In newspapers across the U.S.,Oldsmobile announced the firstautomatic transmission available to the public, to be a feature in the 1938 model Oldsmobile Eight. The advertisement offered demonstrations theAutomatic-Safety-Transmission at local dealers and boasted "First News of the Most Sensational Transmission Development in 20 years... An Astonishing New Automatic Gear-Shift That Sets a New World Standard of Driving Ease, Performance and Economy... New! Nothing Else Like It in the World!"[1]
AviatorAmelia Earhart and her navigator,Fred Noonan, departed the United States in herLockheed Model 10 Electra twin-engine airplane to begin her mission to become the first woman to circumnavigate the Earth.[2] Earhart and Noonan took off fromMiami at 5:55 in the morning local time towardSan Juan, Puerto Rico, leaving the United States for the last time, and landed at 12:30 in the afternoon.[3] By the end of the month, they were inNew Guinea atLae.
Rioting broke out aroundİskenderun andAntioch after the Syrian parliament refused to ratify theLeague of Nations' decision to make the İskenderun district autonomous.[8]
Willis Van Devanter, who had served on the U.S. Supreme Court since 1911, retired at the age of 78 after a new law had passed providing for full pay in retirement for any justice who retired after reaching 70.[9]
German War MinisterWerner von Blomberg began a three-day visit to Italy to discuss military ties between the two nations.[10]
St. Louis Cardinals pitcherDizzy Dean was suspended byNational League PresidentFord C. Frick for referring to Frick and umpireGeorge Barr as "the two biggest crooks in baseball today."[12] Dizzy Dean refused to sign a letter of apology and threatened to sue Ford Frick for $250,000,[13] but did issue a "letter of explanation" and was reinstated on June 5.[14] He lost $500 during the course of his suspension.[15]
Died:Louis Vierne, 66, French organist and composer collapsed from a stroke while performing a concert at theNotre-Dame de Paris cathedral. As he was playing the closing section of "Stèle pour un enfant défunt" from hisTriptyque Opus 58, Vierne suddenly fell forward, then off of the bench.[16][17]
American CommunistJuliet Stuart Poyntz, who had worked secretly for the Soviet Union as a spy against the U.S., vanished shortly after she severed relations with the Soviets. She was last seen in public as she was leaving her apartment at theAmerican Woman's Association clubhouse at 353 West 57th Street in New York City[19] and was apparently kidnapped while outside her apartment building.[20] Her disappearance was not reported in the press until December 18.[21][22]
Died:Emilio Mola, 49, Spanish Nationalist commander and one of the four leaders of themilitary uprising that began the Spanish Civil War, was killed along with five other people when their airplane crashed. Flying in a fog, the Airspeed Envoy struck the side of a mountain near the town ofBriviesca.[23] The other three uprising leaders had beenJosé Sanjurjo (who died in a crash in 1936);Manuel Goded (who was captured and executed by the Nationalist government in 1936) andFrancisco Franco, who would control Spain for the next 38 years.[24]
The first modernshopping cart, invented by supermarket ownerSylvan Goldman, was introduced at the Humpty Dumpty he owned inOklahoma City.[25][26] While vertical metal baskets on a frame with wheels had been introduced in some stores in 1933, Goldman's cart was the first of the shape and size that would become the standard that would still be used almost 90 years later.
TheBattle of Pochonbo took place in the northern section ofJapanese-occupied Korea as a unit of 150 members of theNortheast Counter-Japanese United Army guerrilla group crossed the border from China and attacked a detachment of the Japanese Imperial Army atPochon-up and briefly occupied the town before being forced to retreat.[27] According toNorth Korea, the 25-year-old commander of the Sixth Division of the Counter-Japanese guerrillas,Kim Il Sung, led the group into battle and destroyed different Japanese-operated municipal services. Kim would later become the Great Leader of North Korea upon its founding in 1945.
Nazi Germany's Navy, theKriegsmarine, held its first maneuvers offHeligoland since the island was refortified in defiance of theTreaty of Versailles. Only a skeleton fleet participated because so many ships were deployed in Spain.[29]
War Admiral, who had captured the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness in May, won theBelmont Stakes by three lengths to become only the fourth thoroughbred horse to win the U.S.Triple Crown.[32]
French troops were rushed to theİskenderun region to control the rioting between Arabs and Turks.[8]
Died:John Challen, 72, Welshcricketer and footballer for the Wales national teams from 1887 to 1890[33]
The Soviet Union inauguratedNorth Pole-1 (Severnia Polyos-1), the world's first "drifting ice station", beginning operations (including an airstrip) on a floating ice floe located only 12 miles (19 km) from theNorth Pole.[35]
TheCoppa Italia, the premier tournament of Italian soccer football, was won byGenova 1893 (now Genoa CFC) overA. S. Roma, 1 to 0, at theStadio Comunale Giovanni Berta (now the Stadio Artemio Franchi) inFirenze.[37] finished sixth in the 1936-37 Serie A league and A. S. Roma 10th, while Serie A championBologna FC 1909 had been eliminated in the first round.
The last photo of Jean Harlow (pictured with Robert Conway and Clark Gable), taken May 29 during the filming ofSaratoga.
Died:Jean Harlow (stage name for Harlean Harlow Carpenter), 26, American actress, died from kidney failure, nine days after having become ill during the filming of a scene in her final movie,Saratoga.[40]
In London, representatives ofArgentina, Australia,Great Britain,Ireland, Norway,South Africa, Germany and the United States reached an agreement to stop the dangerous reduction of the world's whale stocks throughwhaling.[41]
InSan Juan, Puerto Rico, an assassination attempt on the life of U.S. District JudgeRobert A. Cooper, the day after he had sentencedPedro Albizu Campos and eight other Puerto Rican nationalists to long terms at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta. The assailants fired at least 12 bullets at Cooper's car as he was driving past them, though neither Cooper nor his bodyguard Francisco Davila were injured.[42][43]
The German Postal Ministry decreed that all non-Aryans must retire.[41]
Atotal solar eclipse that had the longest (at more than seven minutes) totality since the year1098, was visible over the Pacific Ocean. Occurring between 18:04 to 23:17 UTC, it had the distinction of beginning at sunrise on Wednesday, June 9, local time over theGilbert and Ellice Islands, and ending at sunset on Tuesday, June 8, local time inPeru.[44][45]
TheAmateur Rowing Association (ARA) of Great Britain, under criticism for excluding the Australian National Team from theGrand Challenge Cup a year earlier because the crew, all policemen, were excluded from the ARA definition of amateurism because they had been employed for wages, permanently repealed its exclusionary policy.[47] In 1886, the ARA had barred any person "who is or has been by trade or employment for wages a mechanic, artisan or labourer." TheHenley Royal Regatta followed suit the next day, as both organizations changed their rules to bar only people who had accepted financial compensation for competing in sport.
TheGirl Guides temporarily formed a new chapter, the "1st Buckingham Palace Company", with 20 girls who were children of people who worked at the Royal Household and Palace, including 11-year-oldPrincess Elizabeth, daughter of King George VI.[49] At the same time, the 14-member Brownie Pack chapter for younger girls, including 6-year-oldPrincess Margaret.
German-born biochemistHans Krebs and his colleagueWilliam Arthur Johnson first described thecitric acid cycle— commonly called the "Krebs cycle" — in a short manuscript sent toNature, the British weeklyscientific journal. The editor ofNature rejected the submission and suggested that he "submit it for early publication to another periodical."[55] Krebs wrote a longer version of his paper which was published two months later by the Dutch journalEnzymologia.
Nazi Germany announced an ambitious 15-year development plan for the city ofHamburg that envisioned the construction of a 60-story skyscraper and a suspension bridge across theElbe.[56]
Dennis Kincaid, 31, British novelist and civil servant, known forThe Grand Rebel: An Impression of Shivaji, Founder of the Maratha Empire (1936), drowned while swimming in the ocean during a rough sea.[58]
TheBattle of Bilbao started in theSpanish Civil War as theNationalists launched an assault on the city. The attack prompted the evacuation of 1,500 children on the oceean linerHabana, with an escort by the Royal Navy warshipHMSHood to transport "los niños de la guerra" to the United Kingdom. Within seven days, Bilbao would be under Nationalist control.[67]
The Spanish Republicans launched theHuesca Offensive in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to divert the Spanish Nationalists attack on Bilbao.[68]
The Spanish Nationalists under the command of GeneralissimoFrancisco Franco came within 2 miles (3.2 km) ofBilbao, capturing a range of hills east of the city.[74] The Nationalists capturedLas Arenas the next day, cutting Bilbao off from the sea.[75]
The Happy Gang, a popular radio show that would run for 22 years on theCBC Radio Network premiered on the radio stationCRCT, before moving in October to the other CBC affiliates. The first cast had host Bert Pearl ("that slap-happy chappy, the Happy Gang's Own Pappy"), trumpeterBob Farnon, violinist Blain Mathé and organist Kay Stokes, the only cast member who would remain with the show during its entire run.[81]
An avalanche killed 16 people on a German expedition making an ascent of the Himalayan mountain of Siniolchu inSikkim, now part of India. The Deutsche Himalaja-Stiftung team, led by Karl Wien, was camping for the night when, at 12:10 in the morning local time, acornice broke above Wien's camp, burying tents in snow 10 feet (3.0 m) high. Seven German climbers and nine Sherpa guides were crushed to death.[83]
A total reward of $1,500 was ordered by U.S. Attorney GeneralHomer Cummings for members of the Brady Gang of armed robbers, led byAl Brady. The Justice Department offered $500 apiece for any information furnished to the FBI resulting in the apprehension of Brady, James Dalhover or Clarence Lee Shaffer Jr. The Brady gang was traced four months later toBangor, Maine, where Everett Hurd, owner of Dakin's Sporting Goods Store, had been approached by the gang for the purchase of severalThompson submachine guns and 500 rounds of .30-caliber ammunition. On October 12, 1937, because of Hurd's tip, FBI agents were ready when Brady, Dalhover and Shaffer returned to the store to collect their purchase. Dalhover was captured alive while Brady and Shaffer were killed in a shootout.[84]
Switzerland recognized the Italian conquest of Ethiopia.[85]
Spanish Prime MinisterJuan Negrín banned the Communist political partyPOUM (PartidoObrero deUnificaciónMarxista or Workers' Party for Marxist Unification). Party ChairmanAndreu Nin, who had served as the Justice Minister forRevolutionary Catalonia during its brief existence as an autonomous state within Spain, was arrested along with other leaders. After his arrest, Nin was turned over to Soviet agents within Spain and was not seen in public again.[89]
Germany and Italy rejoined neutral ship patrols around Spain.[90]
Born:
Simeon Sakskoburggotski, who ruled Bulgaria as King Simeon II from 1943 to 1946, and later was elected as Prime Minister to serve from 2001 to 2005; inSofia
Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian fashion designer, television host and politician who was the first openly gay member of the Brazilian Congress; inCatanduva,São Paulo (d.2009)
In the Spanish Civil War, theBattle of Bilbao ended with the Nationalists capturing the city. At the same time, the Republicans'Huesca Offensive failed to turn back the Nationalists.
TheAustralian Academy of Art, an attempt by the conservative Australian government to give official endorsement of specific genres of art, was founded at a hotel inCanberra by delegates from Australia's states, led by future prime ministerRobert Menzies.[103] The Academy would be dissolved in 1946.
Pennsylvania GovernorGeorge H. Earle declaredmartial law inJohnstown in order to prevent violence at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation's mill at Cambria during an ongoing strike. Earle sent 500 Pennsylvania State Troopers and Highway Patrol to close the mill and evacuate the people inside, then enforce the law within the city. The United Mine Workers voluntarily called off a planned Sunday march of 40,000 miners.[104][105]
Born:Bak Lung-won, the White Dragon King (Bak Lung-wong), Thailand-born Hong KongTaoist said to have the power to bless the careers of his clients toward success, includingJackie Chan,Tony Leung andShu Qi; as Chow Yam-nam, inPattaya (d.2013)[106]
Yakov Doletsky, 48, Polish-born Soviet journalist who served s the executive director of the Soviet news agencyTASS from 1925 to 1937, committed suicide after learning that he was to be arrested as part of Stalin'sGreat Purge.[108][109]
TheGeibeltbad Pirna, at the time the largest (2,000 square meters or 21,500 square feet) outdoor swimming pool in the world, opened nearDresden, Germany. The Geibeltbad had a capacity for as many as 2,500 people.
Léon Blum resigned as Prime Minister of France when the Senate refused to give him special powers to deal with the country's financial crisis.[116]
TheWimbledon tennis tournament was televised for the first time, asBBC Television commentatorFreddie Grisewood gave commentary on the opening matches for the few people in London who had a television set.[117] Using three television vans to supply the equipment, the BBC was able to show a live event outside of its studios for the first time.[118] For 25 minutes, Grisewood spoke as viewers saw parts of two opening matches, starting withBunny Austin of England againstGeorge Lyttleton Rogers of Ireland, followed byJack Crawford of Australia againstRoderich Menzel of Czechoslovakia.[119] Crawford and Austin won their matches and advanced to the second round.
Ohio GovernorMartin L. Davey ordered 4,500 National Guardsmen to Youngstown to stop rioting during the Little Steel strike against Republic Steel.[105]
Hitler sent the strongest units of theKriegsmarine towardValencia for a "demonstration" after dropping out of the international neutral ship patrol for the second time, since Britain and France refused to allow Germany to secure satisfaction for an alleged Spanish submarine attack on the cruiserLeipzig. The government of the Second Spanish Republic warned that it would fight back if any power shelled a city within the Republic.[126][127]
Paul Robeson made an important speech on theSpanish Civil War at theRoyal Albert Hall in London during a benefit to raise funds for Basque refugee children. "There is no standing above the conflict on Olympian heights. There are no impartial observers", Robeson said. "The liberation of Spain from the oppression of fascist reactionaries is not a private matter of the Spaniards, but the common cause of all advanced and progressive humanity."[89][129]the new Liechtenstein flag
the Haiti flag
The8th Imperial Conference, which had opened on May 14 with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom hosting the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Southern Rhodesia, the Secretary of State for India and the Chief Minister of Burma.[130]
Neville Chamberlain made his first major foreign policy speech asPrime Minister of the United Kingdom in the British House of Commons, advising against overly criticizing Germany's involvement in theSpanish Civil War because of the danger of a larger European war. "There are sometimes conditions to be found when an incautious move or even a sudden loud exclamation may start an avalanche," he said, adding "That is just the condition in which we are finding ourselves to-day. I believe, although the snow may be perilously poised it has not yet begun to move, and if we can all exercise caution, patience and self-restraint we may yet be able to save the peace of Europe."[134][135]
The eleventh annualEnglish Greyhound Derby was held at a track at the track atLondon'sWhite City Stadium. It was won by Wattle Bark, who set a new record for fastest speed by running the 500 yards (460 m) in 29.26 seconds.[140]
Martin Niemöller gave what would be his last sermon in Nazi Germany, stating, "No more are we ready to keep silent at man's behest when God commands us to speak. For it is, and must remain, the case that we must obey God rather than man."[142]
Harold Heygate, 52, English cricketer best known for the 1919 "Heygate Incident" where he was a spectator recruited to play for Sussex in a first-cricket game[145]
The Soviet Communist Party'sPolitburo issue a decree directing the creation of a three-member panel to determine which political prisoners in West Siberia should be executed as part of theGreat Purge.[146] TheNKVD Order No. 00447 decree, titled "Regarding operations to repress former kulaks, criminals, and other anti-Soviet elements" was issued by NKVD DirectorNikolai Yezhov on July 30, 1937.[147]Robert Eikhe, a candidate member of the Communist Party's ruling Politburo, was appointed as the Party's representative withSergei Mironov to make final aproval over which of 26,000 defendants would be marked for execution.[148]
The new French Finance MinisterGeorges Bonnet addressed the country's financial crisis by closing the stock market and suspending all commercial payments in gold and foreign currencies until further notice.[149]
Béla Kun, who had founded the CommunistHungarian Soviet Republic in 1919 and served as its first leader, was arrested by the NKVD after being denounced asTrotskyite with anti-Soviet objectives. He would be executed in prison on August 29, 1938.[150]
The Soviet Union executed and additional 36 people who were convicted of espionage during the Great Purge..[113]
The firstemergency telephone number in the world,999 was inaugurated by the United Kingdom.[156][157] While dialing the operator was a means of reaching help for an emergency, the 999 signal activated a buzzer and a red light at the switchboard to get immediate attention.[158][159] The U.S.911 system would not be inaugurated until more than 30 years later in1968.
Germany's Reichsminister of Church Affairs,Hanns Kerrl, decreed that the government would control all funds of Protestant churches. Thereafter, ministry officials oversaw all aspects of the churches' financial activities, from revenues collected during church services, and their expenditures including ministers' salaries.[160]
The record for highest altitude by a human being was broken as RAF Flight Lieutenant M.J. Adam reached 53,937 feet (16,440 m) flying aBristol Type 138 over the United Kingdom.[161]
Portugal ceased cooperation with theNon-Intervention Committee patrol agreement, and ordered British observers off its soil.[122]
^"Noted Woman Red-Laborite Vanishes Here",Daily News (New York), December 18, 1937, p.3
^"Woman Communist Missing 7 Months; Disappearance of Miss Poyntz Made Known as Robinson Clue Is Sought Here",The New York Times, December 18, 1937, p.10
^"General Mola, Second Fascist Chief in Spain, Killed in Plane Crash— Ship Hits Basque Mountain in Thick Fog; Four Die with Him",St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 3, 1937, p.1
^"War Admiral Easily Wins Belmont Cup— Riddle Colt Is Fourth 3-Year-Old To Wear Triple Crown", AP story by Alan Gould,The Sunday Sun (Baltimore), June 6, 1937, p.1
^"Births, Marriages, Deaths".North Devon Journal. Barnstaple. 17 June 1937. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"HOT LAVA STREAMS TAKE TOLL OF 500— Guinea Volcano Erupts",Edmonton Bulletin, June 7, 1937, p.1
^"Hitler Bestows Highest Medal on Friend Duce".Chicago Daily Tribune. June 8, 1937. p. 15.
^Edwin Schallert (June 8, 1937). "Jean Harlow, Screen Star, Dies After Spectacular Rise to Fame— Week's Illness Fatal in Valiant Fight to Live".Los Angeles Times. p. I-1.
^"Murder of Italians Was 'Political'— Death of Anti-Fascist Exile Linked With the Matteotti Assassination",Evening Standard (London), June 12, 1937, p.4
^"Rev. Olazabal Dies; Healing Clergyman",Brooklyn Eagle, June 10, 1937, p.17
^Espinosa, Gaston (1999). ""El Azteca": Francisco Olazábal and Latino Pentecostal Charisma, Power, and Faith Healing in the Borderlands".Journal of the American Academy of Religion.67:597–616.doi:10.1093/jaarel/67.3.597.JSTOR1466209.
^"The Case of the So-Called 'Anti-Soviet Trotskyite Military Organization' in the Red Army,"Political Archives of the Soviet Union, vol. 1, No. 3., 1990
^Jackson, Gabriel (1965).The Spanish Republic and the Civil War, 1931–1939. p. 384.
^Beevor, Antony.The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. 2006. pages 347 and 429
^"Germany and Italy Rejoin Neutrals' Ship Patrol Around Spain".Chicago Daily Tribune. June 17, 1937. p. 4.
^Jeanne Varnell; M. L. Hanson (1999).Women of consequence: Colorado Women's Hall of Fame. Boulder, Colorado: Johnson Books. pp. 246–52.ISBN9781555662141.
^Gibbons, Tony (1983).The Complete Encyclopedia of Battleships and Battlecruisers: A Technical Directory of All the World's Capital Ships From 1860 to the Present Day. London: Salamander Books Ltd. p. 195.ISBN978-0-86101-142-1..
^"Warship Blast Kills 50 Sailors; Spanish Still Unable To Explain Explosion",The Miami Herald, June 20, 1937, p.12
^Holston, Kim R. (2013).Movie Roadshows: A History and Filmography of Reserved-Seat Limited Showings, 1911–1973. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 87.ISBN978-0-7864-6062-5.
^Díaz Ayala, Cristóbal (Fall 2013)."Arsenio Rodríguez"(PDF).Encyclopedic Discography of Cuban Music 1925–1960. Florida International University Libraries. RetrievedOctober 7, 2015.
^Stephens, Pembroke (June 19, 1937). "Basque Verdun Falls; Rebels Close on Bilbao".Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
^"Il Duce Decrees Self a $9,375,000 Income Per Year".Chicago Daily Tribune. June 19, 1937. p. 1.
^"Un grand français n'est plus : Mort subite à Aigues-Vives de M. Gaston Doumergue" [A great Frenchman is no more: Sudden death in Aigues-Vives of Mr. Gaston Doumergue](PDF).Le Petit Dauphinois (in French). Vol. 61, no. 170. June 19, 1937 [Article written June 18, 1937]. RetrievedSeptember 5, 2023 – via Association les amis de Gaston Doumergue.
^Violations of Free Speech and Rights of Labor, Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor, United States Senate, Seventy-sixth Congress, Third Session, Pursuant to S. Res. 266 · Volumes 42-47 (U.S. Congress, 1937) p.13969
^"Academy of Art Formed at Canberra. Royal Charter Sought".Sydney Morning Herald. 21 June 1937. p. 10.
^"Troops Close Johnstown Mill; Lewis Cancels Miners' March", by Robert Lytle,The Pittsburgh Press, June 20, 1937, p.1
^abCortada, James W., ed. (1982).Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 508.ISBN0-313-22054-9.
^Hanson, Patricia King, ed. (1993).The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1931–1940. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. pp. 2368–2369.ISBN0-520-07908-6.
^Dack, Barrie (1990).Greyhound Derby, the first 60 years. Ringpress Books. pp. 74–75.ISBN0-948955-36-8.
^"Mary Pickford Wed to Rogers in Simple Rites".Chicago Daily Tribune. June 27, 1937. p. 1.
^Thomsett, Michael C. (1997).The German Opposition to Hitler: The Resistance, the Underground, and Assassination Plots, 1938–1945. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 63.ISBN978-0-7864-0372-1.
^"Death of Mr. H. J. Heygate; An Old Sussex County Cricketer",The Surrey Advertiser and County Times (Guildford, Surrey), July 3, 1937, p.18
^Ellman, Michael (2010). "Regional influences on the Formulation and Implementation of NKVD Order 00447".Europe-Asia Studies.62 (6):915–931.doi:10.1080/09668136.2010.489254.S2CID154026107.
^J. Arch Getty, and Oleg V. Naumov (1999).The Road to Terror, Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932–1939. New Haven: Yale U.P. p. 469.ISBN0-300-07772-6.
^György Borsányi,The Life of a Communist Revolutionary: Béla Kun. Mario D. Fenyo, trans. Boulder, CO: Social Science Monographs/Atlantic Research and Publications, 1993; pg. 1.
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