Film Release
Jan 24 Adventure film "Gunga Din", based on the poem by Rudyard Kipling and starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is released
Film Premiere
Feb 10 "Stagecoach" western film directed by John Ford, starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne, premieres in Miami
Film & TV History
Feb 14 Victor Fleming replaces George Cukor as director of film "Gone With The Wind"
Theater Premiere
Feb 15 Lillian Hellman's play "The Little Foxes" premieres in New York City
Academy Awards
Feb 23 11th Academy Awards: "You Can’t Take It With You", Spencer Tracy & Bette Davis wins
Film Premiere
Mar 24 "Wuthering Heights" film based on the Emily Brontë novel, directed by William Wyler and starring Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier, premieres in Los Angeles
Film Release
Mar 31 "The Hound of Baskervilles" first of 14 films starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson is released
- Apr 17 SN Behrman's "No Time for Comedy" premieres in NYC
Batman Appears!
May 1 Batman first appears in Detective Comics #27
- May 17 1st televised baseball game is broadcast on NBC, with Princeton defeating Columbia 2-1
- Jun 1 First major boxing match on US television is the heavyweight bout from NY's Yankee Stadium between former world champion Max Baer and Lou Nova; Nova wins by TKO in 11th round
- Jun 10 MGM cartoon character Barney Bear debuts
- Jun 12 Shooting begins on Paramount Pictures' Dr. Cyclops, the first horror film photographed in three-strip Technicolor.
Sports History
Jun 23 Bronko Nagurski beats Lou Thesz in Houston, to win National Wrestling Association world heavyweight title
- Jul 7 "The Rules of the Game", French film directed by Jean Renoir, starring Nora Gregor and Paulette Dubost, premieres in Paris
Music History
Jul 13 Frank Sinatra makes his recording debut, with The Harry James Orchestra, singing "From the Bottom of My Heart" and "Melancholy Mood"
Radio Premiere
Aug 6 1st broadcast of "Dinah Shore Show" on NBC-radio
Venice Film Festival
Aug 8 7th Venice Film Festival opens with a United States boycott due to Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italian regime
The Wizard of Oz
Aug 15 "The Wizard of Oz", American musical fantasy film adaptation of L. Frank Baum's book, premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood; directed by Victor Fleming and King Vidor with cast featuring Judy Garland (Dorothy), Ray Bolger (Scarecrow), Jack Haley (Tin Man), Bert Lahr (Cowardly Lion), Frank Morgan (Wizard), Billie Burke (Glinda), and Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch); songs by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg
Music Premiere
Aug 17 Musical film "The Wizard of Oz", starring Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, and Margaret Hamilton opens at Loews Capitol Theatre, NYC
- Sep 30 In the first televised college football game, Fordham beats Waynesburg, 34-7 at Randalls Island, NY
Theater Premiere
Oct 11 Samson Raphaelson's play "Skylark" starring Gertrude Lawrence premieres in NYC
Film Release
Oct 17 "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", directed by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart and Jean Arthur, is released
Film Premiere
Nov 9 Romantic comedy film "Ninotchka" directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Greta Garbo premieres
Music Premiere
Nov 17 Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's musical "Very Warm for May", featuring June Allyson, Eve Arden, and Vera-Ellen, and directed by Vincente Minnelli opens at the Alvin Theatre, NYC; runs for 59 performances, inspiring 9-year old audience member Stephen Sondheim's love for musical theater
Film Premiere
Dec 15 "Gone With The Wind", drama film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, premieres in Atlanta (Best Picture 1940, inflation not adjusted highest-grossing film of all time)
Film Release
Dec 30 "Of Mice and Men", starring Burgess Meredith as George, Lon Chaney Jr. as Lennie, is released
