What happened in 1937
30 entries recorded for 1937, listed by date. That was 89 years ago.
1937 at a glance
- Years ago
- 89 (as of 2026)
- Century
- 20th century
- Decade
- 1930s
- Generation born
- Silent Generation
- Entries here
- 30
- Breakdown
- 30 historical events
January
- January 15
Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War: Nationalist and Republican forces both withdrew after suffering heavy losses at the Second Battle of the Corunna Road.
February
- February 19
Yekatit 12
Italian forces began a brutal crackdown on Ethiopians following an attempted assassination of Rodolfo Graziani, the viceroy of Italian East Africa, in Addis Ababa.
- February 21
League of Nations
The League of Nations bans foreign national "volunteers" in the Spanish Civil War.
March
- March 2
Steel Workers Organizing Committee
The Steel Workers Organizing Committee, the precursor of the United Steel Workers of America, had a major success when it signed a collective-bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel.
- March 21
Blanton Winship
A police squad, acting under orders from Governor of Puerto Rico Blanton Winship, opened fire on demonstrators protesting the arrest of Puerto Rican Nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos, killing 21 people and injuring 235 others.
April
- April 26
Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War: The Bombing of Guernica by the Condor Legion of the Luftwaffe resulted in a devastating firestorm that caused widespread destruction and civilian deaths and inspired one of Pablo Picasso's most famous paintings.
May
- May 6
LZ 129 Hindenburg
The German airship Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during an attempt to dock at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, killing 36 people.
- May 7
Fleischer Studios
Employees at Fleischer Studios in New York City went on strike in the animation industry's first major labor strike.
- May 27
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge, at the time the world's longest suspension bridge by span, opened between San Francisco and Marin County, California.
- May 28
Rise of Neville Chamberlain
The rise of Neville Chamberlain culminated with his accession as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, being summoned to Buckingham Palace to "kiss hands".
June
- June 3
Abdication of Edward VIII
Half a year after abdicating the British throne, Edward, Duke of Windsor, married American socialite Wallis Simpson in a private ceremony in France.
- June 24
Fast battleship
The U.S. Navy's first two fast battleships, North Carolina and Washington, of the North Carolina class, were respectively ordered from the New York and Philadelphia Naval Shipyards.
July
- July 2
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean and disappear while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight.
- July 5
Hormel Foods
The Hormel Foods Corporation introduced Spam, the canned precooked meat product that would eventually enter into pop culture, folklore, and urban legend.
- July 7
Peel Commission
The Peel Commission published a report stating that the League of Nations' Mandate for Palestine had become unworkable and recommended the partition of British-administered Mandatory Palestine into two states.
- July 9
Nitrocellulose
Nitrate film being stored in a 20th Century Fox facility spontaneously combusted, destroying more than 40,000 reels of negatives and film prints.
August
- August 2
Marihuana Tax Act of 1937
The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is passed in America, the effect of which is to render marijuana and all its by-products illegal.
- August 18
Blackwater Fire of 1937
A lightning strike started the Blackwater Fire (pictured) in Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming, consuming 1,700 acres (7 km2) of old-growth forest and killing 15 firefighters.
September
- September 1
Koryo-saram
The first group of around 172,000 Koreans were deported by Soviet authorities from the Russian Far East to the Kazakh and Uzbek SSRs; around 10 to 25 percent died.
- September 10
Nyon Conference
Led by the United Kingdom and France, nine nations met at the Nyon Conference to address international piracy in the Mediterranean Sea.
- September 13
Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools began delivering lessons via radio amid to a polio outbreak, marking the first large-scale use of radio broadcasts for distance education.
- September 21
J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy children's novel The Hobbit, which later served as a prelude to The Lord of the Rings, was first published.
October
- October 5
The Queen's College, Oxford
Six days after retiring from the Queen's College, Oxford, Robert Howard Hodgkin was elected its provost due to the sudden death of B. H. Streeter.
- October 11
Edward VIII
Former British king Edward and his wife arrived at Berlin Friedrichstraße station to begin a tour of Nazi Germany, where they were greeted with Nazi salutes and dined with high-ranking members of the state apparatus.
November
- November 10
Getúlio Vargas
Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas led a coup against his own constitutional government, establishing the dictatorial Estado Novo regime.
December
- December 3
Rupert Bruce-Mitford
Rupert Bruce-Mitford, the spiritus rector of research on the Sutton Hoo ship burial, joined the British Museum.
- December 13
Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War: Japanese forces, capturing the Chinese city of Nanjing, began committing numerous atrocities over the next several weeks, including looting, rape and the execution of prisoners of war and civilians.
- December 21
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length cel-animated feature in film history, premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles.
- December 22
Lincoln Tunnel
The Lincoln Tunnel, connecting New York City to Weehawken, New Jersey, opened.
- December 29
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.
Questions about 1937
What happened in 1937?
This site records 30 entries for 1937, including Spanish Civil War on January 15. They are listed below by date.
How long ago was 1937?
89 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1937 turns 89 this year.
Which century is 1937 in?
1937 falls in the 20th century, in the 1930s.
Which generation was born in 1937?
Silent Generation (1928–1945). Children of the Depression and war years.
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