May 1931

May 1, 1931 (Friday)

The Empire State Building, the tallest building in the world, opened in New York City. At 11:30 a.m., President Hoover pressed a button in the White House that turned on the lights of all 102 stories.

The comedy film The Millionaire starring George Arliss was released.

Born: Maya Belenkaya, figure skater, in Leningrad, USSR

May 2, 1931 (Saturday)

A mock air raid was conducted over Toulon, France. Although the military maneuvers were called off after two hours due to bad weather, it sufficiently demonstrated to military experts that the important naval base would have been reduced to ruins by a fleet of 150 bombers had the attack been real.

Died: George Fisher Baker, 91, American banker and philanthropist

May 3, 1931 (Sunday)

In elections in Schaumburg-Lippe, the Social Democrats remained the largest party with 44.6% of the vote, but the Nazi Party came in second with 26.9%.

Club Français defeated SO Montpellier 3-0 in the Coupe de France Final.

Born: Aldo Rossi, architect and designer, in Milan, Italy (d. 2007)

May 4, 1931 (Monday)

Mustafa Kemal was re-elected President of Turkey by the National Assembly.

The United States Treasury estimated its budget deficit for 1930–31 at about $903 million.

The Jewish Party, a splinter faction of the Union of Romanian Jews, was founded in Romania.

Born: Richard Williams, jazz trumpeter, in Galveston, Texas (d. 1985)

May 5, 1931 (Tuesday)

Battle of Evarts: Three deputies and a miner were killed in a gun battle in Harlan County, Kentucky. It was one in a series of violent coal mining-related incidents in the region known as the Harlan County War.

May 6, 1931 (Wednesday)

The Paris Colonial Exposition opened.

The Soviet Union and Lithuania renewed their non-aggression pact of 1926.

Born: Willie Mays, baseball player, in Westfield, Alabama

May 7, 1931 (Thursday)

325 National Guardsmen were dispatched to Harlan County, Kentucky, under orders to "protect those who behave themselves and take charge of those who do not."

Born: Teresa Brewer, pop singer, in Toledo, Ohio (d. 2007); Siddika Kabir, nutritionist, cookbook author and cooking show television host, in Dhaka, British India (d. 2012)

May 8, 1931 (Friday)

In the Weimar Republic of Germany, prosecution of Adolf Hitler by Hans Litten for complicity in manslaughter committed by members of the Sturmabteilung at the Tanzpalast Eden ("Eden Dance Palace") in Berlin in 1930 was dismissed.

The Spanish provisional government decreed that religious instruction was no longer compulsory in schools.

May 9, 1931 (Saturday)

Mate won the Preakness Stakes.

A huge building exposition, one of the largest ever held at 32 acres in size, opened in Berlin.

Died: Albert A. Michelson, 78, American physicist and Nobel laureate

May 10, 1931 (Sunday)

Rioting broke out between monarchists and republicans in Madrid.

Hermann Göring met with Benito Mussolini in Rome.

Born: Ichirō Nagai, anime voice actor, in Ikeda, Osaka, Japan (d. 2014)

May 11, 1931 (Monday)

The Creditanstalt Bank in Vienna failed, leading to a national currency crisis as investors began pulling their funds from Austrian banks and moving them to other countries.

Four Roman Catholic convents were burned during the night by anticlerical rioters in Madrid.

The Fritz Lang-directed film M premiered in Berlin.

May 12, 1931 (Tuesday)

The Civil Guard was called into Madrid to stop the burning of convents.

May 13, 1931 (Wednesday)

Paul Doumer was elected President of France by parliament.

The International Olympic Committee officially awarded the 1936 Summer Olympics to Berlin.

Born: Jim Jones, cult leader, in Randolph County, Indiana (d. 1978); Jiří Petr, agroscientist and university professor, in Hradec Králové, Czecheslovakia (d. 2014)

May 14, 1931 (Thursday)

The Bank of England's lending rate was cut to 2.5%, its lowest rate in 22 years.

In Bologna, the conductor Arturo Toscanini was assaulted by a Fascist youth for refusing to play Giovinezza at the beginning of a concert devoted to the 75th birthday of Giuseppe Martucci. Toscanini escaped into a car and returned to his hotel; the concert was postponed.

Born: Alvin Lucier, composer, in Nashua, New Hampshire

Died: David Belasco, 77, American Broadway impresario, theater owner and playwright

May 15, 1931 (Friday)

Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical Quadragesimo anno.

Mahatma Gandhi announced he would attend the second Round Table Conference on Indian independence in London.

Born: Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Chairman of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, in Brooklyn, New York; Ken Venturi, golfer, in San Francisco, California (d. 2013)

May 16, 1931 (Saturday)

Twenty Grand won the Kentucky Derby.

Albert Einstein delivered a lecture at Rhodes House in Oxford, at which the blackboard was saved.

Born: Jack Dodson, actor, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1994); Natwar Singh, politician, in Jaghina, Bharatpur, British India

May 17, 1931 (Sunday)

The Nazi Party won Landtag elections in Oldenburg with 37.2% of the vote. It was the first time the Nazis became the largest party in a Landtag.

Born: Marshall Applewhite, cult leader, in Spur, Texas (d. 1997)

Died: Timothy Cole, 78 or 79, American wood engraver

May 18, 1931 (Monday)

The United States Supreme Court decided Stromberg v. California, overturning a California court decision convicting a 19-year-old communist of breaking a state law against displaying a red flag.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Burnet v. Logan.

Born: Don Martin, cartoonist, in Paterson, New Jersey (d. 2000); Robert Morse, actor and singer, in Newton, Massachusetts

May 19, 1931 (Tuesday)

The German cruiser Deutschland was launched at Kiel. It accidentally slid into the water ahead of schedule before President Hindenburg had a chance to smash a bottle of champagne against its prow.

Joseph Stalin announced the second five-year plan for the Soviet economy.

Born: Éric Tappy, Swiss operatic tenor, in Switzerland

Died: Ralph Barton, 39, American caricaturist (suicide)

May 20, 1931 (Wednesday)

A report by International Labour Office Director General Albert Thomas was publicized, estimating that 20 million people were out of work around the world, double the numbers of one year ago.

Fascist authorities confiscated the passport of Arturo Toscanini and essentially placed him under house arrest.

Born: Ken Boyer, baseball player, in Liberty, Missouri (d. 1982)

May 21, 1931 (Thursday)

Peder Kolstad became Prime Minister of Norway.

The horror-fantasy radio series The Witch's Tale first aired on New York's WOR.

Died: Charlie Poole, 39, American country musician (heart attack)

May 22, 1931 (Friday)

The Spanish provisional government granted equal freedom to all religions.

May 23, 1931 (Saturday)

Commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the encyclical Rerum novarum, Pope Pius XI published a lengthy message in L'Osservatore Romano calling the modern business world cruel and corrupting of the working class.

The University of Oxford awarded Albert Einstein an honorary doctorate.

The Whipsnade Zoo opened in Bedfordshire, England.

Born: Barbara Barrie, actress, in Chicago, Illinois; Patience Cleveland, actress, in New York City (d. 2004)

Died: Aldred Scott Warthin, 64, American pathologist

May 24, 1931 (Sunday)

In São Paulo, composer Heitor Villa-Lobos presented the first of his Civic Exhortations, performed by 12,000 voices.

The Alfa Romeo works team pairing of Giuseppe Campari and Tazio Nuvolari won the Italian Grand Prix.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) introduced the first completely air-conditioned passenger train, the Columbian, running between Washington and New York.

Born: Clint Ballard, Jr., songwriter, in El Paso, Texas (d. 2008); Ricky Romero, professional wrestler, in San Bernardino, California (d. 2006)

May 25, 1931 (Monday)

The The Royal British Legion voted to refer to November 11 as "Remembrance Day" rather than "Armistice Day".

Born: Georgy Grechko, cosmonaut, in Leningrad, USSR

May 26, 1931 (Tuesday)

Serge Koussevitzky sent a telegram to the management of La Scala in Milan, explaining he would postpone his scheduled June performance there until the Italian government apologized to Arturo Toscanini over the events at Bologna.

May 27, 1931 (Wednesday)

In Augsburg, Germany, Professor Auguste Piccard and physicist Paul Kipfer took off in an airtight ball attached to a hydrogen balloon in an attempt to be the first to reach the Earth's stratosphere. They attained an altitude of 15,606 m (51,200 ft) and then landed in the Austrian Alps after more than eighteen hours in the air.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 Japanese railway workers went on strike in protest against proposed salary reductions.

May 28, 1931 (Thursday)

Three were killed in fighting between communists and Nazis in Hagen.

Born: Carroll Baker, actress, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania; Eric Von Schmidt, folk and blues musician, in Bridgeport, Connecticut (d. 2007); Peter Westergaard, composer and music theorist, in Champaign, Illinois; Gordon Willis, cinematographer, in Astoria, New York (d. 2014)

May 29, 1931 (Friday)

Texas Guinan and her ensemble of entertainers were refused entry into France for failing to get a work permit before departing New York. "Hell! What have I done to be treated like this?" Guinan fumed. "I entertained at the front during the war on a permit signed by President Wilson. Why ain't I good enough to come here and sing now?"

Died: Michele Schirru, 31, Italian-born American anarchist (executed by firing squad for plotting to assassinate Mussolini)

May 30, 1931 (Saturday)

Fascist Italy suspended the Azione Cattolica.

Louis Schneider won the Indianapolis 500.

William "Red" Hill went over Niagara Falls in a barrel for the third time. After going over, the barrel was stuck in a whirlpool for almost three hours until it floated free and Hill could be rescued by his son, William Jr.

Born: John O'Brien, priest, in Kilrush, Ireland (d. 2008)

May 31, 1931 (Sunday)

150,000 Stahlhelm hailed Crown Prince Wilhelm during their twelfth annual convention in Breslau.

Born: John Robert Schrieffer, physicist and Nobel laureate, in Oak Park, Illinois; Shirley Verrett, mezzo-soprano, in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2010)