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Munich Conference
The leaders of France, Nazi Germany, Italy, and Britain signed an agreement meant essentially to appease the Nazis. It dictated that Adolf Hitler's Germany could annex and occupy the Sudetenland as long as he agreed to go no further. Hitler and England's leader Neville Chamberlain also signed an individual peace treaty on the same day. Czechoslovakia was not invited to the Munich Conference, and the country was dismayed at the loss of its land and the appeasement of Hitler. -
As I Lay Dying Published
William Faulkner's novel, As I Lay Dying, was published in 1930. It embodies Faulkner's "stream of consciousness" technique, which attempts to mimic the flow of human thought. Its 59 chapters are told by 15 different narrators, and tells the story of deceased Addie Bundren's family's quest to have her body buried in the town of Jefferson. Faulkner's radical writing technique made this novel one of the most stylistically significant in his ne of the most stylistically significant in history. -
Japan invades Manchuria
Starting on September 19 and continuing for several days, the Japanese forces followed all 693 miles of the South Manchurian Railway through China. They captured essentially every city along this railway within days. The Japanese troops' commander in chief had gone against the Emperor's orders. The military takeover of Manchuria was completed on January 3, 1932. -
Brave New World Published
Aldous Huxley's novel, called Brave New World, was set in the year 2540 AD and described a "utopian" future. Advancements in technology have created a complacent world in which feelings, love, and independent thought are all muted into almost nonexistence. The novel is number 5 on the Modern Library list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century and 54th on the American Library Association's list of most challenged books. -
Charles Lindbergh's son discovered dead
Charles Lindbergh, Jr. was discovered dead of a "massive fracture of the skull" over two months after being abducted from his home. After a two-year investigation, a man named Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested and tried. Hauptmann was found guilty and executed in the electric chair. While controversial, he trial was widely publicized and a driving force behind Congress' passing the Federal Kidnapping Act (which became known as the "Lindbergh Law.") -
Adolf Hitler takes power
Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor with a short ceremony in president Hindenburg's office. Hitler's first speech as Chancellor took place on February 10. This was his first position of true power, and while former Chancellor Franz von Papen had intended to use him as a puppet, from here he began to amass the power that he later abused. -
Tortilla Flat Published
This Steinbeck novel, set in Monterey, California, portrays a group of Mexican migrant workers enjoying the time between World War I and Prohibition. Steinbeck worked around groups of Mexican workers during high school, looking to pay his way through college, and they had become his greatest friends. This novel was Steinbeck's first critically acclaimed novel, introducing him to the world as an author. -
Hindenburg Disaster
The German passenger airship called the Hindenburg was the first passenger-carrying airship of its kind. It was attempting to dock at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey after crossing the Atlantic. A fire from an unknown source caused the gas-filled aircraft to completely go up in flames. 35 people died in the air and one on the ground. This was the first tragedy of its kind to be so widely covered in newsreels, photographs, and radio. -
Panay Incident
In 1937, a Japanese attack was made on the Navy gunboat Panay, anchored in the Yangtze River. Japan and the United states were not at war at the time. The Japanese apologized, paying the United states an indemnity. This incident began to alter American attitudes to the Japanese and served to intensify the eventual reaction to the Pearl Harbor incident. -
Amelia Earhart declared legally dead
The first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic went missing in 1937. She was missing for almost two years before the United States government declared her dead. This marked the death of an iconic hero for all Americans, as well as for women and feminists specifically. -
Non-Aggression Pact Signed
Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin signed an agreement in 1939 in which the Soviet Union guaranteed that if Germany was to go to war against the West, they would not interfere on either count. Germany benefited from this pact because it prevented a two-front war. There was a "secret protocol" to the agreement that was denied until 1989, in which Germany promised the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia) to the Soviet Union, as well as to divide Poland in half between the two countries. -
The Start of WWII
Upon Germany's invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. They attempted to fight Germany over Poland, but could not stop the Germans and Soviets from taking it. The Soviet Union proceeded to take over the Baltic States and aid Germany by giving the Germans raw materials in return for weapons and and industrial equipment, attempting to get around a British blockade. Germany captured Denmark and Norway, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. -
"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" Released
Jimmy Stewart starred in the 1939 film "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," which was a controversial box office success about one man's effect on politics. In the film, Stewart's character is a governor who stands in front of the Senate against corrupt politicians. The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, and won for "Best Original Story." The Library of Congress added the film to the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
