May 1932

May 1, 1932 (Sunday)

Three died in May Day riots during workers' demonstrations around the world, though reports of violence were down from previous years.

Born: Douglas Day, scholar and writer, in Panama (d. 2004)

May 2, 1932 (Monday)

Baltimore repealed its 200-year-old blue law which prohibited Sunday movie showings, sporting events, and men kissing their wives.

The Canada Dry Program, the first radio show to be hosted by Jack Benny, went on the air.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Nixon v. Condon.

Born: Maury Allen, sportswriter, in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2010); Eddie Bressoud, baseball player, in Los Angeles; Malcolm Lipkin, composer, in Liverpool, England

Died: John Clum, 80, American Indian agent

May 3, 1932 (Tuesday)

The judge in the Massie Trial sentenced the defendants to 10 years in prison, but Governor Lawrence M. Judd reduced the sentences to just one hour.

The 1932 Pulitzer Prizes were awarded. Of Thee I Sing became the first musical to ever win the Prize for drama. Journalist Walter Duranty of The New York Times won for his coverage of the Soviet Union, an award that became very controversial starting in the 1980s as historians began criticizing Duranty for presenting an uncritical view of Stalin's government and denying widespread reports of the famine there.

John Nance Garner won the California Democratic primary.

Died: Charles Fort, 57, American writer and researcher into anomalistics; Henri de Gaulle, 83, French civil servant and father of Charles de Gaulle

May 4, 1932 (Wednesday)

Al Capone entered federal prison in Atlanta to begin serving his 11-year sentence for tax evasion.

The Soviet–Estonian Non-Aggression Pact was signed.

A 32-year-old prostitute was found murdered in her apartment in the Atlas area of Stockholm, Sweden. Police spokesmen claimed that the killer had drunk the victim's blood, and the press nicknamed the murderer the Atlas Vampire as a result. The case was never solved.

Born: Susan Brown, actress, in San Francisco, California

May 5, 1932 (Thursday)

Japan and China signed a ceasefire.

Born: Antonio Agri, violinist, composer and conductor, in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina (d. 1998); Stan Goldberg, comic book artist, in the Bronx, New York (d. 2014)

May 6, 1932 (Friday)

French President Paul Doumer was shot by Russian émigré Paul Gorguloff at a book fair in Paris. Doumer was rushed to hospital but died the next morning.

The German-French horror film Vampyr directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer premiered in Berlin.

Born: Ahmet Haxhiu, political activist, in Pristina, Kosovo (d. 1994)

Died: Ludwig Rottenberg, 66, Austro-German composer and conductor

May 7, 1932 (Saturday)

Burgoo King won the Kentucky Derby.

Born: Jordi Bonet, Catalan-born Canadian artist, in Barcelona, Spain (d. 1979); Jenny Joseph, poet, in Birmingham, England

Died: Paul Doumer, 75, President of France (assassinated)

May 8, 1932 (Sunday)

The second round of the French legislative election was held. The coalition of left-wing parties known as the Cartel des Gauches edged out the centrists and conservatives.

32 were killed in landslides that buried two apartment buildings on the outskirts of Lyon, France.

Born: Phyllida Law, actress, in Glasgow, Scotland

May 9, 1932 (Monday)

President Herbert Hoover vetoed a bill allowing civilians who served in the Quartermaster Corps to stay in old soldiers' homes, explaining it would set a precedent for similar benefits to be expanded to include other civilians.

Born: Geraldine McEwan, actress, in Old Windsor, Berkshire, England (d. 2015)

May 10, 1932 (Tuesday)

4,000 relief workers in New Zealand marched on parliament in Wellington demanding the repeal of the Unemployment Amendment Act, which increased the levy of income other than salaries and wages. Public Works Minister Gordon Coates announced that the crowd would have to wait a day for a government response, which sparked a riot. Over 200 windows were smashed and some shops were looted before police gained control of the city centre.

Albert François Lebrun became the new President of France following the Doumer assassination.

May 11, 1932 (Wednesday)

Britain warned the Irish Free State that it would lose tariff preference if it abolished the Oath of Allegiance to the king.

Club Atlético River Plate was founded in Uruguay.

Born: Mustafa Tlass, military officer and politician, in Al-Rastan, French Mandate of Syria; Valentino, fashion designer, in Voghera, Italy

May 12, 1932 (Thursday)

The body of Charles Lindbergh, Jr. was found less than five miles from the Lindbergh home. The condition of the body indicated that the child had been murdered, and quite some time ago.

Reichstag President Paul Löbe suspended four Nazis from the chamber for 30 days for assaulting a journalist in the lobby. When they refused to leave the building, Löbe shut down the entire Reichstag session.

Wilhelm Groener resigned as Germany's Minister of Defence.

The George Washington Masonic National Memorial opened in Alexandria, Virginia.

Died: Andreas Dippel, 65, German-born operatic tenor and impresario

May 13, 1932 (Friday)

Former king Alfonso XIII of Spain, visiting his son at port in Marseilles, was attacked without warning by a Spanish republican who struck him several times in the face before being apprehended.

May 14, 1932 (Saturday)

Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with Peru after the Peruvian government accused Mexican diplomats of plotting to disturb the public order.

Burgoo King won the Preakness Stakes horse race.

May 15, 1932 (Sunday)

May 15 Incident: Japanese Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi was assassinated by a group of young naval officers and army cadets, while others groups tried to attack the police headquarters and power station of Tokyo.

German pilot Hans Bertram and his mechanic Adolph Klausmann went missing in northern Australia during a round-the-world goodwill trip.

Born: John Glen, film director, in Sunbury-on-Thames, England

Died: Inukai Tsuyoshi, 77, Prime Minister of Japan (assassinated)

May 16, 1932 (Monday)

A fire broke out aboard the ocean liner MS Georges Philippar, sailing 145 miles off Cape Guardafui, Italian Somaliland. 54 died in the fire but the other passengers were rescued by ships in the area.

Died: Albert Londres, 47, French journalist (killed in the Georges Philippar fire)

May 17, 1932 (Tuesday)

The British put down four days of Hindu-Muslim race rioting in Bombay by firing on the crowds. A total of 88 people died in the riots.

Born: Chris Ballingall, baseball player, in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Billy Hoeft, baseball player, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin (d. 2010)

Died: Frederick C. Billard, 58, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard

May 18, 1932 (Wednesday)

Hundreds were jailed in Havana, Cuba for what police reported to be a plot to overthrow the government of Gerardo Machado.

A railway tunnel under construction in Argentina collapsed and killed 42 workers.

May 19, 1932 (Thursday)

The Irish Dáil passed the bill to abolish the Oath of Allegiance to the king 77-69, sending the measure to the senate.

The abandoned Georges Philippar sank in the Gulf of Aden.

Born: Alma Cogan, pop singer, in Whitechapel, East London, England (d. 1966)

May 20, 1932 (Friday)

The Torbet-I-Kheydarly Earthquake in Persia killed 1,070 people.

Engelbert Dollfuss became Chancellor of Austria.

Died: James "Bubber" Miley, 29, American jazz trumpet and cornet player (tuberculosis)

May 21, 1932 (Saturday)

Amelia Earhart Putnam landed in a field at Culmore, Northern Ireland, completing the first solo flight across the Atlantic by a woman.

Born: Leonidas Vasilikopoulos, admiral, in Athens, Greece (d. 2014)

May 22, 1932 (Sunday)

Hirohito appointed Saitō Makoto to be the new Prime Minister of Japan.

Benito Mussolini opened the first International Convention of Trans-Oceanic Flyers in Rome. 51 aviators met to discuss the prospects of commercial air travel across the ocean.

Died: Augusta, Lady Gregory, 80, Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre manager

May 23, 1932 (Monday)

By a vote of 228-169, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a bill legalizing and taxing 2.75% beer.

In Geneva, Albert Einstein urged all pacifists in the world to demand complete disarmament within five years.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided North American Oil Consolidated v. Burnet.

May 24, 1932 (Tuesday)

The Nazis introduced a motion to the Reichstag's committee on foreign affairs requesting that the government warn the "Polish republic that any attack against Danzig would be considered by Germany as an attack on the vital rights of Germany and would be answered as such." The motion passed, 11 to 10.

May 25, 1932 (Wednesday)

A brawl broke out in the Prussian Landtag in which eight deputies were wounded in fighting between Nazis and Communists. The fighting started when Wilhelm Pieck of the Communists called out that there were murderers on the Nazi benches.

Turkey and Italy extended their non-aggression pact of 1928 for another five years and made arrangements to improve trade relations.

Born: Roger Bowen, comedic actor and novelist, in Attleboro, Massachusetts (d. 1996); John Gregory Dunne, writer, in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 2003); K. C. Jones, basketball player and coach, in Taylor, Texas

Died: Franz von Hipper, 68, German admiral

May 26, 1932 (Thursday)

Alexandros Papanastasiou became the new Prime Minister of Greece.

A policeman and a communist were killed during a food riot in Hamburg.

The National Police Gazette, which had gone into bankruptcy in February, was purchased for $545 by an anonymous party who intended to resume publication.

Died: Yoshinori Shirakawa, 64, Japanese general (died of wounds sustained in April 29 bomb attack)

May 27, 1932 (Friday)

The steamer Grecian sank off Block Island, Rhode Island with the loss of four crew after colliding in a fog with the liner City of Chattanooga.

Born: Jeffrey Bernard, journalist, in London, England (d. 1997)

Died: Gordon Browne, 74, English artist and children's book illustrator

May 28, 1932 (Saturday)

The Afsluitdijk was completed in the Netherlands after twelve years of construction, eliminating the Zuiderzee.

The drama film As You Desire Me starring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas was released.

Born: Elaine Madsen, author and filmmaker, in Romeoville, Illinois

May 29, 1932 (Sunday)

The Nazi Party won 24 out of 48 seats in state elections in Oldenburg, winning an absolute majority for the first time.

Veterans of the World War known as the Bonus Army began gathering in Washington, D.C., urging congress to pass a bill allowing them to borrow against their future bonus.

Born: Alan Shorter, jazz musician, in Newark, New Jersey (d. 1987)

Died: Cuthbert Christy, 68 or 69, British doctor and zoologist

May 30, 1932 (Monday)

Heinrich Brüning resigned as Chancellor of Germany.

Six bombs exploded around the city of Belgrade, including one thrown at the king's palace that wounded a passerby. Four were arrested.

Fred Frame won the Indianapolis 500.

Died: William Dennison Clark, 46, American football player (suicide by gunshot); John Hubbard, 83, American admiral

May 31, 1932 (Tuesday)

President Hindenburg selected Franz von Papen to become Germany's new chancellor.

Japan agreed to withdraw from Shanghai under international pressure.

Nicolae Iorga resigned as Romanian Prime Minister.

First baseman Harry Heilmann played in his final major league baseball game as a member of the Cincinnati Reds, going 1-for-4 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Born: Ed Lincoln, musician, in Fortaleza, Brazil (d. 2012)

Died: Emanuel Nobel, 72, Swedish-Russian oil baron