December 1931 in History

Events in History

Nobel Prize

Dec 10 Jane Addams named co-recipient of Nobel Peace Prize; 1st American woman Nobel laureate [1]

Election of Interest

Dec 10 Manuel Azaña becomes Prime Minister of Spain with Niceto Zamora as President

Dec 11 Japan leaves the Gold Standard
Dec 11 Statute of Westminster gives complete legislative independence to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland (Free State), and Newfoundland (not then part of Canada)
Dec 12 Japanese government of Imukai forms
Dec 14 1st assembly of Anton Musserts NSB in Utrecht
Dec 16 German SPD begins Iron Front against fascism

Event of Interest

Dec 17 First meeting of the Indian Statistical Institute organized by Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in Calcutta

Dec 19 Joseph A Lyons (C) becomes premier of Australia

Event of Interest

Dec 22 Retrospective show of Mexican artist Diego Rivera opens at The Museum of Modern Art in New York

Dec 25 Albert Lonergan scores 137 SA v Qld at Adelaide before 5,697
Dec 25 Fleetwood-Smith takes 5-69 Victoria v Tas at Hobart

Event of Interest

Dec 28 Lin-Sen succeeds Chiang Kai-shek as President of Nanjing-China

Dec 29 Identification of heavy water publicly announced, HC Urey
Dec 29 Victoria score 7 for 435 in second innings to beat NSW

Birthdays in History

Edwin Meese (91 years old)

Dec 2 American author and 75th United States Attorney General (1985-88), born in Oakland, California

Dec 2 Masaaki Hatsumi, Japanese founder and head of the Bujinkan Organization, born in Noda, Chiba, Japan
Dec 3 Ellen Blazer [Esther Clara Blazer], Dutch TV director (Sonja), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2013)
Dec 3 Franz Josef Degenhardt, German poet and author, born in Schwelm, Westphalia, Germany (d. 2011)
Dec 4 Wally George, American conservative TV commentator, born in Oakland, California (d. 2003)
Dec 11 Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Indian leader of the Rajneesh movement, born in Kuchwada Village, Raisen district, Bhopal State, British India (d. 1990)
Dec 12 Ali-Akbar Sa'idi Sirjani, Iranian writer and journalist, born in Sirjan, Kerman (d. 1994)
Dec 14 Jaun Elia, Pakistani scholar, poet and philosopher, born in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, British India (d. 2002)
Dec 16 Shelby Singleton, American record label owner and producer (Smash Records, Mercury Records), born in Waskom, Texas (d. 2009)
Dec 17 Yvonne Keuls [Bamberg], Dutch writer (Jan Rap & Co)
Dec 18 Alison Plowden, English historian (d. 2007)
Dec 25 Uzo Egonu, painter/print maker
Dec 27 Lê Khả Phiêu, Vietnamese leader, General Secretary (1997-2001), born in Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam (d. 2020)
Dec 28 Georg "Org" Marais, South African economist/underminister of Finance
Dec 28 Guy Debord, situationist
Dec 29 Prince Gu of Korea, Korean royalty, born in Tokyo Prefecture, Japan (d. 2005)
Dec 30 Charles A Bassett II, Captain USAF/astronaut, born in Dayton, Ohio
Dec 30 Ike Skelton, US Congressman (Democrat: 1977-2011), born in Lexington, Missouri (d. 2013)
Dec 30 Richard Christ, writer
Dec 31 Bob Shaw, Northern Irish sci-fi author (Light of Other Days, The Ragged Astronauts), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland (d. 1996)

Weddings in History

Joseph Goebbels

Dec 19 Propagandist Joseph Goebbels (34) weds Magda Ritschel (30) at Günther Quandt's farm in Mecklenburg, Germany

Reinhard Heydrich

Dec 26 SS-Sturmbannfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich marries Lina von Osten

Deaths in History

Dec 5 Vachel Lindsay, American poet (b. 1879)
Dec 10 Max Elskamp, Belgian author and poet (Six Chansons), dies at 69
Dec 13 Gustave le Bon, French psychologist (b. 1840)
Dec 16 Gustave J Waffelaert, Flemish theologist and bishop of Bruges, dies at 82
Dec 18 Jack "Legs" Diamond, American gangster and bootlegger, murdered at 34
Dec 23 Wilson Bentley, American scientist (b. 1865)
Dec 26 Melvil Dewey, American librarian and educator (created Dewey Decimal System for libraries), dies at 80