February 12 - World War II: German troops enter Austria
February 24 - A nylon bristle toothbrush becomes the first commercial product to be made with nylon yarn.
March 3 - Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
March 12 - Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.
March 18 - Mexico nationalizes all foreign-owned oil properties within its borders.
June - Superman first published in comic book form.
September - European crisis over German demand for annexation of Sudeten borderland of Czechoslovakia.
September 29 - Munich agreement of German, Italian, British and French leaders agrees to German demands.
October 30 - Orson Welles's radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds is broadcast, causing mass panic in the eastern United States.
November 9 - Kristallnacht ("night of broken glass"): widespread anti-semitic pogrom in Germany.
December 23 - Coelacanth caught off the coast of South Africa.

Art, Culture & Fashion

1938 in film
- January - MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence, the roles are switched between the two actors.
- April 5 - Noel Langley[?] completes the first script for The Wizard of Oz.
- May 7 - Lyricist Edgar Yipsel Harburg[?] and composer, Harold Arlen[?], begin work on the musical score for The Wizard of Oz.
- July 25 - MGM announces that Bert Lahr[?] has been cast as the "Cowardly Lion" in The Wizard of Oz.
- October 21 - Buddy Ebsen suffers from a near fatal allergic reaction to the aluminum dust used in his "Tinman" make-up on the set of The Wizard of Oz. Ebsen is replaced by Jack Haley[?].
- December 23 - Margaret Hamilton[?] is severely burned during a mishap on the set of The Wizard of Oz. Hamilton, who was cast in the role of the "Wicked Witch", left the film for six weeks.

1938 in literature
1938 in music
- January 16 - Benny Goodman plays Carnegie Hall
1938 in sports
1938 in television
- May 31 - W2XBS telecasts the film The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel, starring Leslie Howard. The staff projectionist accidentally played the last reel out of order, ending the film 20 minutes early. NBC was unable to obtain the rights to first run movies for many years to follow.
- November 15 - NBC's W2XBT airs what was the first telecast of an unscheduled event, a fire which broke out on Ward's Island[?].

Births:

January 5 - King Juan Carlos of Spain
January 10 - Donald Knuth, American mathematician and computer scientist
January 10 - Willie McCovey[?], Baseball Hall of Famer
January 14 - Jack Jones, singer, actor
January 18 - Curt Flood[?], baseball star (+ 1997)
January 23 - Georg Baselitz[?], painter and sculptor
January 25 - Etta James, singer
January 31 - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
February 1 - Sherman Hemsley[?], comedian, actor
February 11 - Boris Majorov[?], Soviet ice hockey player.
February 11 - Yevgeniy Majorov[?], Soviet ice hockey player.
February 11 - Bevan Congdon[?], New Zealand cricket player.
February 11 - Willy Correa de Oliveira[?], composer.
February 11 - Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and dictator.
February 12 - Judy Blume, author
February 13 - Oliver Reed[?], actor (+ 1999)
February 18 - Istvan Szabo[?], director
February 28 - Klaus Staeck[?], graphic artist
March 17 - Rudolf Nureyev[?], dancer and choreographer (+ 1993)
March 7 - Janet Guthrie[?], automobile racer
March 18 - Charley Pride[?], country musician
March 25 - Hoyt Axton[?], musician, actor (+ 1999)
April 4 - A. Bartlett Giamatti, president of Yale Univ. and baseball commissioner who banned Pete Rose. He died Sept. 1, 1989.
April 8 - Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations
April 26 - Duane Eddy, musician
April 29 - Larry Niven, author
May 22 - Richard Benjamin[?], actor
May 28 - Osvaldo Romberg[?], painter, architect
May 31 - Peter Yarrow (singer)
July 4 - Bill Withers, singer/songwriter
July 27 - Gary Gygax, author
August 9 - Rod Laver, Australian tennis player
September 29 - Wim Kok, prime minister of The Netherlands (1994- )
November 13 - Jean Seberg, actress
November 16 - Robert Nozick, (philosopher)

Deaths:

January 21 - Georges Méliès, French film director, allegedly the first.
February 7 - Harvey Firestone[?], manufacturer
March 13 - Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin, Soviet politician and intellectual
March 13 - Clarence Darrow, attorney
August 16 - Robert Johnson, blues musician
December 28 - Florence Lawrence, Hollywood's first "star"

Nobel Prizes

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