On This Day

September 1938 in History

Events in History


Event of interestEvent of Interest

Sep 1 Benito Mussolini cancels civil rights of Italian Jews

Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini
Italian Dictator
Benito Mussolini

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Sep 6 Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands celebrates 40th anniversary

Queen of the Netherlands Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Queen of the Netherlands
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Sep 12 Adolf Hitler demands self-determination for Sudeten Germans in Czech

Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler
Dictator of Nazi Germany
Adolf Hitler

Hindenburg Disaster Ends the Age of ZeppelinsHindenburg Disaster Ends the Age of Zeppelins

Sep 14 Graf Zeppelin II, world's largest airship, makes its maiden flight

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The Hindenburg bursts into flames as it approaches its mooring mast. Thirty-six people died.
The Hindenburg bursts into flames as it approaches its mooring mast. Thirty-six people died.
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Event of interestEvent of Interest

Sep 15 British PM Neville Chamberlain visits Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
British Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain
Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler
Dictator of Nazi Germany
Adolf Hitler
  • Sep 15 John Cobb sets world auto speed record at 350.2 MPH (lasts 1 day)
  • Sep 15 Only time brothers hit back-to-back HRs (Lloyd & Paul Waner, Pitts)
  • Sep 16 George E T Eyston sets world auto speed record at 357.5 MPH
  • Sep 17 British premier Neville Chamberlain leaves Munich
  • Sep 20 Emlyn Williams' "Corn is Green," premieres in London

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Sep 21 Winston Churchill condemns Hitler's annexation of Czechoslovakia

Soldier, Author and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Soldier, Author and British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler
Dictator of Nazi Germany
Adolf Hitler
  • Sep 21 The Great Hurricane of 1938 makes landfall on Long Island in New York. The death toll is estimated at 500-700 people.
  • Sep 23 British premier Neville Chamberlain flies to Munich
  • Sep 23 Time capsule, to be opened in 6939, buried at World's Fair in NYC (capsule contained a woman's hat, man's pipe & 1,100' of microfilm)

'I Have Heard The Voice of Adolf Hitler . . .''I Have Heard The Voice of Adolf Hitler . . .'

Sep 26 Adolf Hitler issues ultimatum to Czech government, demanding Sudenten Land

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The 'mad dog of Europe' makes his demands with oratory so menacing 'that he chills one's blood.'
The 'mad dog of Europe' makes his demands with oratory so menacing 'that he chills one's blood.'
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  • Sep 27 British ocean liner "Queen Elizabeth" launches at Clydebank, Scotland
  • Sep 27 Jewish lawyers forbidden to practise in Germany
  • Sep 27 League of Nations declares Japan the aggressor against China
  • Sep 28 Clare Boothe's "Boys Goodbye" premieres in NYC
  • Sep 28 Dutch Premier Colijn sends radio message "No war coming"
  • Sep 29 1st archival course is offered at Columbia University in NYC
  • Sep 30 Treaty of Munich signed by Hitler, Mussolini, Daladier and Chamberlain, forces Czechoslovakia to give territory to Germany

Birthdays in History

  • Sep 1 Alan Dershowitz, American attorney (Claus Von Bulow, O.J. Simpson), born in NYC, New York
  • Sep 3 Caryl Churchill, English playwright, born in London
  • Sep 3 Ryōji Noyori, Japanese chemist (Nobel Prize 2011), born in Kobe, Japan
  • Sep 6 Alan Charles Downes, founder member of Independent Television News and cameraman, born in Enfield, Middlesex (d. 1996)
  • Sep 8 Sam Nunn, American politician (Sen-D-Georgia, 1972 - 1997), born in Macon, Georgia
  • Sep 9 Don Hogan Charles, American photographer and first African-American photographer hired by The New York Times, born in NYC, New York (d. 2017)
  • Sep 13 Judith Martin, American author, journalist and columnist (Miss Manners), born in Washington, D.C.
  • Sep 17 Alec Broers, British electrical engineer and master (Churchill College Cambridge), born in Calcutta, India
  • Sep 20 George J. Hochbrueckner, American politician (Rep-D-NY), born in Queens, New York
  • Sep 22 Sol Amarfio, Ghanaian musician (Osibisa)
  • Sep 26 Andrey Lukanov, Bulgarian politician (40th Prime Minister of Bulgaria), born in Moscow (d. 1996)
  • Sep 26 Michael V. Love, American test pilot (X-24) (d. 1976)
  • Sep 27 Alexander Graham, Lord Mayor of London
  • Sep 29 Henry Keswick, British businessman (CEO-Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd)
  • Sep 29 Wim Kok, NVV/FNV-chairman/Dutch soc-dem party-premier (1994- )
  • Sep 30 Salvatore Michael Caruana, Mass, criminal (FBI Most Wanted List)

Deaths in History

  • Sep 3 Bart de Ligt, anti military theologist, dies at 77
  • Sep 13 Samuel Alexander, Engl philosopher (Space, time & deity), dies at 79

Person of interestThomas Wolfe

Sep 15 Thomas Wolfe, American novelist (Look Homeward Angel), dies of tuberculosis.at 37

Novelist Thomas Wolfe
Novelist
Thomas Wolfe
  • Sep 17 Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet (b. 1901)
  • Sep 21 Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, Croatian writer (The Brave Adventures of Lapitch), dies at 64
  • Sep 24 Lev Schnirelmann, Russian mathematician (b. 1900)
  • Sep 28 Charles Duryea, American inventor (Duryea Motor Wagon Company, first auto built in the US), dies at 76