April 1937

Month of 1937

1937
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April 26, 1937: More than 1,600 people killed by aerial bombardment of Guernica in Spain. Camera Craft magazine cover April 1937

The following events occurred in April 1937:

## April 1, 1937 (Thursday)[edit]

* The Condor Legion carried out the Bombing of Jaén, killing 159 people.
* The Government of India Act 1935 came into effect.[1]
* Born: Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Vice President of India from 2007 to 2017, formerly India's Ambassador to the United Nations from 1993 to 1995; in Calcutta, British India

## April 2, 1937 (Friday)[edit]

* A sitdown strike began at the Hershey Chocolate factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania.[2] It would only last for six days.[3]
* Died: Jānis Buivids, 72, Latvian general

## April 3, 1937 (Saturday)[edit]

* Manchukuan Prince Pujie and Japanese princess Hiro Saga were married in a simple Shinto ceremony in Tokyo.[4]

## April 4, 1937 (Sunday)[edit]

* Byron Nelson won the fourth annual Masters Tournament with a score of 283 strokes in 72 holes; Ralph Guldahl finished second with 285.[5]
* Died: Charles Henry Smyth, Jr., 71, American geologist

## April 5, 1937 (Monday)[edit]

* The first postage stamps bearing the face of Adolf Hitler went on sale in Germany to commemorate the Führer's 48th birthday.[6][7]
* The French liner Normandie crossed the Atlantic Ocean in record time, with an average speed of 30.98 knots.[8]
* Born: U.S. Army General Colin Powell, the first African-American Secretary of State; in New York City (died of Covid, 2021)[9]

## April 6, 1937 (Tuesday)[edit]

* Four U.S. Navy flyers were killed in a collision of two bomber planes during maneuvers off the coast of California.[10]
* Born:
* Merle Haggard, American country musician; in Oildale, California (d. 2016)[11][12]
* Billy Dee Williams, African-American singer and actor; in New York City[13]
* Peter Maivia (ring name for Fanene Pita Anderson), Samoan-American professional wrestler and grandfather of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson'; in American Samoa (died of cancer, 1982)[14]

## April 7, 1937 (Wednesday)[edit]

* The Pennsylvania chocolate workers' sitdown strike ended abruptly when at least 3,000 people— other Hershey employees, workers at neighboring dairies affected by the strike, and local residents—arrived at the factory and gave the strikers until 1:00 to leave the factory or to be forcibly evicted. When the deadline arrived with no exit, the strikebreaking group entered the factory with bats, clubs and hammers and beat several people, with the worst assault on three union organizers.[3] As 800,000 lbs of milk daily was destroyed as a result of the strike, farmers armed with sticks and clubs assaulted the strikers, many of whom were taken to hospitals.[15][16]
* Born: Graeme Davies, New Zealand engineer and academic known for establishing the Higher Education Funding Council for England; in Auckland (d. 2022)

## April 8, 1937 (Thursday)[edit]

* Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg retracted his announcement of February 14 and said that the Habsburg monarchy could not be restored in the foreseeable future due to the tense international situation.[17]
* The Oshawa Strike began in Canada when 4,000 General Motors workers walked off the job at the GM factory in Oshawa, Ontario .[18]
* Born: Seymour Hersh, American investigative journalist and author; in Chicago[19]

## April 9, 1937 (Friday)[edit]

* The Kamikaze became the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly from Japan to Europe, as pilot Masaaki Iinuma and navigator Kenji Tsukagoshi arrived in London 51 hours and 17 minutes after departing from Tokyo.
* Born: Valerie Singleton, English television and radio presenter, known for the series Blue Peter and The Money Programme; in Hitchin, Hertfordshire[20]
* Died: Albert Paine, 75, American author and biographer[21]

## April 10, 1937 (Saturday)[edit]

* British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin announced that he would soon be retiring.[22]
* Born: Bella Akhmadulina, Soviet Russian poet; in Moscow (d. 2010)
* Died: Ralph Ince, 50, American actor, director and screenwriter, was killed in an auto accident.

## April 11, 1937 (Sunday)[edit]

* The British cabinet held a rare Sunday meeting in which it decided to afford the fullest protection to British shipping outside the three-mile limit in northern Spanish waters. This was understood to include authorizing the Royal Navy to open fire on any Spanish vessels interfering with British cargo ships.[23]
* The Junkers Ju 89 prototype had its first flight, although it never entered production.

## April 12, 1937 (Monday)[edit]

* English engineer Frank Whittle and his team successfully tested a prototype jet engine.[24]
* The U.S. Supreme Court decided NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp.,

## April 13, 1937 (Tuesday)[edit]

* The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal was launched.
* Born: Stan Stasiak, Canadian professional wrestler; in Arvida, Quebec (d. 1997)

## April 14, 1937 (Wednesday)[edit]

* Ontario Premier Mitchell Hepburn forced two of his cabinet ministers to resign for opposing his handling of the Oshawa Strike.[18][25]
* The musical stage comedy Babes in Arms. with music and lyrics by the team of 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".
* Died: Ned Hanlon, 79, American baseball player and manager

## April 15, 1937 (Thursday)[edit]

* The Detroit Red Wings defeated the New York Rangers 3-0 to win the Stanley Cup, three games to two.
* Born: Robert W. Gore, American inventor and businessman; in Salt Lake City(d. 2020)

## April 16, 1937 (Friday)[edit]

* The Battle of Pozoblanco ended in Spain in a Republican victory.
* Born: George "The Animal" Steele, American professional wrestler; in Detroit (d. 2017)

## April 17, 1937 (Saturday)[edit]

* The Warner Bros. cartoon character of Daffy Duck was introduced, making his first appearance in the Porky Pig animated short film Porky's Duck Hunt.
* Born:
* Don Buchla, American musician and engineer who invented the musical synthesizer; in South Gate, California (d. 2016);
* Ferdinand Piëch, Austrian business magnate; in Vienna(d. 2019)

## April 18, 1937 (Sunday)[edit]

* Ontario's Premier Hepburn threatened to pass legislation to keep the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) out of Ontario, saying of CIO President John L. Lewis that "he and his gang will never get their greedy paws on Ontario as long as I'm prime minister."[26]
* Born:
* Jan Kaplický, Czechoslovakian architect; in Prague
* Svetlana Nemolyaeva, Soviet Russian actress; in Moscow
* Teddy Taylor, Scottish politician; in Glasgow (d. 2017)
* Died: Julia Nussenbaum, American violinist, was murdered.

## April 19, 1937 (Monday)[edit]

* Generalissimo Francisco Franco unified the Falangists and Carlists into a single party called the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista.[27]
* Construction of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge was completed.[28]
* The League of Nations Non-Intervention Committee agreed to establish patrols of Spain's coasts to determine the destination of vessels, but not to carry out search and seizure operations. Germany and Italy were to monitor Republican ships while Britain and France would monitor the Nationalists.[29] This scheme proved to be ineffective since the Germans could use ships flying the Panamanian or Liberian flags and unload their cargo in Portugal with the complicity of authorities there.[30]
* Anthony Eden told the British House of Commons that the government would investigate reports that poison gas had been shipped from Germany to Spain.[31]
* Walter Young of Canada won the Boston Marathon.[32]
* Born: Joseph Estrada, President of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001
* Died:
* Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington, 81, English art critic, politician and mountaineer
* William Morton Wheeler, 72, American entomologist, myrmecologist and Harvard professor

## April 20, 1937 (Tuesday)[edit]

* On Budget Day in the United Kingdom, Chancellor of the Exchequer Neville Chamberlain raised income and business taxes to achieve a small projected surplus of £282,000.[33]
* In Berlin, Adolf Hitler reviewed 14,000 troops parading in honour of his 48th birthday.[34] Albert Speer presented Hitler with renderings and a first model of the Volkshalle.[35]
* The Jewish organization B'nai B'rith was banned in Nazi Germany on accusations that its individual members were spreading "communist propaganda".[36]
* Gee Walker of the Detroit Tigers hit for the cycle during a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Indians. He is the only player to ever hit for the cycle on Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season.[37]
* The drama film A Star Is Born, starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.[38]
* Born: George Takei, American actor and activist best known for Star Trek and for the film The Green Berets; in Los Angeles

## April 21, 1937 (Wednesday)[edit]

* The Remington Rand strike ended when union members approved a settlement allowing them to return to their jobs.
* Died: Saima Harmaja, 23, Finnish poet and writer, died of tuberculosis.

## April 22, 1937 (Thursday)[edit]

* Italian premier Benito Mussolini hosted Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg in Venice. Mussolini explained that since the Rome-Berlin Axis had been formed, Schuschnigg could no longer count on Italian military support if Hitler made a move against Austria.[39]
* Born:
* Jack Nicholson, American film actor; in Neptune City, New Jersey
* Jack Nitzsche, American musician, arranger, producer and songwriter; in Chicago (d. 2000)
* Died: Arthur Edmund Carewe, 52, Armenian-American actor

## April 23, 1937 (Friday)[edit]

* The Oshawa Strike ended in Canada when General Motors gave in to most of the strikers' demands, though the company still refused to recognize the United Automobile Workers union.[18]
* The Madrid Defense Council was dissolved.
* In Hungary, Ferenc Szálasi was sentenced to three months in prison and prohibited from holding office for three years after being convicted for inciting people against the state as well as against Jews.[40]
* Roosevelt Stadium opened in Jersey City, New Jersey.

## April 24, 1937 (Saturday)[edit]

* Britain and France allowed Belgium to withdraw from the security obligations of the Locarno Treaties.[1]
* Nationalist-controlled parts of Spain adopted the Roman salute. except in the Spanish armed forces.[29]
* The BBC Television program For the Children first aired.
* Died: Lucy Beaumont, 63, English actress

## April 25, 1937 (Sunday)[edit]

* The Soviet Union announced the completion of all goals of the five-year plan nine months to a year ahead of schedule. The announcement came despite numerous articles in the state-controlled press stating that many branches of the plan were lagging behind.[41]
* Died: Michał Drzymała, 79, Polish folk hero

## April 26, 1937 (Monday)[edit]

* The German Condor Legion carried out the destructive aerial bombing of the Spanish town of Guernica.

## April 27, 1937 (Tuesday)[edit]

* The first social security payments were made in the United States under the Social Security Act of 1935.[24]
* Wallis Simpson's divorce from her second became permanent when the mandatory six months elapsed after the divorce decree was issued. The former Mrs. Simpson was now free to marry again and expected to wed the former King Edward VIII, who had become the Duke of Windsor.[42]
* Born:
* Sandy Dennis, American actress; in Hastings, Nebraska (d. 1992)
* Robin Eames, Northern Irish Anglican primate and Archbishop of Armagh; in Belfast
* Died: Antonio Gramsci, 46, Italian Marxist politician

## April 28, 1937 (Wednesday)[edit]

* Spain's Nationalists, commanded by Francisco Franco, captured Durango and Guernica.[24]
* Born: Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq; in Al-Awja, British Mandate of Iraq (d. 2006)

## April 29, 1937 (Thursday)[edit]

* The Irish Brigade fighting in Spain on behalf of the Republican government, announced that it was disbanding.[43]
* The Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War claimed that Guernica had been destroyed by communist demolition teams.[29]
* Born: Jill Paton Walsh, British author; in London(d. 2020)
* Died:
* Wallace Carothers, 41, American chemist, committed suicide
* Carmelo Delgado Delgado, 24, Puerto Rican political leader was killed in the Spanish Civil War)
* William Gillette, 83, American actor-manager and playwright

## April 30, 1937 (Friday)[edit]

* Women won the right to vote in the Philippines when a suffrage plebiscite passed with 90% approval.
* The Nationalist battleship Espana accidentally hit a mine laid by its own side and sank off Santander.

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "Chronology 1937". Indiana University. 2002. Archived from the original on April 2, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
2. ^ "Sit-on-Roof Strike Shuts Hershey Plant", The New York Times, April 3, 1937
3. ^ a b Halbleib, John F. (2005). Hershey: Ideal Community for Orphans. Authorhouse. p. 103\. ISBN 9781420844573.
4. ^ "Heir to Manchu Throne Married Jap Commoner". Chicago Daily Tribune. April 4, 1937. p. 21.
5. ^ "Nelson beats down four stroke lead on last nine to win Augusta tourney". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. April 5, 1937. p. 15.
6. ^ "Tageseinträge für 25. März 1937". chroniknet. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
7. ^ "Third Reich – Commemorative Issues – 1937". Stamp Collecting World. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
8. ^ "Tageseinträge für 5. April 1937". chroniknet. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
9. ^ Macias, Amanda (October 19, 2021). "Colin Powell, trailblazing soldier and statesman who made case for Iraq invasion, dies of Covid at 84". CNBC.
10. ^ "4 Die as Navy Planes Crash; Fall Into Sea". Chicago Daily Tribune. April 7, 1937. p. 1.
11. ^ Witzel & Young-Witzel 2007, p. 130. sfn error: no target: CITEREFWitzelYoung-Witzel2007 (help)
12. ^ Cusic 2002, p. xviii. sfn error: no target: CITEREFCusic2002 (help)
13. ^ Hutchinson, Sean (April 6, 2017). "8 Suave Facts About Billy Dee Williams". Mental Floss. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
14. ^ "Peter Maivia profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
15. ^ "Score Hurt in Riot: C. I. O. Strikers, Cut and Bones Broken, March Out in Surrender". The New York Times. April 8, 1937.
16. ^ "Farmers Use Violence". West Australian. April 9, 1937. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
17. ^ "No Restoration Now, Dictator Tells Austria". Chicago Daily Tribune. April 9, 1937. p. 2.
18. ^ a b c "Oshawa Strike". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
19. ^ Sherman, Scott (July–August 2003). "The avenger: Sy Hersh, then and now". Columbia Journalism Review. 42 (2): 34. Archived from the original on December 28, 2005.
20. ^ Profile, screenonline.org.uk; accessed 25 July 2020.
21. ^ "Albert B. Paine, 76, Biographer, Dead." The New York Times April 10, 1937, p.19
22. ^ Brewer, Sam (April 11, 1937). "Baldwin Tells Plan to Quit for 'Country's Sake'". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 2.
23. ^ Darrah, David (April 12, 1937). "Britain Orders Navy to Fire On Rebel Raiders". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
24. ^ a b c "1937". MusicAndHistory. Archived from the original on August 29, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
25. ^ O'Neil, William (April 15, 1937). "CIO Divides Ontario Cabinet". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
26. ^ O'Neil, William (April 19, 1937). "Ontario Ready to Pass Law to Keep Out C. I. O.". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
27. ^ "Tageseinträge für 19. April 1937". chroniknet. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
28. ^ "Construction - Bridge Construction | Golden Gate".
29. ^ a b c Cortada, James W., ed. (1982). Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 507\. ISBN 0-313-22054-9.
30. ^ Salvadó, Francsico J. Romero (2005). The Spanish Civil War: Origins, Course and Outcomes. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 152\. ISBN 9780230203051.
31. ^ "Britain Probes War Gas Reports". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 19, 1937. p. 1.
32. ^ "Boston Marathon Yearly Synopses (1897–2013)". John Hancock Financial. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
33. ^ "Britain's Defence Plan Budget". The Sydney Morning Herald. April 21, 1937. p. 15.
34. ^ Schultz, Sigrid (April 21, 1937). "Hitler Flaunts Military Might on His Birthday". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 11.
35. ^ Speer, Albert (1970). Inside the Third Reich. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 152. ISBN 9780684829494.
36. ^ "Tageseinträge für 20. April 1937". chroniknet. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
37. ^ McEntire, Madison (2006). Big League Trivia: Facts, Figures, Oddities, and Coincidences from our National Pastime. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse. p. 124\. ISBN 9781467071840.
38. ^ "1937". GraumansChinese.org. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
39. ^ Roman, Eric (2003). Austria-Hungary & the Successor States: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present. Facts on File, Inc. p. 604. ISBN 9780816074693.
40. ^ "Hungarian Nazi Chief Sentenced to Prison Term". Chicago Daily Tribune. April 24, 1937. p. 9.
41. ^ "Russia Reports 2d Five Year Plan Fulfilled". Chicago Daily Tribune. April 26, 1937. p. 23.
42. ^ Darrah, David (April 27, 1937). "6 Months' Wait Ends; Wally Can Now be Freed". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
43. ^ "Irish Fascists to Quit Their 'Crusade' in Spain". Chicago Daily Tribune. April 30, 1937. p. 4.

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