What Happened in 1933

Major Events

  • Mar 4 Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated as the 32nd US President, pledges to pull the US out of the Depression, stating in his inaugural address "that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself".
  • Mar 9 US Congress is called into special session by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, beginning its "100 days" in which it passes 77 laws
  • Mar 20 Dachau the first Nazi concentration camp, is completed
  • Mar 23 German Reichstag hastily passes the Enabling Act and President Paul von Hindenburg signs it the same day, granting Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers
  • Jul 14 All non-Nazi parties are banned in Germany
  • Aug 7 The Iraqi Government slaughters over 3,000 Assyrians in the village of Sumail. The day becomes known as Assyrian Martyrs Day.
  • Sep 12 Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, conceives idea of a nuclear chain reaction
  • Oct 14 Nazi Germany announces its withdrawal from the League of Nations
  • Nov 13 First modern sit-down strike by Hormel meat packers in Austin, Minnesota
  • Dec 5 Prohibition ends in the US when 21st Amendment to the US Constitution ratified, 18th Amendment repealed (5:32 PM EST)
  • More 1933 Events

1933 in Film & TV

  • Jan 5 "Cavalcade" based on the play by Noël Coward, directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Diana Wynyard and Clive Brook premieres in New York (Best Production/Picture 1934)
  • Mar 2 "King Kong" film directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, starring Fay Wray premieres at Radio City Music Hall and RKO Roxy in NYC
  • May 27 Walt Disney's short film "3 Little Pigs" released (Academy Award Best Animated film 1934)
  • Aug 23 First televised boxing match — 6-round exhibition at Broadcasting House in London between middleweights Archie Sexton and Lauri Raiteri; aired by BBC-TV
  • Nov 17 Marx brothers film "Duck Soup" directed by Leo McCarey and starring the Marx Brothers is released in the US
  • Nov 24 Fred Astaire's 1st film, "Dancing Lady", released
  • Dec 4 Jack Kirkland's play "Tobacco Road" premieres in NYC, became the longest-running play of its time

1933 in Music

  • Jul 22 Caterina Jarboro sings "Aida" at the New York Hippodrome, becoming the 1st black female opera singer to perform in the US

1933 in Sport

  • Jan 16 Cricket's Bodyline Tour: Australian batsman Bert Oldfield's skull fractured by delivery bowled by Englishman Harold Larwood during the third test in Adelaide
  • Aug 17 MLB player Lou Gehrig plays record 1,308th consecutive game
  • Aug 23 First televised boxing match — 6-round exhibition at Broadcasting House in London between middleweights Archie Sexton and Lauri Raiteri; aired by BBC-TV

More People Born in 1933

Fun Fact About 1933

First modern sighting of the Loch Ness Monster by Aldie and John Mackay saw "something resembling a whale"

May 22, 1933


More 1933 Deaths

Famous Weddings in 1933

  • Jun 1 Charlie Chaplin (44) weds Paulette Goddard (22)
  • Jun 17 Vernon Presley marries Gladys Love Smith
  • Jun 24 American actor John Wayne (26) weds Josephine Saenz (25) in Los Angeles, California; divorce in 1945

More Weddings in 1933