Our records for 1932 hold 474 events from 9 regions; the best-ranked is “The Holodomor famine begins in Soviet Ukraine”.
This page lists all 474 events in our records for 1932: 342 dated to the day, 109 from outside Europe and North America. The biggest come first, then every event month by month, grouped by region.
How sure we are: events with no label are high confidence. A grey label such as Exact day uncertain says why one detail is less certain; a yellow label such as Sources differ on the date marks a low-confidence event where the sources disagree or are thin. The notes say where. Dates are in the Gregorian calendar; where a country still used another calendar, the notes give the original. How events are checked
The biggest stories of 1932
Ranked by how widely known each event is today, one card per happening, at least a third from outside Europe and North America.
War & conflictWidely known
The Holodomor famine begins in Soviet Ukraine
· Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) · Europe
A vast man-made famine struck the Ukrainian SSR in spring 1932 and again in 1933, killing millions of Ukrainians. It was one stage of a wider Soviet famine, and the Soviet government refused to seek foreign aid and denied that the famine existed.
Why it is interesting. Public discussion of the famine was banned in the Soviet Union until Gorbachev's glasnost reforms in the 1980s.
Notes and dating details
Death-toll estimates differ widely between sources, and the cause and intent remain disputed, so no figure is used here. The end year 1933 is from the article's 1932 to 1933 span.
Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Herbert Hoover in the US presidential election
· United States · North America
On 8 November 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, New York governor Franklin D. Roosevelt beat President Hoover in a landslide, promising recovery through a New Deal. Hoover's share of the popular vote fell from over 58% in 1928 to 39.6%.
Why it is interesting. Roosevelt's win began twenty unbroken years of Democratic presidents, the longest run by one party in American history.
· Los Angeles, California, United States · North America
The Games of the X Olympiad ran in Los Angeles from 30 July to 14 August 1932. Because of the Great Depression only 37 countries took part, down from 46 in 1928, and Vice President Charles Curtis opened the Games in place of President Hoover.
Why it is interesting. Los Angeles was the only city to bid, so the International Olympic Committee gave it the Games by default in 1923.
· Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, United States · North America
In 1932 the US Public Health Service began following African American sharecroppers in Macon County, 399 of them with latent syphilis, to watch the untreated disease. The men were not told their diagnosis and were given disguised placebos.
Why it is interesting. The men were told the study would last six months, but it ran for 40 years, and none of the infected men received penicillin even after it became the standard treatment.
· Lake Placid, New York, United States · North America
Some details uncertain.
The III Olympic Winter Games opened at Lake Placid, New York, on 4 February 1932 and closed on 13 February, with Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt opening them. They were the first Winter Games held outside Europe.
Why it is interesting. Podium medal ceremonies were established at these Games, modelled on the pedestals of the 1930 British Empire Games.
Notes and dating details
Wikidata gives the end date as 15 February 1932; the article gives 13 February in both English Wikipedia's data box and the lead, which is used here.
· Gran Chaco, South America (disputed by Bolivia and Paraguay) · South America
Some details uncertain.
Bolivia and Paraguay began fighting over the northern Gran Chaco, a region thought to hold oil, with the siege of Fortin Boqueron opening on 9 September 1932. The war lasted until 1935 and killed around 2% of Bolivians and 3% of Paraguayans.
Why it is interesting. Spanish speakers call it the War of Thirst, after the semi-arid land where it was fought.
Notes and dating details
English Wikipedia's data box gives 9 September 1932 as the start, which the body ties to the start of the siege of Fortin Boqueron. The body also describes an earlier clash at Pitiantuta Lake on 15 June 1932. The data box end date of 12 June 1935 matches Wikidata; the final peace treaty came in July 1938. Wikidata's proposed place of Brazil is not supported; the article places the war in the Gran Chaco.
· East Amwell, New Jersey, United States · North America
On 1 March 1932 the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh vanished from his crib in New Jersey, and his body was found beside a nearby road on 12 May. Bruno Richard Hauptmann was convicted in 1935 and executed in 1936.
Why it is interesting. The American press labelled the case the crime of the century, and it led Congress to pass the Federal Kidnapping Act.
The Nazi Party becomes the largest party in the Reichstag election
· Germany (Weimar Republic) · Europe
Germany voted on 31 July 1932 after the Reichstag was dissolved early. The Nazi Party gained heavily, and Nazis and Communists together held over half the seats, so no majority coalition could form without one of them.
Why it is interesting. For the first time the Nazi Party held more Reichstag seats than any rival, with more than 6 million Germans out of work.
On 24 June 1932 the Khana Ratsadon staged a coup in Siam that ended the absolute rule of the Chakri dynasty. King Prajadhipok stayed on the throne, and the country gained its first constitution and a National Assembly.
Why it is interesting. The change from absolute to constitutional monarchy was bloodless, with the plotters at work around 04:00 while the king was away from Bangkok.
Germany holds its second Reichstag election of 1932
· Germany (Weimar Republic) · Europe
Germany voted for a new Reichstag on 6 November 1932. The Nazi Party's vote share dropped by four percentage points from July and it lost 34 seats, though no coalition government could again be formed.
Why it is interesting. It was the last free and fair German election before the Nazis took power, and Hindenburg appointed Hitler Chancellor less than three months later.
In 1932 the rial replaced the qiran at par and was divided into 100 new dinars. Bank Melli Iran issued the first banknotes that year, and the rial was pegged to sterling.
Why it is interesting. Older units such as the toman and the qiran still survive in Iranian languages and proverbs.
Notes and dating details
Persia used the solar Hijri calendar; the source gives the year as 1932, stored as a Gregorian year.
Nepal introduced the rupee in 1932, a new currency that took the place of the silver mohar at a rate of two mohar to one rupee.
Why it is interesting. Two silver mohar were exchanged for each rupee when the new currency arrived.
Notes and dating details
English Wikipedia's data box gives 1 January 1932 as the introduction date, but its text and French Wikipedia give only the year, so the year is stored. Wikidata also gives only 1932.
Finland and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact
Politics & diplomacySome details uncertain
In January 1932 Finland and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact in Helsinki, signed for their countries by Finland's foreign minister, Aarno Yrjo-Koskinen, and the Soviet ambassador, Ivan Maisky. Finland's parliament ratified it in July 1932.
Notes
The lead's photo captions give the signing as 21 January 1932, while the body text says 22 January 1932; only the month is stored. Wikidata gives 21 January.
· Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky), Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia) · Europe
The Nizhny Novgorod automobile plant, later GAZ, begins production
Economy & tradeSome details uncertain
The Nizhny Novgorod Automobile Plant was founded and began production on 1 January 1932, with technical help from the Ford Motor Company. Its first vehicles were the GAZ-AA truck and the GAZ-A passenger car.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and lead say 1932, while the body states 1 January 1932. The lead says the city was called Gorky from 1932, but the body places the renaming in 1933.
Carlos Saura Atares was born in Huesca, in Aragon, on 4 January 1932 and became a Spanish film director, photographer and writer. His first feature premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1960.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and early-life section agree on the date and place.
Civil Guards kill eleven people at Arnedo in La Rioja
War & conflict
Civil Guard bullets killed eleven people and injured thirty at Arnedo, La Rioja, on 5 January 1932. The confrontation pitted local townspeople against the Civil Guards.
Umberto Eco was born in Alessandria, a city in Piedmont in northern Italy, on 5 January 1932. He became an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician and novelist.
Andre Maginot, a French soldier and parliament member, died in Paris on 7 January 1932. He is best known for championing the chain of forts named the Maginot Line.
Notes
The death place is from English Wikipedia's data box.
Albania and Bulgaria sign a protocol on protecting minorities in Sofia
Politics & diplomacy
Albania and Bulgaria signed a protocol in Sofia on 9 January 1932 dealing with mutual protection for each country's minority populations. Mehmed Konica signed for Albania, and Andrey Toshev and Yanko Sakazov for Bulgaria.
Notes
The opening text and history section both give 9 January 1932.
Sophia of Prussia, a daughter of Frederick III, German Emperor, died in Frankfurt on 13 January 1932. She had been Queen of Greece as the wife of Constantine I, from 1913 to 1917 and again from 1920 to 1922.
The Brest trials of Polish opposition leaders end in Warsaw
Politics & diplomacy
The Brest trials, which ran from 26 October 1931 until 13 January 1932, saw the Warsaw Regional Court try leaders of the Centrolew opposition movement. They closed with ten of the accused given sentences of up to three years.
Notes
The opening text gives 13 January 1932 as the last day; Wikidata's record agrees.
Georg Kerschensteiner, a German professor and educational theorist, died in Munich on 15 January 1932. He directed Munich's public schools from 1895 to 1919 and set up a network of vocational schools.
The 1932 Home Nations rugby championship is played
Sport
Six matches were played from 16 January to 19 March 1932 among England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, in the 28th series of the Home Nations Championship. France had been expelled after the 1931 series.
· Figols, Alt Llobregat, Catalonia, Spain · Europe
The Alt Llobregat insurrection, an anarchist general strike, begins in Catalonia
Politics & diplomacy
A revolutionary general strike swept central Catalonia from 18 January 1932, beginning as a wildcat strike by miners at Figols over low wages and poor conditions. Workers took over local institutions, disarmed police and declared libertarian communism, and the Spanish Army put the rebellion down within a week.
Notes
English Wikipedia's insurrection section gives 18 January 1932 for the start at Figols. French Wikipedia gives a strike from 18 to 23 January 1932, and Wikidata gives 23 January as the end, which matches the opening text saying the rebellion was put down within a week.
The Faroe Islands held general elections on 19 January 1932. The Union Party, led by Andrass Samuelsen, became the largest party in the Logting, winning 11 of the 21 seats.
Jean Cocteau's film The Blood of a Poet is released
Stage, music & filmSome details uncertain
Jean Cocteau's avant-garde film The Blood of a Poet, financed by Charles de Noailles, was released on 20 January 1932. It opens the Orphic Trilogy, continued in Orphee (1950) and concluded by Testament of Orpheus (1960).
Notes
Wikidata describes the film as a 1930 work, while English Wikipedia's data box gives a release on 20 January 1932 and the lead calls it a 1932 film.
Palermo's stadium was inaugurated on 24 January 1932 under the name Stadio Littorio, during the fascist era. In the opening match Palermo beat Atalanta 5-1.
On 7 January 1932 the United States told Japan and China that it would not accept territorial changes imposed by force, after Japan's seizure of Manchuria. Secretary of State Henry Stimson wrote the notes.
· San Francisco, California, United States · North America
Dian Fossey is born in San Francisco
Lives
Dian Fossey was born in San Francisco on 16 January 1932 and became an American primatologist and conservationist. From 1966 she studied mountain gorilla groups in the forests of Rwanda.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names San Francisco, California.
Ernst Lubitsch's pre-Code drama Broken Lullaby, also released as The Man I Killed, came out on 19 January 1932 from Paramount, with Lionel Barrymore, Nancy Carroll and Phillips Holmes. Its hero is a French musician haunted by a soldier he killed in World War I.
Notes
The release date is from English Wikipedia's data box; the lead says 1932.
La Matanza: a rebellion and massacre in western El Salvador
War & conflict
On 22 January 1932 Communist Party members and Pipil peasants rose against El Salvador's military government and captured several western towns. General Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez declared martial law, and the killings that followed took 10,000 to 40,000 lives, mostly Pipil peasants and non-combatants.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives the main rebellion as 22 to 25 January 1932 and the army killings as 25 January to February 1932. Wikidata's proposed place (Church of Scotland) does not fit; the article places the events in western El Salvador.
· Detroit, Michigan, United States · North America
Piper Laurie is born in Detroit
Lives
Rosetta Jacobs, later Piper Laurie, was born in Detroit on 22 January 1932 and became an American actress. Her films included The Hustler, Carrie and Children of a Lesser God.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and early-life section agree on the date and place.
· St Kitts, British Leeward Islands (now Saint Kitts and Nevis) · North America
The St Kitts Workers' League, now the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party, is founded
Politics & diplomacySome details uncertain
The party now called the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party was founded on 25 January 1932 as the St Kitts Workers' League. It is a centre-left party that won six of the eleven seats contested in the 2022 general election.
Notes
English and French Wikipedia's data boxes both give 25 January 1932 as the founding day; the English history section and German Wikipedia say 1932. The two candidates elected in the 1937 elections are described in the History section of English Wikipedia.
· Sakuradamon (Sakurada Gate), Tokyo, Empire of Japan · Asia
Lee Bong-chang throws a grenade at Emperor Hirohito in Tokyo
Politics & diplomacySome details uncertain
On 8 January 1932 the Korean activist Lee Bong-chang threw a grenade at Emperor Hirohito at Tokyo's Sakuradamon gate. The emperor was unharmed and Lee was promptly arrested; he was tried and executed that October.
Notes
Wikidata gives 9 January 1932; the lead, data box and body give 8 January 1932, which is used.
Fighting between China and Japan breaks out at Shanghai
War & conflict
China and Japan fought around Shanghai from 28 January to 3 March 1932, after a mob attacked Japanese Buddhist monks and Japanese residents rioted and burned a factory. The Chinese turned to the League of Nations for help.
Notes
The ceasefire agreement was signed on 5 May 1932, after the fighting ended on 3 March. Wikidata lists the Shanghai International Settlement as the location and the Republic of China as the country. The article puts the opening battle in the Hongkou and Zhabei districts outside the settlement and says the foreign concessions stayed largely untouched, so the place is stored as Shanghai.
Japan plays its first international rugby match, against Canada in Osaka
Sport
A Japanese national rugby team was formed and played its first international match in Osaka on 31 January 1932, against a Canadian team on an overseas tour. The tour had the backing of a Canadian trade delegation visiting Japan.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and body text both give 31 January 1932; the lead says 1932.
The village of Kfar Yona is founded in the Sharon plain
Everyday life
Kfar Yona was founded on 23 January 1932, the festival of Tu Bishvat, by Morris Fischer, who first called it Gan Yona, Yona's Garden. The land on the Sharon plain was bought lawfully from Mustafa Bushnaq and the Shanti family.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and body give 23 January 1932; the lead names the founder as Maurice Fischer, where the body says Morris Fischer.
· Italian Libya (Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, now Libya) · Africa
Italy declares its campaign in Libya over, ending the Second Italo-Senussi War
War & conflict
In January 1932 Badoglio proclaimed the campaign over, ending a war that began in 1923 and that effectively ended once Senussi leader Omar al-Mukhtar was seized and put to death. Italian forces used chemical weapons and killed civilians en masse.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives the end as 24 January 1932; the body text says Badoglio proclaimed the end of the campaign in January 1932. Mukhtar's aides were executed on 24 September 1932.
Chatto & Windus published Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel Brave New World in February 1932. Set in a future World State where citizens are engineered into a social hierarchy, it follows an outsider, John the Savage, who challenges the seemingly utopian society.
Notes
Wikidata also holds 1 January 1932; English Wikipedia's data box gives February 1932 as the publication date.
Francois Roland Truffaut, born in Paris on 6 February 1932, became a French filmmaker, actor and critic, and wrote for Cahiers du Cinema after learning from the critic Andre Bazin.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date. Wikidata's record names the 17th arrondissement; the data box says Paris.
Gerhard Richter was born in Dresden on 9 February 1932 and became a German visual artist who trained at the Dresden Art Academy and the Kunstakademie Dusseldorf. He has made abstract and photorealistic paintings, photographs and glass pieces.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names Dresden, Free State of Saxony.
FC Vaduz was founded in Vaduz on 14 February 1932, with Johann Walser as its first chairman. It played in the Vorarlberg football association in Austria in 1932-33 and began playing in Switzerland in 1933.
Fianna Fail comes to power in the Irish general election
Politics & diplomacy
The Irish Free State voted on 16 February 1932 for the 7th Dail, electing 153 members in 30 constituencies. Fianna Fail became the largest party and formed a government under Eamon de Valera, backed by Labour.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on 16 February 1932. The new Dail met on 9 March 1932 to choose the government.
Ferdinand Buisson, a French educator, pacifist and politician, died on 16 February 1932. He shared the 1927 Nobel Peace Prize with Ludwig Quidde and led the Human Rights League from 1914 to 1926.
Notes
The death place is from English Wikipedia's data box.
· Sibyllenort, Lower Silesia, Germany (now Szczodre, Poland) · Europe
Frederick Augustus III, the last King of Saxony, dies
Lives
Frederick Augustus III, the last King of Saxony, died at his Sibyllenort Palace in Lower Silesia on 18 February 1932. He had reigned from 1904 until his voluntary abdication on 13 November 1918, after Germany's defeat in the First World War.
· Caslav, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) · Europe
Milos Forman is born in Caslav
Lives
Jan Tomas Forman, known as Milos, was born in Caslav on 18 February 1932. He worked as a director, screenwriter, actor and professor, and moved to the United States in 1968.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names Caslav, Czechoslovakia.
The Jewish museum in Amsterdam opened on 24 February 1932, at first housed in the Waag, or Weighing House, on Nieuwmarkt square. It covers Jewish history, religion and culture in the Netherlands and around the world.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and body text both give 24 February 1932.
Michel Jean Legrand was born in Paris on 24 February 1932 and became a French composer, arranger, conductor, jazz pianist and singer. He wrote more than 200 film and television scores.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names Paris.
The Lapua Movement stages the Mantsala rebellion in Finland
War & conflict
On 27 February 1932 some 400 armed Civil Guards fired small arms to break up a Social Democrat meeting in Mantsala, and Lapua Movement leaders arrived demanding the cabinet's resignation. The rebellion failed and the movement was disbanded in spring.
Notes
Wikidata's single date of 6 March is the end of the rebellion; English Wikipedia's data box and Wikidata's start date give 27 February.
Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born in London on 27 February 1932 to socially prominent American parents, and the family moved to Los Angeles in 1939. National Velvet, released in 1944, made her a popular teen star.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the birth date; the article names London as the birthplace. Wikidata's record lists Hampstead Garden Suburb.
· Kyiv region, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) · Europe
Kyiv Oblast is created in Soviet Ukraine
Politics & diplomacy
Kyiv Oblast was created on 27 February 1932 as one of the first five original oblasts of the Ukrainian SSR. It surrounds Kyiv city without including it, though Kyiv serves as its administrative center.
Agatha Christie's mystery novel Peril at End House was first published in the US by Dodd, Mead in February 1932, with the UK edition from the Collins Crime Club following in March. Hercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings holiday in Cornwall and meet Nick Buckley.
Notes
The novel appeared earlier as magazine serials, in Liberty in the US from 13 June to 22 August 1931 and in Women's Pictorial in the UK from 10 October to 19 December 1931; the book editions came in February and March 1932.
Farabundo Marti, a Salvadoran communist revolutionary, was executed by firing squad in San Salvador on 1 February 1932. He had begun a movement, with Alfonso Luna and Mario Zapata, that the military later crushed.
Notes
The place and manner of death are from English Wikipedia's data box.
· Lake Placid, New York, United States · North America
The 1932 Winter Olympics open at Lake Placid
SportSome details uncertain
The III Olympic Winter Games opened at Lake Placid, New York, on 4 February 1932 and closed on 13 February, with Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt opening them. They were the first Winter Games held outside Europe.
Notes
Wikidata gives the end date as 15 February 1932; the article gives 13 February in both English Wikipedia's data box and the lead, which is used here.
· James B. Sheffield Olympic Skating Rink, Lake Placid, New York, United States · North America
Speed skating at the 1932 Winter Olympics
Sport
Four speed skating events were held at Lake Placid from 4 to 10 February 1932. Races were run with every skater on the ice together, and women skated in demonstration events at 500, 1000 and 1500 metres.
· Lake Placid, New York, United States · North America
Men's ice hockey at the 1932 Winter Olympics
Sport
The men's tournament ran from 4 to 13 February 1932 in Lake Placid. The Winnipeg Hockey Club, representing Canada, won gold, with the United States taking silver and Germany bronze.
· Olympic Indoor Arena, Lake Placid, New York, United States · North America
Curling is demonstrated at the 1932 Winter Olympics
Sport
Curling was only a demonstration sport at Lake Placid. Four American and four Canadian teams took part, playing 16-end matches on 4 and 5 February 1932 at the Olympic Indoor Arena.
· Olympic Center Arena, Lake Placid, New York, United States · North America
Figure skating at the 1932 Winter Olympics
Sport
Figure skating ran from 8 to 12 February 1932 in Lake Placid, with men's singles, ladies' singles and pairs. Karl Schafer won the men's title, Sonja Henie the ladies' title, and Andree and Pierre Brunet the pairs.
Notes
Wikidata gives only the month, February 1932, with dates of 8 to 12 February; the lead confirms the days.
John Towner Williams was born in New York City on 8 February 1932 and became an American composer and conductor. He is best known for working with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names New York City, where Wikidata's record lists Flushing.
· Beverly Hills, California, United States · North America
Edgar Wallace dies in Beverly Hills
Lives
Edgar Wallace, a writer of crime and adventure fiction, died suddenly of undiagnosed diabetes on 10 February 1932 while drafting the script for King Kong. He had moved to Hollywood after failing to win a parliamentary seat in 1931.
Notes
The death place, Beverly Hills (North Maple Drive), is from English Wikipedia's data box and body, and Wikidata agrees; German Wikipedia's text also says Beverly Hills although its data box and French Wikipedia say Hollywood. The quarter-of-all-books remark is a publisher's claim, which English Wikipedia cites only to a user-generated site and marks as needing a better source; no outside check was available, so the line attributes it.
Murders in the Rue Morgue is shown in New York for the first time
Stage, music & filmSome details uncertain
Robert Florey's horror film Murders in the Rue Morgue, drawn from Edgar Allan Poe's 1841 story, was first shown to New York audiences on 10 February 1932. Bela Lugosi plays Doctor Mirakle, a carnival entertainer and scientist.
Notes
English Wikipedia's text gives 10 February 1932 for the first public showing in New York, and its data box also lists 21 February 1932. French Wikipedia gives 21 February 1932 for the US release, so 10 February is kept as the first New York showing with medium confidence.
MGM released Tod Browning's Freaks in February 1932. Set around a travelling French circus, it was cast with real sideshow performers.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 12 February 1932 as the release date. The lead says the San Diego world premiere showed the film before the cuts of 28 January, so that premiere may have come earlier than the date used.
Josef von Sternberg's Shanghai Express is released
Stage, music & film
Josef von Sternberg's Shanghai Express was released on 12 February 1932, with Dietrich, Brook, Wong and Oland in the cast. Its story has a warlord seizing passengers on a train in the middle of the Chinese Civil War.
Notes
Wikidata's main date is 2 February 1932, with 12 February 1932 as an alternative; English Wikipedia's data box gives 12 February, which is used.
The 1932 World Figure Skating Championships are held in Montreal
Sport
The World Figure Skating Championships took place in Montreal from 17 to 20 February 1932, timed with the Winter Olympics at nearby Lake Placid. Karl Schafer, Sonja Henie and the pair Andree and Pierre Brunet won the titles.
Notes
Wikidata gives 28 February to 1 March 1932; the lead and data box give 17 to 20 February, which is used.
The Purple Heart is revived as a US military decoration
Everyday life
A War Department order dated 22 February 1932 revived the Purple Heart as a US military award for those wounded or killed serving with the US military from 5 April 1917. Its forerunner was the Badge of Military Merit, a heart made of purple cloth.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box lists 22 February 1932 as the first award date; the body shows it was the date of the order and circular reviving the medal.
· Boston, Massachusetts, United States · North America
Ted Kennedy is born in Boston
Lives
Edward Moore Kennedy was born on 22 February 1932 into the prominent Kennedy family of Boston; his older brothers were President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He first won election to the Senate in a special election in 1962.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names Boston, Massachusetts, where Wikidata's record lists Dorchester.
· Kingsland, Arkansas, United States · North America
Johnny Cash is born in Kingsland, Arkansas
Lives
Johnny Cash, born J. R. Cash, was born on 26 February 1932 in Kingsland, Arkansas, to poor cotton farmers, and grew up with gospel music. He rose in the mid-1950s among the rockabilly performers of Memphis.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the birth date and place.
Augusto Leguia, Peru's former president and dictator, died in a naval hospital in Callao on 6 February 1932. He had held the presidency in 1908-1912 and again in 1919-1930.
Notes
Wikidata gives 7 February 1932; English Wikipedia's data box and body give 6 February 1932, which is used. The place, Callao, is from the data box.
· Harbin, Manchuria, Republic of China (now China) · Asia
The Defense of Harbin ends in a Japanese victory
War & conflictSome details uncertain
Chinese and Japanese forces fought the Defense of Harbin from late January 1932, during Japan's invasion of Manchuria. Japan won the city in early February after a long fight in freezing weather.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 25 January 1932 for the defense as a whole, while its text has the fighting beginning on 26 January and the Japanese closing in on the city on 4 February, followed by a 17-hour battle. Wikidata gives 4 February 1932. Only the month of the Japanese victory is stored.
The League of Blood carries out assassinations in Tokyo
War & conflictSome details uncertain
The League of Blood plot of 1932 targeted wealthy businessmen and liberal politicians in Japan. Of twenty chosen victims only two were killed: former finance minister Junnosuke Inoue, shot on 9 February, and Dan Takuma of the Mitsui Holding Company, targeted on 5 March.
Notes
The article dates the two attacks to 9 February and 5 March 1932; the 5 March entry describes Hishinuma waiting for Dan, and the lead confirms Dan was killed. Wikidata gives February 1932 with an end date of 1 March 1932, which conflicts with the article.
· Manchuria, Republic of China (now northeastern China) · Asia
Official Chinese resistance in Manchuria ends
War & conflict
On 27 February 1932 General Ding offered to stop fighting, ending official Chinese resistance to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria that began in September 1931. Guerrilla and irregular fighters carried on for years afterward.
Notes
The invasion itself began on 18 September 1931; English Wikipedia's data box gives the span as 18 September 1931 to 27 February 1932, and the end date is the one stored here.
· Memorial Drive, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia · Oceania
The 1932 Australian Championships are played in Adelaide
Sport
The 25th Australian Championships ran from 6 to 13 February 1932 on grass at Memorial Drive, Adelaide, the opening Grand Slam event of the year. Jack Crawford and Coral McInnes Buttsworth took the singles titles.
The Boerentoren in Antwerp opens to the public and its bank tenant
ArchitectureSome details uncertain
The Boerentoren skyscraper in Antwerp welcomed the public to its 24th-floor panoramic room on 19 March 1932; its bank tenant moved in ten days later, on 29 March. Jan Vanhoenacker is credited with the Art Deco design.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text give construction from 1929 to 1932, while the history section says building began in 1931 and finished on 24 December 1931. Because the sources differ on completion, the month of the March 1932 openings is stored. Wikidata gives the year 1932.
Eugen d'Albert, a Scottish-born pianist and composer who studied with Franz Liszt, died in Riga on 3 March 1932. He had gone there to arrange a divorce from his sixth wife.
Aristide Briand, who held the office of French Prime Minister eleven times during the Third Republic, died in Paris on 7 March 1932. He shared the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize with Gustav Stresemann for the Locarno Treaties.
Notes
The death place, Paris, is from English Wikipedia's data box.
Hjalmar von Sydow and two servants are found beaten to death in Stockholm
Lives
On 7 March 1932 the politician Hjalmar von Sydow and two members of his household, the cook Karoline Herou and the maid Ebba Hamn, were found beaten to death at his Stockholm town house on Norr Malarstrand. The murders count among the most infamous criminal cases in Swedish history.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box names four targets, including Ingun von Sydow, while the body text names three people found beaten to death.
Paolo Boselli, a former Italian prime minister, died on 10 March 1932 in Rome; his burial was in Turin. He led the government during the First World War, from 18 June 1916 to 29 October 1917.
Ivar Kreuger, the Swedish financier known as the Match King, was found dead in his Paris flat on 12 March 1932, and police concluded it was suicide. His financial empire collapsed during the Great Depression.
Hindenburg beats Hitler to win a second term as German president
Politics & diplomacy
Germans voted on 13 March 1932, with a second round on 10 April, and the incumbent Paul von Hindenburg beat Adolf Hitler to win a second seven-year term. Communist leader Ernst Thalmann took over ten percent in the runoff.
Notes
The first round was on 13 March 1932 and the runoff on 10 April 1932; Wikidata also lists 10 April as a date.
Pablo Picasso painted the oil painting Girl before a Mirror on 14 March 1932. It portrays his mistress and muse, Marie-Therese Walter, standing before a mirror.
Notes
The opening text says 1932 and the description section gives 14 March 1932. English Wikipedia's data box lists the year 1932 and MoMA in New York as the present home, not where it was painted.
· Portland Place, London, England, United Kingdom · Europe
The first radio broadcast is made from the BBC's Broadcasting House
ArchitectureSome details uncertain
The first radio broadcast from Broadcasting House, the BBC's London headquarters, was made on 15 March 1932, when the BBC Dance Orchestra under Henry Hall played the first music programme. The official opening followed on 15 May.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 15 March 1932 as the inauguration date, and its lead and body say the first broadcast was made that day, with the official opening on 15 May 1932. French Wikipedia gives 15 May 1932 as the inauguration. The first broadcast day is used.
Real Zaragoza is founded as Zaragoza Foot-ball Club
Sport
Real Zaragoza was founded on 18 March 1932 under the name Zaragoza Foot-ball Club. It plays at La Romareda and has spent most of its history in La Liga.
FC Metz comes into being through a merger of two athletic clubs
SportSome details uncertain
FC Metz came into being on 23 March 1932 through the merger of two amateur athletic clubs, and turned professional soon afterwards. Its roots go back to the Cercle Athletique Messin of 1919.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and lead give 1919 as the founding year, tracing the club to the Cercle Athletique Messin. The body says FC Metz itself was founded on 23 March 1932 by a merger, which is the date used here. Wikidata gives 1932.
Leni Riefenstahl's The Blue Light is released in Berlin
Stage, music & film
Leni Riefenstahl's black-and-white film The Blue Light was released in Berlin on 24 March 1932. Riefenstahl plays Junta, a witch whom the film treats sympathetically, and locations included the Brenta Dolomites, Ticino and Sarntal.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives a Berlin release on 24 March 1932 and a US release on 8 May 1934.
The Basque Nationalist Party holds the first Aberri Eguna in Bilbao
Politics & diplomacy
The Basque Nationalist Party first organised Aberri Eguna, or Fatherland Day, in Bilbao on 27 March 1932. The first one was a demonstration of some 65,000 participants that ended at the Sabino Arana House.
The 33rd running of the Paris-Roubaix cycling classic took place on 27 March 1932, finishing at a velodrome in Roubaix. Romain Gijssels of Belgium won, ahead of Georges Ronsse and Herbert Sieronski.
The Gaumont Palace cinema, now the Hammersmith Apollo, opens
Stage, music & film
The venue now known as the Hammersmith Apollo began in 1932 as a cinema, the Gaumont Palace, designed in the Art Deco style by Robert Cromie. It stands in Hammersmith, London, and is Grade II* listed.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and German Wikipedia's data box both give the opening as 28 March 1932; the English text and French Wikipedia say only 1932.
· East Amwell, New Jersey, United States · North America
Charles Lindbergh's infant son is kidnapped
Everyday life
On 1 March 1932 the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh vanished from his crib in New Jersey, and his body was found beside a nearby road on 12 May. Bruno Richard Hauptmann was convicted in 1935 and executed in 1936.
Revlon began in New York City on 1 March 1932, during the Great Depression, founded by the brothers Charles and Joseph Revson with the chemist Charles Lachman.
· Reading, Pennsylvania, United States · North America
John Philip Sousa dies
Lives
John Philip Sousa, the American composer and conductor known as the March King, died in Reading, Pennsylvania, on 6 March 1932. His best-known marches include The Stars and Stripes Forever, Semper Fidelis, The Liberty Bell and The Washington Post.
· Rochester, New York, United States · North America
George Eastman dies
Lives
George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Kodak Company, died in Rochester, New York, on 14 March 1932. He took his own life after two years of intense pain from a spinal disorder.
Notes
The death place, Rochester, is from English Wikipedia's data box.
· Pasadena, California, United States · North America
Frederick Jackson Turner dies
Lives
Frederick Jackson Turner, an American historian best known for his frontier thesis, died in Pasadena, California, on 14 March 1932. His essay argued that the moving western frontier shaped American democracy and character.
Notes
Wikidata's record points to San Marino; English Wikipedia's data box and body say Pasadena, which is used.
Alan LaVern Bean was born in Wheeler, Texas, on 15 March 1932, and NASA picked him as an astronaut in 1963. He first went into space in November 1969 aboard Apollo 12, the Moon's second landing mission.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and biography section agree on the date and place.
· Reading, Pennsylvania, United States · North America
John Updike is born in Reading, Pennsylvania
Lives
John Hoyer Updike was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on 18 March 1932. He was a novelist, poet, short-story writer and critic whose best-known work is the Rabbit series, about Harry Angstrom.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names Reading, Pennsylvania.
· Boston, Massachusetts, United States · North America
Walter Gilbert is born in Boston
Lives
Walter Gilbert was born in Boston on 21 March 1932 into a Jewish family and became an American biochemist and physicist, a pioneer of molecular biology. He worked at Harvard University and is a Nobel laureate.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and early-life section agree on the date and place. The sequencing method developed with Allan Maxam is in the Career and research section of English Wikipedia, and the shared 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is in its Awards and honors section.
Ernst Lubitsch's musical comedy One Hour with You was released in the United States on 22 March 1932, with Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald and Genevieve Tobin. Lubitsch produced and directed it with George Cukor's assistance.
Notes
The release date is from English Wikipedia's data box; the lead and body say 1932.
Bulgarian-born brothers Mihail and Ivan Lazaroff founded Danubio on 1 March 1932 with other youths from a Montevideo school. The club took Montevideo Wanderers' black and white colours that year.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and body give 1 March 1932, while the lead says the club was founded in 1945; 1 March 1932 is used.
· Tian Shan mountains, Xinjiang, Republic of China (now China) · Asia
Kyrgyz irregulars rise in the Tian Shan mountains of Xinjiang
War & conflict
In March 1932 Kyrgyz irregulars under Id Mirab took up arms against the Chinese republican government in the Tian Shan mountains. Government forces under Ma Shaowu, the Hui military commander at Kashgar, quickly defeated them.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box says 1932; the opening paragraph sets the month as March.
Manchukuo was set up on 1 March 1932 in territory taken in Japan's invasion of Manchuria, and few states recognized it. Japan installed Puyi, the last emperor of China, as nominal regent while Japanese officials made all the important decisions.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box lists the Northeast Supreme Administrative Council as starting on 16 February and the state as established on 1 March 1932; the empire was proclaimed on 1 March 1934.
Manchukuo's national flag was first set out in an Announcement of National Flag on 1 March 1932. The design put four horizontal stripes of differing colours in the upper left corner of a yellow field.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on 1 March 1932.
The Irkutsk Aviation Plant was established on 28 March 1932 by order No. 181 of the main directorate of the People's Commissariat for Heavy Industry. It was later known as Irkut Corporation and is now the JSC Yakovlev Corporation.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and body text give 28 March 1932.
Fuad I called the first Congress of Arab Music to meet in Cairo between 14 March and 3 April 1932, on a suggestion from Baron Rodolphe d'Erlanger, a French ethnomusicologist. It was the first big gathering to showcase, discuss and record musical traditions from across the Arab world.
The first Maccabiah was held in Mandatory Palestine from 28 March 1932, opened in Tel Aviv by Meir Dizengoff, and ran into early April. The games honoured 1,800 years since the Jewish rebellion of Bar Kokhba against Rome.
Notes
English Wikipedia gives 28 March to 2 April 1932 in its data box and lead, while German Wikipedia gives 28 March to 6 April 1932, so only the start day is stored. Tel Aviv is the opening city; the swimming events were in Haifa. The link to the 1,800th anniversary of the Bar Kokhba revolt is stated in the opening section of English Wikipedia.
· Johannesburg, Union of South Africa (now South Africa) · Africa
Miriam Makeba is born in Johannesburg
Lives
Zenzile Miriam Makeba was born in Johannesburg on 4 March 1932 and became a singer, songwriter, actress and civil rights activist, nicknamed Mama Africa. She spoke out against apartheid in South Africa.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box gives the birthplace as Prospect Township, Johannesburg.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge, a steel through-arch bridge linking Sydney's central business district with the North Shore, opened on 19 March 1932. The British firm Dorman Long designed and built it under John Bradfield's direction.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives completion on 19 January 1932 and the opening on 19 March 1932; the opening is stored.
· Antarctica and southern Tasmania, Australia · The poles
An annular solar eclipse crosses Antarctica and southern Tasmania
Cosmos
An annular solar eclipse took place on 7 March 1932, with the ring phase seen from parts of Antarctica and from southern Tasmania. Observers in parts of Antarctica, Australia and Southeast Asia saw a partial eclipse.
Notes
The article's table puts the moment of greatest eclipse at 07:55 UTC on 7 March 1932.
Proletkult, the Soviet proletarian culture organization, is dissolved
Art & literatureSome details uncertain
Proletkult, an experimental Soviet arts institution born of the 1917 revolution, was dissolved in April 1932. It federated local cultural societies and avant-garde artists and sought to create a new working-class aesthetic.
Notes
The April 1932 dissolution date comes from English Wikipedia's data box.
Soviet authorities disband the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers
Art & literatureSome details uncertain
In April 1932 the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers (RAPP), a Soviet creative union founded in January 1925, was disbanded along with similar bodies such as Proletkult. The Union of Soviet Writers took its place.
Notes
The opening text places the disbanding in April 1932, so the month is stored. Wikidata gives only the year 1932.
Romania's Ministry of Industry and Trade founded Cluj Airport on 1 April 1932, and it opened that year as Someseni Airport. In 1933 the Romanian government declared it an international airport.
Notes
The lead and data box say the airport opened in 1932, while the body text gives 1 April 1932 as the founding date.
Wilhelm Ostwald, a Baltic German chemist and philosopher, died on 4 April 1932; his burial was at his country estate in Grossbothen, near Leipzig. He received the 1909 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Notes
English Wikipedia's text and German Wikipedia say he died in a Leipzig hospital, while English Wikipedia's data box and French Wikipedia give Grossbothen as the place of death. Leipzig is used; the date agrees in all of them.
Count Ottokar Czernin, an Austro-Hungarian diplomat and politician, died in Vienna on 4 April 1932. He served as Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary from 1916 to 1918, during the First World War.
· Zavrazhye, near Yuryevets, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia) · Europe
Andrei Tarkovsky is born in Zavrazhye
Lives
Andrei Tarkovsky, later a Soviet director and screenwriter, was born in Zavrazhye, a village close to the town of Yuryevets, on 4 April 1932. His first feature, Ivan's Childhood, took the top prize at the Venice festival.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and life section agree on the birth date.
Mikhail Pokrovsky, a Russian Marxist historian and revolutionary, died of cancer on 10 April 1932. He was deputy chief of the Soviet education department and headed the Institute of Red Professors.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 29 August 1932 as the death date, but the lead, the body text and Wikidata all give 10 April 1932, which is used.
· Thurston's Hall, London, England, United Kingdom · Europe
Joe Davis wins the 1932 World Snooker Championship
SportSome details uncertain
Joe Davis of England won the 1932 World Snooker Championship, beating the New Zealander Clark McConachy 30-19 in the final. Only McConachy and Tom Dennis entered besides Davis.
Notes
The lead says the tournament ran from 14 to 20 April 1932, but the schedule in the body puts the final at Thurston's Hall on 25 to 30 April 1932. The range given runs from the semi-final start to the end of the final.
Sir Patrick Geddes, a Scottish biologist, sociologist and pioneering town planner, died at Montpellier on 17 April 1932, shortly after being knighted. He had founded the Scots College in Montpellier in 1924.
Giuseppe Peano, an Italian mathematician who spent most of his career teaching at the University of Turin, died on 20 April 1932. He helped found mathematical logic and set theory, and the standard axioms for the natural numbers bear his name.
Notes
The death place, Turin, is from English Wikipedia's data box.
· Wembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom · Europe
Newcastle United beat Arsenal in the 1932 FA Cup final
Sport
Newcastle United beat Arsenal 2-1 at Wembley in the 1932 FA Cup final, with Jack Allen scoring both goals after Bob John had put Arsenal ahead. People later nicknamed the match the Over The Line final.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box date matches Wikidata's record and the article's opening text.
The Buenavista stadium, later Estadio Carlos Tartiere, is inaugurated in Oviedo
Sport
The stadium in Oviedo was inaugurated on 24 April 1932 as the Buenavista stadium, named after its neighbourhood, with a match between the Spanish and Yugoslav national sides. Real Oviedo used it as their ground until the New Carlos Tartiere replaced it in 2000.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and history section both give 24 April 1932.
Michael Smith was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, on 26 April 1932 and became a British-Canadian biochemist and businessman. He became a professor of biochemistry at the University of British Columbia in 1966.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and early-life section agree on the date and place.
Nicole Francoise Florence Dreyfus, known as Anouk Aimee, was born in Paris on 27 April 1932 and became a French actress who appeared in 70 films between 1947 and 2019. Her career began when she was 14.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names Paris, where Wikidata's record lists the 17th arrondissement.
Jose Felix Uriburu, who took power in a 1930 coup, dies in Paris
Lives
Jose Felix Uriburu, an Argentine officer who took power in a coup in 1930, died in Paris on 29 April 1932. He had led a provisional government until 20 February 1932.
Notes
The death place is from English Wikipedia's data box.
Mary Frances Reynolds, known as Debbie, was born in El Paso, Texas, on 1 April 1932. She became an American actress, singer and dancer, and in Singin' in the Rain (1952) her part as Kathy Selden gave her a breakout.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names El Paso, Texas.
MGM's Tarzan the Ape Man, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, was released on 2 April 1932. Johnny Weissmuller stars in the first of his 12 Tarzan films, with Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box lists 22 March 1932 for New York City and a premiere on 2 April 1932 for the US, and Wikidata gives 22 March; the body says the film was released on 2 April 1932, which is used.
Howard Hawks's gangster film Scarface reached theaters on 9 April 1932, with Paul Muni as Tony Camonte, an immigrant gangster who rises violently through Chicago's underworld. The Hays Office demanded changes that delayed release by a year.
Notes
Wikidata also lists 31 March and 29 April 1932; English Wikipedia's data box and body give 9 April 1932, which is used.
MGM's Grand Hotel, directed by Edmund Goulding, premiered at the Astor Theatre in New York on 12 April 1932. Greta Garbo, John and Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford and Wallace Beery starred.
Notes
Wikidata also lists 1 March 1933 as a date; English Wikipedia's data box and body give the 12 April 1932 premiere.
· Anchorage, Alaska Territory, United States · North America
McGee Airways, forerunner of Alaska Airlines, is founded
Economy & trade
McGee Airways was founded on 14 April 1932 by Linious McGee in Anchorage, with its first route running from Anchorage to Bristol Bay. It was the forerunner of Alaska Airlines.
Notes
The day comes from English Wikipedia's data box; the lead and body describe McGee Airways as a precursor.
The Laurel and Hardy short The Music Box is released
Stage, music & film
The Laurel and Hardy short comedy The Music Box, directed by James Parrott and produced by Hal Roach, was released on 16 April 1932. In it the pair struggle to haul a piano up a very long flight of steps.
Notes
The day comes from English Wikipedia's data box. The reception section says MGM released the short to theatres more than seven months before Variety's review of 22 November, which fits April.
The Folger Shakespeare Library opens in Washington, D.C.
Art & literature
The Folger Shakespeare Library opened on Capitol Hill on 23 April 1932, two years after its founder Henry Clay Folger died. He had established it together with his wife Emily.
Notes
Wikidata gives the year 1932; the body text gives 23 April 1932.
· Atlantic Ocean, east of Palm Beach, Florida, United States · North America
Hart Crane dies after going overboard from the USS Orizaba
Lives
The American poet Hart Crane died on 27 April 1932 after jumping from the steamship Orizaba into the Atlantic as it sailed from Veracruz to New York by way of Havana. He was intoxicated and left no note, but witnesses believed he meant to end his life.
Notes
The death place is from English Wikipedia's data box; the lead describes the ship's route from Veracruz to New York.
· Detroit, Michigan, United States · North America
Casey Kasem is born in Detroit
Lives
Kemal Amin Kasem, later Casey Kasem, was born in Detroit on 27 April 1932 and became a US radio host and actor. He created and fronted countdown shows, above all American Top 40.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and early-life section agree on the date; the data box names Detroit, Michigan.
· Khovsgol and other northwestern provinces, Mongolian People's Republic (now Mongolia) · Asia
An armed uprising against 'left course' policies breaks out in Mongolia
War & conflictSome details uncertain
A popular revolt, led largely by lamas, spread across northwestern Mongolia in protest at the ruling party's 'left course' policies, beginning on 10 or 11 April 1932 at the Khyalganat monastery. Government forces, helped by Soviet tanks and aircraft, brought it under control by the end of summer.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box dates the revolt from 11 April to October 1932, while the lead and body place its end in November 1932; the main uprising began on 10 or 11 April according to the body text, so only months are stored. Wikidata gives April to 1 November 1932.
Manchukuo establishes its armed forces, including the Manchukuo Imperial Army
War & conflictSome details uncertain
A law called the Army and Navy Act, dated 15 April 1932, formally set up the armed forces of Manchukuo, the puppet state Japan had set up in Manchuria. The first troops were mostly deserters from the National Revolutionary Army who had served under Zhang Xueliang.
Notes
The day comes from the history section's account of the Army and Navy Act; the opening text and data box say 1932. English Wikipedia's data box gives the army's years as 1932 to 1945.
· Hongkou Park, Shanghai, Republic of China (now China) · Asia
Yun Bong-gil bombs a ceremony at Hongkou Park in Shanghai
War & conflict
At 11:40 am on 29 April 1932 a bomb exploded at Hongkou Park in Shanghai during a ceremony for Emperor Hirohito's birthday. Yun Bong-gil threw the bomb, which killed General Yoshinori Shirakawa, and the attack was planned by the Korean Patriotic Organization.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box date and the opening text agree, and so does Wikidata's record. The park is now called Lu Xun Park.
· Alexandria, Kingdom of Egypt (now Egypt) · Middle East
Omar Sharif is born in Alexandria
Lives
Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub, later Omar Sharif, was born in Alexandria on 10 April 1932. He played Sherif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia, which brought a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, and took the title role in Doctor Zhivago.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names Alexandria in the Kingdom of Egypt.
· Carthage Street Circuit, Tunis, French protectorate of Tunisia (now Tunisia) · Africa
Achille Varzi wins the Tunis Grand Prix
SportSome details uncertain
Achille Varzi won the 37-lap Tunis Grand Prix at the Carthage Street Circuit in April 1932, driving a privateer Bugatti. Marcel Lehoux, also in a Bugatti, was second, and Philippe Etancelin took third in an Alfa Romeo.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives the date as 3 April while the opening text says 17 April 1932; Wikidata gives 1932-04-03. Both dates fall in April, so the month is stored.
· Carnarvon Gorge, Queensland, Australia · Oceania
The reserve that became Carnarvon National Park is gazetted in Queensland
Everyday lifeSome details uncertain
The reserve that grew into Carnarvon National Park was established on 28 April 1932, set aside to protect Carnarvon Gorge in Queensland for its scenery, heritage and geology.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and French Wikipedia's data box both give 28 April 1932 as the founding day; the English text says the reserve was gazetted in 1932. German Wikipedia gives only the year.
The ILO adopts the revised convention on protection of dockers against accidents
Politics & diplomacy
The International Labour Organization adopted the revised Protection against Accidents (Dockers) Convention on 27 April 1932. Numbered Convention C32 and filed under Dock Work, it came into force in 1934.
Notes
The adoption date comes from the convention's data box and agrees with Swedish and Chinese Wikipedia, which place the adoption in Geneva. Chinese Wikipedia gives entry into force on 30 October 1934 against 30 November 1934 in English Wikipedia, so only the year 1934 is used.
France held legislative elections on 1 and 8 May 1932 to choose the 15th legislature of the Third Republic. The second Cartel des gauches won, and Edouard Herriot formed a government with centre-right backing.
FC Balzers was founded in Balzers, Liechtenstein, on 1 May 1932 and played its first friendly, against FC Chur, on 22 May 1932.
Notes
German Wikipedia's text gives 1 May 1932, matching the data boxes of English and French Wikipedia. English Wikipedia calls the club Liechtenstein's oldest and the first foreign member of the Swiss football association, but its articles on FC Vaduz (14 February 1932) and FC Triesen (5 June 1932) give other founding days in the same year, so those claims are not used.
The body of Lilly Lindestrom is found in Stockholm's Atlas district
Everyday lifeSome details uncertain
On 4 May 1932 police broke into a small apartment in Stockholm's Atlas district and found the body of 31-year-old Lilly Lindestrom, dead for a few days from a heavy blow to the head. Nobody was ever charged, and the case remains unsolved.
Notes
The date is when the body was found; the victim had already been dead for a few days, so the killing happened earlier.
Carl Theodor Dreyer's Gothic horror film Vampyr premiered in Berlin on 6 May 1932, and the audience booed. Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg funded it and, credited as Julian West, played the lead.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box lists the release as 6 May 1932 in Germany and September 1932 in Paris.
Paul Doumer, President of France, dies after being shot
Lives
Paul Doumer, President of France since June 1931, was assassinated in May 1932 and died on 7 May in Paris. He had won the presidency in 1931, beating the better-known Aristide Briand.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives the cause of death as assassination by gunshot. The body text places Doumer at a Paris book fair on 6 May 1932, and the assassin's confession letter is dated 9 May 1932.
Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani was born in Voghera on 11 May 1932 and became an Italian couturier known simply as Valentino. He opened his own fashion house in Rome.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names Voghera, Lombardy, Kingdom of Italy.
The 20th Giro d'Italia began in Milan on 14 May 1932 and finished there on 5 June, organized by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. Antonio Pesenti of the Wolsit team won, ahead of Jef Demuysere and Remo Bertoni.
Estonia held parliamentary elections from 21 to 23 May 1932. The agrarian party led by Konstantin Pats won 42 seats, and Karl August Einbund of the same party replaced Jaan Teemant as State Elder.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and Wikidata give 23 May 1932 as the election date, the last of the three voting days the lead names (21 to 23 May).
· County Galway, Irish Free State (now Ireland) · Europe
Lady Gregory dies
Lives
Lady Gregory, an Anglo-Irish playwright, folklorist and theatre manager, died at home in County Galway on 22 May 1932, aged 80. With Yeats and Edward Martyn she helped found both the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives the death place as Galway, County Galway. The body says she died at home, and the lead names her home as Coole Park in County Galway, so only the county is given here.
The 37th French Championships ran from 22 May to 6 June 1932 at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, the second Grand Slam event of that season. Both Henri Cochet and Helen Wills Moody took their last French titles there.
Notes
Wikidata gives a start date of 26 May 1932, while the lead says the tournament began on 22 May, which is used.
On 23 May 1932 the Polish Ministry of Agriculture issued a regulation creating a national park in the Pieniny Mountains, after the government made its first land purchases there in 1928. The park lies on the border with Slovakia.
Notes
23 May 1932 is the date English Wikipedia gives for the ministry's order. Polish Wikipedia says the regulation was signed on that day and took effect on 1 June 1932, and elsewhere mentions a proclamation of the park in August 1932.
Franz von Hipper, a German Imperial Navy admiral, died near Hamburg on 25 May 1932. He led the I Scouting Group and its battlecruisers at Jutland in 1916, and in 1918 he took over the High Seas Fleet from Reinhard Scheer.
Notes
The death place is from English Wikipedia's data box.
· Afsluitdijk, between Den Oever and Zurich, Netherlands · Europe
Workers close the last gap in the Afsluitdijk
ArchitectureSome details uncertain
Workers closed the last gap in the Afsluitdijk at low tide on 28 May 1932, completing the dam between Den Oever and Zurich. It cut the Zuiderzee off from the North Sea, and the enclosed water became the freshwater lake IJsselmeer.
Notes
Wikidata and English Wikipedia's data box say 1932 for the opening; the body says the dyke was finished on 28 May 1932 and officially opened on 25 September 1933. The finishing date is used. The same closure created the IJsselmeer lake.
The Hockenheimring opened on 29 May 1932, after ground was broken on 23 March. It was first called the Dreieckskurs, or triangle course, and was used under that name from 1932 to 1938.
Notes
The opening and ground-breaking days are from English Wikipedia's data box; the body says the track was built in 1932.
· West Palm Beach, Florida, United States · North America
Ellen Churchill Semple dies
Lives
Ellen Churchill Semple, an American geographer, died in West Palm Beach, Florida, on 8 May 1932. She helped shape the early study of human geography in the United States.
· Financial District, Manhattan, New York City, United States · North America
The Cities Service Building at 70 Pine Street is dedicated in Lower Manhattan
Architecture
The Art Deco skyscraper at 70 Pine Street, built between 1930 and 1932 for its first tenant, the Cities Service Company, was dedicated on 13 May 1932. On completion it was the tallest building in Lower Manhattan.
Notes
Wikidata gives the year 1932. The building was completed by early 1932 and received a permanent occupancy certificate in August 1932.
Clarence Brown's pre-Code drama Letty Lynton was released in the United States on 14 May 1932, starring Joan Crawford with Robert Montgomery and Nils Asther. Crawford's heroine escapes punishment for a killing in a story of love and blackmail.
Notes
The release date is from English Wikipedia's data box; the lead says 1932.
Goofy first appeared on 27 May 1932 in the Disney cartoon Mickey's Revue, as an older character later called Dippy Dawg. Later that year The Whoopee Party recast him as a younger figure.
Notes
English Wikipedia's Goofy and Mickey's Revue articles both give the cartoon's release as 27 May 1932; Wikidata holds 25 May 1932 as a creation date. The Goofy article calls him anonymous in this first cartoon, while its lead says he debuted as Dippy Dawg.
· Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana, United States · North America
Fred Frame wins the 1932 Indianapolis 500
Sport
The 20th Indianapolis 500 was held on 30 May 1932, and Fred Frame won after starting 27th, with an average speed of 104.144 mph that broke a 1925 record. Twenty-six of the 40 cars dropped out, and two men died in practice.
Naval officers assassinate Japan's prime minister in the May 15 Incident
Politics & diplomacy
On 15 May 1932 reactionary elements of the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a coup attempt in Japan, and eleven young naval officers assassinated Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi. Army cadets and survivors of the League of Blood helped.
Japan's prime minister Inukai Tsuyoshi is assassinated
Lives
Inukai Tsuyoshi, Japan's prime minister since 13 December 1931, was assassinated on 15 May 1932. He had backed the army's 1931 invasion of Manchuria and rejected League of Nations criticism over the Mukden Incident.
Notes
Wikidata lists 16 May 1932 as an alternative date; English Wikipedia's data box and lead give 15 May 1932, which is used.
· Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India (now Kolkata, India) · Asia
Bipin Chandra Pal dies
Lives
Bipin Chandra Pal, an Indian nationalist and writer, died in Calcutta on 20 May 1932. He opposed the British partition of Bengal and helped design and lead the Swadeshi movement.
Notes
The death place is from English Wikipedia's data box.
· Torbet-i-Kheydarly, Persia (now Iran) · Middle East
Magnitude 5.4 earthquake near Torbet-i-Kheydarly in northern Persia
Disasters
A shallow magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck near Torbet-i-Kheydarly on 20 May 1932, at 19:16 UTC, and is recorded as having caused 1,070 deaths. The epicentre was at 36.6 degrees north, 53.4 degrees east.
Notes
NOAA UTC date 1932-05-20 19:16; the local date in Persia is the same day. NOAA gives the date in the Gregorian calendar.
· Moscow and Moscow Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia) · Europe
The Soviet government orders construction of the Moscow-Volga Canal to begin
ArchitectureSome details uncertain
On 1 June 1932 the Soviet government approved the canal route via Dmitrov and ordered construction to start at once. The canal links the Moskva River with the Volga, and about 200,000 gulag prisoners built it between 1932 and 1937.
Notes
Wikidata gives only the year 1932, and English Wikipedia's data box gives 1937 as the completion date. The date used is the 1 June 1932 government resolution ordering construction to start.
Tazio Nuvolari wins the 1932 Italian Grand Prix at Monza
Sport
The 1932 Italian Grand Prix was run at Monza on 5 June, and Tazio Nuvolari won driving an Alfa Romeo. Luigi Fagioli finished second in a Maserati.
Notes
Winner, second place and pole sitter are from English Wikipedia's data box and agree with French Wikipedia. The fastest lap is disputed (the English data box names Fagioli, French Wikipedia names Nuvolari), so it is not stated.
The Patriotic People's Movement is founded in Finland
Politics & diplomacy
A conference held on 5 June 1932 founded the Patriotic People's Movement, or IKL, as a continuation of the banned Lapua Movement. The party was nationalist and anti-communist and existed until 1944.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and history section both give 5 June 1932.
Perkins is founded in Peterborough to build diesel engines
Economy & trade
Frank Perkins and Charles Wallace Chapman established Perkins on Queen Street in Peterborough on 7 June 1932, aiming to design and build fast-running diesel engines. Its first such engine, the four-cylinder Vixen, debuted that year.
Notes
The day comes from the history section; English Wikipedia's data box and opening text say 1932.
The Lausanne Conference cuts Germany's reparations
Politics & diplomacy
Delegates from Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Japan and Germany met at Lausanne from 16 June to 9 July 1932 and agreed to cut Germany's war reparations by about 90 per cent because of the Great Depression.
Frederik van Eeden, a Dutch writer and psychiatrist, died in Bussum on 16 June 1932. He belonged to the Tachtigers literary group and the Significs Group.
The International Basketball Federation is founded in Geneva
Sport
FIBA, the world governing body of basketball, was formed in Geneva on 18 June 1932, two years after the IOC officially recognized basketball. Leon Bouffard led it until 1948.
Agatha Christie's The Thirteen Problems is published
Art & literature
The Collins Crime Club issued Agatha Christie's story collection The Thirteen Problems in the UK on 18 June 1932. The US edition followed in 1933 as The Tuesday Club Murders.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and lead give 18 June 1932; Wikidata gives June 1932.
The tenth 24 Hours of Le Mans took place on 18 and 19 June 1932 at the Sarthe circuit, which had a new section bypassing the Pontlieue suburb and was almost 3 km shorter. Alfa Romeos set the pace from the start.
· Wimbledon, London, England, United Kingdom · Europe
The 1932 Wimbledon Championships
Sport
The 1932 Wimbledon Championships ran from 20 June to 2 July on grass courts in London. Ellsworth Vines won the men's singles and Helen Moody the women's singles.
Notes
Wikidata gives only the year 1932 as the main date, with the start and end dates held separately.
· Pulkovo, near Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia) · Europe
Pulkovo airfield near Leningrad officially opens
Architecture
Pulkovo was officially opened on 24 June 1932 as a state-owned domestic airport near Leningrad, after building began in January 1931. The first aircraft landed at 17:31, bringing passengers and mail from Moscow.
Auto Union AG was formed in 1932 by merging four German car makers: Audi, Horch, DKW and Wanderer. The firm is the direct predecessor of today's Audi.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 29 June 1932 for the founding of Auto Union AG, matching Wikidata, while the body places the founding in summer 1932. The lead says the firm was established in Chemnitz in 1936, and the data box lists its head office at Zschopau from 1932 to 1936.
Benito Mussolini founded the modern city of Littoria on 30 June 1932, naming it after the Fascist emblem, the fascio littorio. It is now called Latina and is the capital of its province.
George Cukor's pre-Code drama What Price Hollywood?, starring Constance Bennett with Lowell Sherman, was released in June 1932. Its story is credited to Adela Rogers St. Johns and Louis Stevens.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 2 June 1932, while French Wikipedia gives 24 June 1932 for the United States release. Both are in June, so only the month is stored.
· Alberta, Canada, and Montana, United States · North America
Waterton Lakes and Glacier national parks are joined as an international peace park
Politics & diplomacy
On 18 June 1932 Canada's Waterton Lakes and the United States' Glacier National Park were joined at Glacier Park Lodge. The US Congress had passed an act for the peace park in December 1931, and Canada's act received royal assent on 26 May 1932.
· San Jose, California, United States · North America
Dudley Herschbach is born in San Jose, California
Lives
Dudley Robert Herschbach, an American chemist based at Harvard University, was born on 18 June 1932 in San Jose, California. He and Yuan T. Lee used crossed molecular beams to study how elementary reactions proceed.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and early-life section agree on the date and place.
Jack Conway's pre-Code romantic comedy Red-Headed Woman, written for the screen by Anita Loos, was released on 25 June 1932. Jean Harlow plays a gold-digging secretary who tries to rise socially, including by seducing her wealthy married boss.
Notes
The release date is from English Wikipedia's data box; the lead says 1932.
From June 1932 the yuan served as Manchukuo's official currency, built around a pure silver unit of 23.91 grams. It displaced the Chinese Haikwan tael that Manchuria had commonly used before the Mukden Incident.
Notes
The lead dates the currency from June 1932, while the Central Bank of Manchou opened on 1 July 1932, so only the month is stored.
The Temporary Constitution of 1932 created the office of prime minister in Siam, at first titled President of the People's Committee, after the Siamese Revolution made the country a constitutional monarchy. Manopakorn Nitithada was the first holder.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 28 June 1932 as the formation date, but its text and French Wikipedia say only 1932, so only the month is stored.
On 24 June 1932 the Khana Ratsadon staged a coup in Siam that ended the absolute rule of the Chakri dynasty. King Prajadhipok stayed on the throne, and the country gained its first constitution and a National Assembly.
Siam's first legislature, a People's Assembly of appointed members, met on 28 June 1932 in the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall. King Prajadhipok had signed the draft constitution creating it after the revolution of 24 June.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 28 June 1932 as the National Assembly's foundation; the revolution that led to it was on 24 June 1932.
Misr Airlines, forerunner of EgyptAir, is established
Economy & trade
Misr Airlines, a division of Misr Airwork, was established on 7 June 1932 to foster aviation among young Egyptians. Flights began in July 1933, linking Cairo with Alexandria and Mersa Matruh.
· Pimville, Johannesburg, Union of South Africa (now South Africa) · Africa
Sol Plaatje dies
Lives
Sol Plaatje, a South African writer and politician, died of pneumonia in Pimville, Johannesburg, on 19 June 1932. He helped found the South African Native National Congress and served as its first General Secretary.
Notes
Wikidata's main date is 19 January 1932, with 19 June 1932 as an alternative; English Wikipedia's data box and body give 19 June 1932, which is used.
Alfred Hitchcock's Number Seventeen is released in London
Stage, music & filmSome details uncertain
Alfred Hitchcock's British comedy thriller Number Seventeen was released in London in July 1932, starring John Stuart and Anne Grey. Criminals who carry out a jewel robbery hide their loot in an old house beside a railway.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives a London release on 18 July 1932 and French Wikipedia gives July 1932, but German Wikipedia and Wikidata give 7 November 1932. A Variety review from August 1932 is quoted in the English reception section, which fits July better than November, so only the month is stored.
· Twickenham, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom · Europe
Manuel II, the last king of Portugal, dies
Lives
Manuel II died in exile at Twickenham on 2 July 1932, aged 42. He had become king at 18 after the 1908 regicide killed his father and elder brother, and the monarchy was overthrown in 1910.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives the death place as Fulwell, Middlesex, while the lead says Twickenham, Middlesex; the two are the same area. Wikidata's proposed place of London is less specific.
· Donetsk region, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) · Europe
Donetsk Oblast is created in Soviet Ukraine
Politics & diplomacySome details uncertain
Donetsk Oblast was set up on 2 July 1932 within Soviet Ukraine, carved from Kharkiv Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and several districts governed directly from Kharkiv, then Ukraine's capital. Stalino, today's Donetsk, became its administrative center on 16 July.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and lead give 1938 as the oblast's establishment (named Stalino Oblast until 1961), while the body text gives 2 July 1932, which matches Wikidata; the body date is used.
Rene-Louis Baire, a French mathematician, died in Chambery on 5 July 1932. He ended his own life. He had worked at the Ecole Normale Superieure and the University of Dijon.
Notes
The death place is from English Wikipedia's data box.
Kenneth Grahame, the Scottish author of The Wind in the Willows, died of a cerebral haemorrhage at his home in Pangbourne on 6 July 1932. He had worked at the Bank of England after his hopes of university were frustrated.
The 26th Tour de France ran from 6 to 31 July 1932 over 21 stages. Andre Leducq won the race and took six stages, helped by a new time-bonus system for stage winners.
· Stary Krym, Crimea, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union · Europe
Alexander Grin dies
Lives
Alexander Grin, a Russian writer born Aleksandr Grinevsky, died of stomach cancer in Stary Krym on 8 July 1932. His fiction, mostly romances and short tales about the sea, adventure and love, is set largely in an unnamed fantasy country.
Notes
The death place is from English Wikipedia's data box and body text.
· Altona, Prussia, Germany (now part of Hamburg) · Europe
Altona Bloody Sunday: street clashes leave eighteen dead
War & conflictSome details uncertain
On 17 July 1932 a Nazi SA recruitment march in Altona, then in Prussia and now part of Hamburg, set off violent clashes with police and Communists. Eighteen people were killed.
Notes
A church inscription quoted in the article gives the date as 17 June 1932, whereas English Wikipedia's data box, lead and body give 17 July 1932, which is used. Wikidata's description says April 1932 but its date is 17 July.
Rudolf Caracciola wins the 1932 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring
Sport
The German Grand Prix was run at the Nurburgring on 17 July 1932, and Rudolf Caracciola won in an Alfa Romeo after starting from pole position. Tazio Nuvolari finished second and set the fastest lap.
King George V opened the second Lambeth Bridge over the Thames on 19 July 1932. The firm Dorman Long built it, to replace the first bridge, which had opened on 10 November 1862.
Notes
English Wikipedia's text and data box give 19 July 1932, which is used. Wikidata gives 12 May 1932 and French Wikipedia gives 12 July 1932, so the day is disputed.
Papen takes over the Prussian government by decree
Politics & diplomacy
On 20 July 1932 President Hindenburg, at Franz von Papen's request, replaced Prussia's lawful government with Papen as Reich Commissioner. Papen pointed to street clashes such as the fighting at Altona on 17 July.
Notes
The pretext described in the body text was the Altona Bloody Sunday clashes involving the Nazi SA and Communists.
Errico Malatesta, an Italian anarchist and revolutionary, died in Rome on 22 July 1932. He edited several radical newspapers and was jailed or expelled from Italy, Britain, France and Switzerland.
Notes
The death place, Rome, is from English Wikipedia's data box.
Poland and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact
Politics & diplomacy
Poland and the Soviet Union signed a three-year non-aggression pact in Moscow on 25 July 1932. It took effect on 23 December 1932, when the two sides swapped ratifications in Warsaw.
Notes
The pact was signed on 25 July 1932 and took effect on 23 December 1932, the date Wikidata gives as its start.
France beats the United States in the 1932 Davis Cup final
Sport
France beat the United States in the Challenge Round at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris from 29 to 31 July 1932. It was the French team's sixth consecutive title in the 27th edition of the competition.
Notes
Wikidata gives 28 April to 31 July 1932 for the whole competition; the article dates the final.
The Nazi Party becomes the largest party in the Reichstag election
Politics & diplomacy
Germany voted on 31 July 1932 after the Reichstag was dissolved early. The Nazi Party gained heavily, and Nazis and Communists together held over half the seats, so no majority coalition could form without one of them.
The first Nice Circuit Race, a Grand Prix, took place on 31 July 1932, with a 15-lap final after three qualifying heats. Louis Chiron won in a Bugatti, ahead of Raymond Sommer in an Alfa Romeo.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on 31 July 1932.
· Los Angeles, California, United States · North America
King Camp Gillette dies
Lives
King Camp Gillette, the American businessman who founded the Gillette razor company, died in Los Angeles on 9 July 1932. His innovation was a thin, cheap, disposable blade made of stamped steel.
· Boston, Massachusetts, United States · North America
George Preston Marshall founds the Boston Braves NFL franchise
Sport
On 9 July 1932 George Preston Marshall founded an NFL franchise in Boston, first called the Boston Braves and playing at Braves Field. In 1933 it became the Boston Redskins, and in 1937 it moved to Washington, D.C.
· Chicago, Illinois, United States · North America
Donald Rumsfeld is born in Chicago
Lives
Donald Henry Rumsfeld was born in Chicago on 9 July 1932. He was the 13th US secretary of defense under Gerald Ford and returned as the 21st under George W. Bush.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date and name Chicago, Illinois, as the birthplace; German, Spanish, Italian and Swedish Wikipedia also say Chicago. French Wikipedia gives Evanston, Illinois, just north of Chicago.
Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian-American engineer and inventor, died in Bermuda on 22 July 1932. He received hundreds of patents in radio and sonar, and in 1900 he made the first radio transmission of speech.
Notes
Wikidata's record places his death in Hamilton Parish; English Wikipedia's data box gives Bermuda, which is used.
· Hollywood, California, United States · North America
Florenz Ziegfeld dies in Hollywood
Lives
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., the Broadway impresario, died of pleurisy in Hollywood on 22 July 1932. He was known for the Ziegfeld Follies, a run of theatrical revues from 1907 to 1931.
The US Army clears Bonus Army protesters from Washington
Politics & diplomacy
On 28 July 1932 President Hoover ordered the Army, under General Douglas MacArthur, to clear a camp of World War I veterans seeking early cash bonuses. Infantry, cavalry and six tanks drove out the marchers and their families, and their shelters were burned.
Victor Halperin's White Zombie, with Bela Lugosi as the voodoo master Legendre, premiered at New York's Rivoli Theatre on 28 July 1932. Reviewers criticized it, yet it earned a substantial profit as an independent feature.
· Los Angeles, California, United States · North America
The 1932 Summer Olympics open in Los Angeles
Sport
The Games of the X Olympiad ran in Los Angeles from 30 July to 14 August 1932. Because of the Great Depression only 37 countries took part, down from 46 in 1928, and Vice President Charles Curtis opened the Games in place of President Hoover.
· Los Angeles, California, United States · North America
Art competitions are held at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics
Art & literature
The Los Angeles Games included medal contests in art from 30 July to 14 August 1932, with prizes for works on sporting themes in architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture.
Flowers and Trees, a Disney cartoon directed by Burt Gillett, was released by United Artists on 30 July 1932. It won the first Academy Award given for cartoon short subject.
John Rogers Searle was born in Denver on 31 July 1932 and became a US philosopher known for ideas on language, mind and society. Until 2019 he was a professor of mind and language philosophy at Berkeley.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and life section agree on the date; the data box names Denver, Colorado.
Sao Paulo rises against the Vargas government in the Constitutionalist Revolution
War & conflictSome details uncertain
On 9 July 1932 the people of Sao Paulo state rose against Getulio Vargas, who was ruling by decree under a provisional government without a constitution. Expected support from Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul never came, and the revolt was overwhelmed on 2 October.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and lead give the revolt's defeat on 2 October 1932, while the lead also describes 87 days of fighting from 9 July to 4 October.
Alberto Santos-Dumont, a Brazilian aeronaut and inventor who spent most of his life in Paris, died at Guaruja on 23 July 1932. He took his own life the year after joining the Brazilian Academy of Letters.
Notes
The death place, Guaruja, is from English Wikipedia's data box.
The Turkish Language Association is founded on Ataturk's initiative
Art & literature
The Turkish Language Association was founded on 12 July 1932 on Ataturk's initiative, starting as the Society for Research on the Turkish Language. Four literary figures who sat in parliament joined him in setting it up.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and history section all give 12 July 1932.
The Australian Government created the Australian Broadcasting Commission on 1 July 1932 under an act passed that year. It took over from the private Australian Broadcasting Company and ran the National Broadcasting Service.
Notes
Wikidata also lists 1 July 1983 as an alternative date; the article gives 1 July 1932 for the founding, which is used.
Forrest Mars Sr. first made the Mars bar, a bar of caramel and nougat coated in milk chocolate, in Slough, England, in August 1932. He modelled it on his father's Milky Way bar.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 1 August 1932, while French Wikipedia says the first bars were made by hand in August 1932, at the bank holiday weekend (28 August). English text and German Wikipedia give only 1932, so only the month is stored.
The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation is founded at Chamonix
Sport
Twenty mountaineering associations met for an alpine congress at Chamonix in August 1932 and founded the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, known by its French-language abbreviation UIAA. Count Charles Egmond d'Arcis of Switzerland was chosen as its first president.
Notes
Wikidata gives 27 August 1932; English Wikipedia's data box and lead give August 1932, so the month is stored.
Peter James O'Toole was born in Leeds on 2 August 1932 and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. His first Oscar nomination for Best Actor came for Lawrence of Arabia, released in 1962.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire.
Ignaz Seipel, an Austrian Catholic priest and conservative politician, died at Pernitz on 2 August 1932. He was twice Chancellor of the First Austrian Republic in the 1920s and led the Christian Social Party.
The first Venice Film Festival opened on the night of 6 August 1932, created by Giuseppe Volpi with Luciano de Feo and Antonio Maraini. It is described as the world's oldest film festival and takes place on the Lido island.
The Soviet 'Law of Spikelets' decree on theft of collective farm property is issued
Politics & diplomacy
A Soviet decree dated 7 August 1932 aimed to shield collective farm property, especially grain, from theft. It prescribed execution, or at least ten years in prison where there were mitigating circumstances.
Notes
English, French and Russian Wikipedia all date the decree 7 August 1932, and English Wikipedia explains its nickname 'seven-eighths' from that date written as 7/8/1932. Wikidata gives 8 August 1932.
· Potempa, Upper Silesia, Germany (now part of Krupski Mlyn, Poland) · Europe
Nazi stormtroopers kill the Communist miner Konrad Pietzuch at Potempa
Politics & diplomacySome details uncertain
Five uniformed SA men beat the Communist miner and trade unionist Konrad Pietzuch to death at his Potempa flat, in front of his mother, on the night of 9 August 1932. A court in Beuthen sentenced the killers to death.
Notes
Wikidata gives 1932-08-10. The opening text puts the attack on the night of 9 August 1932, which is used here.
Spanish officers stage the Sanjurjada coup against the Republic
War & conflict
Spanish army officers staged the Sanjurjada coup on 10 August 1932, aiming to topple the government. It was quickly put down in Madrid, while General Jose Sanjurjo held Seville for about 24 hours before admitting defeat.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 10-11 August 1932; the lead gives 10 August as the day of the coup.
The Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen founded the Lego company in 1932, on 10 August. His main business of making household goods had suffered during the Great Depression.
Notes
The exact day comes from English Wikipedia's data box; the lead and body say 1932.
On 11 August 1932 the Second Polish Republic turned the Bialowieza inspectorate into a national park. It protects the best-preserved stretch of Bialowieza Forest, next to the Belarus border.
Estonian voters reject a proposed constitution in a referendum
Politics & diplomacy
Estonia held a constitutional referendum from 13 to 15 August 1932. Voters turned down the constitution proposed by parliament, with 50.8 percent against.
Notes
The opening text gives 13 to 15 August 1932 and English Wikipedia's data box lists the same two dates; Wikidata's record gives the last day.
Luc Montagnier was born on 18 August 1932 and became a French virologist who worked at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. He was joint winner of the 2008 Nobel medicine prize for discovering HIV.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box (behind a language template, so hidden in the plain text) gives the birth place as Chabris, Indre, France, and the early-life text says he was born in Chabris. Wikidata also names Chabris. The date agrees between the data box and the opening text.
Johannes Schober, an Austrian jurist and politician, died in Baden bei Wien on 19 August 1932. He served twice as chancellor, from June 1921 to May 1922 and from September 1929 to September 1930.
Alfredo Binda wins the 1932 road world championship in Rome
Sport
The twelfth Road World Championships were held in Rome on 31 August 1932, with twenty-one professional riders starting. Alfredo Binda won his third world title as Italian riders dominated at home.
The first match is played at the Abbey Stadium, home of Cambridge United
Sport
A friendly against Cambridge University Press on 31 August 1932 was the first game staged at the Abbey, where Cambridge United have played ever since. In 1931 the club president Henry Francis had given the club land and built a grandstand and changing rooms.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and history section all give 31 August 1932.
The Marx Brothers comedy Horse Feathers is released
Stage, music & filmSome details uncertain
The Marx Brothers comedy Horse Feathers was released in August 1932, with Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo starring alongside Thelma Todd and David Landau. Several gags came from the brothers' stage comedy Fun in Hi Skule.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 19 August 1932 and its text cites a Time review dated 15 August 1932. French Wikipedia gives a release date of 6 October 1932 and German Wikipedia gives only the year, so only the month is stored.
Rouben Mamoulian's pre-Code musical comedy Love Me Tonight was released in August 1932, with music by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Maurice Chevalier plays a tailor posing as a nobleman and Jeanette MacDonald a princess he falls in love with.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 18 August 1932, while French Wikipedia gives a New York premiere on 13 August and a national release on 17 August 1932. All are in August, so only the month is stored.
The new Washington quarters, designed by the sculptor John Flanagan, entered circulation on 1 August 1932. They replaced the Standing Liberty quarter and marked the 1932 bicentennial of George Washington's birth.
Frank Capra's American Madness premieres in New York
Stage, music & filmSome details uncertain
Frank Capra's pre-Code drama American Madness opened in New York on 4 August 1932, with Walter Huston as a New York banker caught up in scandal. Robert Riskin wrote the film for Columbia Pictures.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 4 August 1932. French Wikipedia gives 4 August 1932 as the New York premiere and 15 August 1932 as the national release, and Wikidata's main date is 15 August 1932. The premiere day is used.
· Los Angeles, California, United States · North America
Swimming events at the 1932 Summer Olympics
Sport
Eleven swimming events, six for men and five for women, were held in Los Angeles from 6 to 13 August 1932. A total of 128 swimmers from 20 countries took part.
Notes
The interest line rests on Olympedia's page for swimming at the 1932 Games (stadium size and medal list); English Wikipedia's article gives only the counts already in the summary.
· Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, United States · North America
Lacrosse is played as a demonstration sport at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics
Sport
Canada and the United States contested three lacrosse games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and the Americans won the series 2-1. Canada sent an all-star side, while the Johns Hopkins team under coach Ray Van Orman represented the United States.
Notes
The start day is in the lead and English Wikipedia's data box; the end day 12 August is from the data box.
· Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, United States · North America
American football is played as a demonstration sport at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics
Sport
On 8 August 1932 seniors from Cal, Stanford and USC met seniors from Harvard, Yale and Princeton in the Coliseum, and the West won 7-6 before 60,000 spectators. USC's Gus Shaver captained the West and led all rushers with 145 yards.
· Chaguanas, Trinidad, British Trinidad and Tobago (now Trinidad and Tobago) · North America
V. S. Naipaul is born in Chaguanas, Trinidad
Lives
Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul was born on 17 August 1932 in Chaguanas, a sugar plantation town on Trinidad, then a British crown colony. His breakthrough novel, A House for Mr Biswas, appeared in 1961.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and life section agree on the birth date and place.
· Abaco Islands, British Bahamas (now The Bahamas) · North America
A Category 5 hurricane forms and later crosses the Bahamas
Disasters
The 1932 Abaco hurricane formed north of the Virgin Islands on 30 August 1932 and crossed the northern Bahamas on 5 September at peak strength, with winds of about 160 mph. In the Bahamas it killed 18 people and flattened hundreds of homes.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the formation date of 30 August and the end date of 17 September.
· Canada and the northeastern United States · North America
A total solar eclipse crosses Canada and New England
Science
A total solar eclipse occurred on 31 August 1932, with totality crossing Canada's Northwest Territories and Quebec and parts of New England, including Cape Cod. A partial eclipse was seen across North America, Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America and the eastern Soviet Union.
Notes
The eclipse crossed the date change, so the Soviet Union saw the partial eclipse on 1 September local time.
The Tokyo-Takarazuka Theatre Company, later Toho, is founded
Stage, music & filmSome details uncertain
Ichizo Kobayashi, founder of the Hankyu Railway, created the Tokyo-Takarazuka Theatre Company on 12 August 1932. It later became Toho, which makes, distributes and screens films and runs stage theatres from Chiyoda, Tokyo.
Notes
Wikidata gives 8 August 1932, while English Wikipedia's data box gives 12 August 1932, which is used; the body text says 1932.
· Amman, Emirate of Transjordan (now Jordan) · Middle East
Al-Faisaly football club is founded in Amman as Al-Ashbal Club
Sport
Al-Faisaly, a football club from Amman, was founded on 10 August 1932 as Al-Ashbal Club. It competes in the Jordanian Pro League and is nicknamed the Blue Eagles.
Notes
The day is from English Wikipedia's data box; the lead and body say 1932.
On 2 August 1932 Carl D. Anderson discovered the positron, the antimatter twin of the electron, with the same mass but opposite charge. Blackett and Occhialini at the Cavendish Laboratory found it independently at about the same time.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives Dirac's theory as 1928 while the body text describes his prediction paper as published in 1931. Anderson's discovery date of 2 August 1932 is from the body text; the data box says 1932.
Work begins on the Stadio Municipale Benito Mussolini in Turin
Architecture
Work on Turin's Stadio Municipale Benito Mussolini began in September 1932, built to host the Littoriali Games and the World Student Games of 1933. It was inaugurated on 14 May 1933.
Notes
Wikidata gives 21 September 1932, but the article says September 1932 for the start of work; the opening was 14 May 1933.
· Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now Serbia) · Europe
The 1932 European Rowing Championships are held in Belgrade
Sport
The 1932 European Rowing Championships were held on the Sava in Belgrade from 2 to 4 September. Only men took part, competing in all seven Olympic boat classes.
Notes
Wikidata's record places the event in Slovenia; the article places it in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
· Masaryk Circuit, Brno, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) · Europe
Louis Chiron wins the 1932 Masaryk Grand Prix at Brno
Sport
The third Masaryk Grand Prix took place at the Masaryk Circuit on 4 September 1932, run to the 750 kg formula. Louis Chiron won in a Bugatti, starting from pole and setting the fastest lap.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on 4 September 1932.
Spain's parliament approves the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia
Politics & diplomacy
Spain's parliament approved the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, also called the Statute of Nuria, on 9 September 1932. It gave Catalonia self-government for the first time in over 200 years.
Notes
The referendum on the draft was held on 2 August 1931. The article says the amended text approved in 1932 was in force until Nationalist forces occupied Catalonia in 1939.
France's all-professional football league opens as National
Sport
France's professional football league began play on 11 September 1932 as National, the same day professionalism was officially put in place. Olympique Lillois won the first title in 1933.
Notes
Wikidata gives only the year 1932; the article gives 11 September 1932.
Upney Underground station opens on the District line
Architecture
Upney station opened on 12 September 1932, put up by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway as new tracks were laid for electric District Railway local trains between Barking and Upminster.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and history section all give 12 September 1932. The same electrification works brought other stations on the line into use.
Sir Ronald Ross, the British physician who in 1897 found the malaria parasite in a mosquito's gut, died in London on 16 September 1932. He won the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his malaria work.
Notes
The death place, London, is from English Wikipedia's data box.
Sweden holds a general election won by the Social Democrats
Politics & diplomacy
Sweden held general elections on 17 and 18 September 1932. The Social Democrats stayed the biggest party, with 104 of 230 seats in the Riksdag's Andra kammaren, and went back into government after six years in opposition.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 17 September 1932 as the election date; the lead gives 17 and 18 September.
· Arnos Grove, Enfield, London, United Kingdom · Europe
Arnos Grove Underground station opens
Architecture
Charles Holden designed Arnos Grove station, which opened on 19 September 1932 as the northern end of the first stretch of the Piccadilly extension out of Finsbury Park. Trains ended there until Oakwood opened on 13 March 1933.
Notes
English Wikipedia's opening text, data box and history section agree on 19 September 1932. Its lead says the first section ran from Finsbury Park to Cockfosters, but the same article says Arnos Grove was the terminus until Oakwood opened on 13 March 1933, so the first section ended at Arnos Grove. French Wikipedia also gives 19 September 1932.
· Cebreros, Avila, Second Spanish Republic (now Spain) · Europe
Adolfo Suarez is born in Cebreros
Lives
Adolfo Suarez Gonzalez was born in Cebreros, in the province of Avila, on 25 September 1932. He trained as a lawyer and led the Spanish government from 1976 until 1981.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names Cebreros, Avila, in the Second Spanish Republic.
Greece held parliamentary elections on 25 September 1932, with all 250 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and a third of the Senate up. The People's Party won the most votes but fewer seats than Venizelos's Liberal Party.
Notes
The opening text gives 25 September 1932, matching Wikidata's record.
· Stalino (now Donetsk), Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) · Europe
Anatoliy Solovianenko is born in Stalino, now Donetsk
Lives
Anatoliy Solovianenko was born on 25 September 1932 in what was then Stalino, now Donetsk, into a mining family. He became a Ukrainian operatic tenor and was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1975.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and life section agree on the date. The life section notes that Donetsk was called Stalino at the time.
Rainer Weiss was born in Berlin on 29 September 1932 and became a German-American physicist known for work in gravitational physics and astrophysics. He taught physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and early-life section agree on the date; the data box names Berlin.
· West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills, New York City, United States · North America
The 1932 U.S. National Championships are played at Forest Hills
Sport
The 52nd U.S. National Championships ran from 3 to 10 September 1932 on grass at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, the fourth Grand Slam event of the year.
Notes
Wikidata gives a start date of 14 August 1932, while the lead says the tournament began on 3 September, which is used.
· Winchester, Virginia, United States · North America
Patsy Cline is born in Winchester, Virginia
Lives
Virginia Patterson Hensley, later Patsy Cline, was born in Winchester, Virginia, on 8 September 1932. She became one of the first country artists to succeed in pop music.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names Winchester, Virginia.
The IND Eighth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway opens
Architecture
Passengers were let onto the Eighth Avenue Line shortly after midnight on 10 September 1932, after trains had run empty on a normal schedule for three days. It began the Independent Subway System, with express A trains and local AA trains.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and history section both give 10 September 1932. The opening of this line is also the start of A subway service.
The Most Dangerous Game is released in the United States
Stage, music & film
The film adaptation of Richard Connell's 1924 short story reached United States cinemas on 16 September 1932, with Joel McCrea, Fay Wray and Leslie Banks under the direction of Ernest B. Schoedsack and Irving Pichel. In Britain it was released as The Hounds of Zaroff.
Notes
The release date is from English Wikipedia's data box and body; Wikidata lists many other dates, from 1932 to 1976.
Josef von Sternberg's Blonde Venus was released on 16 September 1932, with Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall and Cary Grant in the cast. Sternberg produced, edited and directed it.
Notes
Wikidata lists 14, 23 and 29 September 1932 as dates; English Wikipedia's data box gives 16 September 1932, which is used.
Scribner's published Ernest Hemingway's Death in the Afternoon on 23 September 1932. The non-fiction work treats Spanish bullfighting through its history, its ceremony and its traditions.
Notes
The exact publication day comes from the body text; English Wikipedia's data box and lead say 1932.
MGM's romantic drama Smilin' Through, directed by Sidney Franklin and starring Norma Shearer and Fredric March among others, was released on 24 September 1932. It is based on a 1919 stage play of the same title.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 24 September 1932 and the opening text says 1932; Wikidata's record gives the year.
Glenn Herbert Gould, born Gold, was born in Toronto on 25 September 1932 and became a Canadian pianist and broadcaster. He gave up concerts at 31 to focus on studio recording and media work.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names Toronto, Ontario.
· Superior, Wisconsin, United States · North America
Oliver E. Williamson is born in Superior, Wisconsin
Lives
Oliver Eaton Williamson, born on 27 September 1932 in Superior, Wisconsin, became an American economist teaching at the University of California, Berkeley. His influential ideas covered the theory of the firm and the economics of transaction costs.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and life section agree on the date; the data box names Superior, Wisconsin.
George Cukor's pre-Code drama A Bill of Divorcement, starring John Barrymore and Katharine Hepburn, was released in the United States on 30 September 1932. It adapts Clemence Dane's 1921 British play.
Notes
The release date is from English Wikipedia's data box; the lead says 1932.
· Leticia, Amazon region, Colombia · South America
The Colombia-Peru War over Leticia begins
War & conflictSome details uncertain
Peruvian soldiers seized Leticia in the early hours of 1 September 1932, starting a short war with Colombia over Amazon territory that the 1922 Boundary Treaty had given to Colombia. Most people in the district were Peruvians.
Notes
Wikidata gives the end as 25 June 1933; English Wikipedia's data box and lead give 24 May 1933, which is used. The lead describes an agreement dividing the disputed area, while the data box says the Salomon-Lozano Treaty was upheld.
· Gran Chaco, South America (disputed by Bolivia and Paraguay) · South America
The Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay begins
War & conflictSome details uncertain
Bolivia and Paraguay began fighting over the northern Gran Chaco, a region thought to hold oil, with the siege of Fortin Boqueron opening on 9 September 1932. The war lasted until 1935 and killed around 2% of Bolivians and 3% of Paraguayans.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 9 September 1932 as the start, which the body ties to the start of the siege of Fortin Boqueron. The body also describes an earlier clash at Pitiantuta Lake on 15 June 1932. The data box end date of 12 June 1935 matches Wikidata; the final peace treaty came in July 1938. Wikidata's proposed place of Brazil is not supported; the article places the war in the Gran Chaco.
· Gerasimovka, Ural Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia) · Asia
Pavlik Morozov, a 13-year-old Soviet boy, dies at Gerasimovka
LivesSome details uncertain
Pavlik Morozov died on 3 September 1932 at Gerasimovka. The Soviet press praised him as a martyr, and the legend said he informed on his father and was killed by his family, but evidence found since the Soviet Union ended points to the story having been fabricated.
Notes
The date of death is stated in English Wikipedia's data box and lead, but the circumstances are disputed; research since the end of the Soviet Union indicates the standard story was fabricated.
On 15 September 1932 Japan and Manchukuo signed a protocol confirming Japan's recognition of Manchukuo and setting up a mutual defence agreement that allowed Japanese troops to be stationed there.
· Pingdingshan, Liaodong, Manchukuo (now Dongzhou, Liaoning, China) · Asia
The Imperial Japanese Army carries out the Pingdingshan massacre
War & conflict
On 16 September 1932 the Imperial Japanese Army carried out a massacre in the village of Pingdingshan in the Liaodong area, now part of Dongzhou, Liaoning.
· Gah, Punjab Province, British India (now Pakistan) · Asia
Manmohan Singh is born in Gah
Lives
Manmohan Singh was born on 26 September 1932 in Gah, in what is now Pakistan, and his family moved to India at the 1947 partition. He earned a doctorate in economics at the University of Oxford.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the birth date. The data box names the place as Gah, Punjab Province, British India.
· Kingdom of Hejaz and Najd (now Saudi Arabia) · Middle East
Ibn Saud proclaims the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Politics & diplomacy
On 23 September 1932 Ibn Saud announced that his two realms, Najd and the Hejaz, were united as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. His campaigns of unification had begun in 1902, when he returned to Najd and retook Riyadh.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives the first phase of unification as 13 January 1902 to 23 September 1932 and a second phase in 1934.
· Hejaz and Nejd, Arabian Peninsula (now Saudi Arabia) · Middle East
The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd becomes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Politics & diplomacy
On 23 September 1932 Abdulaziz, known as Ibn Saud, declared al-Hasa, Qatif, Nejd and the Hejaz united as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Before that his realm was the dual Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd, run as two separate parts.
Notes
The article covers the third Saudi state; its data box gives 23 September 1932 as the end date, with the event named as Saudi Arabia established.
· Turenne (now Sabra), Tlemcen Province, French Algeria (now Algeria) · Africa
A train carrying Foreign Legion soldiers crashes at Turenne in Algeria
Disasters
On 14 September 1932 a military train carrying French Foreign Legion soldiers from Sidi Bel Abbes derailed in the mountains between Zelboun and Turenne and fell into a ravine. At least 62 people were killed.
Notes
English and French Wikipedia give 62 dead and 223 injured (English Wikipedia: 57 soldiers and five crew), while German Wikipedia gives 120 dead and 150 injured, so only a minimum toll is stated. English Wikipedia says the train was bound for Oujda in Morocco and German Wikipedia says Tlemcen, so no destination is given. English and German Wikipedia both blame heavy rain that had softened the track bed. Turenne is now called Sabra.
Louis-Ferdinand Celine's debut novel, Voyage au bout de la nuit, came out in October 1932. Its narrator, Ferdinand Bardamu, travels from the First World War to colonial Africa, the United States and Paris's poor suburbs.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and lead say 1932; the month comes from the body text.
· Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) · Europe
The Dnieper Hydroelectric Station begins producing electricity
Technology
The Dnieper Hydroelectric Station in Zaporizhzhia began producing electricity in October 1932, after the Soviet Union built it from 1927 to 1932. It is the fifth and largest of the Dnieper's cascade of power stations.
Notes
Wikidata gives the year 1932; the body text gives October 1932 for the first electricity. English Wikipedia's data box gives 1927 as the start of construction.
Oswald Mosley launches the British Union of Fascists
Politics & diplomacy
Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists was launched at 12 Great George Street, London, on 1 October 1932, emerging from the electoral defeat of his New Party in 1931. Mosley wrote its programme, The Greater Britain, that summer.
The Times of London first printed in Times New Roman on 3 October 1932. The newspaper had commissioned the typeface in 1931, and Stanley Morison of Monotype conceived it with Victor Lardent.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 1931 as the release date, which matches the year The Times commissioned the typeface. The lead gives 3 October 1932 as its first appearance in print, which is used.
Max Wolf, a German astronomer and astrophotography pioneer, died in Heidelberg on 3 October 1932. He directed the state observatory at Heidelberg-Konigstuhl from 1902 until his death.
· Queen's Hall, London, England, United Kingdom · Europe
The London Philharmonic Orchestra gives its first concert
Stage, music & film
Thomas Beecham conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra's first concert at Queen's Hall on 7 October 1932. Beecham and Malcolm Sargent founded it that year as a rival to the London Symphony and BBC Symphony Orchestras.
Notes
The debut date is from the body; English Wikipedia's data box and lead say 1932.
· Chernihiv region, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) · Europe
Chernihiv Oblast is created in Soviet Ukraine
Politics & diplomacy
Chernihiv Oblast was created on 15 October 1932 within the Ukrainian SSR. It lies in northern Ukraine, with the city of Chernihiv as its administrative center.
The Junkers L10 engine, later the Jumo 210, has its first test run
Technology
The Junkers L10 had its first static test run on 22 October 1932, after development began in 1931. It became the Jumo 210, the first inverted V12 aircraft engine Junkers put into production, and powered the Messerschmitt Bf 109A-D and the Junkers Ju 87A.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives the year 1932 for the first run; the day comes from the body text, which names the engine L10.
George Lansbury is elected Labour leader unopposed
Politics & diplomacy
The Labour Party held a leadership election on 25 October 1932 after the resignation of its leader, Arthur Henderson, and George Lansbury was elected unopposed.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on 25 October 1932.
Mussolini opens the Fascist Revolution exhibition in Rome
Art & literature
Mussolini opened the Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution at Rome's Palazzo delle Esposizioni on 28 October 1932, ten years after the March on Rome. Nearly four million people visited over its two years.
Notes
The end date, 28 October 1934, comes from English Wikipedia's data box only. The article says the planned April 1933 closing was put off twice, first to October and then to the following October.
The French Line's ocean liner Normandie was launched at Saint-Nazaire on 29 October 1932, built at the Penhoet shipyard. When she entered service in 1935 she was the biggest and quickest passenger ship afloat.
Notes
Wikidata's record calls it an opening; the article shows 29 October 1932 as the launch, not the start of service.
Louis Marie Malle was born in Thumeries on 30 October 1932 and became a French filmmaker who also made films in Hollywood. His films include Elevator to the Gallows and Au revoir les enfants.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names Thumeries.
The film Rain, with Joan Crawford as the prostitute Sadie Thompson in a story set in the South Seas, was released on 12 October 1932. Walter Huston plays a conflicted missionary determined to reform her.
Notes
The release date is from English Wikipedia's data box, which also marks Milestone's director credit as uncredited.
· San Francisco, California, United States · North America
The War Memorial Opera House opens in San Francisco with Tosca
Stage, music & film
The War Memorial Opera House opened on 15 October 1932 with the San Francisco Opera performing Puccini's Tosca, and became the opera's permanent home. The building was designed in a restrained Roman Doric style to honour First World War service.
Notes
The history section gives 15 October 1932 for the opening night; English Wikipedia's data box and opening text give the year 1932.
James Whale's horror film The Old Dark House began its wide release on 20 October 1932, with Boris Karloff and Charles Laughton among the cast. It adapts J.B. Priestley's 1927 novel Benighted, in which five travellers shelter from a storm in the decaying house of the eccentric Femm family.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and release section agree on 20 October 1932 for the wide release. The New York premiere at the Rialto Theatre was 27 October 1932, after a July preview. Wikidata lists several other dates.
Victor Fleming's pre-Code romantic drama Red Dust, with Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and Mary Astor, was released on 22 October 1932. The story unfolds on a rubber plantation in what was then French Indochina.
Notes
The release date is from English Wikipedia's data box; the opening paragraph says 1932.
Robert Alexander Mundell was born in Kingston, Ontario, on 24 October 1932 and became a Canadian economist, who held teaching posts at Columbia, McGill and Hong Kong's Chinese University. He received the Economics Nobel in 1999.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and early-life section agree on the date and place.
Margaret Brown, Titanic survivor, dies in New York
Lives
Margaret Brown, an American philanthropist, died in her sleep at New York's Barbizon Hotel on 26 October 1932. She had survived the Titanic sinking in 1912, when she urged the crew of Lifeboat No. 6 to go back for survivors, in vain.
· East of the Lesser Antilles, Atlantic Ocean · North America
The 1932 Cuba hurricane forms east of the Lesser Antilles
Disasters
The hurricane began as a tropical depression on 30 October 1932, peaked as a Category 5 storm with 175 mph winds on 6 November, and struck Cuba's Camaguey Province on 9 November with winds of 150 mph.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives a death toll of 3,103 or more, while the body gives 3,033 for Cuba, so no figure is stated here. The dates are from the lead and data box.
Ernst Lubitsch's Trouble in Paradise was released on 30 October 1932, with Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis and Herbert Marshall starring. A gentleman thief and a lady pickpocket team up to con the owner of a perfume company.
Notes
Wikidata lists 27 October as its main date and 28 October, 30 October and 3 November as alternatives; English Wikipedia's data box gives 30 October 1932, which is used.
Chile held general elections on 30 October 1932, and Arturo Alessandri of the Liberal Party won the presidency. The Conservative Party and the Radical Party became the biggest groups in the Chamber of Deputies.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on 30 October 1932.
The Indian Air Force is founded as an auxiliary of the RAF
War & conflict
The Indian Air Force came into being on 8 October 1932 as a British India auxiliary of the Royal Air Force. The Indian Air Force Act 1932 made it adopt RAF uniforms and badges.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives two start dates: 8 October 1932 for the force under its early name, and 26 January 1950 for the service in its present form. The 1932 founding is used here.
Tata Airlines flies air mail from Karachi to Bombay and Madras
Economy & trade
On 15 October 1932 JRD Tata piloted a single-engine de Havilland Puss Moth with air mail from Karachi to Bombay; the aircraft then flew on to Madras, flown by former RAF pilot Nevill Vintcent. Tata's airline later became Air India.
Notes
Wikidata also holds 29 July 1946, the date English Wikipedia's data box gives for the airline commencing as Air India.
· Amur region, Russian Far East, Soviet Union (now Russia) · Asia
Amur Oblast is established
Politics & diplomacySome details uncertain
Amur Oblast was established on 20 October 1932. It lies along the Amur and Zeya rivers in the far east of Russia, with Blagoveshchensk as its administrative center.
Notes
The establishment date comes from English Wikipedia's data box.
· Sakhalin, Far Eastern Krai, Soviet Union (now Russia) · Asia
Sakhalin Oblast is set up in the Soviet Far East
Politics & diplomacy
Sakhalin Oblast was created on 20 October 1932 within Far Eastern Krai. Today it covers Sakhalin island and the Kuril chain, with Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk as its main city.
· Singapore, Straits Settlements (now Singapore) · Asia
Three banks merge to form the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation
Economy & trade
Three banks, the Chinese Commercial Bank, the Ho Hong Bank and the Oversea Chinese Bank, merged on 31 October 1932 to create the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation in Singapore. Tan Ean Kiam and Lee Kong Chian led the merger.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and history section both give 31 October 1932; Wikidata's record gives the year.
· Cairo, Kingdom of Egypt (now Egypt) · Middle East
Ahmed Shawqi, the Prince of Poets, dies in Cairo
Lives
Ahmed Shawqi, an Egyptian poet laureate, died in Cairo on 14 October 1932. He wrote both verse and plays, including The Death of Cleopatra and Antara, and had studied in France.
Notes
The death date comes from English Wikipedia's data box; the lead gives the years 1868 to 1932.
Berlin transport workers strike around the November 1932 election
Politics & diplomacySome details uncertain
Berlin's transport workers went on strike against the Berliner Verkehrsgesellschaft from 3 to 7 November 1932, around the German federal election of 6 November, during the Weimar Republic.
Notes
English Wikipedia ties the strike to the federal election of 6 November 1932. German Wikipedia says it brought all of Berlin's public transport to a halt on 3 November and that the strike leadership called it off on 7 November, and Wikidata gives the same days.
The first buildings of the Foro Mussolini are inaugurated in Rome
ArchitectureSome details uncertain
The first buildings of the Foro Mussolini, now the Foro Italico, were inaugurated on 4 November 1932, including Palazzo H, home of the Fascist School of Physical Education, and the Monolith. The complex was built from 1928 to 1938.
Notes
Wikidata gives 1932-10-28. English Wikipedia's data box and history section both give 4 November 1932, which is used here.
Germany holds its second Reichstag election of 1932
Politics & diplomacy
Germany voted for a new Reichstag on 6 November 1932. The Nazi Party's vote share dropped by four percentage points from July and it lost 34 seats, though no coalition government could again be formed.
Francois Englert, born on 6 November 1932 in Etterbeek, Brussels, to a Belgian Jewish family, became a theoretical physicist. He shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics with Peter Higgs.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and early-life section agree on the date; the data box names Etterbeek.
· Banja Luka, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina) · Europe
Banski Dvor, the governor's palace in Banja Luka, is officially opened
Architecture
Banski Dvor in Banja Luka was officially opened on 8 November 1932. It was built in 1931-32 as the seat of the Ban of the Vrbas Banovina, a Yugoslav province, and today serves as a cultural center.
Notes
Wikidata gives only the year 1932; the body text gives the opening day.
Nadezhda Alliluyeva, the second wife of Joseph Stalin, died on 9 November 1932 after shooting herself in the early morning following an argument. She was buried in Novodevichy Cemetery.
Notes
The death place, Moscow, is from English Wikipedia's data box.
Swiss soldiers fire on an anti-fascist crowd at Plainpalais in Geneva
War & conflictSome details uncertain
On the evening of 9 November 1932 Swiss soldiers under Major Perret fired on an anti-fascist crowd at Plainpalais, killing 13 people and wounding 65. The protest targeted a mock trial of socialist leaders staged by the National Union.
Notes
Wikidata gives 9 September 1932. English Wikipedia's data box and opening text both give 9 November 1932, which is used here. Its lead says the afternoon, but its account of the day and French Wikipedia put the shots at 9:34 in the evening (21:34).
The Farjestad BK ice hockey club is founded in Karlstad
Sport
Farjestad BK was founded at Hafstrom Kiosk in Karlstad's Farjestad district on 10 November 1932. Four men founded it: Erik Myren, Sven Larsson, Gosta Jonsson and Sven Bryhske.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and body text both give 10 November 1932.
Jean Renoir's Boudu Saved from Drowning is released
Stage, music & film
Jean Renoir's French social satire Boudu Saved from Drowning was released on 11 November 1932, with Michel Simon as the title character. Renoir also wrote the screenplay, adapted from a 1919 play by Rene Fauchois.
Notes
The day comes from English Wikipedia's data box; the opening text says 1932.
Denmark voted for the Folketing on 16 November 1932, with the Faroe Islands voting on 12 December. The Social Democrats under Thorvald Stauning stayed the largest party, winning 62 of the 149 seats.
Notes
The Faroese vote took place later, on 12 December 1932.
· Stormont Estate, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom · Europe
The Prince of Wales opens the Parliament Buildings at Stormont
Architecture
Edward, Prince of Wales, opened the neoclassical Parliament Buildings at Stormont on 16 November 1932. Arnold Thornely designed the building and Stewart & Partners constructed it in ashlar stone.
Notes
The history section gives the day, 16 November 1932; the opening text and data box say 1932. It matches Wikidata's record.
Catalonia holds its first regional Parliament election
Politics & diplomacy
Catalonia held its first election for its regional Parliament on 20 November 1932, with all 85 seats contested. Republican Left of Catalonia, led by Francesc Macia, won, and the Regionalist League came second, far behind.
Finland outlawed the nationalist, fascist and anti-communist Lapua Movement on 21 November 1932, using the Protection of the Republic Act. The ban followed a failed coup attempt earlier in 1932.
Belgium held general elections on 27 November 1932, and the Catholic Party took 79 of the 187 Chamber seats and 42 of the 93 Senate seats. Turnout was 94.3 percent.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and background section all give 27 November 1932.
The Soviet Union and France sign a non-aggression pact
Politics & diplomacy
The Soviet Union and France concluded a non-aggression pact on 29 November 1932, signed by the Soviet plenipotentiary Valerian Dovgalevsky. Negotiations had dragged on since 1928.
The pre-Code film The Mask of Fu Manchu, directed by Charles Brabin, was shown in cinemas from November 1932. Boris Karloff plays Fu Manchu on a quest for Genghis Khan's golden sword and mask, with Myrna Loy as his daughter.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 4 November 1932 and its text says the film was shown as early as that date, with a New York premiere at the Capitol on 2 December 1932. French Wikipedia gives 5 November 1932, so only the month is stored.
Melvin Schwartz was born in New York City on 2 November 1932 and became an American physicist. His co-winners of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics were Leon Lederman and Jack Steinberger.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names New York City.
Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Herbert Hoover in the US presidential election
Politics & diplomacy
On 8 November 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, New York governor Franklin D. Roosevelt beat President Hoover in a landslide, promising recovery through a New Deal. Hoover's share of the popular vote fell from over 58% in 1928 to 39.6%.
The Democrats win a landslide in the 1932 US House elections
Politics & diplomacy
Most states elected their House members on 8 November 1932, for the 73rd Congress, alongside Franklin D. Roosevelt's landslide presidential win. Hoover's failure to tackle the Great Depression was the main issue.
Notes
The opening text gives 8 November for most states and 12 September for Maine; English Wikipedia's data box lists both dates. The main election day is stored.
The 1932 Senate elections took place alongside Franklin D. Roosevelt's landslide presidential victory over Herbert Hoover, with the 32 Class 3 seats contested in regular elections. Senate Majority Leader James Watson and Reed Smoot, in his fifth term, were among the Republican incumbents defeated.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box lists a few individual contests with other dates; most are on 8 November 1932.
Mervyn LeRoy's chain-gang drama starring Paul Muni is released
Stage, music & film
Mervyn LeRoy's chain-gang drama came out on 10 November 1932, with Paul Muni as a convict who escapes from a chain gang to Chicago. It was adapted from Robert Elliott Burns's 1932 autobiography, which had been serialized in True Detective magazine.
Notes
Wikidata lists 19 November 1932, 28 November 1932 and 13 January 1933 as other dates; English Wikipedia's data box and lead give 10 November 1932, which is used.
· Orange, New Jersey, United States · North America
Roy Scheider is born in Orange, New Jersey
Lives
Roy Richard Scheider was born in Orange, New Jersey, on 10 November 1932 and became an American film actor. He played Police Chief Martin Brody in Jaws and also appeared in The French Connection and Klute, both from 1971.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names Orange, New Jersey.
· San Francisco, California, United States · North America
Group f/64 opens its first exhibition at the de Young Museum
Art & literature
Group f/64, seven Bay Area photographers who shared a sharply focused, carefully framed style, opened its first exhibition at San Francisco's de Young Museum on 15 November 1932. The show drew large crowds.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives the group's years as 1932-1935; the exhibition day is from the body text.
The Unwritten Law, an American mystery film from director Christy Cabanne with Greta Nissen and Mary Brian among its stars, was released on 15 November 1932. The independent company Majestic Pictures distributed it.
Notes
The day comes from English Wikipedia's data box; the opening text says 1932.
· Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, California, United States · North America
The 5th Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles
Stage, music & film
The ceremony took place at Los Angeles's Ambassador Hotel on 18 November 1932, hosted by Conrad Nagel. Grand Hotel won Best Picture, and the cartoon Flowers and Trees became the earliest color film to win an Oscar.
The Sign of the Cross, a DeMille epic, premieres in New York
Stage, music & film
The Sign of the Cross, a Paramount epic from Cecil B. DeMille, premiered on 30 November 1932, led by Fredric March and Elissa Landi, with Claudette Colbert and Charles Laughton in support. It is set in ancient Rome under Nero.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box lists the New York release on 30 November 1932 and a Los Angeles release on 25 December 1932.
· La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina · South America
La Plata's cathedral is inaugurated as the city's main church
Religion & philosophy
The neo-Gothic cathedral of La Plata, begun in 1884 and consecrated as a parish church in 1902, started serving as the city's cathedral on 19 November 1932, the day counted as its inauguration. It faces Plaza Moreno and the City Hall.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 19 November 1932 and its lead says the church was made a cathedral in 1932. Spanish and French Wikipedia both say it began serving as the city's main church on 19 November 1932, the date regarded as its inauguration. Wikidata gives the year 1932.
Estadio Couto Pereira, home of Coritiba, opened in Curitiba on 20 November 1932 after being built between 1927 and 1932. In the first match Coritiba beat America 4-2.
Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin was completed on 25 November 1932, nine years after work to expand and renovate it began in September 1923. It is a former Russian Orthodox church in the Daoli district, now a museum.
Notes
English Wikipedia's history section gives the completion day, and French Wikipedia agrees on 25 November 1932. English Wikipedia gives a cornerstone ceremony on 23 September 1923 while French Wikipedia says work on the brick church began on 27 September 1923, so only the month is used. The data box gives 1932 as the completion year and 1907 for the original groundbreaking.
· Beirut, Greater Lebanon under French Mandate (now Lebanon) · Middle East
Antoun Saadeh founds the Syrian Social Nationalist Party in Beirut
Politics & diplomacySome details uncertain
Antoun Saadeh, a Lebanese intellectual, founded the Syrian Social Nationalist Party in Beirut in 1932, secretly setting up its first nucleus in November. It was anticolonial and hostile to French colonial rule.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives a foundation date of 16 November 1931, Wikidata gives 16 November 1932, and the lead and body say 1932 with November 1932 for the first nucleus. Only the month is used because the day is uncertain.
The Great Ocean Road in Victoria is formally opened
Architecture
The Great Ocean Road, following Victoria's coast between Torquay and Allansford, was formally established in November 1932, when the Lorne to Apollo Bay section was finished. Returned soldiers built it between 1919 and 1932.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 26 November 1932, but the English and French texts say only that the road was completed and officially opened in November 1932, so only the month is stored.
· Campion district, Western Australia, Australia · Oceania
Australian soldiers begin a cull of emus in Western Australia
War & conflictSome details uncertain
On 2 November 1932 Royal Australian Artillery soldiers with Lewis guns reached Campion in the Wheatbelt, sent after ex-soldier farmers asked for machine guns against emus damaging farmland. The press named the episode the Emu War.
Notes
Wikidata gives the span as November to 1 December 1932; English Wikipedia's data box gives 2 November to 10 December 1932, which is used. The start date is also given in the body text.
Stalin's first five-year plan, in force from 1928, ran until the end of 1932. It centred on rapid industrialization and collectivization of agriculture, and it raised large industrial centres in formerly isolated areas.
Notes
Wikidata gives 31 December 1932. The article describes the industrialization period as October 1928 to December 1932 and has Stalin declaring the plan fulfilled at the start of 1933, so the month is stored.
The Manx flag, three armoured legs with golden spurs on a red field, has been the official flag since 1 December 1932. The design derives from the Manx coat of arms, which goes back to the 13th century.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and lead give 1 December 1932, while the body text says the flag was adopted between 1928 and 1932 and that sources differ on the exact date.
Gustav Meyrink, the pen name of Gustav Meyer, died in Starnberg, Bavaria, on 4 December 1932. He was an Austrian novelist, dramatist, translator and banker, best known for his novel The Golem.
The Parliament of Catalonia holds its first session
Politics & diplomacy
The Parliament of Catalonia held its inaugural session in Barcelona on 6 December 1932, after Spain's Parliament approved Catalonia's first Statute of Autonomy in September and the new Parliament was elected on 20 November.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and lead say 1932; the inaugural day comes from the body.
· Munstead Wood, Surrey, England, United Kingdom · Europe
Gertrude Jekyll dies
Lives
Gertrude Jekyll, the British garden designer, died at her Surrey home, Munstead Wood, on 8 December 1932. She was also a horticulturist, photographer, craftswoman and artist.
Tintin's Cigars of the Pharaoh begins weekly serialization
Art & literature
Hergé's Cigars of the Pharaoh, the fourth Tintin book, began weekly publication on 8 December 1932 in Le Petit Vingtieme, a Belgian newspaper's children's supplement. Tintin and Snowy find a pharaoh's tomb in Egypt with boxes of cigars inside.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box serialization span is 8 December 1932 to 8 February 1934; the lead gives December 1932 to February 1934.
Le Grand Rex opened on the evening of 8 December 1932 as Le Rex, designed by Auguste Bluysen and John Eberson. Louis Lumiere, a pioneer of cinema, attended the opening with guests.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and history section both give 8 December 1932.
Eduard Bernstein, a German Social Democratic politician and theorist, died in Berlin on 18 December 1932. He is best known for challenging Marxism from within, arguing for a gradual, parliamentary path to socialism.
Notes
The death place, Berlin, is from English Wikipedia's data box.
The BBC begins the Empire Short Wave Service, later the World Service
Technology
On 19 December 1932 the BBC began broadcasting on shortwave from the Daventry transmitting station, aimed chiefly at English-speaking listeners throughout the British Empire. It is now known as the BBC World Service.
· Dnipro (then Dnipropetrovsk), Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) · Europe
The Merefa-Kherson railway arch bridge opens over the Dnieper at Dnipro
ArchitectureSome details uncertain
The Merefa-Kherson railway arch bridge over the Dnieper at Dnipro opened on 21 December 1932, carrying a single track. It was the Soviet Union's first railway arch bridge.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives an opening date of 21 December 1932 and French Wikipedia gives the same day for putting the bridge into service. German Wikipedia's data box gives 21 December 1931, which does not fit its own completion year of 1932 or English Wikipedia's account of the last concrete being poured on 24 October 1932.
Richard Wayne Penniman, known as Little Richard, was born in Macon, Georgia, on 5 December 1932. He became an American singer, pianist and songwriter, called the Architect of Rock and Roll.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on the date; the data box names Macon, Georgia.
· New York City, New York, United States · North America
Sheldon Glashow is born in New York City
Lives
Sheldon Lee Glashow was born in New York City on 5 December 1932, the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia, and became a theoretical physicist in the United States. Abdus Salam and Steven Weinberg were his co-recipients of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and early-life section agree on the date and place.
V. T. Hamlin created the comic strip Alley Oop, which was first distributed on 5 December 1932. Alley Oop is a sturdy citizen of the prehistoric kingdom of Moo who rides a pet dinosaur called Dinny.
Notes
English Wikipedia gives 5 December 1932 as the first day and says the small syndicate Bonnet-Brown launched the strip, with NEA taking it over in 1933 after Bonnet-Brown folded. French Wikipedia instead says NEA distributed it from 5 December 1932, so the first distributor is left out of the summary.
Frank Borzage's A Farewell to Arms, with Helen Hayes, Gary Cooper and Adolphe Menjou in the leads, premiered at New York's Criterion theatre on 7 December 1932. It adapts Hemingway's 1929 novel, which follows a nurse from England and an ambulance driver from America in Italy.
· Detroit, Michigan, United States · North America
Ellen Burstyn is born in Detroit
Lives
Edna Rae Gillooly, later Ellen Burstyn, was born in Detroit on 7 December 1932 and became an American actress. She made her Broadway debut in Fair Game in 1957.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and early-life section agree on the date; the data box names Detroit, Michigan.
Universal released The Mummy in United States theaters on 22 December 1932. Karl Freund directed Boris Karloff as Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian mummy revived by archaeologists.
Notes
The Swan Lake music over the opening credits had also been used in Universal's Dracula and Murders in the Rue Morgue.
MGM's pre-Code historical drama Rasputin and the Empress, set in Imperial Russia, opened in New York on 23 December 1932. John, Ethel and Lionel Barrymore starred, as Prince Chegodieff, Czarina Alexandra and Rasputin.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 23 December 1932, which French Wikipedia gives as the New York opening, with a national release on 24 March 1933. A New York Times review is dated 24 December 1932.
Erle C. Kenton's science fiction horror film Island of Lost Souls, based on H. G. Wells's 1896 novel The Island of Doctor Moreau, was released in Chicago on 23 December 1932. Charles Laughton plays the scientist Dr Moreau.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives a Chicago release on 23 December 1932; its text, German Wikipedia and Spanish Wikipedia say December 1932, and French Wikipedia gives only the year. No source gives a different day.
· Rockefeller Center, Manhattan, New York City, United States · North America
Radio City Music Hall opens in Rockefeller Center
Stage, music & film
Radio City Music Hall opened in New York on 27 December 1932 as part of Rockefeller Center, designed in the Art Deco style by Edward Durell Stone and Donald Deskey. The opening night featured a lavish stage show with Ray Bolger, Martha Graham and the Tuskegee Choir.
Notes
Wikidata also lists 1932 (year only) as the inception, which is not used; its separate opening-date statement is 27 December 1932, matching the article. The body says construction began in December 1931.
· Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India (now Kolkata, India) · Asia
Begum Rokeya dies
Lives
Begum Rokeya, a Bengali feminist writer and educator, died on 9 December 1932, her birthday, shortly after presiding over a session of the Indian Women's Conference. Her works include the science fiction novella Sultana's Dream.
Notes
The death place is from English Wikipedia's data box.
The Indian Military Academy is inaugurated at Dehradun
Everyday life
General Sir Philip Chetwode inaugurated the Indian Military Academy on 10 December 1932, after a military committee under him recommended it. The first 40 gentleman cadets had begun training on 1 October 1932.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and history section give 10 December 1932 for the inauguration; the first cadets had started training on 1 October 1932, and the opening text says 1932.
A fire at the Shirokiya Department Store in Tokyo kills 14 people
Disasters
A fire broke out at the Shirokiya Department Store in Tokyo on 16 December 1932, leaving 14 people dead and 67 injured. Floors four to eight of the store burned.
The Maldives puts its first constitution into effect and establishes the People's Majlis
Politics & diplomacy
The Maldives put a constitution into effect on 22 December 1932 and established the People's Majlis, its legislature. Sultan Muhammad Shamsuddeen III had set up a council to draft it on 9 March 1931.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and body text both give 22 December 1932.
The Palestine Post, later The Jerusalem Post, publishes its first issue
Art & literature
The Palestine Post first appeared on 1 December 1932 under its founder Gershon Agron, during the British Mandate. It replaced the Palestine Bulletin, whose final issue came out on 30 November, and took the name The Jerusalem Post in 1950.
Notes
The paper traces its roots to the Palestine Bulletin of 1925; 1 December 1932 is the first issue under the new name.
Events we can place in 1932 but not in a particular month.
Europe 55
· Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) · Europe
The Holodomor famine begins in Soviet Ukraine
War & conflict
A vast man-made famine struck the Ukrainian SSR in spring 1932 and again in 1933, killing millions of Ukrainians. It was one stage of a wider Soviet famine, and the Soviet government refused to seek foreign aid and denied that the famine existed.
Notes
Death-toll estimates differ widely between sources, and the cause and intent remain disputed, so no figure is used here. The end year 1933 is from the article's 1932 to 1933 span.
Marx and Engels's The German Ideology is first published in full
Art & literature
The Marx-Engels Institute in Moscow first published The German Ideology in full in 1932, in German, as part of the Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe edited under Vladimir Adoratsky. Marx and Engels had written it in 1845-1846 but left it unpublished.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box lists Berlin, Germany as the place; the lead and body say the Marx-Engels Institute in Moscow published it, which is used.
Ostrovsky's How the Steel Was Tempered begins serial publication
Art & literature
Nikolai Ostrovsky's socialist realist novel How the Steel Was Tempered began appearing in the magazine Young Guard in 1932. The serial ran until 1934, and the book edition followed in 1936.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives the serial as 1932-1934 and the book as 1936, so 1932 marks only the start of serial publication.
Work on Fort Eben-Emael, between Liege and Maastricht near the Albert Canal, began in 1932 and lasted until 1935. It was meant to protect Belgium against a German attack across the narrow strip of Dutch land.
Notes
Wikidata gives 1 April 1932, but the article gives the building years 1932-1935; the start year is inferred from that range.
Marx's Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 are first published
Art & literature
Karl Marx wrote the unfinished notes known as the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts between April and August 1844, and they were first published in 1932. They critique classical political economy using ideas from Hegel and Feuerbach.
Notes
The lead and data box say the manuscripts first appeared in German in Berlin, while the body says their first publication was in Moscow, within the Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe edition. Berlin is used for the place.
Socialist realism emerges as the Soviet cultural style
Art & literatureSome details uncertain
Socialist realism was an idealized, realistic art style that the Soviet Union made official cultural doctrine. A decree of 23 April 1932 reorganized literary and artistic groups, forming the nucleus of the Union of Artists.
Notes
The origin is contested: English Wikipedia's data box dates the movement from 1932, the Great Russian Encyclopedia puts the term's first press use on 23 May 1932, while the lead credits Maxim Gorky with introducing the concept in 1933 and says the doctrine was proclaimed in 1934. Only the year 1932 is stored.
In 1932 Gustav Tauschek invented drum memory, a magnetic data storage device, in Austria. Drums served widely as computer memory in the 1950s and into the 1960s.
Orly Airport opened in 1932 in Paris's southern suburbs as a secondary field to Le Bourget, under the name Villeneuve-Orly. Until Charles de Gaulle Airport opened in 1974 it was Paris's main airport.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box also lists a built date of 1 January 1918 alongside the 1932 opening; the opening year is stored.
Joseph Roth's Radetzky March is published in German
Art & literatureSome details uncertain
Verlag Kiepenheuer in Berlin brought out the first German edition of Joseph Roth's Radetzky March in 1932. The family saga follows the Trotta family through the fall of the Habsburg Monarchy.
Notes
One passage in the article puts the German original in 1933, but the opening paragraph, data box and publication history all say 1932, which is used.
A Bayer research team at IG Farben, led by Gerhard Domagk, discovered Prontosil in 1932. It was the first sulfonamide-containing drug, and Domagk found it effective against some bacterial infections in mice.
Notes
Wikidata gives 25 December 1932, which the article describes as the date of IG Farben's patent application. The article places Domagk's key mouse result in late autumn 1932 in one sentence and late December 1931 in another, so only the year is stored.
The Wiener Werkstaette design workshop closes in Vienna
Art & literature
The Wiener Werkstaette, a Vienna workshop of architects, artists and designers founded in 1903 by Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann and Fritz Waerndorfer, was forced to close in 1932 after declaring bankruptcy.
The Army Comrades Association, the Blueshirts, begins in the Irish Free State
Politics & diplomacySome details uncertain
The Army Comrades Association, nicknamed the Blueshirts, began in 1932 as a far-right paramilitary body in the Irish Free State. It was founded in Dublin by National Army Commandant Ned Cronin and protected the meetings of groups such as Cumann na nGaedheal against IRA intimidation.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 9 February 1932 as the founding date, while the body text dates Ned Cronin's founding of the group to 11 August 1932; as the days differ, only the year is stored.
· Stratford-upon-Avon, England, United Kingdom · Europe
A new Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opens in Stratford-upon-Avon
Architecture
In 1932 a new Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, designed by Elisabeth Scott, opened beside the River Avon next to the earlier building, which a fire had gutted in 1926. It is now called the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box lists 1932 as the year the theatre relocated; the body says the new building opened that year.
· Killarney, County Kerry, Irish Free State (now Ireland) · Europe
Killarney, Ireland's first national park, is created
Everyday life
Killarney, Ireland's first national park, began in 1932 when the Muckross Estate was given to the Irish Free State, and the Bourn Vincent Memorial Park Act of 1932 created the park. Arthur Vincent and his parents-in-law gave the estate in memory of Maud Vincent.
Wigan Athletic was formed in 1932, a year after the previous Wigan club, Wigan Borough, was wound up. Its first league match, on 27 August 1932, was against Port Vale Reserves.
Notes
Wikidata and English Wikipedia's data box say 1932; the first match date comes from the body text.
The Courtauld Institute of Art is founded in London
Art & literature
The Courtauld Institute of Art was founded in London in 1932, through the efforts of the industrialist Samuel Courtauld, Sir Robert Witt, an art historian, and Lord Lee of Fareham, a diplomat. William George Constable was its first director.
Notes
Wikidata also lists 1 November 2002 as an alternative date; the article gives 1932.
Herge's Tintin in America is published as a single album
Art & literature
Tintin in America, the third album in Herge's series, was collected and published as a single volume in 1932, after running weekly in a Belgian newspaper's children's supplement from September 1931. Tintin travels to the United States and reports on organised crime in Chicago.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives the serial run as 3 September 1931 to 20 October 1932.
The Marchas Populares, a Portuguese tradition of June celebrations of the Portuguese Midsummer, go back to the first event held in Lisbon in 1932 under the direction of Leitao de Barros. Teams in handmade outfits march and dance to popular music in a themed competition.
Notes
The opening text places the first event in Lisbon in 1932; Wikidata's record also gives the year.
Designers produce a prototype of the ShKAS aircraft machine gun
TechnologySome details uncertain
In 1932 a prototype marked 426 appeared of the ShKAS, a 7.62 mm aircraft machine gun designed by Boris Shpitalniy and Irinarkh Komaritsky. Most Soviet fighters and bombers later carried it.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 1932 as the design date and the variants section dates a prototype to 1932. Production start is 1933 in the data box and production table but 1934 in the opening text, so only the design year is stored.
In 1932 Contax started out as a camera model in Germany's Zeiss Ikon range, using high-quality interchangeable Zeiss lenses. The original Contax, later called the Contax I, went on sale that year.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and history section all give 1932.
· Magnitogorsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia) · Europe
The Magnitogorsk works produces its first molten pig iron
Economy & trade
In 1932 the furnaces at the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works in the Soviet Union were put into action and produced the first flow of molten pig iron. The plant was making steel by 1933.
Notes
Wikidata gives 1932-01-31. The history section places the start of the furnaces in 1932, so the year is stored.
Adriaan van Well founded Spar in Zegwaart, in the Netherlands, in 1932. The brand gives independent food retailers a shared name, supplies and support services.
Picasso painted Nude, Green Leaves and Bust in oil on canvas in 1932. It shows his mistress, Marie-Therese Walter, and belongs to a series of portraits of her that he began that year.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text both give 1932 for the painting. The May 2010 sale at Christie's in New York for 106.5 million US dollars is in the Auction section of English Wikipedia; the long-term loan to Tate Modern is in its data box.
The 1932 European Figure Skating Championships are held in Paris
SportSome details uncertain
Paris hosted the 1932 European Figure Skating Championships, with men's, ladies' and pairs titles. Karl Schafer won the men's title, Sonja Henie the ladies' and Andree Joly and Pierre Brunet the pairs.
Notes
Wikidata gives January 1932, but the article places the event in the 1931-32 season.
The journal Der Eigene ceases publication in Berlin
Art & literature
Der Eigene, published in Berlin by Adolf Brand from 1896 to 1932, is regarded as the first gay journal in the world. It was an anarchist newspaper, and Klaus Mann and Thomas Mann were among its contributors.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 1896 to 1932 and the opening text says the journal ran until 1932; the body text mentions the 1933 search of Brand's house.
The first issue of Sight and Sound appeared in spring 1932, a quarterly review of modern learning aids published by the British Institute of Adult Education. It is now a film magazine issued monthly by the British Film Institute.
The avant-garde magazine Der Sturm ceases publication
Art & literature
Der Sturm, the German magazine of avant-garde art and literature founded by Herwarth Walden, ceased publication in 1932. It had covered Expressionism, Cubism, Dada and Surrealism.
Notes
The body text gives two closing years for Walden's gallery, 1924 and 1932; the magazine's end in 1932 is the same in the lead, data box and body.
The first Grand Prix des Nations cycling time trial is held
Sport
The Grand Prix des Nations was set up in 1932 as an individual time trial for professional and amateur cyclists, and Maurice Archambaud won the first edition. The first route started near the Versailles chateau and finished at the Velodrome Buffalo.
Notes
The article says the race was held annually in Cannes, though the first route ran near Versailles. English Wikipedia's data box lists September as the usual month.
· Mount Kanobili, near Abastumani, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union (now Georgia) · Europe
The Georgian National Astrophysical Observatory is founded on Mount Kanobili
Science
Academician Evgeni Kharadze founded the observatory in 1932 on Mount Kanobili, close to the Abastumani resort, about 250 km from Tbilisi. Its first telescope, a 33 cm reflector, was mounted that year.
Notes
Wikidata gives 1932-02-08. The opening text says the observatory was founded in 1932, so the year is stored.
The new manor at Skaugum in Asker, southwest of Oslo, was completed in 1932 to designs by Arnstein Arneberg, after fire destroyed the earlier house in 1930. The estate is owned by the Norwegian royal family.
Notes
Norwegian Wikipedia says the main building burned down in May 1930 and the new one, designed by Arnstein Arneberg, was finished in 1932. English Wikipedia's data box and Wikidata also give 1932. The Functionalist style appears only in English Wikipedia's data box and is not used. The 1930 fire that destroyed the earlier house is described in the History section of English Wikipedia.
· Taganrog, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia) · Europe
Georgy Beriev sets up his aircraft design bureau at Taganrog
Economy & tradeSome details uncertain
Georgy Beriev set up the design bureau carrying his name at Taganrog in 1932. The bureau, later designated OKB-49, specializes in amphibious aircraft.
Notes
The body text gives 1932 for the founding of the design bureau, while the English lead and data box and German Wikipedia give 1934 for the company as OKB-49 at Taganrog. French Wikipedia gives 1932.
The Communist Party of Germany announces Antifaschistische Aktion
Politics & diplomacy
In 1932 the Communist Party of Germany announced the creation of Antifaschistische Aktion in its newspaper Die Rote Fahne. It was organised as a communist front and operated as an integral part of the KPD until 1933.
Notes
German antifa movements have appeared in several eras; the 1932 organisation was Antifaschistische Aktion.
Bruno Buchholz devises the Buchholz chess tie-break system
Sport
In 1932 Bruno Buchholz devised a scoring method for Swiss-system chess tournaments, in which a player's tie-break value is the sum of the scores of the opponents faced. It is now mostly used to break ties.
The Treviso rugby club, now Benetton Rugby, is founded
Sport
The Treviso rugby team was founded in 1932. Benetton Rugby, as it is now called, is a professional rugby union side in Treviso, in Veneto, which the Benetton clothing company has owned since 1979.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and history section all give 1932.
The Fliegender Hamburger is the first fast train to use Jakobs bogies
TechnologySome details uncertain
In 1932 the German Fliegender Hamburger became the first fast train to use Jacobs bogies, which sit between two carriages instead of beneath a single vehicle. The bogies are named after the German railway engineer Wilhelm Jakobs.
Notes
The history section ties the 1932 date to the Fliegender Hamburger's first use of the bogie, so the date marks that first use rather than the design of the bogie itself.
The first Royal Automobile Club Rally is held, forerunner of Rally Great Britain
Sport
The first event of what became Rally Great Britain took place in 1932, with Colonel Loughborough winning in a Lanchester and the finish at Torquay. Under various names the rally ran until its final edition in 2019.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and history section all give 1932; the past winners table names Torquay as the 1932 finish.
Stade Armand Cesari, also called the Stade de Furiani, opened in 1932. It is a multi-purpose stadium mainly used for SC Bastia football matches and holds about 16,000 spectators.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on 1932; Wikidata's record also gives the year.
The Sorolla Museum opens in the painter's former home in Madrid
Art & literature
The Sorolla Museum in Madrid opened in 1932, in the house that served as the home and workshop of the painter Joaquin Sorolla. Enrique Maria Repulles, designer of Madrid's Stock Exchange, built the house for him.
Notes
Wikidata gives 1932-06-11. The history section places the opening in 1932, so the year is stored.
· Irish Free State (now Ireland) and United Kingdom · Europe
Ireland and Britain begin an economic dispute over land annuities
Economy & tradeSome details uncertain
From 1932 to 1938 Britain and the Irish Free State fought a tit-for-tat trade war after Ireland's government stopped repaying Britain the land annuities from old loans to tenant farmers. Both countries imposed their own trade restrictions.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box dates the dispute from July 1932 to 25 April 1938 and its text says 1932 to 1938. German Wikipedia dates the trade war from 1933 to 1938, so the start year is disputed and 1932 is stored with medium confidence. Both agree that the 1938 agreement ended it and returned the Treaty Ports.
Richard Palfinger founds a repair workshop in Austria
Economy & trade
Richard Palfinger founded a repair shop in Austria in 1932, servicing farm trailers, tipper bodies and vehicle bodies. The company is now known for truck-mounted loader cranes and is headquartered in Bergheim.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and history section all give 1932.
The Criterium National de la Route cycling race is first run
Sport
The Criterium National de la Route was first run in 1932 as a one-day event through the Vallee de Chevreuse, finishing at the Parc des Princes cycling track in Paris. Leon Le Calvez won the opening race.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and history section agree on 1932; the sources place it in the spring but give no day. The winners list names Le Calvez for 1932.
· Pavlovo, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia) · Europe
The ZATI tool plant is established in Pavlovo
Economy & trade
A plant called ZATI, making tools for the car and tractor industry, was established in Pavlovo in 1932. The Pavlovo Bus Factory, known as PAZ, traces its origins to that plant.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 1932 as the founding year and the history section ties it to the ZATI plant.
Ilta-Sanomat began in 1932 as an afternoon edition of the paper Helsingin Sanomat. It is one of Finland's two leading evening tabloids, with Iltalehti as its main rival.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and history section both give 1932.
The Stadio Littorio in Trieste was inaugurated in 1932 and was first used by U.S. Triestina Calcio. In 1967 it was renamed for the footballer Giuseppe Grezar.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text agree on 1932; Wikidata's record also gives the year.
Felix Nylund's Three Smiths Statue is unveiled in Helsinki
Art & literature
Felix Nylund's Three Smiths Statue, a bronze of three naked smiths hammering on an anvil, was unveiled in 1932 in Three Smiths Square, where Aleksanterinkatu meets Mannerheimintie. The Pro Helsingfors foundation gave it to the city.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text give 1932; a Latin inscription on the base also carries the year 1932.
The Archaeological Museum of Alicante is established
Art & literatureSome details uncertain
The Archaeological Museum of Alicante, known as MARQ, was established in 1932. It now occupies the renovated buildings of the old San Juan de Dios hospital.
Notes
The establishment year comes from the museum's data box; Wikidata's record also gives the year.
· Sibenik, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now Croatia) · Europe
The football club later known as HNK Sibenik is founded
Sport
The football club later known as HNK Sibenik was founded in 1932 in Sibenik, then in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, as Radnicko sportsko drustvo Sibenik, the Workers' Sport Association Sibenik.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 1 December 1932, but its text, French Wikipedia and Wikidata give only 1932, so only the year is stored.
The Fortitudo basketball club is founded in Bologna
SportSome details uncertain
The basketball side of the Fortitudo gymnastics society was founded in Bologna in 1932. The federation struck it off in 2012, and the present club, Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna 103, was formed in 2013 as its successor and plays in Serie A2.
Notes
Italian Wikipedia says the basketball side was founded in 1932 inside the Societa Ginnastica Fortitudo and was struck off by the federation on 14 July 2012. English Wikipedia says a group formed Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna 103 on 18 June 2013 as its spiritual successor. Wikidata also gives 1932.
The Idrottsparken sports ground opens in Mariehamn
Architecture
The sports ground Idrottsparken opened in Mariehamn, in the Aland Islands, in 1932. Renamed and rebuilt, it is now the Wiklof Holding Arena, mainly used for football by IFK Mariehamn and Aland United.
Notes
English Wikipedia says the first stadium on the site was built in 1932 and lists Idrottsparken as a former name. German Wikipedia says the grounds were opened in 1932 as Mariehamn Idrottsparken, a name kept until 2005, that the football pitch came in 1968 and that rebuilding began in 2005. English Wikipedia's data box gives a renovation in 2022, which is not used. The football pitch laid out only in 1968 comes from the History section of German Wikipedia; the short English article does not mention it.
The first Santa Eulalia station opens on Barcelona Metro line L1
Architecture
The original Santa Eulalia station opened in 1932 when line L1 gained one more stop beyond Bordeta, making it the western end of the line. It lies just inside the boundary of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat with Barcelona.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text give 1932; Wikidata's record gives 1932-07-01, a day the article text does not state.
The Madrid daily La Correspondencia Militar ceases publication
Art & literature
The Madrid daily newspaper founded by Emilio Prieto Villarreal appeared from 1877 until 1932 and had the shorter title La Correspondencia by the end. Its editorial line was hawkish and favoured the Spanish Army.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and history section all give 1932 as the end.
· Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, United States · North America
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study begins in Alabama
Medicine & epidemics
In 1932 the US Public Health Service began following African American sharecroppers in Macon County, 399 of them with latent syphilis, to watch the untreated disease. The men were not told their diagnosis and were given disguised placebos.
· Los Angeles, California, United States · North America
The electric guitar is invented
TechnologySome details uncertain
The electric guitar dates from 1932, taken up quickly by jazz players who wanted single-note solos that could be heard over big bands. The first amplified string instrument sold commercially was a lap steel nicknamed the Frying Pan, produced by Ro-Pat-In in Los Angeles.
Notes
The Frying Pan was designed in 1931, while the lead dates the invention to 1932 and commercial production began in late summer 1932; the year 1932 is stored.
· Los Angeles, California, United States · North America
Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics
Sport
The athletics program in Los Angeles had 29 events, with 386 athletes from 34 countries competing at the stadium now known as the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
William Faulkner's novel Light in August was published in 1932. Its central figures are a pregnant white woman and a man passing as white who sees himself as mixed, and its themes include religion, class, sex and race in the American South.
Thirteen members of the Southern Conference set up the Southeastern Conference, a US collegiate athletic conference, in 1932. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.
· Bradford, Pennsylvania, United States · North America
George Blaisdell founds the Zippo Manufacturing Company
Economy & trade
George Blaisdell founded the Zippo Manufacturing Company in Bradford, Pennsylvania, in 1932, inspired by a similar lighter from the Austrian firm IMCO. In 2012 the company produced its 500-millionth lighter.
· Brooklyn, New York City, United States · North America
Bei Mir Bistu Shein is written for the Yiddish musical I Would If I Could
Stage, music & film
Composer Sholom Secunda and lyricist Jacob Jacobs wrote the Yiddish song Bei Mir Bistu Shein in 1932 for a comedy musical staged at Brooklyn's Parkway Theatre. The show lasted only a single season.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 1932 as the year the song was written.
· Lincoln, Nebraska, United States · North America
The Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln is completed
Architecture
The Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln was built of Indiana limestone between 1922 and 1932, to a design by the New York architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue. Landscape architect Ernst Herminghaus was hired to design the grounds once building work finished.
Notes
The completion year is from English Wikipedia's data box, lead and body text.
Walter and Olive Ann Beech found Beech Aircraft in Wichita
Economy & trade
Walter Beech, his wife Olive Ann Beech and Ted A. Wells set up Beech Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas, in 1932. With designer Ted Wells they built the Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing.
The Episcopal Church founded Boise Junior College, now Boise State University, in 1932 at St. Margaret's Hall. In 1934 it became a junior college independent of the church.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 6 September 1932, but its text and French Wikipedia give only 1932, so only the year is stored. Wikidata also gives the year 1932.
Grant Wood paints the satirical Daughters of Revolution
Art & literature
Daughters of Revolution is a 1932 oil-on-masonite painting by the American artist Grant Wood, now held by the Cincinnati Art Museum.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and opening text both give 1932. The 1851 date of Washington Crossing the Delaware and Wood's own description of the work as his only satire both come from the Origin section of English Wikipedia.
Maurice Greenberg founds the company that became Coleco
Economy & trade
Maurice Greenberg founded the company in 1932 as The Connecticut Leather Company, and the name Coleco was later shortened from that original name.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and history section all give 1932. Wikidata gives 1932-02-29, a day the article does not support, so the year is stored.
· Aruba, Dutch West Indies (now a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) · North America
The Aruba Football Federation is founded
SportSome details uncertain
The Aruba Football Federation, governing body of football in Aruba, was founded in 1932. Aruba joined FIFA and CONCACAF as a full member in 1988.
Notes
English Wikipedia's article on the national team and Wikidata give 1932; the article on the federation says it formed in late 1930 and became an official organisation in 1932, so the founding year is disputed.
· Lake Placid, New York, United States · North America
An outdoor speed skating rink is built at Lake Placid for the 1932 Winter Olympics
Sport
The rink at Lake Placid was built outdoors for the 1932 Winter Olympics and hosted the speed skating events and part of the Olympic ice hockey programme. Two weeks after the Games it held the World Allround Speed Skating Championship.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and history section give 1932. The Olympic Games of 1932 are a separate event.
· Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States · North America
MIT launches the Technology Press imprint
Art & literatureSome details uncertain
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology launched a publishing imprint called Technology Press in 1932. Today's MIT Press is the institute's publishing arm.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box dates the MIT Press itself to 1962, while its text says MIT established the Technology Press imprint in 1932 and renamed it the MIT Press in 1961, so the 1932 entry concerns the Technology Press imprint. French Wikipedia also dates the imprint to 1932.
Carl Anderson's Henry cartoons begin in The Saturday Evening Post
Art & literatureSome details uncertain
Carl Thomas Anderson created the Henry cartoons in 1932, and they first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post. Henry is a young bald boy who rarely speaks and communicates mainly by pantomime.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 17 December 1934 as the date of the first strip, when newspaper syndication began; the lead dates the creation to 1932 and a caption places the Post cartoons in 1932-1934. Wikidata gives 19 March 1932.
Brazil revives the Order of the Southern Cross as an honour for foreigners
Politics & diplomacySome details uncertain
President Getulio Vargas revived the Order of the Southern Cross in 1932, after Emperor Pedro I had founded it on 1 December 1822. It is Brazil's main decoration of honour and is awarded only to foreign nationals.
Notes
The history section dates the revival to 5 December 1932 (Decree 22.165, signed by Vargas), while the criteria section says a presidential decree of 13 January 1932. Wikidata gives 1932-12-05. Because the day is uncertain, only the year is stored.
The Templo Libertad synagogue is inaugurated in Buenos Aires
Religion & philosophy
The Templo Libertad, a Reform Jewish synagogue on Libertad Street near the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, was inaugurated in 1932. It is home to the Argentine Israelite Congregation and holds a museum of Jewish history.
Notes
English Wikipedia's history section gives the inauguration in 1932 and its data box gives 1897 for the groundbreaking. Spanish Wikipedia says the foundation stone was laid on 27 September 1897 and that the temple was rebuilt in its present form in 1932. It also says the congregation was created in 1862, against the 1890s in English Wikipedia, so the congregation's age is not used.
Nepal introduced the rupee in 1932, a new currency that took the place of the silver mohar at a rate of two mohar to one rupee.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 1 January 1932 as the introduction date, but its text and French Wikipedia give only the year, so the year is stored. Wikidata also gives only 1932.
· Manchuria, Mongolia and the Soviet Far East (Northeast Asia) · Asia
Soviet-Japanese border conflicts begin
War & conflictSome details uncertain
From 1932 the Soviet Union, Mongolia and Japan fought a string of minor and major border clashes after Japan's expansion in Northeast China created a shared border between Manchuria and the Soviet Far East. The conflicts lasted until 1939.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 1 March 1932 to 16 September 1939, but its text only dates the conflicts from 1932 and has the escalating skirmishes beginning in 1935, so the year is stored. French Wikipedia dates the series from 1932 to 1945.
· Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia) · Asia
Construction of Komsomolsk-on-Amur begins
Politics & diplomacySome details uncertain
Work on Komsomolsk-on-Amur began in 1932 on the Amur river, after the Russian SFSR government announced plans in 1931 for a shipyard at the site. The settlement received town status in 1933.
Notes
Wikidata gives 12 June 1932; the article states 1932 for the start of construction, so the year is stored.
· Qinghai and Xikang, Republic of China (now China) · Asia
The Qinghai-Tibet War is fought between Tibetan forces and Ma Bufang's army
War & conflict
Tibetan forces attacked Qinghai in 1932, citing a quarrel over a monastery at Yushu. General Ma Bufang's Qinghai army beat them back, drove them across the Jinsha river and regained several counties in Xikang.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 1932 to 1933. The opening text puts the Tibetan attack in 1932 and the truces in 1933. A battle at Lesser Surmang is dated 24 to 26 March 1932 in the body.
· Hong Kong, British Hong Kong (now Hong Kong, China) · Asia
The Croisiere jaune ends after Georges-Marie Haardt dies in Hong Kong
ExplorationSome details uncertain
The Yellow Expedition was a French crossing of Asia in 1931 and 1932 organised by Citroen to promote its P17 Kegresse track vehicles. After co-leader Georges-Marie Haardt died of pneumonia in Hong Kong, the expedition was abandoned.
Notes
Wikidata gives 12 February 1932 as the end date, but the article says early 1932.
· Altai Mountains, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia) · Asia
The Altai Nature Reserve is established
Everyday lifeSome details uncertain
The Altai Nature Reserve, a strict nature reserve in the mountains of southern Siberia, was established in 1932. It includes the east bank of Lake Teletskoye.
The first Royal Thai General System of Transcription is issued
Everyday lifeSome details uncertain
In 1932 the Ministry of Public Instruction issued the general system for writing Thai in Latin letters, set up by a ministry committee. There have been four versions of the system, in 1932, 1939, 1968 and 1999.
Notes
The lead says the Royal Institute of Thailand published the system in early 1917, while English Wikipedia's data box and body give 1932 for the general system issued by the Ministry of Public Instruction. Later versions were issued by the Royal Institute.
The mohur had served as Nepal's currency from the later 17th century until 1932, when the rupee, also known as the mohru, took its place at two mohurs to the rupee.
· Singapore, Straits Settlements (now Singapore) · Asia
Tiger Beer is launched in Singapore
Economy & trade
Tiger Beer was first launched in 1932 and became Singapore's first locally brewed beer. Heineken Asia Pacific, a joint venture of Heineken N.V. and Fraser and Neave, now produces it.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box, opening text and beer section all give 1932. English Wikipedia states the first-locally-brewed claim as fact; German Wikipedia attributes the claim to company statements, and no independent source was checked.
The Japanese Type 92 heavy machine gun enters service
Technology
The Type 92 heavy machine gun, designed by Kijiro Nambu, entered Japanese service in 1932 and became Japan's standard heavy machine gun in World War II.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 1932 as the design date and the start of service; the opening text also says it entered service in 1932.
· Kampong Glam, Singapore, Straits Settlements (now Singapore) · Asia
The rebuilt Sultan Mosque in Singapore is completed
Religion & philosophySome details uncertain
Work on the rebuilt Sultan Mosque in Kampong Glam was finished in 1932, after parts of the first mosque, built in 1826, were demolished and rebuilt in stages from 1925 to 1931. Denis Santry was the architect.
Notes
English Wikipedia dates the first mosque to 1826 and says it was taken down and rebuilt in stages between 1925 and 1931, with the work completed in 1932; it cites a Straits Times report of 5 April 1932 on the completion. German and Indonesian Wikipedia, and the text of Malay Wikipedia, say the new mosque was finished in 1928 after work began in 1924, though Malay Wikipedia's data box gives 1932. 1932 is kept with medium confidence. English Wikipedia's data box also lists an earlier founding date of 1819, which is not used.
In 1932 the rial replaced the qiran at par and was divided into 100 new dinars. Bank Melli Iran issued the first banknotes that year, and the rial was pegged to sterling.
Notes
Persia used the solar Hijri calendar; the source gives the year as 1932, stored as a Gregorian year.
The first scheduled commercial airliner lands in Bahrain
TechnologySome details uncertain
In 1932 the first scheduled commercial airliner reached Bahrain, a Handley Page H.P.42 named Hannibal on a flight from London to Delhi. It landed on Muharraq Island.
Notes
Wikidata's record dates the airport's opening to 1932, but the article says it was established in 1927; 1932 is the year of the first scheduled airliner's arrival.
· Northern Iraq, Kingdom of Iraq (now Iraq) · Middle East
The Ahmed Barzani revolt in northern Iraq is put down
War & conflictSome details uncertain
Ahmed Barzani, a leading Kurdish figure, began a revolt in 1931 after uniting several Kurdish tribes. By 1932 the Iraqi Army, with British backing, had overpowered his forces, and Barzani later fled to Turkey.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box dates the revolt 1931-1932 and a photo caption calls it the 1931-32 revolt, while the main text dates the start to 1931. The data box places the fighting in northern Iraq. The end year, 1932, is stored.
· Dura-Europos, French Mandate of Syria (now Syria) · Middle East
Archaeologists find the Dura-Europos synagogue in Syria
Religion & philosophySome details uncertain
In 1932 archaeologists found an ancient synagogue at Dura-Europos, whose walls bore paintings of people and animals. An Aramaic inscription dated its last phase of construction to 244 CE.
Notes
Wikidata gives November 1932; the article states 1932, so the year is stored. The site was occupied in the Syrian civil war and what was left of the synagogue appears to have been destroyed, possibly in 2014.
Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club, a professional club based in Tel Aviv, was founded in 1932. It grew out of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Sports Club, founded in 1906.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box gives 1932 as the founding year, while the lead dates the basketball side's establishment to the middle of the 1930s, as a section of the sports club.
The Tel Aviv Museum of Art dates from 1932, when it was housed at 16 Rothschild Boulevard, the former residence of Meir Dizengoff, Tel Aviv's first mayor. Dizengoff gave the house for a museum in honour of his wife Zina, who had died in 1930.
Notes
Wikidata gives 2 April 1932; English Wikipedia's data box and body give the year 1932.
The Tel Aviv fairgrounds, now Expo Tel Aviv, are established as Yerid HaMizrach
Economy & tradeSome details uncertain
The fairgrounds that became Expo Tel Aviv were established in 1932 under the name Yerid HaMizrach, on the Levant Fair grounds beside the Tel Aviv Port. The Levant Fair was an international fair showcasing the industrial achievements of the pre-state Jewish community.
Notes
The body text says the Levant Fair itself was established in 1933, while the lead gives 1932 for the fairgrounds at its site.
· Antioch-on-the-Orontes (near modern Antakya, Turkey) · Middle East
The Judgement of Paris mosaic is found at Antioch
Exploration
In 1932 a mosaic of the Judgement of Paris, from the early second century AD, was found at Antioch. It shows Paris choosing which of Hera, Athena and Aphrodite is the most beautiful.
· Ugarit, French Mandate of Syria (now Syria) · Middle East
The Baal with Thunderbolt stele is found at Ugarit
Science
The Baal stele was found in 1932 during excavations at Ugarit led by Claude Schaeffer, near the Temple of Baal on the acropolis. The white limestone relief shows Baal, god of storm, rain and agriculture, with a smaller male figure.
Notes
English Wikipedia's text, data box and excavation section give 1932 for the find, and French Wikipedia agrees that it was found that year near the temple of Baal on the acropolis of Ras Shamra. English Wikipedia's data box dates the stele to the 15th century BC while French Wikipedia gives a span from the 15th to the 13th century BC, so no date for its making is stated.
· Baghdad, Kingdom of Iraq (now Iraq) · Middle East
The Al-Shorta football team is formed in Baghdad
SportSome details uncertain
Mudhafar Ahmed, director of the Police Schools in Baghdad, formed the Al-Shorta football team in 1932. The team competed in the Prince Ghazi Cup of 1932-33.
Notes
English Wikipedia's text and data box give 1932 for the formation of the football team. The club recognised 1975 as its year of foundation until 2012, when it adopted 1932. French Wikipedia's data box gives 14 November 1932, but the English text gives no day, so only the year is stored.
Libyan resisters linked to the Senussi Order, led at first by Omar Mukhtar, fought the Italian Empire in Italy's Pacification of Libya, which ended in 1932.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box lists active periods of 1911 to 1918, 1923 to 1932 and 1940 to 1943; the opening text and history section place the end of the 1923 war in 1932.
· Mapungubwe Hill, Limpopo, Union of South Africa (now South Africa) · Africa
Archaeologists find the Golden Rhinoceros of Mapungubwe
Exploration
In 1932 University of Pretoria archaeologists found the golden rhinoceros in a royal grave at Mapungubwe Hill. The medieval artifact is wood covered in thin sheets of gold and comes from the ancient Kingdom of Mapungubwe.
· Union of South Africa (now South Africa) · Africa
Zulu migrant workers form the AmaZulu football club
Sport
AmaZulu was formed in 1932 by Zulu migrant workers and is counted among the oldest clubs in South Africa. It is based in Durban and plays in the top tier, the Premiership.
Notes
English Wikipedia's data box and history section both say 1932 but spell the original name differently.
The Togolese football club Etoile Filante is founded in Lome
SportSome details uncertain
Etoile Filante was founded in 1932 in Lome as Etoile Filante de Lome. Its name means Shooting Star, and locals call the team the Meteors.
Notes
English Wikipedia's history section and French Wikipedia's data box give 1932. German Wikipedia says the club grew from a mission-school team and the Etoile Filante cultural and sports club was founded on 15 February 1933, a few months later, so the year is disputed and 1932 is stored with medium confidence.
The Lesotho Football Association was formed in 1932. It governs association football in Lesotho from Maseru and helps run the national team and competitions such as the Lesotho Premier League.
Notes
The opening text and history section both give 1932; Wikidata's record agrees.
· Foxe Basin, off Baffin Island, Canada · The poles
Tug captain W. A. Poole sights Prince Charles Island
Exploration
In 1932 tug captain W. A. Poole first sighted Prince Charles Island, a large, low-lying, uninhabited island in Foxe Basin west of Baffin Island. His information never reached a published map.
In 1932 James Chadwick discovered the neutron, an uncharged particle slightly heavier than the proton that sits in atomic nuclei. Ernest Rutherford had theorized such a particle in 1920.
Hermann Muller gives a talk on the advantages of sexual reproduction
ScienceSome details uncertain
In a 1932 talk the American geneticist Hermann Joseph Muller discussed the advantages of sexual reproduction, offering a mechanism that may explain why sex is favored over asexual reproduction. The mechanism later became known as Muller's ratchet.
Notes
The year 1932 is given for the talk; the term 'ratchet' came later and is not in that talk.
The chemical compound 2C-H, also called 2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine, was first synthesized in 1932. It belongs to the phenethylamine and 2C families of compounds.
Notes
English Wikipedia names the chemist as Johannes S. Buck, citing his 1932 paper on hydroxy- and dihydroxyphenylethylmethylamines. The plain-text version of the article cuts the name after the initial.
G. D. Birkhoff devises his axioms for plane Euclidean geometry
Science
In 1932 G. D. Birkhoff devised four postulates for Euclidean geometry in the plane. They rest on basic geometry that can be checked experimentally with a scale and protractor.
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